of the Fort
Leavenworth band and the town band, and crowds of citizens were on the
wharf as the boat tied up.

The commandant of the fort, D.R. Anthony, the Mayor of Leavenworth, my
sisters, and hundreds of my friends came rushing aboard the boat to
greet us. That night we were given a big banquet to which my soldier
chums and their wives were invited. My wife had a glorious time. After
it was all over, she put her arms about my neck and cried:

"Willy, I don't believe you are an outlaw at all!"

I had reluctantly promised my wife that I would abandon the Plains. It
was necessary to make a living, so I rented a hotel in Salt Creek
Valley, the same hotel my mother had formerly conducted, and set up as
a landlord.

It was a typical frontier hotel, patronized by people going to and from
the Plains, and it took considerable tact and diplomacy to conduct it
successfully. I called the place "The Golden-Rule House," and tried to
conduct it on that principle. I seemed to have the qualifications
necessary, but for a man who had lived my kind of life it proved a tame
employment. I found myself sighing once more for the freedom of the
Plains. Incidentally I felt sure I could make money as a plainsman,
and, now that I had a wife to support, money had become a very
important consideration.

I sold out the Golden-Rule House and set out alone for Saline, Kansas,
which was then at the end of construction of the Kansas Pacific
Railway. On my way I stopped at Junction City, were I again met my old
friend, Wild Bill, who was scouting for the Government, with
headquarters at Fort Ellsworth, afterward called Fort Harker. He told
me more scouts were needed at the Post, and I accompanied him to the
fort, where I had no difficulty in securing employment.

During the winter of 1866-67 I scouted between Fort Ellsworth and Fort
Fletcher. I was at Fort Fletcher in the spring of 1867 when General
Custer came out to accompany General Hancock on an Indian expedition. I
remained here till the post was flooded by a great rise of Big Creek,
on which it was located. The water overflowed the fortifications,
rendering the place unfit for further occupancy, and it was abandoned
by the Government. The troops were removed to Fort Hays, a new post,
located farther west, on the south fork of Big Creek. It was while I
was at Fort Hays that I had my first ride with the dashing Custer. He
had come up from Ellsworth with an escort of only ten men, and wante