The elk hunters met with no success whatever, but the others found plenty of buffaloes and nearly everybody killed one before the day was done.  Lawrence Jerome made an excellent shot.  He was riding in an ambulance, and killed a buffalo that attempted to cross the line of march.  Upon crossing the Republican River on the morning of the twenty-sixth we came upon an immense number of buffaloes scattered over the country in every direction.  All had an opportunity to hunt.  The wagons and troops moved slowly along toward the next camp while the hunters rode off in twos and threes.  Each hunter was rewarded with abundant success.

Lawrence Jerome met with the only mishap.  He was riding Buckskin Joe, which I had lent him, and, dismounting to get a steady shot, thoughtlessly let go of the bridle.

The horse decided to do a little hunting on his own account.  When last seen that day he was ahead of the buffaloes, and gaining, while his late rider was left to his own reflections.  Three days later Joe, saddled and bridled, turned up at Fort McPherson.

We pitched our camp for the night in a charming spot on the bank of Beaver Creek.  The game was so abundant that we remained there the next day.  This stopping-place was called Camp Cody, in honor of the reader’s humble servant.  The next day was spent in hunting jack-rabbits, coyotes, elk, antelope, and wild turkeys.

That we had a splendid dinner may be seen from the following

  Bill of fare

  Soup
    Buffalo Tail

  Fish
    Broiled Cisco; Fried Dace

  Entrees
    Salmi of Prairie Dog; Stewed Rabbit; Filet of Buffalo aux
    Champignons

  Vegetables
    Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas

  Dessert
    Tapioca Pudding

  Wines
    Champagne Frappe, Champagne au Naturel, Claret, Whisky, Brandy, Ale

  Coffee

I considered this a fairly good meal for a hunting party.  Everybody did justice to it.

The excursionists reached Fort Hays on the morning of October second.  There we pitched our tents for the last time.  That same afternoon General Sheridan and his guests took the train for the East.  They expressed themselves as highly pleased with the hunt, as well as with the way they had been guided and escorted.

General Davies afterward wrote the story of this hunt in a volume of sixty-eight pages, called “Ten Days on the Plains.”  In this chapter I have taken the liberty of condensing frequently from this volume, and in some cases have used the general’s exact language.  I ought to insert several lines of quotations marks, to be pretty generally distributed through the foregoing account.

After the departure of General Sheridan’s party we returned to Fort McPherson, and found General Carr about to start on a twenty days’ scout.  His object was more to take some friends on a hunt than to look for Indians.  His guests were a couple of Englishmen and Mr. McCarthy of New York, the latter a relative of General Emory.  The command consisted of three companies of the Fifth Cavalry, one company of Pawnee Scouts, and twenty-five wagons.  Of course I was called to accompany the expedition.