OFF THE BEATEN TRACK.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3144, 20 November 1922, Page 2

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK.

«»«■ CODY'S GRAVE! , (By Professor Osborne. Some of my readers may have seen W. F. Cody ("Buffalo Bill") at the head of his Wild West Show, which was for him a triumphal progress through Europe and a great part of America, until bad financial management and the outwearing of his welcome brought it under the auctioneer's hammer. It was my lot to see him 20 years ago, in his decline, but he still had a superb seat on horseback, swept off his sombrero as a grand senor might and looked as if lie were a king of men. With, many others, I did him an injustice at the time, for the posturing and make-believe were appraised as such, and the tricks of the arena classified as tricks only. Thai: this attitude is not unknown in America I have recently learned, though it is fast giving way to a legendary reverence. An elderly Sail Francisco citizen whose memories went back to the original of "Tennessee's Pardner," spoke of Cody without any enthusiasm. "Oh yes! , He had a goatee beard and ran a ciixus. I remember him." There is in the British race an inability to understand or sympathise with a man who dramatically affects in public the character which be really possesses. Such conduct invariably gives offence or damages the legitimate reputation of the poseur. Wildo posed as a, scholar, art critic, and poet—ho was all three. Whistler posed as a great artist —he was a great artist. Jr. our own day we have Capablanca posing as a chess master—he is a chess master. Cody posed as a .scout, pioneer. buffalo hunter, and Indian fighter —be was in verity all these. But, in justice .to his memory, let it be remembered that he was driven to stage effects and' mako-iboliove by the termination oi ! his proper calling. He hunted the socalled buffalo until both the demand and the supply ceased to exist, he was a scout in the plain* and "bad lands" until the railways turned these into peaceful farms; lie fought Indians until the Indians were pacified or exterminated. So the calling for which be was lifted by virtue of a splendid physique, <|iiic(| eye, and dauntless caurage. no longer offered him a livelihood. It was then that ho took to the theatre and circus tent. Yet. if the records bo consulted, it will be found tha* what ho performed before the. footlights he had carried out in, actuality, and the more 1 these are read the greater does Ills, achievement appear. He did not. it is true, rank as high an hi* predecessor. Kit Carson, but he had not Oarsou's opportunity. Take the story of the Pony Express. Before the railway across the plains was built at the cost of much blood and treasure, mails were carried from St. Joseph. Missouri, to San Francisco, a distance of 1,950 miles. by relays of horsemen. A letter from New York to San Francisco could then be carried in about eight days, almost a third of the time previously necessary. Cody. a. hoy of 14, had to ride one of the bad stages of the long route, namely, from Bed Buttes to Three Crossings, on the Sweetwater, in Wyoming, a distance of 11(3 miles. On one occasion, finding that the relay rider at Three Crossings had been killed, lie at once took the mail over the next stage of 85 miles, reckoned the most dangerous of all. This. I am :n----formed. constituted a record -for the Pony Express. On other occasions ho wa; chased by Sioux Indians or attacked by white bandits, but in every ease his horsemanship, quickness, and resource carried him through. I have been over portion of his run in Wyoming, and. thought it is peaceable laud now, pasturing prize sheep that # a year or two ago were bleating in Bivcrina. I could imagine in part the courage necessary to thread one's way through these lonelv hills and gorges, where merciless Indians were on the warpath .and where there was no help available in case of danger or accident. That' feat of the Pony Express alone stamped Cody as possessing qualities above the average, and his subsequent career fulfilled the promise. He was one of those who could visit and mix with the life of the wild, satanic mushroom towns that snrang up during the construction of the railway, those towns whose record so captivated B. L. Stevenson, and he. . was left severely alone by the ruffians who congregated there. The following quotation From General P. H. Sheridan's memoirs also allows us to measure the man. He "was firs: brought to my notice by distinguishing himself in bringing me an important despatch from fort Lamed to Kort Hays, a distance of 65 miles, through a section infested with Indians. The despatch informed me that tiie Indians near Lamed were preparing to decamp, and this intelligence required that certain orders should be carried to Kort Dodge, 95 miles south (>!' Kays. This. too. being a particularly dangerous route -several couriers having been killed on it—it was impossible to get one of the various 'Peters.' '.lacks,' or Minis' hanging around flays City io take my communication. Cody, learning of the strait I was in. manfully came to the rescue, and proposed to make the trip to Dcdge. though he had just finished bis long perilou ride from Lamed. ! gratefully accepted his offer, and after four or live hours' rest he mounted a fresh horse and hastened on his journey, halting but once to rest on the way. and then only for an hour, the stop being made at Coon Creek. where he got another mount from a troon of cavalry. At Dodge lie took six hours' sleep, and then confined on to his own post—Fort Lamed —with more despatches. After resting 12 hours at Larned. be was again in the saddle with tidings for me at Ford May.s. Thus, in all.Cody rode 350 miles in less than 60 hours. ... I made him chief of scouts Cor that regiment." Then came the famous buffalo bunting, actually a contract for the supply ol meal lor the railway construction works, some Indian fighting, and acting as guide in hunting parties. Then with the civilisation of the Plains he found his life work abruptly closed in the prime of bis powers. The grave of W. K. Cody (lie died in i'.'lD is situated on the summit of M'ouni Lookout ill the Rockies, and can be easily reached from Denver, Colorado. A simple monument tells the storv with, a few words and in good taste. Close by is a "Buffalo Hill -Museum" with seme interesting relics such as bis picturesque Mexican saddle and bridle; "Lucrotia Rorj»ia." the famous villi' with which he did niosl of his shooting; the bowie knife with which he killed Yellow Hand in single combat, the scalp of the same Yellow Hand, "the first scalp for Custer"; Sitting Bull's rifle and pipe, and quantities of wampums given by Indian admirers to the while chief I'ahaska. a- they called him. Adjoining is 'i shop where post cards and much cheap pseudo-Indian .-■'u!f is sold. The view as one climbs to Cody's last resting place is superb. One line Rocky Mountain gorge opens up after anothers. Most visitors direct their attention to the mountain peaks and canyons; my eyes more frequently sought that- wonderful landscape to the castward where the Great Plains in all their vastness stretched away as far ■ as vision could reach. Within the memory of many men living these plains were wildernesses of terror, traversed only by buffalo and savage

Plains Indians. Tlio.se white men who sought to penetrate their depths from the Missouri River did so in armed parties and with ceaseless vigilance. Now the Great Plains are farmed from the foothills to the big rivers, and peace and content brood over this wide territory. To R. L. Stevenson, who* was somewhat of an engineer, the effort® of the railway constructor appealed strongly, and the romantic cities of I'ust and crime that rose and fell as the railhead airrived and passed on. To many the romance will be associated with the trails of the pioneers, the early buffalo hunters, and the emigrant prairie schooners. The Santa Fe Trail is marked now with a series of memorial stones placed there by patriotic) American women. This trail T was privileged to visit. And then farther northward, some 10 miles from Laramie, Wyoming, in rolling prairie as yet untouched by plough, 1 w;is thrilled to see two very shallow and' perfectly parallel indentations stretching in a straight line from horizon to horizon—it was the Old Oregon Train immortalised in literature,and sanctified by unmeasured heroism and anguish. In local opinion the tracks will 1 be invisible in another 10 years' time. Soon all personal memory of the romantic pioneering days will be gone too. But W. F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill," is now undergoing his apotheosis. Artistic tradition is accumulating around his name. I had the opportunity of meeting old frontiersmen at Cheyenne, and they gave me various personal details of his life, many, it is true, displaying his inability ro handle money or stand success. But such criticism that keeps Cody within human limits will die with his contemporaries. Hei is becoming, a. legendary American hero; and so now one' can hear in the streets of Denver the strident voice of the automobile tout®— "Cody's Grave and back, 2 dollars." "Cody's Grave, coming hack by Bear Creek Canyon, 5 dollars." "Cody's Grave! Cody's Grave!"