The Life of Buffalo Bill by William F. Cody (reading an ebook .txt) 📕

of the horse; I found him in the possession of Sergeant McGrath, who had caught him. The Sergeant knew that I had been trying to get the animal and having seen me kill his rider, he handed him over to me at once.

Little did I think at that time that I had captured a horse which, for four years afterwards was the fastest runner in the state of Nebraska, but such proved to be the fact.

I jumped on his back and rode him down to the spot where the prisoners were corraled. One of the squaws among the prisoners suddenly began crying in a pitiful and hysterical manner at the sight of this horse, and upon inquiry I found that she was Tall Bull’s wife, the same squaw that had killed one of the white women and wounded the other. She stated that this was her husband’s favorite warhorse, and that only a short time ago she had seen Tall Bull riding him. I gave her to understand that her liege lord had passed in his mortal chips and that it would be sometime before he would ride his favorite horse again, and I informed her that henceforth I should call the gallant steed “Tall Bull,” in honor of her husband.

Late in the evening our wagon train arrived, and placing the wounded woman, Mrs. Weichel, in the ambulance⁠—she having been kindly attended to by the surgeons⁠—and gathering up the prisoners⁠—the squaws and papooses⁠—and captured stock, we started at once for the South Platte River, eight miles distant, and there went into camp.

Next morning General Carr issued an order that all the money found in the village should be turned over to the adjutant. About one thousand dollars was thus collected, and the entire amount was given to Mrs. Weichel. The command then proceeded to Fort Sedgwick, from which point the particulars of our fight, which took place on Sunday, July 11th, 1869, were telegraphed to all parts of the country.

We remained at this post for two weeks, during which General Augur, of the Department of the Platte, paid us a visit, and highly complimented the command for the gallant service it had performed. For this fight at Summit Springs General Carr and his command were complimented not only in General Orders, but received a vote of thanks from the Legislatures of Nebraska and Colorado⁠—as Tall Bull and his Indians had long been a terror to the border settlements⁠—and the resolutions of thanks were elegantly engrossed and sent to General Carr.

The wounded white woman was cared for in the hospital at this post, and after her recovery she soon married the hospital steward, her former husband having been killed by the Indians.

Our prisoners were sent to the Whetstone Agency, on the Missouri River, where Spotted Tail and the friendly Sioux were then living. The captured horses and mules were distributed among the officers, scouts and soldiers. Among the animals that I thus obtained were my Tall Bull horse, and a pony which I called “Powder Face,” and which afterwards became quite celebrated, as he figured prominently in the stories of Ned Buntline.

One day, while we were lying at Fort Sedgwick, General Carr received a telegram from Fort McPherson stating that the Indians had made a dash on the Union Pacific Railroad, and had killed several section-men and run off some stock near O’Fallon’s Station; also that an expedition was going out from Fort McPherson to catch and punish the redskins if possible. The General ordered me to accompany the expedition, and accordingly that night I proceeded by rail to McPherson Station, and from thence rode on horseback to the fort. Two companies, under command of Major Brown, had been ordered out, and next morning, just as we were about to start, Major Brown said to me:

“By the way, Cody, we are going to have quite an important character with us as a guest on this scout. It’s old Ned Buntline, the novelist.”

Just then I noticed a gentleman, who was rather stoutly built, and who wore a blue military coat, on the left breast of which were pinned about twenty gold medals and badges of secret societies. He walked a little lame as he approached us, and I at once concluded that he was Ned Buntline.

“He has a good mark to shoot at on the left breast,” said I to Major Brown, “but he looks like a soldier.” As he came up, Major Brown said:

“Cody, allow me to introduce you to Colonel E. B. O. Judson, otherwise known as Ned Buntline.”

“Colonel Judson, I am glad to meet you,” said I; “the Major tells me that you are to accompany us on the scout.”

“Yes, my boy, so I am,” said he; “I was to deliver a temperance lecture tonight, but no lectures for me when there is a prospect for a fight. The Major has kindly offered me a horse, but I don’t know how I’ll stand the ride, for I haven’t done any riding lately; but when I was a young man I spent several years among the fur companies of the Northwest, and was a good rider and an excellent shot.”

“The Major has given you a fine horse, and you’ll soon find yourself at home in the saddle,” said I.

The command soon pulled out for the South Platte River, which was very wide and high, owing to recent mountain rains, and in crossing it we had to swim our horses in some places. Buntline was the first man across. We reached O’Fallon’s at eleven o’clock, and in a short time I succeeded in finding the Indian trail; the party seemed to be a small one, which had come up from the south. We followed their track to the North Platte, but as they had a start of two days, Major Brown abandoned the pursuit, and returned to Fort McPherson, while I went back to Fort Sedgwick, accompanied by Buntline.

During this short scout, Buntline had asked me a great many questions, and he