Exhibited bravery and skill as an Indian War scout

It is spring 1872 on the Nebraska frontier when the most famous scout of the Indian Wars—William F. Cody—is called to duty. A band of Mineconju Sioux raid McPherson Station near the newly completed transcontinental railroad and steal horses at Fort McPherson. Cody, chief civilian scout for the 5th Cavalry, pursues the Indians with Captain Charles Meinhold and 30 troopers. While guiding an advance party, Cody and his men discover a dozen Indians encamped with the stolen horses. The troopers are 50 yards away when Indians spot them, and a fight ensues. Cody kills one warrior, and notices six mounted Indians escaping. He and some of his men pursue them for 12 miles. The chase ends as a partial success: the Indians escape, but Cody and his men recover two of the stolen horses.

Meinhold’s report recommends the Medal of Honor for Cody. “Mr. William Cody’s reputation for bravery and skill as a guide is so well established,” he writes, “that I need not say anything else but that he acted in his usual manner.”

Cody was ever after the favorite scout of the 5th Cavalry. He kept them from ambush, he guided them to victory, and his own fame reflected glory on the regiment. Cody was wounded in action just once, and was considered “good luck.”

Citation
“Gallantry in action.” Date and place: Platte River, Nebraska, April 26, 1872. Issued: May 22, 1872, by mail. Rescinded: In 1916 the military decided to re-evaluate past records of recipients. Cody was stricken from the list because he was not technically a member of the military. Reissued: In 1986, a campaign began to reinstate the Medal of Honor to Cody. Congressman Dick Cheney led the Wyoming congressional delegation in this effort and Cody’s medal was restored in 1989.

Biography
Iowa-born Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917) was famous worldwide during his lifetime. His life—part legend and part fabrication—represented perhaps more than anyone else’s the symbols of the Old West and the frontier. Cody was a Pony Express rider (a disputed claim), prospector, trapper, Civil War soldier, professional buffalo hunter, Indian fighter, cavalry scout, horseman, dime-novel hero, and actor. He is best remembered, however, as an impresario of the Wild West show, a traveling company of cowboys, Indians and hundreds of other performers such as Annie Oakley, who toured America and Europe for three decades showcasing facts and myths about the taming of the West. A renowned showman, Cody came to be viewed as the persona of the ideal frontiersman.

Born to Isaac and Mary (Laycock) Cody in the year Iowa became a state, William spent the first eight years of his life in Le Claire. His father managed large farms for absentee owners and operated a stagecoach business. At 14, Cody joined the Pony Express. When he was old enough, Cody fought in the Civil War as a Union scout in campaigns against the Kiowa and Comanche. He also joined the 7th Kansas Cavalry, fighting in Missouri and Tennessee. He married Louisa Frederici in St. Louis after the war and again became a civilian scout and dispatch carrier. Shortly thereafter, he engaged in the trade for which he received the nickname “Buffalo Bill.” A railroad company contracted him to supply buffalo to feed their construction crews. Cody claimed to have killed 4,280 head of buffalo in 17 months.

The Indian Wars escalated in 1868 and Cody, an excellent tracker, became the chief scout of the 5th Cavalry in search of Indians, partaking in over a dozen battles in Nebraska and Colorado. Scouts were crucial to the military during the Indians Wars. Soldiers could easily get lost in this unfamiliar terrain. The strange grasslands appeared flat in places, but in fact sloped gradually and were coursed with gulleys, streambeds and canyons. Paths that looked straight could subtly shift and leave a troop far off course. A scout knew these land features and warned troops as to the most likely places Indians might attack or ambush. Good scouts could identify a distant animal by the way it moved in this open area that projected mirages. Buffalo could be mistaken for horses ridden by Indians.

In addition to hunting and scouting, Cody performed feats of great endurance and energy similar to his Medal of Honor action. Most noted was his feat under the order of General Phil Sheridan to convey a message to a neighboring fort to intercept Kiowas and Comanches who were preparing for war. In the winter of 1868, Cody impressed the gruff commander by covering an astonishing 350 miles in only 60 hours.

Cody became a folk hero as the Buffalo Bill character in dime novels, emerging in the national consciousness alongside Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone through a blend of incredible fact and romanticized fiction. In the 1870s, as the Indian Wars proceeded with increased ferocity, Buffalo Bill found time to star in a play, The Scouts of the Plains, publish an autobiography, and author (through a ghost writer) his own dime novels. He also did a lucrative business leading hunting trips under the hire of rich Easterners and Europeans. He interrupted these services twice to join the military during the Sioux uprisings after the 1876 massacre of General Custer at Little Big Horn, and after the massacre of Sioux at Wounded Knee in 1890.

In 1883, Cody displayed his business acumen and natural showmanship when he organized the Wild West extravaganzas. He became one of the widest known and successful entertainers of his era, and his shows are the foundation of 20th-century Western books and movies.

Cody died in Denver, Colorado, in 1917. At his request he was buried on Lookout Mountain.