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Biographical Notes
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William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody
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Cody's mother died of tuberculosis on November 22, 1863. Cody took her death hard and went on a long drinking binge. On February 19, 1864, an inebriated Cody enlisted in the Seventh Kansas Regiment as a private. He was engaged in several battles and skirmishes and on occasion teamed up with Wild Bill Hickok on scouting forays behind Confederate lines. He also served for a time as a hospital orderly in St. Louis. During this tour, Cody met and fell in love with Louisa Frederici. On September 29, 1865, Cody was mustered out of the army - still a private. In an effort to raise some money for his impending wedding he drove a string of horses from Leavenworth to Fort Kearney. In Fort Kearney he was hired to drive stage coach and on one of the runs successfully defended the coach during an attack by Sioux Indians. During this period he also guided General William Tecumseh Sherman to and from his meeting with Kiowah and Commanche Chiefs at Council Springs.
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On March 6, 1866, William and Louisa were married at her father's home in St. Louis. The newlyweds moved to Leavenworth and Cody established a hotel and tavern in the home that his mother had once owned in Salt Creek. Cody did not like being confined to town and the business was not successful. During the winter of 1866-1867 he scouted for the military in the vicinity of Fort Ellsworth and Fort Fletcher. Wild Bill Hickok probably helped him get the employment and was a fellow scout at Ellsworth and Fletcher. Louisa remained in Leavenworth and their first child (Arta) was born on December 16, 1866. In the Spring of 1867 Brevet Major General George Custer arrived at Fort Fletcher in command of the newly formed Seventh Cavalry. Cody was transferred to Fort Hays later in the spring and it was there that he first worked directly for Custer. The two men became friends.
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In August 1867 he served as scout and guide for a troop of the Tenth Cavalry led by Brevet Major General George Augustus Armes. The Tenth was composed mainly of black soldiers. (Indians referred to these soldiers as Buffalo Soldiers because their hair was thought to resemble that of a buffalo.) During this patrol, Armes was wounded in a fire fight with hostile Indians and Cody succeeded in getting the troop back to Fort Hays with minimal loss of life. In the fall of 1867 Cody partnered with William Rose in an endeavor to found the town of Rome, Kansas. The town-building effort failed, but Cody and Rose subsequently cooperated on a grading contract for the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Cody also hunted buffalo for the crews building the railroad and they were the first to nickname him "Buffalo Bill." By his count, he killed 4,280 buffalo in eighteen months, but the numbers are somewhat confusing. By any standard though, he was a very successful hunter and was one of the early professional buffalo hunters of note. On November 26, 1867, the Daily Conservative, a Leavenworth newspaper, mentioned "Buffalo Bill and other scouts" in an article. It was the first time that Cody's new nickname appeared in print.
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During his buffalo hunting days with the railroad, Cody had frequent contact with hostile Indians and a number of adventurous stories began to accumulate around his persona. Increasingly his name appeared in print and gradually the reputation of "Buffalo Bill" spread throughout the country. At the same time, however, several other men laid claim to the sobriquet and a number of them felt strongly that Cody should stop using it. None managed to carry the day, however, and, by 1868, Cody had pretty much established himself as the one and only "Buffalo Bill" in the public's mind. After General Philip Sheridan took over the Department of the Missouri on March 2, 1868, the de-facto policy of the U.S. Government called for the elimination of the buffalo as a way of helping to force the Indian onto the reservation. At the same time, market forces provided economic reward for buffalo hides. Professional hunters decimated the herds and popular buffalo hunts were organized for rich hunters from the east and from Europe. Public interest in buffalo hunting stimulated popular interest in "Buffalo Bill."
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In August 1868 Cody and Hickok were employed as scouts for General Armes and the Tenth Cavalry at Fort Hays. In September 1868 Cody was captured by hostile Indians, but managed to talk his way to freedom. Later that same year he made several long rides through hostile territory carrying dispatches for various military officers. As a result of the outstanding performance of his duties, General Sheridan appointed Cody Chief of Scouts for the Fifth Cavalry. Brevet Major General Eugene A. Carr, commanded the Fifth during most of the time that Cody was with the unit. Cody proved himself in several skirmishes between the Fifth and hostile Indians and Carr and Cody became good friends. Cody was with Carr in the winter campaign of 1868 during which Custer decimated Black Kettle's village of the Washita River. During this campaign there was no contact by Carr's force with hostile Indians, but Cody proved valuable because of his abilities as a teamster.
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In May 1869 Cody was wounded in a fire fight while scouting for a detachment of the Fifth, but went on to distinguish himself and to earn mention in Carr's dispatches to higher headquarters. He was also awarded $100 for his actions - the only such award given to a scout during the Indian Wars. He was stationed with the Fifth at Fort McPherson, Nebraska and was to serve there until 1872. In April 1869, Cody participated in the Battle of Summit Springs against a band of Dog Cheyenne Indians led by Chief Tall Bull. Tall Bull was holding two white women and one was successfully rescued alive. The Fifth Cavalry credited Cody with having killed Tall Bull. In July 1869, while scouting for the Fifth, Cody met Edward Zane Carroll Judson who wrote dime novels using the pen name of Ned Buntline. Buntline published the first installment of a serial story featuring "Buffalo Bill" on December 23, 1869, in the New york Weekly. In 1870 and 1871 Cody and the Fifth Cavalry participated in only two skirmishes with hostile Indians, but Cody was again commended in dispatches to higher headquarters after both engagements.
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