indianwars

In the summer of 1868 Major George A. Forsyth, under orders from General Sheridan, raised a company of fifty "first-class hardy frontiersmen" to seek out and engage hostile Native Americans. These scouts soon found themselves outnumbered and surrounded by hundreds of Cheyenne warriors as they took refuge on a little sandbar in the middle of the Arikaree river. What followed is now known as the battle of Beecher Island.

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Contrary - Little Big Man

List of Forsyth's Scouts

Excerpt from Indian Yell, by Michael Blake - True West Mag

Indian Yell: The Heart of an American Insurgency by Michael Blake

The Battle of Beecher Island, by George A. Forsyth

Some extra time with Dr. Jeremy Johnston, Curator and Historian of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. We discuss Buffalo Bill's rise as a showman, his military record, and his legacy as a bona fide American icon.

Audio Selections:

• Orchestral selection: 1812 Overture
• Bagpipe selection: The Gordon Highlanders, "Cock of the North"
• Interstitial music: selections from the Scott Joplin catalog, performed by Lord Vinheteiro
• Closing theme: "The Black Woods Jig" by Mirka

Additional Resources:

• Buffalo Bill Center of the West
• The William F. Cody Archive
• William F. Cody Series on the History and Culture of the American West
• The Papers of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody Series
• Cody Studies
• Project Gutenberg: The Life of Honorable William F. Cody, Known as Buffalo Bill by William F. Cody
• Librivox: The Life of Honorable William F. Cody, Known as Buffalo Bill by William F. Cody
• Internet Archive: Buffalo Bill: Last of the Great Scouts by Helen Cody Wetmore and Zane Grey