THE SCOUT.
Gen. Richard Irving Dodge, General Sherman’s chief of staff, correctly
states, in his “Thirty Years Among Our Wild Indians”:
“The success of every expedition against Indians depends, to a degree,
on the skill, fidelity, and intelligence of the men employed as scouts
and guides, for not only is the command habitually dependent on them
for good routes and comfortable camps, but the officer in command must
rely on their knowledge of the position and movements of the enemy.”
Our best Indian officers are quick to recognize these traits in those
claiming frontier lore, and to no one in the military history of
the West has such deference been shown by them as to W. F. Cody, as
is witnessed by the continuous years of service he has passed, the
different commands he has served, the expeditions and campaigns he
has been identified with, his repeated holding, when he desired, the
position of Chief of Scouts of the United States Army, and the intimate
association, and contact resulting from it, with Gen. W. T. Sherman
(with whom he was at the making of the Comanche and Kiowa Treaty) in
1866, Gen. Phil. Sheridan (who has often given him special recognition
and chosen him to organize expeditions, notably that of the Duke
Alexis), old General Harney, Generals Forsyth, Merritt, Brisbin, Emory,
Gibbon, Terry, McKenzie, Carr, W. S. Hancock, Crook, Pope, Miles, Ord,
Auger, Royall, Hazen, Duncan, Palmer, Penrose, and the late lamented
General Custer. His history, in fact, would be almost a history of the
middle West; and, though younger, equaling in term of service and in
personal adventure, Kit Carson, old Jim Bridger, California Joe, Wild
Bill, and the rest of his dead associates.
As another evidence of the confidence placed in his frontiersmanship,
it may suffice to mention the celebrities whose money and position most
naturally sought the best protection the Western market could afford,
and who chose to place their lives in his keeping: Sir George Gore, the
Earl of Dunraven, James Gordon Bennett, Duke Alexis, General Custer,
Lawrence Jerome, Remington, Professor Ward of Rochester, Professor
Marsh of Yale College, Maj. J. G. Hecksher, Doctor Kingsley (Canon
Kingsley’s brother), and others of equal rank and distinction. In all
books of the plains his exploits with Carr, Miles, and Crook, in the
summer of 1876, when he killed Yellow Hand in front of the military
command in an open hand-to-hand fight, are recorded.
The following letter of his old commander, the celebrated Indian
fighter, Gen. E. A. Carr, written years ago relative to him, is a
tribute as generous as any brave man has ever made to another:
“From his services in my command, steadily in the field, I am qualified
to bear testimony as to his qualities and character.
“He was very modest and unassuming. He is a natural gentleman in his
manners as well as in character, and has none of the roughness of the
typical frontiersman. He can take his own part when required, but I
have never heard of his using a knife or a pistol, or engaging in a
quarrel where it could be avoided. His personal strength and activity
are very great, and his temper and disposition are so good that no one
has reason to quarrel with him.
“His eyesight is better than a good field-glass; he is the best trailer
I ever heard of, and also the best judge of the ‘lay of country’--that
is, he is able to tell what kind of country is ahead, so as to know how
to act. He is a perfect judge of distance, and always ready to tell
correctly how many miles it is to water, or to any place, or how many
miles have been marched....
“Mr. Cody seemed never to tire, and was always ready to go in the
darkest night or the worst weather, and usually volunteered, knowing
what the emergency required. His trailing, when following Indians, or
looking for stray animals, or for game, is simply wonderful. He is a
most extraordinary hunter.
“In a fight, Mr. Cody is never noisy, obstreperous, or excited. In
fact, I hardly ever noticed him in a fight unless I happened to want
him, or he had something to report, when he was always in the right
place, and his information was always valuable and reliable.
“During the winter of 1868 we encountered hardships and exposure in
terrific snow-storms and sleet. On one occasion that winter Mr. Cody
showed his quality by quietly offering to go with some dispatches to
General Sheridan across a dangerous region of 300 miles where other
principal scouts were reluctant to risk themselves.
“Mr. Cody has since served with me as post guide and scout at Fort
McPherson, where he frequently distinguished himself.
“In the summer of 1876 Cody went with me to the Black Hills region,
where he killed Yellow Hand. Afterward he was with the Big Horn and
Yellowstone expedition. I consider that his services to the country
and the army by trailing, finding, and fighting Indians, and thus
protecting the frontier settlers, and by guiding commands over the best
and most practicable routes, have been invaluable.”
[Illustration: DANGER AHEAD.]
Thus it will be seen that notwithstanding it will sometimes be thought
his fame rests upon the pen of the romancer, had they never been
attracted to him--and they were solely by his sterling worth--W. F.
Cody would none the less have been a remarkable character in American
history.
The history of such a man, attractive as it has already been to the
most distinguished officers and fighters in the United States Army,
must prove doubly so to men, women, and children who have heretofore
found only in novels the hero of rare exploits, on which imagination so
loves to dwell.
As a proof that our great military leaders and the officers of the
United States Army recognize the value of Buffalo Bill as a scout,
guide, and Indian fighter, and that though I am writing of one of whom
more stories of romance have been written than of any other individual
living or dead, it will be well to turn to the letters of commendation
from prominent personages in another part of this book, and the
quotations which are given in this chapter from such authorities
as General Sheridan’s “Autobiography,” Captain Price’s “Across the
Continent with the Fifth Cavalry,” Colonel Dodge’s “Thirty Years Among
the Indians,” etc.
These indorsements stamp Buffalo Bill as one whose deeds speak for
themselves, and show conclusively that he is not a pen-made man, but
worthy of all said and written of him.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT WITH THE FIFTH CAVALRY.
(Capt. George F. Price.)
“After Cody was appointed chief scout and guide for the Republican
River expedition, he was conspicuous during the pursuit of the Dog
Soldiers, under the celebrated Cheyenne chief, Tall Bull, whom he
killed at Summit Springs, Colo. He also guided the Fifth Cavalry to a
position whence the regiment was enabled to charge upon the enemy and
win a brilliant victory. He afterward participated in the Niobrara
pursuit, and later narrowly escaped death at the hands of hostile Sioux
on Prairie Dog Creek, Kan., September 26, 1869. He was assigned to
Fort McPherson when the expedition was disbanded, and served at that
station (was a justice of the peace in 1871) until the Fifth Cavalry
was transferred to Arizona. He served during this period with several
expeditions, and was conspicuous for gallant conduct in the Indian
combat at Red Willow and Birdwood creeks, and also for successful
services as chief scout and guide of the buffalo-hunt which was
arranged by General Sheridan for the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia.
“Cody was then assigned to duty with the Third Cavalry, and served with
that regiment until the fall of 1872, when he was elected a member of
the Nebraska Legislature, and thus acquired the title of ‘Honorable.’
“At the beginning of the Sioux War in 1876 he hastened to Cheyenne,
Wyo., joined the Fifth Cavalry, which had recently returned from
Arizona, and was engaged in the affair at War Bonnet (Indian Creek),
Wyo. He then accompanied the Fifth Cavalry to Goose Creek, Mont., and
served with the Big Horn and Yellowstone expedition until September.
Cody abundantly proved during this campaign that he had lost none of
his old-time skill and daring in Indian warfare. He enjoys a brilliant
reputation as a scout and guide, which has been fairly earned by
faithful and conspicuous service.
“William F. Cody is one of the best scouts and guides that ever rode at
the head of a column of cavalry on the prairies of the Far West. His
army friends, from general to private, hope that he may live long and
prosper abundantly.
“Should the wild Sioux again go on the war-path, Cody, if living, will
be found with the cavalry advance, riding another ‘Buckskin Joe,’ and
carrying his Springfield rifle, ‘Lucretia,’ across the pommel of his
saddle.”
This merited note of applause will find an echo in every patriotic
American heart which recognizes and remembers that it was in the Fifth
Cavalry that Gens. Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston, Hardee,
Emory, Van Dorn, Custer, and other noted generals served, and which was
formerly known as the Second Dragoons.
[Illustration: GUIDING IN A BLIZZARD.]
From Gen. Phil Sheridan’s “Autobiography.” After relating his
conception of the _first winter campaign_ against Indians on the then
uninhabited and bleak plains, in the winter of 1868, he says:
“The difficulties and hardships to be encountered had led several
experienced officers of the army and some frontiersmen, like old Jim
Bridger, the famous scout and guide of earlier days, to discourage the
project. I decided to go in person, bent on showing the Indians that
they were not secure from punishment because of inclement weather--an
ally on which they had hitherto relied with much assurance. We started,
and the very first night a blizzard struck us and carried away our
tents. The gale was so violent that they could not be put up again; the
rain and snow drenched us to the skin. Shivering from _wet and cold,
I took refuge under a wagon_, and there spent such a miserable night
that when morning came the gloomy predictions of old man Bridger and
others rose up before me with greatly increased force. The difficulties
were now fully realized; the blinding snow, mixed with sleet; the
piercing wind, thermometer below zero--with green bushes only for
fuel--occasioning intense suffering. Our numbers and companionship
alone prevented us from being lost or perishing, a fate that stared
in the face the frontiersmen, guides, and scouts on their solitary
missions.
“An important matter had been to secure competent guides for the
different columns of troops, for, as I have said, the section of
_country to be operated in was comparatively unknown_.
“In those days the railroad town of Hays City was filled with so-called
‘Indian scouts,’ whose common boast was of having slain scores of
redskins; but the real scout--that is, a guide and trailer knowing
the habits of the Indians--was very scarce, and it was hard to find
anybody familiar with the country south of the Arkansas, where the
campaign was to be made. Still, about the various military posts there
was some good material to select from, and we managed to employ several
men, who, from their experience on the plains in various capacities,
or from natural instinct and aptitude, soon became excellent guides
and courageous and valuable scouts, some of them, indeed, gaining
much distinction. Mr. William F. Cody (‘Buffalo Bill’), whose renown
has since become world-wide, was one of the men thus selected. He
received his sobriquet from his marked success in killing buffaloes to
supply fresh meat to the construction parties on the Kansas Pacific
Railway. He had lived from boyhood on the plains and passed every
experience--herder, hunter, pony-express rider, stage-driver,
wagon-master in the quartermaster’s department, and scout of the
army, and was first brought to my notice by distinguishing himself in
bringing me an important dispatch from Fort Larned to Fort Hays, a
distance of sixty-five miles, through a section infested with Indians.
The dispatch informed me that the Indians near Larned were preparing to
decamp, and this intelligence required that certain orders should be
carried to Fort Dodge, ninety-five miles south of Hays. This too being
a particularly dangerous route--several couriers having been killed on
it--it was impossible to get one of the various Petes, Jacks, or Jims
hanging around Hays City to take my communication. Cody, learning of
the strait I was in, manfully came to the rescue, and proposed to make
the trip to Dodge, though he had just finished his long and perilous
ride from Larned. I gratefully accepted his offer, and after a short
rest he mounted a fresh horse and hastened on his journey, halting but
once to rest on the way, and then only for an hour, the stop being made
at Coon Creek, where he got another mount from a troop of cavalry. At
Dodge he took some sleep, and then continued on to his own post--Fort
Larned--with more dispatches. After resting at Larned he was again in
the saddle with tidings for me at Fort Hays, General Hazen sending
him this time with word that the villages had fled to the south of
the Arkansas. Thus, in all, Cody rode about three hundred and fifty
miles in less than sixty hours, and such an exhibition of endurance
and courage at that time of the year and in such weather was more than
enough to convince me that his services would be extremely valuable in
the campaign, so I retained him at Fort Hays till the battalion of the
Fifth Cavalry arrived, and then made him chief of scouts.”
[Illustration: BUFFALO BILL AS BUFFALO HUNTER.]
Read through the fascinating book, “Campaigning with Crook (Maj.-Gen.
George Crook, U. S. A.) and Stories of Army Life,” due to the graphic
and soldierly pen of Capt. Charles King of the United States Army,
published in 1890.
Incidentally the author refers in various pages to Colonel Cody as
scout, etc., and testifies to the general esteem and affection in which
Buffalo Bill is held by the army.
The subjoined extracts from the book will give our readers an excellent
idea of the military scout’s calling and its dangers:
“‘By Jove! General,’ says Buffalo Bill, sliding backward down the hill,
‘now’s our chance. Let our party mount here out of sight and we’ll cut
those fellows off. Come down, every other man of you.’
“Glancing behind me, I see Cody, Tait, and ‘Chips,’ with five
cavalrymen, eagerly bending forward in their saddles, grasping
carbine and rifle, every eye bent upon me, watching for the signal.
Not a man but myself knows how near they are. ‘That’s right, close
in, you beggars! Ten seconds more and you are on them! A hundred and
twenty-five yards--a hundred--ninety--now, lads, in with you.’...
“There’s a rush, a wild ringing cheer; then bang, bang, bang! and in
a cloud of dust, Cody and his men tumble in among them, Buffalo Bill
closing on a superbly accoutered warrior. It is the work of a minute;
the Indian has fired and missed. Cody’s bullet tears through the
rider’s leg into the pony’s heart, and they tumble in a confused heap
on the prairie. The Cheyenne struggles to his feet for another shot,
but Cody’s second bullet hits the mark. It is now close quarters, knife
to knife. After a hand-to-hand struggle, Cody wins, and the young chief
Yellow Hand drops lifeless in his tracks after a hot fight. Baffled
and astounded, for once in a lifetime beaten at their own game, their
project of joining Sitting Bull nipped in the bud, they take hurried
flight. But our chief is satisfied; Buffalo Bill is radiant; his are
the honors of the day.”--_From p. 35._
[Illustration: BUFFALO BILL’S DUEL WITH CHIEF YELLOW HAND.]
General Cody holds his commission in the National Guard of the United
States (State of Nebraska), an honorable position, and as high as he
can possibly attain. _His connection with the Regular United States
Army_ has covered a continuous period of _fifteen years_, and desultory
connection of thirty years--in the most troublous era of that superb
corps’ Western history--as guide, scout, and chief of scouts--a
position unknown in any other service, and the confidential nature of
which is told in the extract from General Dodge’s work, quoted below.
This privileged position, and the nature of its services in the past,
may be more fully appreciated when it is understood that it commanded,
besides horses, subsistence, and quarters, $10 per day ($3,650 per
year), all expenses, and for special service, or “life and death”
volunteer missions, special rewards of from $100 to $500 for carrying
a single dispatch, and brought its holder the confidence of commanding
generals, the fraternal friendship of the commissioned officers, the
idolization of the ranks, and the universal respect and consideration
of the hardy pioneers and settlers of the West.
In addition to the distinguished officers previously named in this
chapter, General Cody may also well be proud of his service under
Generals Bankhead, Fry, Crittenden, Switzer, Rucker, Smith, King,
Van Vliet, Anson, Mills, Reynolds, Greeley, Penrose, Sandy, Forsyth,
Dudley, Canby, Blunt, Hayes, Guy, Henry, and others.
As a fitting close to this chapter of Cody’s record as a scout, and as
epitomizing the character of his services, the writer quotes from page
628 of Colonel Dodge’s “Thirty Years Among the Indians”:
“Of ten men employed as scouts, nine will prove to be worthless;
of fifty so employed, one may prove to be really valuable; but
though hundreds, even thousands, of men have been so employed by the
Government since the war, the number of really remarkable men among
them can be counted on the fingers. The services which these men are
called on to perform are so important and valuable that the officer who
benefits by them is sure to give the fullest credit, and men honored
in official reports come to be great men on the frontier. Fremont’s
reports made Kit Carson a renowned man. Custer immortalized California
Joe. Custer, Merritt, Carr, and Miles made William F. Cody (‘Buffalo
Bill’) a plains celebrity ‘_until time shall be no more_’.”