A MOST FAMOUS RIDE.
In the spring of 1868, at the outbreak of the violent Indian war,
General Sheridan, from his headquarters at Hays City, dispatched Cody
as guide and scout to Captain Parker at Fort Larned. Several bands of
Comanches and Kiowas were in the vicinity, and Buffalo Bill, after
guiding General Hazen and an escort of twenty men to Fort Sarah, thirty
miles distant, started to return to Larned alone. At Pawnee Rock, about
half-way, he found himself suddenly surrounded by about forty warriors.
By professions of friendship and warm greeting of “How, how!” Bill saw
he could alone depend on cunning and strategy to escape. Being taken
before Santanta, who Bill knew was expecting, a short time before,
a large herd of cattle which had been promised by General Hazen, he
boldly complained to the wily chief of his treatment, and informed
him that he had been ordered to find him and deliver “a big heap lot
who-haws.” The cupidity of old Santanta enabled Bill to regain his
arms. Although declining an escort, he was followed, much to his alarm,
by a dozen well-mounted redskins. Keeping up “a heap of thinking,” Cody
at last reached a depression that hid him from view, and succeeded,
by putting the mule at his highest speed, in getting fully a mile in
advance before the trailers discovered his object.
Upon seeing the fleeing scout, there were no further grounds for
suspecting his motives; so the Indians, who were mounted on excellent
ponies, dashed after him as though they were impelled by a promise of
all the whisky and bacon in the big father’s commissary for his scalp.
Bill was trying to save his hair, and the Indians were equally anxious
to save it, so that the ride, prompted by these diametrically opposed
motives, was as furious as Tam O’Shanter’s. After running over about
three miles of ground, Bill turned his head, only to be horrified by
the sight of his pursuers gaining rapidly on him. He now sank the spurs
a little deeper into his mule, let out another inch of the reins, and
succeeded in increasing the speed of his animal, which appeared to be
sailing under a second wind.
It was thus the chase continued to Ash Grove, four miles from Fort
Larned, at which point Bill was less than half a mile ahead of the
Indians, who were trying to make line shots with him and his mule as
a target. Reaching Pawnee Fork, he dashed into that stream, and as he
gained the opposite shore, and was rounding a thick clump of trees, he
was rejoiced to meet Denver Jim, a prominent scout, in company with a
private soldier, driving a wagon toward the post.
A moment spent in explanation determined the three men upon an ambush.
Accordingly the wagon was hastily driven into the woods, and posting
themselves at an advantageous point they awaited the appearance of the
red-skinned pursuers. “Look out!” said Bill; “here they come, right
over my trail.” True enough, the twelve painted warriors rode swiftly
around the clump of brush, and the next instant there was a discharge
of shots from the ambush which sent two Indians sprawling on the
ground, where they kicked out their miserable existence. The others saw
the danger of their position, and making a big circle rode rapidly
back toward their war-party.
When the three men reached Larned, Buffalo Bill and Denver Jim each
displayed an Indian scalp as trophies of a successful ambush, and at
the same time apprised Captain Parker of the hostile character of
Santanta and his tribe.
On the following day about eight hundred warriors appeared before the
fort, and threatened to storm it; but being met with a determined front
they circled around the post several times, keeping the soldiers inside
until their village could move off. Considerable fear was entertained
at the fort, owing to the great number of hostile Indians who
practically invested it, and it was determined by Captain Parker as of
the utmost importance to send dispatches to General Sheridan, informing
him of the situation. Fort Hays was sixty-five miles distant from Fort
Larned, and, as the country was fairly swarming with the worst kind of
“bad” Indians, Captain Parker tried in vain to find some one who would
carry the dispatches, until the request was made to Buffalo Bill. This
expedition was not within Bill’s line of duty, and presented dangers
that would have caused the boldest man to hesitate; but finding all
the couriers absolutely refusing to perform the necessary service, he
agreed to deliver the message, provided that he could select the horse
that he wanted to ride. Of course this requirement was readily assented
to, and at 10 o’clock at night, during a terrible storm, the brave
scout set out, knowing that he had to run a very gauntlet of hostiles,
who would make many sacrifices if by so doing they could lift his
coveted scalp.
The profound darkness of the night afforded him some security from
surprise, but his fears of riding into an Indian camp were realized
when he reached Walnut Creek. A barking dog was the first intimation
of his position, but this was speedily followed by several Indians
pursuing him, being directed by the sounds of his horse’s feet. By hard
riding and good dodging, however, he eluded these, and meeting with no
further mishap than being thrown over his horse’s head by reason of
the animal suddenly stepping into a gopher-hole, he reached Fort Hays
shortly after daylight, and delivered the dispatches he carried before
General Sheridan had arisen from bed.
After delivering the message Bill went over to Hays City, where he was
well acquainted, and after taking some refreshments lay down and slept
for two hours. Thinking then that General Sheridan might want to ask
him some questions regarding the condition of affairs at Larned, he
returned to the fort and reported to him. He was somewhat astonished
to find that General Sheridan was as anxious to send a messenger to
Fort Dodge, ninety-five miles distant, as Captain Parker had been to
communicate with his superior officer at Fort Hays; and more surprised
was he to find that of the numerous couriers and scouts at the fort not
one could be induced to carry the general’s dispatch, though the sum of
$500 was offered for the service. Seeing the quandary in which General
Sheridan was placed, Bill addressed that official, and said:
“Well, General, I’ll go over to the hotel and take a little more
rest, and if by 4 o’clock you have not secured some one to carry your
dispatches, I will undertake to do it.”
The general replied: “I don’t like to ask so much of you, for I know
you are tired; but the matter is of great importance and some one must
perform the trip. I’ll give you a fresh horse, and the best at the
fort, if you’ll undertake it.”
“All right, General; I’ll be ready at 4 o’clock,” replied Bill, and
then he went over to the hotel; but meeting with many friends, and
the “irrigating” being good, he obtained only the rest that gay
companionship affords. At the appointed time Bill was ready, and
receiving the dispatches at the hands of General Sheridan he mounted
his horse and rode away to Fort Dodge. After his departure there was
much debate among the scouts who bade him good-by respecting the
probability of his getting through, for the Indians were thick along
the whole route, and only a few days before had killed three couriers
and several settlers. Bill continued his ride all night, meeting with
no interruption, and by daylight next morning he had reached Saw-Log
Crossing, on Pawnee Fork, which was seventy-five miles from Fort Hays.
A company of colored cavalry, under Major Cox, was stationed here, and
it being on the direct route to Fort Dodge, Bill carried a letter with
him from General Sheridan requesting Major Cox to furnish him with
a fresh horse upon his arrival there; this the major did; so after
partaking of a good breakfast Bill took his remount and continued on to
Dodge, which point he gained at 10 o’clock in the morning, making the
ninety-five miles in just eighteen hours from the time of starting.
The commanding officer at Fort Dodge after receiving the dispatches
remarked:
“I am very glad to see you, Cody, and I’ll tell you that the trip just
made is one of the most fortunate I know of. It is almost a miracle how
you got through without having your body filled as full of holes as a
pepper-box. The Indians are swarming all around within fifty miles
of here, and to leave camp voluntarily is almost equal to committing
suicide. I have been wanting to send a message to Fort Larned for
several days, but the trip is so dangerous that I can’t find any one
who will risk it, and I wouldn’t blame the bravest man for refusing.”
“Well, Major, I think I might get through to Larned; in fact I want to
go back there, and if you will furnish me with a good horse I’ll try to
carry your message.”
“I don’t think it would be policy for you to make the trip now,
especially since you have done so much hard riding already. Besides,
the best mount I could give you would be a government mule.”
“All right, Major, I don’t want the best; second-best is good enough
for me; so trot out your mule. I’ll take a little nap, and in the
meantime have your hostler slick up the mule so that he can slide
through with me like a greased thunderbolt should the reds jump on us.”
Bill then went off, and, after “liquidating” in true Western style,
lay down in the major’s quarters, where he slept soundly until nearly
5 o’clock in the evening, when, having replenished his canteen, he
mounted the patient mule and set out for Fort Larned, which was
sixty-five miles east of Fort Dodge.
After proceeding as far as Coon Creek, which was nearly half-way, Bill
dismounted for the purpose of getting a drink of water. While stooping
down the mule got frightened at something and jerked loose; nor did the
stupid animal stop, but followed the trail, keeping ahead of the weary
and chagrined scout for _thirty-five miles_. Half a mile from the fort
Bill got within rifle range of his exasperating steed and gave him a
furlough to the eternal grazing-grounds.
After reaching Larned--carrying the bridle and saddle himself--Buffalo
Bill spent several hours in refreshing sleep, and when he awakened
he found General Hazen trying to induce some of the couriers to take
his dispatches to General Sheridan at Fort Hays. Having been warmly
and very justly praised for the long and perilous rides he had just
completed, Bill again proffered his service to perform the trip. At
first General Hazen refused to dispatch him on the mission, saying,
“This is like riding a free horse to death; you have already ridden
enough to kill an ordinary man, and I don’t think it would be treating
you properly to permit you to make this additional journey.”
But when evening came and no other volunteer could be engaged, as a
matter of last resort Bill was given a good horse and the dispatches
intrusted to him for transmission. It was after nightfall when he
started on this last trip, and by daylight the next morning he was in
Fort Hays, where he delivered the dispatches. General Sheridan was
profoundly astonished to see Bill before him again in so short a time,
and after being informed of his wonderful riding during the three days
the general pronounced it a feat that was never equaled; and even
now General Sheridan maintains that no other man could accomplish
the same distance under similar circumstances. To this day the rides
here described stand on record as the most remarkable ever made. They
aggregated _three hundred and fifty-five miles in fifty-eight riding
hours_, or an average of more than _six miles an hour_, including
an enforced _walk of thirty-five miles_. When it is considered that
all this distance was made in the night-time, and through a country
of hostile Indians, without a road to follow or a bridge to cross
the streams, the feat appears too incredible for belief were it not
for the most indisputable evidence, easily attainable, which makes
disbelief impossible.
General Sheridan was so favorably impressed with the self-sacrificing
spirit and marvelous endurance of Buffalo Bill, and being already
acquainted with his reputation as a brave man, that he called the scout
to his headquarters directly after receiving Major Hazen’s dispatches,
and said:
“Cody, I have ordered the Fifth Cavalry to proceed against the Dog
Soldier Indians, who are now terrorizing the Republican River district;
and as the campaign will be a very important one, I want a first-class
man to guide the expedition. I have therefore decided to appoint you
guide, _and also chief of scouts of the command_.”
[Illustration: PLENTY HORSES, OGALALLA SIOUX BRAVE.]