From an oil painting by Miss Gwynfred Jones, Hansford, Texas, from her sketches of the battleground, as corrected by "Billy" Dixon. _Buffaloes--"Just As They Looked in the Old Days."_ 28 _Satank, the Old Tiger of the Kiowas_ 58 _Indian Ration Day at Fort Sill, Oklahoma_ 64 _Wood-Hauler Found Scalped Near Fort Dodge_ 82 There are few photographs of this kind in existence. _"Billy" Dixon in His Prime as a Scout and Plainsman_ 106 _Indian Camp of Buffalo Hide Tepees_ 128 In this camp Chief Kicking Bird, Kiowa, was poisoned by his enemies, because of his unwillingness to sanction the Indian warfare against the United States government. _James H. Cator, Zulu, Texas, Panhandle Pioneer_ 160 _"Billy" Dixon's Log Homestead on Site of Original Adobe Walls_ 172 _Chief Quanah Parker of the Comanches_ 202 _High Bluff East of Adobe Walls on which Dixon Killed Indian at 1200 Yards_ 232 _Ermoke and His Band of Murderous Kiowa Raiders_ 256 These Indians are typical of the kind that roamed the Plains country. _Drew Dixon, Son of "Billy" Dixon--"A Sure Shot, Like His Father"_ 274 _"Billy" Dixon, as He Appeared in Recent Years_ 302 _Dixon Orchard at Adobe Walls_ 308 _Adobe Corral Built by "Billy" Dixon_ 312 PREFACE After many years, the solicitation of friends and early associates moved the subject of this volume to consent to the publication of such of his experiences on the frontier as he believed might be of interest to those persons who find pleasure in reading of the perils and hardships encountered in those far-off days by men and women who forsook the comforts of more civilized surroundings to risk their lives in making habitable the wilderness. The pioneers themselves were not inclined to feel that their exploits were so extraordinary as to be of use in the making of books. Their long abode in silent places made them taciturn; and their lack of liberal knowledge of the rules of writing and their unwillingness to risk the appearance of conceit left them reluctant to relate their adventures for the printed page. Posterity, however, has a claim upon these fore-runners that may not be lightly thrust aside. The history of this struggle to subdue the wild places should be preserved and can be gathered only from the lips of the records of participants. In a few years the latter will have all vanished, as the frontier itself has faded into a memory. From camp fire tales have grown the legends of heroes.