Buffalo Bill and the Overland Trail: Being the story of how boy and man worked hard and played hard to blaze the white trail, by wagon train, stage coach and pony express, across the great plains and the mountains beyond, that the American republic might expand and flourishSabin, Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand)
General
Buffalo Bill and the Overland Trail: Being the story of how boy and man worked hard and played hard to blaze the white trail, by wagon train, stage coach and pony express, across the great plains and the mountains beyond, that the American republic might expand and flourish
Sabin, Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand)
Buffalo Bill, 1846-1917 -- Fiction; Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.) -- Fiction; Western stories
Along the Smoky Hill Fork trail a number of new forts had been
established, protecting the way for the railroad. First beyond Fort
Riley, which Davy remembered from the time when the Hee-Haws passed it,
was Fort Harker, next would come Fort Hays, and then Fort Wallace near
Sheridan.
The train left Leavenworth early in the morning; the run to the end of
the track would take about twenty-five hours, with stops for meals.
It would appear, from the looks of the country between Lawrence and
Junction City across the river from Fort Riley, that there were no
more wild Indians and buffalo; but westward from Junction City things
suddenly changed; and when Dave awakened from a brief doze here were
the same old brown plains again, ready for the bull whacker, the stage
coach, the buffalo and the Indians.
The train was jammed with all kinds of people from St. Louis, Kansas
City, Leavenworth, Lawrence, Topeka――everybody having a good time.
In the last car were Mrs. Cody and little daughter Arta. Davy had a
glimpse of her――a handsome woman with glowing dark eyes. Buffalo Bill
had met her during the war, in St. Louis, and they had been married
two years now. She and little Arta and General Custer were the main
attraction on the whole train.
The train was a travelling arsenal. At the front end of Davy’s car
was a stand containing twenty-five breech-loading rifles and a large
chest of cartridges, with the lid opened. The conductor (who, people
said, was an old Indian fighter) wore two revolvers at his waist, and
carried his rifle from car to car. Almost every man was armed with some
sort of a gun, and all the passengers and train crew were constantly
on the lookout for “Injuns” and buffalo. As the train roared onward
further into the plains, its snorty, busy little engine sounded five
short whistles. Out from the windows down the line of coaches were
thrust heads. Men who had no gun made a rush for the stand of arms, and
grabbed rifles and cartridges.
“Buffalo! Buffalo!”
“Where? Quick!”
“There they go!”
“Where? Oh, I see them!”
“Mercy, what monsters!”
There were people aboard who actually never had seen a buffalo.
“What beards!”
“Are those really buffalo?”
“Shoot!”
“Conductor! Stop the train!”
Bang! Bangity-bang! Bang! Bang! Everybody who could get a glimpse
poked his gun out of a window and fired. Two big buffalo bulls were
racing the train; heads down, tails up, trying to cross in front of it.
The rain of bullets had not touched them. One crossed; but the other
suddenly whirled on the track and charged the engine. The cow-catcher
lifted him high――Davy had sight of his great shaggy shape turning a
somersault in the air, and funny enough he looked, too, with mane and
tail flying. He landed with a thump; people laughed so that they forgot
to shoot again until too late; and gazing back Davy was glad to witness
him scramble to his feet, shake himself, and glare after the train and
bellow defiance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account