Scout; born in
Scott county, Ia., Feb. 26, 1846.
In 1857-58 he was under contract to supply the
Kansas Pacific Railroad with all the buffalo meat needed during its construction, and in eighteen months he killed 4,280 buffaloes, on account of which he received his widely known sobriquet of “
Buffalo bill.”
During the
Civil War he was a guide and scout for the national government; in 1868-72 was scout and guide in all the movements against the hostile
Sioux and
Cheyenne Indians; in 1876 was scout of the 5th Cavalry, and in the action at
Indian Creek, in a personal encounter, killed Yellow Hand, the
Cheyenne chief.
He has been in more Indian fights than any other living man. He is coauthor of
The Great Salt Lake trail.
