With William Rose, a construction contractor, promotes the town-site of Rome, near Fort Hays, 1867. Rome is eclipsed by Hayes City, its rival. Earns title “Buffalo Bill” by supplying the work gang of the Kansas Pacific Railroad with buffalo, 1867–1868. In 18 months kills 4,280 buffalo. Becomes Government scout with headquarters at Fort Larned, 1868. Performs some remarkable endurance rides between the posts on the Arkansas and those on the Kansas Pacific line. Once covers 355 miles, in 58 hours of riding by day and by night. Appointed by General Sheridan guide and chief scout for the Fifth Cavalry, 1868. Serves with the Fifth Cavalry on various expeditions, 1868–1872. Also acts as guide for numerous sportsmen parties. Temporary justice of the peace at Fort McPherson, Nebraska, 1871. Guide for the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, on a celebrated hunting tour in the West, 1872. Guide for the Third Cavalry, at Fort McPherson, 1872. Acts as guide for the Earl of Dunraven, and other distinguished sportsmen. Elected on the Democratic ticket to the Nebraska Legislature, 1872. Resigns from the Legislature and in the winter of 1872–1873 stars, with Texas Jack, as an actor in “The Scouts of the Plains,” a melodrama by Ned Buntline. Organizes the “Buffalo Bill Combination,” with Texas Jack and Wild Bill, and plays melodrama in the Eastern cities, 1873–1874. During 1874–1876 continues to be scout, guide and actor, according to the season. Takes the field again in earnest as scout for the Fifth Cavalry, against the Sioux, spring of 1876. Fights his noted duel with Chief Yellow Hand. In partnership with Major Frank North, of the Pawnee Government Scouts, establishes a cattle ranch near North Platte, Nebraska, 1877. Seasons of 1876–1877–1878 resumes his theatrical tours in Western melodrama, portraying the late Sioux War and the incidents of the Mountain Meadow Massacre (1857). Takes up residence at North Platte, Nebraska, spring of 1878. Continues to hunt, ranch, and act; writes his autobiography and his own plays. In 1883 organizes his justly celebrated “Wild West” combination, with which for three years he tours the United States. In 1886 he takes it to England, and in 1889 to the Continent. In 1888 appointed brigadier general of the National Guard of Nebraska. In 1890 he again serves as chief scout, under General Nelson A. Miles, against the Sioux. Since then, the “Wild West Show,” known also as the “Congress of Rough Riders of the World,” has continued its career as a spectacle and an education. Colonel Cody (still known as “Buffalo Bill”) is ranked as one of America’s leading characters in public life. He has shown what a boy can do to win honor and success, even if he starts in as only a cattle-herder, with little schooling and no money. BUFFALO BILL AND THE OVERLAND TRAIL I TALL BULL SIGNALS: “ENEMIES!”