Buffalo Bill: His Life and Adventures in the Wild West — page 37: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

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LPR AY >% ~~ They would edge up to a brute, keeping in a line parallel to him, turning when he - turned, and creeping closer until a vital spot was exposed. They do not stop when the butialo falls, but press forward ' a _ upo n another, and so keep it up until the day is over and the gathering up ee Che buffalo pony is never employed for ‘otner purposes. Kept for the service, he 48 treated with even more consideration than the war-horse, and put up to the bent of his powers only when the run is “announced as in sight. He only carries the man during the killing. No bridles, “and not much saddle, only a little beaded _ pad, with short leathers and stirrups that _ jus admitted the toes, this was his “ out- ft.” Trained to the business, each pony knew what was expected of him, and burst out upon the prairies at a hot run when enc uraged by the voice and hand of his t ot Ww . a c ~riae i nout. — geese _. The tourist, whose guide leads him up nt a) sick bull, or a nursing cow, thinks he fas accomplished great excitement when _ the horns of his chase are packed away for rr Tu o 7 t = —_ 4 but the real hunt, with all its ‘emotions and desperate dangers, lies only within the reach of him who follows fast yy mee trail of an Indian tribe. st his is the fand of hunt in which our hero had often participated, together with “Texas Jack,” Wild Bill, the white chief . of the Pawnees, and other companyeroes, But, to “make meat” on a large scale, ‘Such a fanciful chase has to be superseded _ by an action more methodical, _ As Cody was known to bo the most successful hunter on the prairies, he re- esived an offer from the Kansas Pacific Railroad Company to keep their workmen _guppliec with meat, and the terms allowed fA mat § ee ¥ _ ; cif pity : be? - : . - ’ - 4 a fy f 7. a . <7 + af ie ee o*46 - - ~ ail the hanging-treo of the railway. never flagged until thoroughly the proposition. — 3 The employés of the some twelve hundred, and Buffalo Biil’s duty was to supply them with fresh meat, @ most arduous task, and a dangerous one, for the Indians were constantly upon the war-path, 2 | - But he undertook the work, and it was but a very short while before his fame as a buffalo-killer equalled his reputation as an Indian-fighter, and often on a hunt for the shaggy brutes, he had to fivht the red savages, who constantly souvht his life. jt was during his service for the Kansas Pacific that he was rechristened “ Buffalo newal of his name, as in one season he killed the enormous number of four thou- feat never before or since equalled. Some time after his great feat of killing buffalo for the’ Kansas Pacific, Buffalo Bill was challenged by Will, or Billy Comstock, another famous buffaio hunter, and a scout and Indian interpreter, to a match at killing the shacey wild animals. Those who knew Comstock and had seen him among a herd of buffalo, and had heard of Buffalo Bill’s exploits, were most desirous of making a match between the two to discover which was the _ best “killer.” . On the other side, those who knew Buffalo Bill, and had seen him at work at the buffaloes, were willing to bet high that he would prove the champion. As the men were not only willing, but anxious to meet,it was not difficult for them to do so, and all preliminaries were. satisfactorily arranged to all parties con- cerned. The men were, of course, to hunt on | horseback, and to begin at a certain hour in the morning and keep it up for eight hours, a large herd having just~ been found, and its locality marked for the day of the sport. RF The stakes were made five hundred dollars a side, and there were numbers, both ladies and gentlemen, out on horse- back to see the sport. The herd having been located, early the next morning the two hunters left for the field, and the large crowd followed at a distance. Phe counters, those chosen to follow each hunter and count his killed, followed close behind Bill and Comstock, who rode side by side, chatting in a most friendly way until the herd was sighted, | - Buffalo Bill was mounted upon Brigham, road numbered Bill,” and he certainly deserved tke re- » sand ewht hundred and twenty buffaloes, a— m Gomicbooks co: