The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1924-02-15
BUFFALO BILL
A. y. 1857

The United States government was
having troubl0us times in the region
of the Great Salt Lake of Utah, and it
was necessary to maintain an army
there. The soldiers wanted food; in
fact, were starving. Provisions had TO
be sent a Thousand miles across the
wilderness. So we come to the herd
of beef cattle which in May, 1857, was
drifting from the Missouri river, and
TO the drovers' camp beside the banks
of the Platte.
A party of red Indians on the war
path found that herd and camp; they
scalped the herders on guard, stamped
ed the cattle and rushed the camp, so
that the white men were driven to
cover under the river bank. Keeping
the Indians ar bay with their rifles,
the party marched for the settlements,
wading, sometimes swimming, while
they pushed raft that carried
wounded man. Always a rear guard
kept the Indians from coming too
near. And so the night fell.
II being the youngest and smallest
says one of them, had fallen behind
the others. d. When l happened to
look up to the moonlit sky, and saw
the plumed head of an Indian peeping
over the bank instantly aimed my
gun at his head and fired. The report
rang out sharp and loud in the night
air, and was Immediately followed by
an Indian whoop; and the next mo-
ment about six feet of dead Indian
came tumbling into the river. l was
not only overcome with establishment,
but was badly scared, as could hard
ly realize what 1 had DONE"
Back came Frank Mccarthy, the
leader, with all his men. "Who fired
that shot?"
81 did,
Eyes, and little Billy has killed an
Indian Standardization dead to skin!"
At the age of nine Billy Cody had
taken the warpath.
In those days the army had no luck.
When the government sent herd of
cattle the Indians got the beef, and the
might just as well have been adj
dressed TO robbers and miscellaneous
enemies, who burned the transport,
stole the draft oxen, and turned the
teamsters, including little Billy, loose
in the mountains, where they came
nigh starving. The boy was too thin
to cast shadow when, in the spring,
he set out homeward across the plains
with two returning trains.
One day these trains were fifteen
miles apart when Simpson, the wagon
boss, with George Woods, a teamster,
and Billy Cody, set off riding mules
from the rear outfit to catch up the
teams in front They were midway
when war party of Indians charged
at full gallOp, surrounding them, but
Simpson shot the three mules and used
their carcasses to make a triangular
fort. The three whites, each with
rifle and a brace of revolyers, were
more than match for men with bows
and arrows, and the Indians lost so
heavily that they retreated out of
range. That gave the fort time to re-
load, but the Indians charged again,
the shoulder.
Once more the Indians retired to con-
suit, while Simpson drew the arrow
from Woods shoulder, plugging the
hole with guild of chewing tobacco.
A third time the Indians charged, try
fp0 m rifa doup tho Stnolyoda h,,t @ba,,
lost man and horse. Four war
riors had fallen now in this battle with
two men and little boy, but the In
dams are a painstaking, persevering
race, so they waited until nightfall and
set the grass on fire. But the whites
had been busy with knives scooping
hole from whence the loose earth made
a breastwork over the dead mules, so
that the flames could not reach them,
and they had good cover to shoot from
when the Indians charged through the
smoke. After that both sides had a
sleep, and at dawn they were fresh
for a grand charge, handsomely re-
pulsed. The redskins sat down in a
ring to starve the white men out, and
great was their disappointment when
Simpsons rear wagons marched to the
rescue The red men did not stay to
pick flowers.
1t seems like lying to state that at
the age of twelve Billy Cody began to
take rank among the worlds great
hOrsemen, and yet he rode on the pony
express, which closed In 1851, his four
teenth year.
The trail from the Missouri over the
plains, the deserts and the mountains
into California was about two thousand
miles through country infested with
gangs of professional robbers and hos
tile Indian tribes. The gait of the
riders averaged twelve miles an hour,
which means a gallop. to allow for the
slow work in mountains passes. There
were one hundred ninety stations at
which the riders changed ponies with
out breaking their run, and each must
be fit and able for one hundred miles
day in time of need. Pony Bob after
ward had contracts by which he rode
one hundred miles day for year.
Now, none of the famous riders of
history, like Charles MI Of Sweden;
Dick, king of Natal. or Dick Turpin of
England, made records to beat the men