Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/162

BUFFALO BILL." 151 fan began to call them in their language, so they came to us without any signs of fear." Regarding the locality of Junction City, as you know, the Kansas Pacific Railroad (now the Union Pacific) runs through that place, having been built in 1866, forty years ago. Thirty mUes west is Abilene, where "Buffalo BUI," (W. F. Cody), obtained his so- briquet because he was the man who kept the rail- road boarding houses in buffalo meat while the road was being buUt; so you see even at that late day there were some of the native cows still on the prairies. From this point our party did not lack company; the news flew onlegs, (Indian runners), as weU as by signal fires from point to point, that there was no danger; that the sight was much more interesting than was the show to David Harem when a boy. Barnum's, Forepaugh's,' Robinson's, Ringlings', Buffalo Bill's, Wombal's, all combined would not make such an at- traction as these men did with their bows which made thunder; men who had clothes which an arrow could not pierce; and more wonderful stiU, who had some kind of a thing which they could only describe as being larger than a buffalo but which could fly with a ma,n on its back. Acicording to the official map compiled by the Quivira Historical Society, on which Indian villages are marked, three are shown: one about two miles north of Junction City; another about ten miles south; then ten miles east of McDowell Creek there are located four more villages; so that within a radius of ten miles from the camping ground of our flying ex- pedition there were six villages. This wiU average w^ith the cities and towns of the present day.