Last of the great scouts : the life story of Col. William F. Cody ("Buffalo Bill") as told by his sister Helen Cody Wetmore

Preface

In presenting this volume to the public, the writer has a two-fold purpose. For a number of years there has been an increasing demand for an authentic biography of " Buffalo Bill," and in response, many books of varying value have been submitted, yet no one of them has borne the hall-mark of veracious history. Naturally, there were incidents in Colonel Cody's life — more especially in the earlier years — that could be given only by those with whom he had grown up from childhood. For many incidents of his later life I am indebted to his own and others' accounts. I desire to acknowledge obligation to General P. H. Sheridan, Colonel Inman, Colonel Ingraham and my brother, for valuable assistance furnished by Sheridan's Memoirs, "The Santa F^ Trail," "The Great Salt Lake Trail," "Buffalo Bill's Autobiography," and "Stories From the Life of Buffalo Bill."

A second reason that prompted the writing of Colonel Cody's life-story is purely personal. The sobriquet of " Buflfalo Bill " has conveyed to many people an impression of his personality that is far removed from the facts. They have pictured in fancy a rough frontier character, without tenderness and true nobility. But in very truth has the poet sung :

" The bravest are the tenderest — The loving are the daring."

The public knows Colonel Cody as a boy Indian slayer, a champion buffalo hunter, a brave soldier, a daring scout, an intrepid frontiersman and a famous exhibitor. It is only

V

VI PREFACE.

fair to him that a glimpse be given of the parts he played behind the scenes : devotion to a widowed mother that pushed the boy so early upon a stage of ceaseless action, continued care and tenderness displayed in later years, and the generous thoughtfulness of manhood's prime.

Thus, a part of my pleasant task has been to enable the public to see my brother through his sister's eyes — eyes that have seen truly, if kindly. If I have been tempted into praise where simple narrative might, to the reader, seem all that was required ; if I have seemed to exaggerate in any of my history's details, I may say that I am not conscious of having set down more than " a plain, unvarnished tale." Embarrassed with riches of fact, I have had no thought of fiction.

H. C. W.

Codyview, Duluth, Minnesota, February 26, 1899.

Contents

Preface

Chapter I

The Old Homestead in Iowa — Death of Samuel Cody — A Strange Prophecy and its Fulfilment — The Migration to Kansas— First Night in Camp, and Will's First Deer — The Rescue of Turk— An African Apparition — Temporary Stop in Missouri

Chapter II

Will's First Indian— A Horse Trade Spoiled— The Great Overland Trail — The Kansas-Nebraska Bill— The Home in Kansas — Two Babes, a Dog and a Panther — The Fearless Fidelity of Turk — Will to the Rescue

Chapter III

The Shadow of Partisan Strife — Father's Political Standing — The Meeting at Rively's — Father Avows His Free State Sympathies, and is Struck Down — Beginning of the Persecution— Ruffian Visitors — The Flight to Doniphan — Col. Jim Lane and His Band of Avengers — Father's Return 13

[CHAPTER IV.

Persecution Continues — The Adventures of Mr. Sharpe — A Night Attack — Outwitted by a Woman — The Sawmill at Grasshopper Falls — W^ill Takes the Road — The Ambush at Big Stranger's Creek — A Ride to Save a Father's Life — The Le Compton Legislature — Ohio Emigrants — Death of Isaac Cody 19

vii

VI 11 CONTENTS.

Chapter V

An Ucjust Claim— Will Sigts a Pledge— The " Boy Extra " of the Bull-Train — Attacked by Indians — The Flight by the River — Will's First Dead Indian — Arrival at Fort Kearney — The Wreck of the Bull-Train 26

Chapter VI

The Lawsuit — Lawyer Douglass's Plea — Arrival of the Missing Witness — Sister Martha's Wedding — The Germ of the Wild West Show — An Experience with Hard Cider — Off for Fort Bridger — Raided by Danites — Winter Quarters and Short Rations 34

Chapter VII

Hemmed in by Indians — The Dead-Mule Barricade — A Dream that Saved Three Lives — Sister Martha's Death — Will Goes to School — Turk's Rescue of His Master — The Fight with Steve Gobel — Off for the Plains Again 41

Chapter VIII

The Valley Grove House — A Trapping Expedition and a Brush with Indians — A Cave of Horrors — The Death and Burial of Turk — A Mild Attack of Gold Fever — Will as a Pony Express Rider ...51

Chapter IX

The Pony Express is " Held Up " — Another Trapping Expedition — Fight with a Bear — A Broken Leg — Alone in the Dugout — An Indian Visit and a Touch of Auld Lang Syne — A Desperate Situation — An Eleventh-Hour Rescue — Home Again — Death of Dave Phillips 61

Chapter X

Echoes from Sumter — A Station on the Underground Railway — Uncle Tom and his Sufferings — Will Drops his First Buffalo, and Saves a Life — With the Pony Express Again — California Joe — Indian Troubles— Wild Bill 68

CONTENTS. IX

Chapter XI

The Work of the " Black Water," and the Retribution— A Short but Dashing Indian Campaign — A Bear Hunt without a Bear — In a Den of Horse Thieves — What came of Picking up Sage Hens — Government Freighting 76

Chapter XII

The Mother's Last Illness — Her Charge to the Writer — L,ast Message

for Will and Julia — Her Death 84

Chapter XIII

A Frontier Funeral — OflF to the War — Will as Dispatch Bearer — An Ambuscade that Failed — Death of Ed. Norcross — An Economical Administrator and a Lesson in Economy — Will Reports for "Secret Service" — A Perilous Mission 88

Chapter XIV

The Role of a Spy — In the Lion's Den — A Ride for Life — Indian Trouble on the Old Santa Fe Trail— Will's First Big Battle- Wild Bill Again — Bread Cast Upon the Waters — Colonel Hickok" s Daring Dash 98

Chapter XV

A St. Louis Detail— The Fair Equestrienne — A Rescue and a Betrothal — The Overland Stage Route — Will as a Driver — Another Race for Life — Turnabout at "Holding Up" is Fair Play . . . icg

CHAPTER XVL

The Wedding— Will Turns Landlord — First Effort as au Individual Freighter and its Disastrous Ending — Scouting at Fort Fletcher — The Meeting with General Custer— The Mouse-Colored Mule — A Voice in the Night — "The Colored Troops Fight Nobly" — The City of Rome 120

X CONTENTS.

Chapter XVII

Kow the Sobriquet of " Buffalo Bill " Was Won— The Remarkable Performances of Brigham and Lucretia Borgia — A Contest of Skill in Buffalo Hunting — Will Returns to Scouting — A Dangerous Ride — A Tricky Mule, and What Happened to It 134

Chapter XVIII

Satanta.Chief of the Kiowas— Scout Cody is Captured and Tomahawked " for a Joke" — A Stern Chase — One Way of Bringing Meat into Camp — General Carr's Expedition — A Big Battle with the Redskins 142

Chapter XIX

At Fort McPherson — Pawnee Scouts — "Buckskin Joe" — The Campaign Against the Sioux — The Stand in the Ravine — A Long Shot, and the Fall of Tall Bull— His Widow's Sentiments ... 151

Chapter XX

Army Life at Foil McPherson — A Buffalo Hunt, and What Came of It — "William F. Cody, Justice of the Peace" — The Beacon on the Hill-top — Ned Buntline — The Sioux Legend of the Creation — The Great Spirit's Masterpiece 157

Chapter XXI

Another Marriage — A Lodge in the Wilderness — An Indian Raid and the Death of Little John — Frontier Banking — A Mirage — Smoked Out — General Duncan's Expedition — Distinguished Visitors— A Visit to Spotted Tail 167

Chapter XXII

The Hunt of the Grand Duke Alexis— A Ride to be Remembered — Journey to the East — A Call for a Dramatic Hero — Social Obligations — Will Plays Lucullus, and is Staggered by the Cost Thereof — A Visit to Pennsylvania Relatives i'/6

CONTENTS. XI

Chapter XXIII

Stolen Horses — Will is Elected to the Nebraska Legislature — A Theatrical Venture — Remarkable Performance of "The Scout of the Plains" — Wild Bill Grows Restless — Will Organizes a Theatrical Company of his Own — Death of Kit Carson Cody , . 183

Chapter XXIV

The Sioux Uprising of '76 — Sitting Bull the Cause of the War — Custer's Campaign — The Fifth Cavalry's Brush with Cheyennes — A Prairie Duel — The Sioux War on the Mimic Stage — "Scouts Rest Ranch" — An Oasis in the Desert 192

Chapter XXV

Literary Work — Colonel Cody's Autobiography — Guests at North Platte— A Deer Hunt— Why the Fawn Went Free— The Ranch on the Dismal River — Nine Days Camp in the Foothills — An Estimate of Colonel Cody's Success as an Actor 200

Chapter XXVI

First Visit to the Valley of the Big Horn — An Indian Description of Eithity Tugala, the Ijis of the Red Man — Colonel Cody's Account of the Beauties of the Big Horn Basin — The Haunted Lake — The Commands of the Great Spirit from an Indian Point of View . 210

Chapter XXVII

Organization of the "Wild West Show" — Opening at Omaha — Tour of Great Britain — Spectacular Effects — In London — Luncheon in Honor of Gladstone — Patronage of Royalty — The Queen's Salute to the American flag — The Deadwood Coach — Indian Breakfasts — Homeward Bound 218

Chapter XXVIII

Return of the Wild West Show to America — A Letter from W. T. Sherman — The Season on Staten Island — An Invitation to Lead in Prayer — Off for Europe Again — The Sojourn in Paris — Rosa Bonheur — Pope Leo's Anniversary — The Cowboys Show the Italians Some Points in Horse Taming — Tour of Germany .... 229

Xll CONTENTS,

Chapter XXIX

Return to America — The Sioux Uprising of '91 — Influence Exerted Over the Indians by the Wild West Show — Will's Opinion of General Miles — Banquet in Honor of the General — Burning of "Welcome Wigwam" — Back to Europe — End of the Foreign Tour 237

Chapter XXX

A. Thousand Miles in the Saddle with " Buffalo Bill " — " The Garden of the Gods" — Preparations for the World's Fair — " The Congress of Rough Riders" — Newspaper Enterprise in Duluth — Cody Sanatorium 243

Chapter XXXI

•' The Tented City " — An Incident in a Boston Hospital— The Wild W^est Visits North Platte — Cody Day at the Omaha Exposition — A Reunion of Pioneers 250

Chapter XXXII

The Taming of the Wild West — Grass-Grown Trails and Hoary Landmarks — The Trails of Steel— Old and New Modes of Travel Contrasted—The Buffalo— The Indian— The " Last of the Scouts " . 261

LIST OF FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Author Consulting Her Brother. Frontispiece.

FACING PAOE

The Old Cody Homestead in Iowa 34

The Famous "Leather Stocking " of Romance Becomes

A Ten-Year-Old Reality 46

"Will Guarding His Sick Father's Life . . . -58 - A Sick Boy's Desperate Ride to Save a Father's Life . 70 Nine-Year-Old Will Cody Asking Mr. Majors for Work 84 ^ Novel and Narrow Escape FROM an Indian Attack . 96 " Little Billy Cody " Kills His First Indian . .110

Lively Stampede from the Cave of Horrors . . .122 Will Rescues His Helpless Comrade from a Wounded

Bear 136

Visiting His Father's Grave 148

A Deadly Encounter with Horse Thieves . . . 162 Will Becomes One of the Gallant Boys in Blue . . i74 "Scout's Rest Ranch " — North Platte, Nebraska . 188 , Cedar Mountain Canon — Big Horn Basin, Near the

Town of Cody, Wyoming 202

Colonel Cody's Famous Old War Horse, "Charlie" . 214 "Welcome Wigwam" — Colonel Cody's Residence at

North Platte, Nebraska 226

"Cody Day" at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, Omaha— Buffalo Bill's Wild West Parade Leaving Madison Square Garden, 1899 .... 240 Last of the Great Scouts 261

Thirty-Two Initial Illustrations.

xiu

Chapter I

THE OLD HOMESTEAD IN IOWA — DEATH OF SAMUEL CODY — A STRANGE PROPHECY AND ITS FULFILMENT — THE MIGRATION TO KANSAS — FIRST NIGHT IN CAMP, AND will's first DEER — THE RESCUE OF TURK — AN AFRICAN APPARITION — TEMPORARY STOP IN MISSOURI.

PLEASANT, roomy farmhouse, set in the sunHght against a background of cool, green wood and mottled meadow — this is the picture that my earliest memories frame for me.

Isaac and Mary Cody, my parents, had settled in Davenport, Iowa, after their marriage.

Shortly afterward the family moved to a farm near the little town of LeClair, and at this place — the farmhouse in the dancing sunshine, with a background of wood and meadow — my brother, William F. Cody, was born on the 26th day of February, 1846.

Of the good old-fashioned sort was our family, numbering five daughters and two sons — Martha, Samuel, Julia, William, Eliza, Helen and May. Samuel, a lad of unusual beauty of face and nature, was killed through an unhappy accident before he was yet fourteen.

No doubt old settlers in Iowa will remember ' ' Betsy Baker," a mare of speed and pedigree, but displaying at times a most malevolent temper. Upon one fateful day Samuel was

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2 LAST OF THE (iREAT SCOUTS.

riding Betsy, accompanied by Will, who, though only seven years of age, yet sat his pony with the ease and grace that distinguished the veteran rider of the future. Presently Betsy Baker became fractious, and sought to throw her rider. In vain did she rear and plunge; he kept his saddle. Then, seemingly, she gave up the fight, and Samuel cried in boyish exultation:

"Ah, Betsy Baker, you didn't quite come it that time!"

His last words! As if she knew her rider was a careless victor off his guard, the mare reared suddenly and flung herself upon her back, crushing the daring boy beneath her.

Though to us younger children our brother Samuel was but a shadowy memor}', in him had fondly centered our parents' hopes and aims. These, naturally, were transferred to the younger, now the only, son, and the hope that mother, especially, held for him was strangely stimulated by the remembrance of the mystic divination of a soothsa3'er in the years agone. My mother was a woman of too much intelligence and force of character to nourish an average superstition; but prophecies fulfilled will temper, though they may not shake the smiling unbelief of the most hard-headed skeptic. Mother's moderate skepticism was not proof against the strange fulfilment of one prophecy, which fell out in this wise:

To a Southern city, which my mother, then a young girl, was visiting with a brother's wife, there came a celebrated fortune-teller, and, led by curiosity solely, my mother and my aunt one day made two of the crowd that thronged the sibyl's drawing-rooms.

Both received with laughing incredulity the prophecy that my aunt and the two children with her would be dead in a fortnight; but the dread augury was fulfilled to the letter, for all three were stricken with yellow fever, and died within less than the time set. This startling confirmation of the soothsayer's divining powers not unnaturally affected my mother's belief in that part of the prophecy relating to herself — that

" she would meet her future husband on the steamboat by which she expected to return home ; that she would be married to him in a year, and bear three sons, of whom only the second would live, but that the name of this son would be known all over the world, and would one day be that of the President of the United States. ' ' The first part of this prophecy was verified, and Samuel's death was another link between past and future ; was it, then, strange that mother looked with unusual hope upon her second son ?

That 'tis good fortune for a boy to be only brother to five sisters is open to question. The older girls petted Will ; the younger regarded him as a superior being ; while to all it seemed so fit and proper that the promise of the stars concerning his future should be kept, that never for a moment did we weaken in our belief that great things were in store for our only brother. We looked for the prophecy's complete fulfilment, and with childish veneration regarded Will as one destined to sit in the Executive's chair.

My mother, always somewhat delicate, was so affected in health by the shock of Samuel's death that a change of scene was advised. The California gold craze was then at its apogee, and father caught the fever, though in a mild form ; for he had prospered as a farmer, and we not only had a comfortable home, but were in easy circumstances. Influenced in part by a desire to improve mother's health, and in part, no doubt, by the golden day-dreams that lured so many Argonauts Pacificward, he disposed of his farm and bade us prepare for a Western journey ; but before his plans attained to completion he fell in with certain disappointed goldseekers returning from the Coast and impressed by their representations, decided for Kansas instead of California.

Our equipment for the journey surpassed that of the average emigrant. In addition to the three prairie schooners, containing our household goods, we owned a roomy family carriage, in which mother and daughters rode. Brother Will, possessor of the three things dearest to the heart of a boy — dog, horse,

4 LAST OP* THE GREAT SCOUTS.

and gun — constituted himself our bodyguard, riding beside us upon his pony, with his gun across his saddle, and the dog trotting behind. To Will, this Western trip thrilled with possible Indian skirmishes and other stirring adventures, though of the real dangers that lay in our path he did not dream. For him, therefore, the first week of our travels held no great interest, for we were constantly chancing upon settlers and farmhouses, in which the night might be passed ; but with every mile the settlers grew fewer and farther between, until one day Will whispered to us, in great glee : " I heard father tell mother that he expected we should have to camp to-night. Now we'll have some fun ! "

Will's hope was well founded. Shortly before nightfall we reached a stream that demanded a ferryboat for its crossing, and as the nearest dwelling was a dozen miles away, it was decided that we should camp by the streamside. The family was first sent across the ferry, and upon the eight-year-old lad of the house father placed the responsibility of selecting the ground to pitch the tents on.

My brother's career forcibly illustrates the fact that environment plays as large a part as heredity in shaping character. Perhaps his love for the free life of the plains is a heritage derived from some long-gone ancestor ; but there can be no doubt that to the earlier experiences of which I am writing he owed his ability as a scout. The faculty for obtaining water, striking trails, and finding desirable camping grounds, in him seemed almost instinct.

The tents being pitched upon a satisfactory site, Will called to Turk, the dog, and, rifle in hand, set forth in search of game for supper. He was successful beyond his fondest hopes. He had looked only for small game, but scarcely had he put the camp behind him when Turk gave a signaling yelp, and out of the bushes bounded a magnificent deer. Nearly every hunter will confess to " buck fever " at sight of his first deer, .so it is not strange that a boy of Will's age should have stood immovable, staring dazedly at the graceful animal until it vanished

LAST OF THE GRKAT SCOUTS. 5

from sight, Turk gave chase, but soon trotted back and barked reproachfull)' at his young master. But Will presently had an opportunity to recover Turk's good opinion, for the dog, after darting away, with another signaling yelp, fetched another fine stag within gun range. This time the young hunter mastered his nerves, took aim with steady hand, and brought down his first deer.

Upon the following Sabbath we were again camped by the bank of a deep, swift-running stream, across which Turk, wearied and heated by a rabbit chase, attempted to swim, but the water chilled him, and he would have perished had not Will hastened to the rescue without a second's hesitation. The ferryman, in his turn, seeing an eight-year-old boy opposing the rapid current, sprang for his boat and sculled after him. Will succeeded in reaching the other shore, and the comment of the ferryman was :

" You're a fool, boy, to risk your life in swimming a stream like this !"

" But I couldn't let my dog drown ! " cried Will, surprised that anyone should call into question so plain a fact.

" Well," said the ferryman, smiling grimly, " you're gritty, anyway. You ought to make your mark in the world. ' ' And he took boy and dog into his boat for the return trip.

Turk plays so conspicuous and important a part in our early lives that he deserves a brief description. He was a large and powerful animal, part bull and, all prejudice aside, one of the most sagacious and devoted of the canine tribe. We regarded him as our best friend when we set forth on our pilgrimage ; and when, in later days, his fidelity and almost human intelligence were repeatedly the means of saving life and property, we installed him as a member of the family — ever faithful, loyal, and ready to lay down his life in our service. He was none the worse for his plunge in the river, and his gratitude to Will was attended by added devotion. Outlaws and desperadoes were always to be met with on Western trails in those rugged days, and more than once Turk's constant vigilance warned father in season to protect the camp from attack by suspicious night-prowlers.

Indeed, this trip was memorable for all of us, perhaps especially so for brother Will, for it comprehended not only his first deer, but his first negro.

As we drew near the Missouri line we came upon a comfortable farmhouse, at which father made inquiry concerning a lodging for the night. A widow lived there, and the information that father was brother to Elijah Cody, of Platte County, Missouri, won us a cordial welcome and the hospitality of her home.

We were yet in the road, waiting father's report, when our startled vision and childish imagination took in a seeming apparition, which glided from the bushes by the wayside.

It proved a full-blooded African, with thick lips, woolly hair, enormous feet and scant attire. To all except mother this was a new revelation of humanity, and we stared in wildeyed wonder ; even Turk was surprised into silence. At this point father rejoined us, to share in mother's amusement and to break the spell for us by pleasantly addressing the negro, who returned a respectful answer, accompanied by an ample grin. He was a slave on the widow's plantation.

Reassured by the grin, Will offered his hand, and tasted the joy of being addressed as " Massa " in the talk that followed. It was with difficulty that we prevailed upon ' ' Massa ' ' to come to supper.

After a refreshing night's sleep we went on our way, and in a few days reached my uncle's home. A rest v»'as welcome, as the journey had been long and toilsome, despite the fact that it had been enlivened by many interesting incidents and wa*- thoroughly enjoyed by all of the family.

Chapter II

will's first INDIAN — A HORSE TRADE SPOILED — THE GREAT OVERLAND TRAIL — THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL — THE HOME IN KANSAS — TWO BABES, A DOG AND A PANTHER — THE FEARLESS FIDELITY OF TURK — WILL TO THE RESCUE.

Y uncle's home was in Weston, Platte County, Missouri, at that time the large city of the West. As father was desirous of settling again as soon as possible, he left us at Weston, and after resting a bit, himself crossed the Missouri River on a prospecting tour, accompanied by Will and a guide. More than one day went by in the quest for a desirable location, and one morning Will, wearied in the reconnaissance, and not yet rested from our former journey, was left asleep at the night's camping-place, while father and the guide rode away to the day's exploring.

When Will opened his eyes they fell upon the most interesting object that the world just then could offer him — an Indian ! The " noble red man," as he has been poetically termed by people who have but known him from afar, was in the act of mounting Will's horse, while near by stood his own, a miserable, scrawny beast.

Will's boyish dreams were now a reality ; he looked upon his first Indian. Here, too, was a "buck"; not a graceful, vanishing deer, but a dirty redskin who seemingly was in some hurry to begone. Without a trace of "buck fever," Will jumped up, rifle in hand, and demanded :

" Here, what are you doing with my horse?"

The Indian regarded the lad with contemptuous composure.

" Me swap horses with pale-face boy," said he.

The red man was fully armed, and Will did not know whether his father and the guide were within call or not ; but to suffer the Indian to ride away with Uncle Elijah's fine horse was to forfeit his father's confidence and to shake his mother's and sisters' belief in the family hero, so he put a bold face upon the matter, and remarked carelessly, as if discussing a genuine transaction :

"No; I won't swap."

" Pale-face boy fool !" returned the Indian, serenely.

Now this was scarcely the main point at issue, so Will contented himself with replying quietly but firmly :

' ' You cannot take my horse. ' '

The Indian condescended to temporize. ' ' Pale- face horse no good," said he.

" Good enough for me," replied Will, smiling despite the gravity of the situation. The Indian shone rather as a liar than a judge of horse-flesh. " Good enough for me ; so you can take your old rack of bones and go. ' '

Much to Will's surprise, the red man dropped the rein, flung himself upon his own pony, and made off. And down fell ' ' lyO the poor Indian ' ' from the exalted niche that he had filled in Will's esteem, for while it was bad in a copper hero to steal horses, it was worse to flee from a boy not yet in his teens. But a few moments later L,o went back to his lofty niche, for Will heard the guide's voice, and realized that it was the sight of a man, and not the threats of a boy, that had sent the Indian about his business — if he had any.

After a search of nearly a week father had come upon a spot tliat seemed to him almost au earthly paradise, and to fetch Will to it was the errand of the guide.

There were at this time two great highways of Western travel ; later the Oregon Trail came into prominence. The old historic route, known as the Santa Fe Trail, was the route followed by explorers three hundred years ago. It had been used by Indian tribes from time, to white men, immemorial. At the beginning of this century it was first used as an artery of commerce. Over it Zebulon Pike made his well-known Western trip, and from it radiated his explorations. The trail lay some distance south of Leavenworth. It ran westward, dipping slightly to the south until the Arkansas River was reached ; then following the course of this stream to Bent's Fort, it crossed the river and turned sharply to the south. It went through Raton Pass, and below Las Vegas it turned west to Santa Fe. ^^

Exploration along the line of the Salt Lake Trail began also with this century. It became a beaten highway at the time of the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo to their present place of abode. The trail crossed the Missouri River at Leavenworth, and ran northerly to the Platte, touching that stream at Fort Kearney. With a few variations it paralleled the Platte to its junction vv^ith the Sweetwater, and left this river valley to run through South Pass to big Sandy Creek, turning south to follow this little stream. At Fort Bridger it turned westward again, passed Echo Canon, and, a few miles farther on, ran into Salt Lake City. Over this trail journeyed thousands of gold-hunters toward California, hopeful and high-spirited on the westerly way, disappointed and depressed, the large majority of them, on the back track. Freighting outfits, cattle trains, emigrants — nearly all the western travel — followed this track across the new land. ^ A man named Rivxly, with the gift of grasping the advantage of location, had obtained permission to establish a trading post on this trail three miles beyond the Missouri, and as proximity to this depot of supplies was a manifest convenience, father selected a claim two miles dislO LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS.

tant, iu the picturesque Salt Creek Vallej^ now in Leavenworth County, Kansas.

The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which provided for the organizing of those two territories and opened them for settlement, was passed in May, 1854. This bill directly opposed the Missouri Compromise, which restricted slavery to all territory south of 36° 30" north latitude. A clause in the new bill provided that the settlers should decide for themselves whether the new territories were to be free or slave states. Already hundreds of settlers were camped upon the banks of the Missouri, waiting the passage of the bill before entering and acquiring possession of the land. Across the curtain of the night ran a broad ribbon of dancing camp-fires, stretching for miles along the bank of the river.