THE LAST GREAT BUFFALO HUNT OF 1872, NORTH PLATTE & HAYES CENTER, LINCOLN COUNTY, NEBRASKAHeather & I went out to the site of the buffalo hunt in western Nebraska this past weekend. The rendezvous commemorates the visit by the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia to the plains of our state in 1872. I took some photos of the people portraying the famous group of historic figures who were there and thought you might enjoy seeing them, too. My camera battery died or I would have had more pictures of the 1872 campsite....I took the wrong charger with me!
I copied this out of Wikipedia, for a little background on the hunt.....
Trip to the hunting grounds
Preparations for the hunt were extensive and had been carried out under the command of General Joel Palmer. Two companies of infantry in wagons, two companies of cavalry, the cavalry's regimental band, outriders, night herders, couriers, cooks had been mobilized for the event.
The Grand Duke in the company of General Philip Sheridan, General Edward Ord, and Lt. Colonel (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer, the latter having been selected to be grand marshal of the hunt, arrived at Fort McPherson on 13 January 1872, by a special train provided by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. They were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd, headed by William Frederick Cody (known as Buffalo Bill). After speeches, the Duke's party set out for the hunting grounds.[47]
The Duke and General Sheridan rode in an open carriage, drawn by four horses. William Frederick Cody escorted the party with five ambulances, a light wagon for luggage, three wagons of "champagne and royal spirits" and fifteen to twenty extra saddle horses. A relay of horses was set up at Medicine Creek, about half way to the camp, where the party stopped for lunch. The journey then continued to their camp which they called "Camp Alexis" on the Red Willow Creek. The 2d Cavalry band was in place and in tune; "Hail to the Chief" was played when the Grand Duke arrived. The entire trip covered about 50 miles and took approximately eight hours.
The camp consisted of two hospital tents (used as dining tent), ten wall tents and tents for servants and soldiers. Three wall tents were floored and the Grand Duke's was carpeted with oriental rugs. Box stoves and Sibley stoves were provided for the tents.
Cody had discussed the hunt with Spotted Tail, chief of the Brul? Lakota, who had agreed to meet the "great chief from across the water who was coming there to visit him." About 600 warriors of different Sioux tribes, led by Spotted Tail, War Bonnet, Black Hat, Red Leaf, Whistler and Pawnee Killer, assembled to greet the grand duke at the hunting camp. They had been provided with ten thousand rations of flour, sugar, coffee, and 1,000 pounds of tobacco for their trouble - twenty-five wagon loads in all.
At the start of the party, Spotted Tail, dressed in a suit, which didn?t fit him, with an army belt upside down and an extremely awkward look was introduced to the Grand Duke. Then the Indian chief extended his hand, and greeted the Grand Duke with the customary "How."
For the amusement of Alexei the Indians staged exercises of horsemanship, lance-throwing and bow-shooting. Then there was a sham fight, showing the Indian mode of warfare, closing up with a grand war dance. It was noticed that Grand Duke Alexei paid considerable attention to a good-looking Indian maiden. Concerned that his mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, might receive reports of his flirtations, he wrote her from St. Louis: "Regarding my success with American ladies about which so much is written in the newspapers, I can openly say, that this is complete nonsense. They looked on me from the beginning as they would look on a wild animal, as on a crocodile or other unusual beast." .[45]
However, a dispute broke out, but Alexei was able to calm down the fight with gifts of red and green blankets, ivory-handled hunting knives and a large bag of silver dollars. A formal council took place in Sheridan's tent and a peace pipe was passed around. Spotted Tail seized the chance to press his demand for the right to hunt freely south of the Platte River and for more than one store in which to trade.[45] [48]
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich killing a buffalo with a pistol shot on 15 January 1872
The buffalo hunt
The big hunt took place on the Grand Duke's 22nd birthday, 14 January 1872. For the hunt the Duke wore a jacket and trousers of heavy gray cloth, trimmed with green, the buttons bearing the Imperial Russian coat-of-arms. He wore his boots outside his trousers in the European way, which was unusual for his American hosts. Alexei carried a Russian hunting knife, and an American revolver, bearing the coats-of-arms of the United States and Russia on the handle, which he had recently received as a present. The hunting party approached buffalo herd several miles up the Red Willow Creek. The Grand Duke rode William Cody's celebrated buffalo horse "Buckskin Joe", which had been trained to ride at full gallop with a target so that the best shot could be made. As soon as a herd of buffalo was seen, some two miles away, Alexei wanted to make a charge but was restrained by William Cody. The party moved to the windward and gradually approached the herd. Within a hundred yards of the fleeing buffalo, the Grand Duke, not accustomed to shooting from a running horse, fired, but missed. Cody rode up close beside Alexei, handed him his own famed .48-caliber rifle, "Lucretia", the one with which he claimed to have killed 4,200 buffalo and advised him not to fire until he was on the flank of the buffalo. When Alexei tried again, he brought down his game. The hide of the dead buffalo was carefully removed and dressed; the Grand Duke took it home as a souvenir of his hunt on the western plains. Twenty to thirty animals were killed on the first day of the hunt. The party returned early to camp, where there was a liberal supply of champagne and other beverages provided, and the evening was spent in frontier style.
The next morning Spotted Tail requested him to hunt by the side of Two Lance, chief of the Nakota Sioux tribe, so that he could see a demonstration of the Indian way of hunting. Coming up to a heard of buffalo, Two Lance demonstrated his skill by killing a large animal with one arrow which passed entirely through the body of the running buffalo. The arrow was preserved and given to Alexei. The Grand Duke killed two buffalo, one of them at 100 paces distance, with a pistol shot.
On the conclusion of the hunt, when returning to Fort McPherson, General Sheridan proposed that William Cody take the reins and show Alexei the old style of stage driving over the plains with the horses at full gallop. The heavy ambulance bounded over the rough prairie, while the occupants could hardly keep their seats. Grand Duke Alexei was pleased with his hunting trip. When he and Cody parted in Fort McPherson, he presented Cody with a fur coat and expensive cuff links.
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich and General George Armstrong Custer in Topeka, at the end of the buffalo hunt
From there the train continued to Denver where the Grand Duke arrived on 17 January. While in Denver, he attended an honorary ball sponsored by the Pioneer Club and visited some mines. Alexei apparently loved the new sport he had just learned and hunted buffalo again near Colorado Springs, on his return trip from Denver through Kansas to St. Louis. However, the horses used to hunt in eastern Colorado were cavalry mounts and unaccustomed to buffalo; several hunters were injured during the resulting confusion. Alexei was unhurt and succeeded in killing as many as 25 buffalo. He even shot a few more from the train on its way across western Kansas toward Topeka, which was reached on 22 January.[49] It is claimed that, by the time they reached St. Louis, the party's supply of caviar and champagne had been exhausted.[47][50][51][52][53][54][55]
General Custer became one of the Duke's best friends. He accompanied the Duke and his entourage through Kansas, to St. Louis, New Orleans, and finally to Florida. They continued to correspond with one another up until Custer's death. In the United States, the hunt is remembered as "The Great Royal Buffalo Hunt". Starting from the year 2000, Hayes Center, Nebraska organizes each year the "Grand Duke Alexis Rendezvous" featuring a reenactment of the buffalo hunt.[56]
Grand Duke Alexei received as a gift from chief Spotted Tail an Indian wigwam and a bow and arrows. The Grand Duke took them back to St. Petersburg. At present they are kept at the museum in Tver. In memory of his adventures in the America, the Grand Duke organized every year a special entertainment. The actors arrived to a village of tents in old carriages drawn by heavy horses. On the palaces lake there were "Indian" pirogues. Men with swords and tomahawks danced with women dressed in long old skirts. The performance was supposed to give the attendance an image of the American Old West.[57
