Rank: Civilian Scout. Born: Scott County, Iowa. Organization: 3rd Cavalry U.S. Army. Action date: 26 April 1872. Place: Platte River, Nebraska.

CITATION: Gallantry in action.

In the spring of 1872 a small party of Indians made a dash on McPherson station, about five miles from the fort, killing two or three men and running off quite a large number of horses. Civilian Scout William Cody guided a cavalry detachment in seeking out the responsible party, and upon finding their camp near the Loupe Fork of the Platte River, scouted the emplacement with six soldiers. After finding a small enemy patrol, concerned that they might escape, Cody led the six soldiers in an immediate attack though he was outnumbered two-to-one. The soldiers killed six of the thirteen Indians, the sound of the battle drawing a relief force of cavalry that then put the remainder to flight. For this action which resulted in the destruction of a dangerous party of hostile raiders, William Cody and three soldiers who fought with him in the battle were awarded Medals of Honor for "Gallantry in action." The three cavalrymen cited were: Sergeant John Foley, Private William Strayer, and First Sergeant Leroy Vokes.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Western Frontiersman, Entertainer, Indian Wars Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient.. Born in Scott County, Iowa, his family moved to Kansas when he was eight. When his father died in 1857, young Bill rode a mule as a messenger for a freight company. The next year, he dropped out of school, and began making trips west with wagon trains, looking after the livestock and driving a team of horses for the trains. In 1860 to 1861 he rode on the mail route for the short-lived Pony Express Company, carrying mail from San Francisco, California to St. Joseph, Missouri, and back. During the Civil War, William Cody joined a Jayhawk group, fighting the Confederacy via guerilla style raids in the South, and later served as a Union scout. After the war, he started a hotel in Kansas, but soon sold it to start a freight company, which went out of business when the Indians captured his wagons and horses. After doing some railroad construction work, he became a buffalo hunter, supplying buffalo meat to the railroad gangs building the Transcontinental Railroad. It is said that he killed 4,000 buffalo in just 18 months. His skill with a rifle earned him his lifelong nickname "Buffalo Bill." In 1868 to 1872, he served as a civilian scout for the United States Army, during the Indian Campaigns. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1872 for gallantry in action in a battle with Indians on the Platte River, but it was revoked in 1917 because he was not a member of the military at the time the award was made. His family refused to give it back (Medals of Honor are technically the property of the United States Government), and in 1989 his Medal was restored to him. In late 1883, he formed up a "Wild West" Circus to tour the United States and Europe. The show included mock Indian battles and demonstrations of shooting skill, and became one of the widest known and successful entertainment endeavors in the late 19th and early 20 Centuries. After 1894, Cody moved to a ranch in northwestern Wyoming, but died while visiting Denver. (bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)

Birth: Feb. 26, 1846

Death: Jan. 10, 1917
Denver
Colorado, USA

Burial: Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum
Golden
Jefferson County
Colorado**

Civilian Scouts Awarded the Medal of Honor