LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill"] by Helen Cody Wetmore LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS THE LIFE STORY OF COL. WILLIAM F. CODY "BUFFALO BILL" AS TOLD BY HIS SISTER HELEN CODY WETMORE TO THE MEMORY OF A MOTHER WHOSE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER STILL LIVES A HALLOWED INFLUENCE GENEALOGY OF BUFFALO BILL. The following genealogical sketch was compiled in 1897. The crest is copied from John Rooney's "Genealogical History of Irish Families." It is not generally known that genuine royal blood courses in Colonel Cody's veins. He is a lineal descendant of Milesius, king of Spain, that famous monarch whose three sons, Heber, Heremon, and Ir, founded the first dynasty in Ireland, about the beginning of the Christian era. The Cody family comes through the line of Heremon. The original name was Tireach, which signifies "The Rocks." Muiredach Tireach, one of the first of this line, and son of Fiacha Straivetine, was crowned king of Ireland, Anno Domini 320. Another of the line became king of Connaught, Anno Domini 701. The possessions of the Sept were located in the present counties of Clare, Galway, and Mayo. The names Connaught-Gallway, after centuries, gradually contracted to Connallway, Connellway, Connelly, Conly, Cory, Coddy, Coidy, and Cody, and is clearly shown by ancient indentures still traceable among existing records. On the maternal side, Colonel Cody can, without difficulty, follow his lineage to the best blood of England. Several of the Cody family emigrated to America in 1747, settling in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The name is frequently mentioned in Revolutionary history. Colonel Cody is a member of the Cody family of Revolutionary fame. Like the other Spanish-Irish families, the Codys have their proof of ancestry in the form of a crest, the one which Colonel Cody is entitled to use being printed herewith. The lion signifies Spanish origin. It is the same figure that forms a part of the royal coat-of-arms of Spain to this day--Castile and Leon. The arm and cross denote that the descent is through the line of Heremon, whose posterity were among the first to follow the cross, as a symbol of their adherence to the Christian faith. PREFACE.