Dear Sir: I take pleasure in saying that in an experience of about thirty years on the plains and in the mountains I have seen a great many guides, scouts, trailers, and hunters, and Buffalo Bill (W. F. Cody) is “king of them all.” He has been with me in seven Indian fights, and his services have been invaluable.
Very respectfully yours,
Eugene A. Carr,
Brevet-Major-General U. S. A.
MAJOR-GENERAL W. MERRITT.
United States Military Academy,
West Point, N. Y., January 11, 1887.
... I have known W. F. Cody (“Buffalo Bill”) for many years. He is a Western man of the best type, combining those qualities of enterprise, daring, good sense, and physical endurance which made him the superior of any scout I ever knew. He was cool and capable when surrounded by dangers, and his reports were always free from exaggeration. He is a gentleman in a better sense of the word which implies character, and he may be depended on under all circumstances. I wish him success.
W. Merritt,
Brevet-Major-General U. S. A.
Late Major-General Volunteers.
War Department, Adjutant-General’s Office,
Washington, August 10, 1886.