CHAPTER XXVI.
THE CHAMPION OF THE PLAINS.
As Buffalo Bill was known to be the most successful hunter on theprairies, shortly after his capture of the herd of Indian ponies hereceived an offer from the Kansas Pacific Railroad Company to keep theirworkmen supplied with meat, and the terms allowed him were so generousthat he felt he owed it to his family, for he had become the father of alovely little daughter, Arta, born in Leavenworth, to accept theproposition, and did so.
The employees of the road numbered some twelve hundred, and BuffaloBill's duty was to supply them with fresh meat, a most arduous task, anda dangerous one, for the Indians were constantly upon the war-path.
But he undertook the work, and it was but a very short while before hisfame as a buffalo-killer equaled his reputation as an Indian-fighter,and often on a hunt for the shaggy brutes, he had to fight the redsavages who constantly sought his life.
It was during his service for the Kansas Pacific that he wasrechristened Buffalo Bill, and he certainly deserved the renewal of hisname, as in one season he killed the enormous number of _four thousandeight hundred and twenty buffaloes_, a feat never before, or sinceequaled.
And during this time, in the perils he met with, and his numeroushair-breadth escapes, in conflict with red-skins, horse-thieves anddesperadoes, it is estimated that over a score of human beings fellbefore his unerring rifle and revolvers, while, he still bearing acharmed life, received only a few slight wounds.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE CHAMPION.
Some time after his great feat of killing buffalo for the KansasPacific, Buffalo Bill was challenged by Billy Comstock, another famousbuffalo-hunter, and a scout and Indian interpreter, to a match atkilling the shaggy wild animals.
Those who knew Comstock and had seen him among a herd of buffalo, andhad heard of Buffalo Bill's exploits, were most desirous of making amatch between the two to discover which was the best "killer."
On the other side, those who knew Buffalo Bill and had seen him at workat the buffaloes, were willing to bet high that he would prove thechampion.
As the men were not only willing, but anxious to meet, it was notdifficult for them to do so, and all preliminaries were satisfactorilyarranged to all parties concerned.
The men were to, of course, hunt on horse-back, and to begin at acertain hour in the morning and keep it up for eight hours, a large herdhaving just been found and its locality marked for the day of the sport.
The stakes were made five hundred dollars a side, and there werenumbers, both ladies and gentlemen, out on horseback to see the sport.
The herd having been located early the next morning, the two huntersleft for the field, and the large crowd followed at a distance.
The counters, those chosen to follow each hunter and count his killed,followed close behind Bill and Comstock, who rode side by side, chattingin a most friendly way until the herd was sighted.
Buffalo Bill was mounted upon Brigham, a noted buffalo horse, and he wasarmed with a breech-loading Springfield rifle, and a weapon which hadsent many a red-skin to the happy hunting-grounds.
Comstock was also splendidly mounted, and carried his favorite buffalorepeating rifle, and both men felt confident of victory.
Reaching the herd, the two hunters, followed by their counters, wellmounted also, dashed into a herd, and it quickly divided, giving eachone an opportunity to show his skill, as though the buffaloes themselvessympathized with the match and were willing to do all in their power toforward it.
In his first run Buffalo Bill killed thirty-eight, while in the samelength of time Billy Comstock dropped twenty-three, which gave theformer the advantage thus far.
A rest was then called for both horses and men, and once more theystarted out for the second run, a small herd appearing opportunely insight.
In this run Buffalo Bill's tally was eighteen to Comstock's fourteen,and another halt was made for rest and refreshments.
When called to the scratch for the third run, Buffalo Bill, knowing hehad the best buffalo horse in the country, stripped him of saddle andbridle and sprung upon his bare back.
A third herd was looked up, and the two killers began their work with awill, and Buffalo Bill sailed to the front with thirteen, which gave hima list of sixty-nine to Comstock's forty-six.
The third run closed the match, and Buffalo Bill was proclaimed thewinner and the champion buffalo-killer of the prairies.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A GAME FOR LIFE AND DEATH.
Having concluded his engagement with the Kansas Pacific Railroad,Buffalo Bill once more became a Government scout, and it was whileserving on the far border that he won the hatred of a notorious band ofdesperadoes whom he had several times thwarted in their intended crimes.
Hearing that they had said they would kill him at sight, he boldly rodeinto the town where they had their haunts, and, true to their word, twoof them came out and attacked him.
At the first shot Bill was wounded in the right arm, which destroyed hisaim, and, ere he could draw a revolver with his left hand, his horsefell dead beneath him, pinning him to the ground.
Instantly his foes rushed upon him to complete their work, when, risingon his wounded arm, he leveled his revolver with his left hand and shotthem down as they were almost upon him.
An army officer who witnessed the affray was so much pleased with thenerve of Buffalo Bill that he presented him with a splendid horse, oneof a pair he had just received from the East, and having had his wounddressed the scout rode back to camp delighted with his present.
But the leader of the desperado band still swore to kill Buffalo Bill,and to pick a quarrel with him one night in a saloon, boldly dared himto play him a game of cards.
"Yes, you accursed thief and murderer, I'll play you a game of cards ifyou will let me name the stakes," said Buffalo Bill.
"All right, name what you please, so you play," was the answer, and thecrowd gathered eagerly around, confident that there would be trouble.
"I'll name life and death as the stakes," said Buffalo Bill.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that if you win the game I'll stand ten paces away and give youa shot at me; if I win, you are to give me a shot at you."
The desperado did not like this arrangement, but having challengedBuffalo Bill to play, and given him the choice of the stakes, he darednot back down, and said:
"All right, let us begin."
"Mind you, no cheating, for I shall shoot you the moment I catch you atit."
"Two can play at that game, Buffalo Bill," said the desperado, andseating themselves at the table the game was begun, each man having hisrevolver lying by his side.
Buffalo Bill was calm and smiling, for he had confidence in hisuniversal good luck to win.
The desperado was pale and stern, and played warily, for he saw the eyeof his foe watching him like a hawk.
Once Bill dropped his hand upon his revolver and his adversary attemptedto do the same; but the scout was too quick for him and merely said:
"Beware, for if I catch you cheating, I will kill you."
"Who's cheating, Buffalo Bill?"
"You were about to make an attempt to do so; but I warn you," was thecalm reply.
Then, in breathless silence the game went on, and Buffalo Bill won.
Instantly the desperado seized his revolver, but he felt against hishead the cold muzzle of a weapon, and heard the stern tones:
"Bent, I guess I'll save Buffalo Bill from killing you, by hanging youto the nearest tree."
The speaker was Wild Bill, who had stood behind the chair of thedesperado.
All knew him, and that he was an officer of the law, and would keep hisword.
Buffalo Bill said nothing, and the crime-stained wretch was dragged outof the saloon, a rope put around his neck, and he was hanged for hismany red deeds, thereby escaping death at the hands of the scout.
CHAPTER XXIX.
BILL'S STORY OF HIS BECOMING AN ACTO
R.
As Buffalo Bill in the past few years has become known as an actor, andappears as such with his Dramatic Combination, during the winter months,when he is not on the plains, it will not be by any means uninterestingto my readers to learn how he came to go upon the stage, and the story Igive in his own words, in relating his experience to a reporter who hadcalled upon him for some jottings regarding his life.
He said:
"It was in the fall of '71, that General Sheridan came to the plainswith a party of gentlemen for the purpose of engaging in a buffalo-hunt,to extend from Fort McPherson, Nebraska, to Fort Hayes, Kansas, on theKansas Pacific Railroad, a distance of 228 miles, through the finesthunting country in the world. In the party were James Gordon Bennett ofthe New York _Herald_, Lawrence and Leonard Jerome, Carl Livingstone,S.G. Heckshire, General Fitzhugh of Pittsburg, General Anson Stager ofthe Western Union Telegraph Company, and other noted gentlemen. I guidedthe party, and when the hunt was finished, I received an invitation fromthem to go to New York and make them a visit, as they wanted to show methe East, as I had shown them the West. I was then Chief of Scouts inthe Department of the Platte. And in January, 1872, just after the GrandDuke Alexis's hunt, which, by the way, I organized, I got a leave ofabsence, and for the first time in my life found myself east of theMississippi river.
"Stopping at Chicago two days, where I was the guest of GeneralSheridan, I proceeded to New York, where I was shown the 'elephant.'During my visit I attended the performance at the Bowery Theater, incompany with Colonel E.Z.C. Judson (Ned Buntline), and witnessed adramatization of Judson's story, entitled 'Buffalo Bill, King of BorderMen.' The part of 'Buffalo Bill' was impersonated by J.B. Studley, anexcellent actor, and I must say the fellow looked like me, as hismake-up was a perfect picture of myself. I had not watched myself verylong before the audience discovered that the original Buffalo Bill wasin the private box, and they commenced cheering, which stopped theperformance, and they would not cease until I had shown myself andspoken a few words.
"At that time I had no idea of going on the stage, such a thought havingnever entered my head. But some enterprising managers, believing therewas money in me, offered me as high as $1,000 per week to go on thestage. I told them I would rather face 1,000 Indians than attempt toopen my mouth before all those people. I returned to my duties as ascout, and during the summer of 1872 Ned Buntline was constantly writingto me to come East and go on the stage, offering large inducements. Asscouting business was a little dull, I concluded to try it for awhile,and started East in company with Texas Jack. Met Buntline in Chicagowith a company ready to support me.
"We were to open in Chicago in Nixon's Amphitheater on December 16th,1872. I arrived in Chicago December 12th, 1872. We were driven to thetheater, where I was introduced to Jim Nixon, who said, 'Mr. Buntline,give me your drama, as I am ready to cast your piece, and we have notime to lose, if you are to open Monday, and these men who have neverbeen on the stage will require several rehearsals.' Buntline surprisedus all by saying that he had not written the drama yet, but would do soat once. Mr. Nixon said, 'No drama! and this is Thursday. Well, I willcancel your date.' But Buntline was not to be balked in this way, andasked Nixon what he would rent the theater one week for. 'One thousanddollars,' said Nixon. 'It's my theater,' said Buntline, making out acheck for the amount. He rushed to the hotel, secured the services ofseveral clerks to copy the parts, and in four hours had written 'TheScouts of the Prairie.' He handed Texas Jack and I our parts, told us tocommit them to memory and report next morning for rehearsal. I looked atJack's and then at my part. Jack looked at me and said, 'Bill, how longwill it take you to commit your part?' 'About seven years, if I havegood luck.' Buntline said, 'Go to work.' I studied hard, and nextmorning recited the lines, cues and all, to Buntline. Buntline said,'You must not recite cues; they are for you to speak from--the lastwords of the persons who speak before you.' I said, 'Cues be d--d; Inever heard of anything but a billiard cue.'
"Well, night came. The house was packed. Up went the curtain. Buntlineappeared as Cale Durg, an old Trapper, and at a certain time Jackand I were to come on. But we were a little late, and when I made myappearance, facing 3,000 people, among them General Sheridan and anumber of army officers, it broke me all up and I could not remembera word. All that saved me was my answer to a question put by Buntline.He asked, 'What detained you?' I told him I had been on a hunt withMilligan. You see Milligan was a prominent Chicago gentleman who hadbeen hunting with me a short time before on the plains, and had beenchased by the Indians, and the papers had been full of his hunt for sometime; Buntline saw that I was 'up a stump,' for I had forgotten mylines, and he told me to tell him about the hunt. I told the story ina very funny way, and it took like wild-fire with the audience.
"While I was telling the story, Buntline had whispered to the stagemanager that when I got through with my story to send on the Indians.Presently Buntline sung out: 'The Indians are upon us.' Now this was'pie' for Jack and I, and we went at those bogus Indians red hot untilwe had killed the last one and the curtain went down amid a mosttremendous applause, while the audience went wild. The other actorsnever got a chance to appear in the first act. Buntline said, 'Go aheadwith the second act, it's going splendid.' I think that during theentire performance, neither Jack nor myself spoke a line of our originalparts. But the next morning the press said it was the best show evergiven in Chicago, as it was so bad it was good, and they could not seewhat Buntline was doing all the time if it took him four hours to writethat drama.
"Our business was immense all that season, and if we had been managedproperly we would have each made a small fortune. As it was I came out$10,000 ahead. In June, 1873, I returned to the plains, came East againin the fall, this time my own manager. I got a company, took the noted'Wild Bill' with me, but could not do much with him as he was not aneasy man to handle, and would insist on shooting the supers in the legswith powder, just to see them jump. He left a few months later andreturned to the plains. He was killed in August, 1876, in Deadwood.
"In the summer of 1876 I was Chief of Scouts under General Carr,afterward with General Crook and General Terry.
"On the 17th of July I killed Yellow Hand, a noted Cheyenne chief, andtook the first scalp for Custer. I returned to the stage in October,1876, and during the season of 1876 and 1879 I cleared $38,000. I havegenerally been successful financially on the stage. I am now in thecattle business in Nebraska, to which place I will return as soon as theseason is over, providing nothing serious occurs to call me homeearlier."
CHAPTER XXX.
THE YELLOW HAND DUEL.
As Buffalo Bill, in the foregoing chapter speaks of his killing YellowHand, the celebrated Cheyenne chief, who was greatly feared by his ownpeople, and a terror to the whites, I will give an account of thattragic duel between a white man and two Indians, for another chief alsorode down and attacked the noted scout, after his red comrade hadfallen.
When the Indian war of 1876 broke out Buffalo Bill at 01:00 closed hisdramatic season, and started post haste for the West, having received atelegram from General E.A. Carr asking for his services as scout in thecoming campaign.
He joined the command at Fort D.A. Russell, where the famous FifthCavalry Regiment was then in camp, and arriving received a boisterouswelcome from his old comrades, who felt that, with Buffalo Bill as Chiefof Scouts, they would surely have warm work with the Indians.
The Fifth Cavalry was at once ordered to operate in scouting the countryon the South Fork of the Cheyenne and to the foot of the Black Hills,and it was while driving the Indians before them that the news came ofCuster's fatal fight with Sitting Bull on the Little Big Horn.
General Merritt, who had superseded Carr in command marched at once tothe Big Horn country, and while _en route_ there came news of alarge force of warriors moving down to join Sitting Bull.
Instantly five hundred picked men of the Fifth started back by forcedmarches, and Buffalo Bill, splendidly mounted, kept on ahead of thecommand a coup
le of miles.
Discovering the Indians, he at the same time beheld two horsemen whom hesaw to be whites, riding along unconscious of the presence of foes.
He knew that they must be scouts bearing dispatches, and at oncedetermined to save them for they were riding in a direction down onevalley that would bring them directly upon the red-skins, who hadalready seen them, and had sent a force of thirty warriors out tointercept them.
Instantly Buffalo Bill dashed over the ridge of the hill that concealedhim from the view of the Cheyennes, and rode directly toward the bandgoing to attack the two white horsemen.
They halted suddenly at sight of him, but, seeing that he was alone,they started for him with wild yells.
But still he kept on directly toward them, until within range, when heopened upon them with his matchless Evans rifle, a thirty-four-shotrepeater, and a hot fight began, for they returned the fire.
This was just what Buffalo Bill wanted, for the firing alarmed thehorsemen and placed them on their guard, and he knew that the Indianvolleys would be heard at the command and hasten them forward.
Having dropped a couple of red-skins and several ponies, Buffalo Billwheeled to the rightabout, dashed up to the top of a hill, and,signaling to the two whites to follow him, headed for the command atfull speed.
As he had anticipated, the two men were scouts with important dispatchesfor General Merritt, and Bill's bold act had not only saved their lives,but also the dispatches, and the result of it was that the Fifth Cavalrywent at once into line of battle, while the Cheyennes also formed forbattle, though evidently surprised at being headed off at that point.
Beadle's Boy's Library of Sport, Story and Adventure, Vol. I, No. 1. Page 8