"It's my business to protect that boy, or anybody else, from being
unmercifully abused, kicked and cuffed, and I'll whip any man who tries
it on," said Wild Bill; "and if you ever again lay a hand on that
boy--little Billy there--I'll give you such a pounding that you won't get
over it for a month of Sundays." From that time forward Wild Bill was my
protector and intimate friend, and the friendship thus begun continued
until his death.

Nothing transpired on the trip to delay or give us any trouble whatever,
until the train struck the South Platte river. One day we camped on the
same ground where the Indians had surprised the cattle herd, in charge of
the McCarty brothers. It was with difficulty that we discovered any
traces of anybody ever having camped there before, the only landmark
being the single grave, now covered with grass, in which we had buried
the three men who had been killed. The country was alive with buffaloes.
Vast herds of these monarchs of the plains were roaming all around us,
and we laid over one day for a grand hunt. Besides killing quite a
number of buffaloes, and having a day of rare sport, we captured ten or
twelve head of cattle, they being a portion of the herd which had been
stampeded by the Indians, two months before. The next day we pulled out
of camp, and the train was strung out to a considerable length along the
road which ran near the foot of the sand-hills, two miles from the river.
Between the road and the river we saw a large herd of buffaloes grazing
quietly, they having been down to the stream for a drink.

Just at this time we observed a party of returning Californians coming
from the West. They, too, noticed the buffalo herd, and in another moment
they were dashing down upon them, urging their steeds to the greatest
speed. The buffalo herd stampeded at once, and broke for the hills; so
hotly were they pursued by the hunters that about five hundred of them
rushed through our train pell-mell, frightening both men and oxen. Some
of the wagons were turned clear round, and many of the terrified oxen
attempted to run to the hills, with the heavy wagons attached to them.
Others turned around so short that they broke the wagon tongues off.
Nearly all the teams got entangled in their gearing, and became wild and
unruly, so that the perplexed drivers were unable to manage them.

The buffaloes, the cattle, and the drivers, were soon running in every
direction, and the excitement upset ne