“Do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, to support and love her through life?”

“I do,” was the reply.

Then addressing myself to the bride, I said, “Do you take this man to be your lawful wedded husband through life, to love, honor and obey him?”

[Illustration:  A WEDDING CEREMONY.]

“I do,” was her response.

“Then join hands,” said I to both of them; “I now pronounce you to be man and wife, and whomsoever God and Buffalo Bill have joined together let no man put asunder.  May you live long and prosper.  Amen.”

This concluded the interesting ceremony, which was followed by the usual festivities on such occasions.  I was highly complimented for the elegant and eloquent manner in which I had tied the matrimonial knot.

During the summer of 1871, Professor Marsh, of Yale College, came out to McPherson, with a large party of students to have a hunt and to look for fossils.  Professor Marsh had heard of the big bone which had been found by the Pawnees in the Niobrara country, and he intended to look for that as well as other bones.  He accordingly secured the services of Major Frank North and the Pawnees as an escort.  I was also to accompany the bone-hunters, and would have done so had it not been for the fact that just at that time I was ordered out with a small scouting party to go after some Indians.

[Illustration:  A RIDE FOR LIFE.]

The day before the Professor arrived at the fort, I had been out hunting on the north side of the North Platte River, near Pawnee Springs, with several companions, when we were suddenly attacked by Indians, who wounded one of our number, John Weister.  We stood the Indians off for a little while, and Weister got even with them by killing one of their party.  The Indians, however, outnumbered us, and at last we were forced to make a run for our lives.  In this we succeeded, and reached the fort in safety.  The General wanted to have the Indians pursued, and said he could not spare me to accompany Professor Marsh.

However, I had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of the eminent Professor, whom I found to be not only a well-posted person but a very entertaining gentleman.  He gave me a geological history of the country; told me in what section fossils were to be found; and otherwise entertained me with several scientific yarns, some of which seemed too complicated and too mysterious to be believed by an ordinary man like myself; but it was all clear to him.  I rode out with him several miles, as he was starting on his bone-hunting expedition, and I greatly enjoyed the ride.  His party had been provided with Government transportation and his students were all mounted on Government horses.