Around the square: the buffalo horn | News

HORN: Kane’s Scott Morgan wrote to say he “was thrilled to read Sally Ryan Costik’s wonderful article on Buffalo Bill Cody in Saturday’s issue.”

He had some interesting information to add.

“Sally mentioned at one point that Buffalo Bill was friends with Porter Buchanan” of North Platte, Nebraska.

He explained that Buchanan, originally from Bradford, had a daughter, Jane Inez Buchanan. She married Walter Beauchamp of Joplin, Missouri, and lived for many years on his ranch in Hershey, Nebraska, about 12 miles west of Buffalo Bill’s ranch in North Platte.

“Walter and Jane had many children,” Scott recalls, “including no fewer than three sets of twins. One of these twins was my paternal grandmother, Bernice Morgan, who lived in Bradford after her marriage.

She told Scott a story about their connection to Buffalo Bill, a story that Scott said is also recorded in their family Bible.

“When she was a child (7 or 8 years old) she lived in Hershey, Nebraska, and one morning she heard her father in the kitchen. She ran down the stairs and got a big splinter in her foot.

“Crying loudly, her father, Walter, sat her on his knees to remove the splinter. Not being allowed to enter the room with guests, she jumped down and ran away.

“As she did so, the big boss of the company came up to her and sat her on his lap. Digging into his bag, he said, ‘The early bird gets the worm.’

Scott said his grandmother was thrilled with the buffalo horn she received from the man, none other than Buffalo Bill Cody.

“I still have this family treasure,” Scott said, “which was passed down to me from his late son.”

See page A2 for an image.