“Rightness expresses of actions what straightness does of lines, and there can no more be two kinds of right action than there can be two kinds of straight lines ”
THE FRONTIER
D. H. Cronin, Omaha, Publisher
Romaine Saunders, Holt county,
Managing Editor
Entered at the Postoffice at O’Neill,
Nebraska as Second Class Matter.
ADVERTISING RATES:
Display advertising on Pages 4, 6
and 8 are charged for on a basis of
26 cents an inch (one column wiJe)
per week; on Page 1 the charge is
40 cents an inch per week. Local ad
vertisement®, 10 cents per line first
insertion, subsequent insertions 6
cents per line.
Every subscription is regarded as
an open account. The names of sub
acribers will be instantly removed
from our mailing list at expiration of
time paid for, if publisher shall be
notified; otherwise the subscription
remains in force at the designated
subscription price. Every subscriber
must understand that these conditions
are made a part of the contract be
tween publisher and subscriber.
Nebraska people are thinking demo
cratic.
Voters of Germany have faith in
their Von Hindenburg. He retains
the presidency by a greater vote than
that polled by his two opponents.
The senate is talking of speeding
up their procedure. Now that they
are finally talking about it, we may
look for a little improvement in ten
or fifteen years.
A young man in the Nebraska re
formatory blames a girl for leading
him into crime. He will probably be
laughed at to a certain extent, not be
cause it is impossible but because he
will not be considered gallant.
Election returns are not encourag
ing for republicans; nevertheless we
have faith in the party of Lincoln
and Roosevelt and after the political
frenzy runs its course there will be
another turning to the party of a
chievement and progress.
. I
The jobless and hungry find little
consolation that in 18H7 starving mobs
seized barrels of flour in warehouses
taken by storm. Not a bank in the
country could or would pay its obliga
tions in gold and silver und every
enterprise depending on credit ceased
to function.
The police of numerous eastern
cities have had abundant opportunity
to demonstrate what they could do ap
prehending the abductors of the fam
ous aviator’s child. It cannot be ex
pected that they will have any better
success how that the fifty thousand
has been paid over.
Emil pniggs was called out fifteen
miles northwest, early in April, by
Albert Sterns to shoe an aristocratic
blueblood stallion, imported from Bel
gium and now owned by the Atkinson
Belgium Colt Club. He is a magnifici
ent anirpal weighing 2100. The club
is composed of farmers of that com
munity who arui interested in improv
ing their, grade of horses.
Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler blames
Japan for shattering the world’s peace
efforts. It is probably a good thing
that we have been shown this soon
how worthless a signed piece of paper
is as a means of preventing war. No
nation will declare war on another
unless it feels certain of victory. Poor
armaments are .one way of making
them feel certain of victory.
NOTABLE ANNIVERSARY
Lucy Salamanca in National
Republic
The days of thundering buffalo
hoofs; of savage, painted faces peer
ing from ambush; of fleet-footed
ponies, their riders leaning forward
in the wind, pounding across the trail
of the Peny Express; the days of
great lumbering prairie scoorers and
slow-moving wagon-trains; the days
in short, of that bold, fearless, blust
ering, manly, beloved and pictur
esque hero of the plains, the idol of
every American schoolboy — Buffalo
Bill—are to live again. Not in theat
rical review' are they to strut arti
ficially across a stage, but across the
open prairie in a cloud of dust these
survivors of a thrilling, glorious past
will ride to re-enact the stirring
scenes of another day. Cowboys cow
girls, tribes of Indians, true sons and
daughters otf the plains, with the
lusty yells and whoop.ngs of their
kind, will show the world what real
riding is like in the land of broncho
busters. They will throw their stem,
break their ponies, ing their songs
while the remnants of a fast vanish
ing race of red skins will circle in
ceremonial dance about their ances
tral campfires. Prairie schooners will
appear at the herizon'u rim; there
will be attacks and ‘'--cabpings" and
the burning of a train. The Golden
West will'pay homage te ‘be last of
its great scouts-Buffalo Bill in pa
geantry, cer« motuaj.i ap 1 t ti for
four day* bfgLnuU\g July 21, in the
▼cry heart yf that .cpqntgy that Net
knew and loved him~-*<or!h Platte,
Nabracka. And in prrpura m cf the
fiftieth anniversary of the first Buff
alo Bill round-up in his home town,
citizens of North Platte, business men
of the west, statesmen, citizens from
every corner of the country are plan
nig to make the event of tremendous
historical importance, reproducing
faithfully the trials and triumphs and
high-minded courage of those pion
eers who made today’s west possible
and in the face of unutterable odds
opened up a wilderness to homes and
commerce.
North Platte, as the town where
Buffalo Bill established his first per
manent ranch, the town where his
children were born and raised and
went to school; and the town where
the great “Wild W’est Show” that
was to take the American frontier
across the Atlantic was conceived and
first staged, is to be the scene of the
thrilling spectacle. It is very fitting
that this Nebraska city should be
the scene of the anniversary event,
for Lincoln county, in which it is sit
uated, earned its right to the early
pioneers long before Buffalo Bill came
upon the scene. More than a hun
dred years ago five covered wagons
made their way across Lincoln county
on their journey up the Platte river,
and in turn there followed caravans
of trappers, soldiers, gold seekers of
’49 and in later years the cattle men.
The California trail, the Mormon trail,
the Oregon Trail and the Overland
trail all across Lincoln county, and it
was the scene of Indian battles, border
warfare, frontier outlawry, trapping
and hunting in those days when the
west was truly "wild and wooly” and
a man had to be quick on the draw
for his own protection.
The pony express, the overland
stage, the overland telegraph, the
Union Pacific, the Lincoln highway
and the transcontinental air mail,
crossing this county in successive
stages, mark, in turn, the story of
the west’s development. Just 22
miles south of North Platte the treaty
of peace between Chief Red Cloud of
the Sioux Indians and General Mitch
eil was made, on the site of Snell
canyon. Thirty thousand Sioux war
riors are said to have been present on
that occasion. Cottonwood Canyon,
where passed the main trail in the
early days, was traversed by the In
dians and buffalo herds making their
way between the Platte Valley and
the Republican Valley. Here, at the
mouth of the canyon, habitations of
pioneers were established in 1858.
It is in Lincoln county, too, that
historic Fort McPherson is situated,
und in the cemetery of the Fort some
2,000 soldiers, killed in Indian, war
fare, have been given their last rest
ing place.
But no one of these historic spots
thrills die Western traveler so much
as the ranch that was the permanent
home of Colonel William Cody, in
North Platte, for more than thirty
years. Scout’s Rest Ranch, he named
it, and within its walls the intrepid
scout entertained many notables from
this country and abroad. It was at
Scout’s Rest Ranch that Colonel Cody
first assembled, in 1882 the famous
Wild West Show whose anniversary
will be celebrated this July.
Commenting on the beginnings of
this great exhibition of the conquest
of western territory for the white
man, a friend of the late scout re
lates that North Platte, desirous of
staging a fitting Fourth of July cele
bration, invited Colonel Cody to take
part and aid in getting up the pro
gram.
“The Colonel,” the friend states,
“had' just returned home after a wint
er on the road and he entered into the
idea of the celebration with charac
teristic enthusiasm. He offered to put
up prizes for those cowboys who
would attempt to ride the outlaw
horses he had at the Cody and North
Ranch on Whitewater Creek.
The country was then all open range
and cowboys filed in from far and
wide from ranches between the Re
publican and Niobrara rivers and from
North Platte west to the Wyoming
line, responding to the call for riders.
They gave the crowd that day a show
that I have never seen equalled.”
This same friend gives an interest
ing account of the meeting of Buffalo
Bill and the “dime novel” author who
was later to ad the glamor of fiction
to his early exploits and clothe him in
that aura of romance and fearless
ness that has caused the pulse beats
of young American to quicken, from
that day to this. Ned Buntline (Ed
ward Judson) of New York, a writer
of thrilling and highly-colored tales
of the Far West, had sauntered West
to gain material for further stories.
He was so impressed with the stir
ring exhibition given on Colonel Cody’s
ranch that he suggested that Buffalo
Bill organize and head a wild west
show. The suggestion appealed so!
strongly to the Colonel that he invited
his friends, Major North and Doctor
Carver, to become partners in the en
terprise. Both these me* had lived
the life of the frontier and were eager ■
to became a part of a project that I
promised to perpetuate the history of
the opening-up of a great country.
In the early spring of 1887 the show
was actually assembled and entered
into : hear ml at the Cody ranch. Re-1
hcarsals were continued until .Tune of
that year when Buffalo Bill and his
comrades, with Indians, cowboys,
broncho*, buffalos, stagecoaches and
other paraphenalia of pioneer days,
starti*l oa tour.
Speaking of the viay the outfit
started out front North Platte, the late
Colonel's friend says: "I remember
the day we started off! A big crowd
had assembled to wish Buffalo Bill
good luck. Five or six box cars, two
open cars and two emigrant coaches
accommodated the performers and the
show property and these were attach
ed to an east-bound freight train.
“As the Colonel stood on the rear
of the caboose, his flowing hair not
yet tinged with gray, and as perfect
a figure of man as could be, he told
the crowd that he would not only
exhibit the show at the Nation’s cap
ital but at the capital of every state
and later at the capital of every
European country—whereupon Bill
Tucker, noted saloon keeper and poker
player of the community remarked,
“That’s a hell of a lot of wind, even
from Bill Cody.”
“But the crowd wildly cheered as
the train moved off and in after years
the Colonel made good his assertion.
The first exhibition of the show was
given at Columbus, Nebraska, the
home of Major North.”
Buffalo Bill not only “made good
his assertion,” but he was feted like
a king in the European countries
where the great American show went
on tour. He was called the “Amer
ican Ambassador” and the man who
had “carried the American frontier
to Europe.” Chartering a steamer
which he named for his adopted State,
Buffalo Bill and his troupe made their
way in the “State of Nebraska” to
Gravesend, England, in 1886. Here
a tug flying Amercan colors, greeted
them. From the “State of Nebraska”
three ringing cheers went up. In a
moment the band on the tug burst
forth with “The Star Spangled Ban
ner,” while the cowboy band on the
troupe ship responded in kind with
“Yankee Doodle.” This rousing wel
come was the keynote of the famous
scout’s safty in England. The mother
country expressed rfti intense inter
est in the stdry of the conquest of
that new world to which her colonists
had gone and which they had con
quered in the face of such tremendous
odds. The show presented a stirring
and veracious picture of the hard
ships encountered in the conquest of
the West. The wigwam village; the
Indian war dances; the chant of the
Great Spirit as it was sung across the
open plains; the rise and fall of the
great tribes; the coming of the sold
iers to the frontier posts; the buffalo
hunts; thelives of scouts and trappers;
the slow, perilous journeys of the
first settlers in praire schooners a
cross the desolate plains; the Dead
wood stage and the Pony Express;
Indian massacres and Indian fire and
making of pioneer homes in the face
of them; the United States cavalry on
the firing line and “Death of the
Sioux"—these were some of the scenes
that unrolled in a moving panorama,
genuine and heoric, across the exhibi
tion field.
The Prince and Princess of Wales
were enthusiastic onlookers and lat
er Queen Victoria, stirred by their en
thusiasm, commanded special perform
ances from the American scout. The
Kings of Saxony, Denmark, and
Greece; the Queen of the Belgians and
the Crown Prince of Austria, attended
the performances and; Buffalo Bill
was feted as no other American hero
had been feted by royalty heretofore.
It was little wonder that this de
piction of pioneer days should have
met with such tremendous success.
Every member of the famous troupe
had lived the life he depicted. And
Buffalo Bill himself had been over
nearly every foot of that vast expanse
from his earliest days. He was a
true child of the prairies and he knew
their hazards, the treachery and their
wonder as few know them. From his
earliest childhood he had pitted his
skill and courage against their dan
gers and in a life filled with daring
and adventure he had become acquain
ted with every phase of the great
western development.
He was born on a little farm in
Scott county, Iowa, on the 2Gth of
February, 1846, and from the time
that he struck out with his father, at
the age of eight, to search for a suit
able homesite where the Cody family
might settle to within a few years of
his death, he was a plainsman in every
sense of that word. Instinctively he
possessed that faculty for locating
water, for striking trails and finding
desirablecamping grounds, that marks
the adventurer and man of the open.
He could ride a horse as no other man
has ever ridden one, superbly, as if
he were part of the animal, with a
native grace that inspired the admira
STARTER GENERATOR AND
ARMATURE REWINDING
All Types of Electric Motors Repaired
I have just installed new equipment and Mr.
Earl Shannon, who has had years of experience
in this work,will have charge of this department.
••Service and First Class Work"
W. H. STEIN
Res. Phone 280 (Jar age Phone 162-W
tion of everyone, wherever he rode.
He broke his first horse before he was
nine and had served as courier in a
wagon train before he was twelve.
This wagon train, or “bull train" as
is was called in that country, was
making its way to Fort Leavenworth,
and it was during a memorable and
disastrous passage that twelve-year
old Will was forced to shoot his first
Indian.
Later, as rider for the Pony Ex
press, he learned to scun the land
scape for the slightest evidence of
his enemy. Redskins in ambush, or
specks across the prairie, his trained
eye sought out unerringly and his life
was beset with constant peril every
foot of the way.
An enterprise of Russel, Majors and
Waddell, the Pony Express was one
of the picturesque features of western
life of that early day and marked the
first attempt to establish regular com
munications between the Missouri Riv
er and Sacramento. Stage-coach sta
tions had alHeady been established
along this trail and these were utilized
for the Pony Express. Riders re
ceived from one hundred to one hun
dred and twenty-five dollars a month,
and they earned every cent of it.
Great physical endurance was essen
tial in the riders, in addition to cool,
brave and resourceful nature, for their
lives were in constant peril. In in
stances when the comrade who was to
relieve them on the relay had been
disabled by Indians or outlaws, these
riders had to do double duty, continu
ing in the saddle to the next relay
point. Two hundred and fifty miles
were made daily, constituting an aver
age of a little over ten miles an hour
over rough country. As little weight
as possible was carried on these runs;
the letters were written on the finest
tissue paper and a charge of five dol
lars a half-ounce was made. Pouches
were locked, sealed and strapped to
a riders back. Little wonder that
they served as tempting prey to the
outlaws of the regions or prowling
bands of hostile Indians. Buffalo Bill
experienced many narrow escapes dur
ing the period that he served as a
rider over this route.
Before he was eighteen Will Cody
had enlisted with the Union army and
when the order sending his regiment
to the front was countermanded he
was selected, because of his know
ledge of the plains, his nature and
fearlessness, as a bearer of military
dispatches to Fort Lamed. Attempts
were made upon his life by old pro
slavery enemies of his father but the
boy’s keen eye and resourcefulness
saved him when ambuscades had been
set to Waylay him in a plot to steal
his dispatches. With a wounded
horse he fled from his pursuers and
finally arrived at a ranch on foot,
shouldering his saddle and bridle.
Here he obtained a fresh mount and
Continued to Fort Lamed. During his
days in the army he served as spy,
entering the Confedeifite ranks in
search of information and as scout
along the old trail between Fort Lyon
and Fort Larned where Colonel Clark,
in command of the Ninth Kansas
Regiment had been detailed to pro
tect stage coaches, emigrants and car
avans, which were in constant jeop
ardy because of hostile Indians along
the way.
As a driver of a stagecoach along
the Overland Trail, after the war and
a,s scout for Uncle Sam between Fort
Ellsworth and Fort Fletcher, Will
Cody lived a life fraught with excit
ment and danger. Many interesting
events in these days shaped his care
er as a great scout, but perhaps the
most interesting part of his career was
that during which he earned the sob
riquet of “Buffalo Bill.”
Work on the Kansas Pacific Rail
road was pushing forward across the
plains. Twelve hundred men were
employed on the railroad construction
and Goddard Brothers, who had un
dertaken to feed this vast crew, were
hard pressed to obtain fresh meat.
To supply this indispensable article of
diet buffalo hunters were employed
and as Will was known as an expert
buffalo slayer he was invited to join
the staff. The young scout was
prompted to accept for another reason
than to supply the workers with food.
He knew that as a first step to sub
duing the Indian the buffalo had to
go. He knew, too, that cattle raising
and farming were impossible where
buffalo roamed. Savage and untam
able, these wild cattle of the plains
ruined fences and crops and killed
domestic cattle. If the land were ever
to be homesteaded by the white man,
it was necessary to first destroy these
wild herds that roamed the prairies.
He considered the destruction of the
buffalo not wanton but absolutely nec
essary for pnogijfcss and he never
killed for slaughter’s sake alone. Of
the more than 40,000 buffalo felled by
his shots, every animal was used to
feed the men who were laying the
first iron rails across the plains.
The method employed by Buffalo
Bill in felling these mammoth animals
is very interesting. He would ride on
the right hand side of a herd as near
to the fron as he could get, shoting
to the left hand. This method usualy
caused the herd to run in a solid circle,
or to “mill” and thus they were kept
in one spot, running round and round.
Thus he could kill as many as he
needed for that day and they were
conveniently felled in a single spot
for the skinners and meat wagons
that followed after. Another method
was to get a “stand” on a small herd
and shoot down the animals that were
inclined to break away to lead the herd
out of range. Our purely American
phrase, “to buffalo,” is said to have
been derived from this method, mean
ing to confuse, intimidate, bluff or
out-general.
It is the exploits and courage of
MATURED POLICIES
IN THK
Bankers Life Insurance
Company of Nebraska
Inman List—
John Sabotka
James R. Hopkins
William P. Harte
James Harte
O’Neill List—
Cyril Peter
James Peter
Clarkson R. Young
John C. Murray
Jap Ritts
Thomas Murray
Frank D. McMillan
Henry W. Cook
James Van Every
Hugh E.* Coyne
Leo J. Mullen
Grace Joyce
Frank 0. Froelich
P. B. Harley
R. R. Morrison
Thomas Griffin
Thomas J. Donohoe
David F. Murphy
John Sullivan, Sup’r.
H. J. Hammond
P. C. Donohoe
John Davidson
Chas. F. Naughton
Ernest W. Richter
Edward M. Gallagher
James F. Gallagher
Frank J. Biglin
Fred W. McNally
45 years operating in Nebraska. We have no
foreclosures, no poor investments and as safe as
any company in the United States. We ask you
to inquire of any one in this list. We will gladly
show a list of these matured policies showing
different settlements.
R. J. MARSH, Special Agent
.1 .
Fri. & Sat. Specials
_ .
CORN, 3 No. 2 Tins.,,....25c
TOMATOES, 3 No. 2 Tins...25c
MACARONI, Bulk, 3 pounds. .25c
COFFEE, 2 pounds ..'..37c
YELLOW CORN MEAL 5 lb. bag.19c
PEANUT BUTTER, Per Quart .30c
MATCHES, Coment Brand, per carton. 19c
FLOUR, White Frost Brand, 48 lb. Bag. 98c
ORANGES, 200 Size, per dozen. 31c
BOB WHITE, Laundry Soap, 10 Bars .25c
BLACKBERRIES, No. 10 Can.49c
PITTED RBD CHERRIES, No. 10 Can...49c
CACHES, Halves or Sliced, No. 10 can ..49c
APRICOTS, No. lOcan-^^ZlZLlOc
DATES, Bulk Fresh, 2 pounds....-.25c
□MORRISON’S T\
“WE DELIVER”
CPPPIAT Q FOK h"K>
Or £/vylAL/0 110 ■»»»»
Men’s Press Shoes $2.59
Men's Work Shoes $1.98
M. n' Silk Sox 22c |
Ladies Siik Hose 29c |
Men's Extra heavy Overalls 98c
Men's Work So* 19c
Snow White Floor 98c
MILK, larre can ... 7c j
SYRUP per gallon 50c
SARDINES, lb. can . Sc
White Lauadry Soap, 10 for 25c
TOM ATOES, per con 5>c
KARO Syrup, White, gal. 55c
Men’s Rubber* Shoes 75c
PORK & BEANS, can Sc
FARM FOR RENT
At Biizelman’s Golden Rule Store
... < • > •