The Life of Buffalo Bill by William F. Cody (reading an ebook .txt) ๐
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The popular history of William Frederick โBuffalo Billโ Cody remains more myth than anything else, yet itโs undeniable that he was a central figure in the American Old West. Pony Express rider, stagecoach driver, trapper, soldier, bison hunter, scout, showmanโhis rรฉsumรฉ reads like the quintessential record of all that makes up the Old West mythology, and itโs all documented in this, his original 1879 autobiography.
While The Life of Buffalo Bill is rife with the dramatic stylings of the dime novels and stage melodramas so popular at the time, in it Cody presents his version of his life: from his boyhood settling in the newly-opened Kansas territory, to his early life as a frontiersman. It was written when Cody was only thirty-three years old, just after he started his career as a showman and a few years before he created his world famous Buffalo Billโs Wild West show. Originally titled The Life of Hon. William F. Cody Known as Buffalo Bill the Famous Hunter, Scout, and Guide: An Autobiography, it is an arguably more accurate account of both his life and the American West than the later 1917 autobiography The Great West That Was: โBuffalo Billโsโ Life Story which was ghostwritten by James Montague and published after his death. Although it makes many claims that are disputed today, The Life of Buffalo Bill reveals much about both the historical William F. Cody and the Buffalo Bill of American legend, and gives insight into the history of the American West.
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- Author: William F. Cody
Read book online ยซThe Life of Buffalo Bill by William F. Cody (reading an ebook .txt) ๐ยป. Author - William F. Cody
โA friend and a white man,โ I replied.
The door opened, and a big, ugly-looking fellow stepped, forth and said:
โCome in.โ
I accepted the invitation with some degree of fear and hesitation, which I endeavored to conceal, as I saw that it was too late to back out, and that it would never do to weaken at that point, whether they were friends or foes. Upon entering the dugout my eyes fell upon eight as rough and villainous looking men as I ever saw in my life. Two of them I instantly recognized as teamsters who had been driving in Lew Simpsonโs train, a few months before, and had been discharged.
They were charged with the murdering and robbing of a ranchman; and having stolen his horses it was supposed that they had left the country. I gave them no signs of recognition however, deeming it advisable to let them remain in ignorance as to who I was. It was a hard crowd, and I concluded that the sooner I could get away from them the better it would be for me. I felt confident that they were a band of horse-thieves.
โWhere are you going, young man; and whoโs with you?โ asked one of the men who appeared to be the leader of the gang.
โI am entirely alone. I left Horseshoe station this morning for a bear hunt, and not finding any bears, I had determined to camp out for the night and wait till morning,โ said I; โand just as I was going into camp, a few hundred yards down the creek, I heard one of your horses whinnying, and then I came up to your camp.โ
I was thus explicit in my statement in order, if possible to satisfy the cutthroats that I was not spying upon them, but that my intrusion was entirely accidental.
โWhereโs your horse?โ demanded the boss thief.
โI left him down the creek,โ I answered.
They proposed going after the horse, but I thought that that would never do, as it would leave me without any means of escape, and I accordingly said, in hopes to throw them off the track, โCaptain, Iโll leave my gun here and go down and get my horse, and come back and stay all night.โ
I said this in as cheerful and as careless a manner as possible, so as not to arouse their suspicions in any way, or lead them to think that I was aware of their true character. I hated to part with my gun, but my suggestion of leaving it was a part of the plan of escape which I had arranged. If they have the gun, thought I, they would surely believe that I intended to come back. But this little game did not work at all, as one of the desperadoes spoke up and said:
โJim and I will go down with you after your horse, and you can leave your gun here all the same, as youโll not need it.โ
โAll right,โ I replied, for I could certainly have said nothing else. It became evident to me that it would be better to trust myself with two men than with the whole party. It was apparent that from this time on, I would have to be on the alert for some good opportunity to give them the slip.
โCome along,โ said one of them, and together we went down the creek, and soon came to the spot where my horse was tied. One of the men unhitched the animal and said: โIโll lead the horse.โ
โVery well,โ said I, โIโve got a couple of sage-hens here. Lead on.โ
I picked up the sage-hens, which I had killed a few hours before, and followed the man who was leading the horse, while his companion brought up the rear. The nearer we approached the dugout the more I dreaded the idea of going back among the villainous cutthroats.
My first plan of escape having failed, I now determined upon another.
I had both of my revolvers with me, the thieves not having thought it necessary to search me. It was now quite dark, and I purposely dropped one of the sage-hens, and asked the man behind me to pick it up. While he was hunting for it on the ground, I quickly pulled out one of my Coltโs revolvers and struck him a tremendous blow on the back of the head, knocking him senseless to the ground. I then instantly wheeled around, and saw that the man ahead who was only a few feet distant, had heard the blow and had turned to see what was the matter, his hand upon his revolver. We faced each other at about the same instant, but before he could fire, as he tried to do, I shot him dead in his tracks. Then jumping on my horse, I rode down the creek as fast as possible, through the darkness and over the rough ground and rocks.
The other outlaws in the dugout, having heard the shot which I had fired, knew there was trouble, and they all came rushing down the creek. I suppose, by the time they reached the man whom I had knocked down, that he had recovered and hurriedly told them of what had happened. They did not stay with the man whom I had shot, but came on in hot pursuit of me. They were not mounted, and were making better time down the rough canรตn than I was on horseback. From time to time I heard them gradually gaining on me.
At last they had come so near that I saw that I must abandon my horse. So I jumped to the ground, and gave
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