Buffalo Bill short lived career as a Kansas Jayhawker

SWMODave

Sergeant Major
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Joined
Jul 23, 2017
Location
Southwest Missouri
Buffalo_Bill_age_19.jpg

Photo courtesy Wikipedia &
Buffalo Bill Historical Center

Following the breaking out of the great Civil War in 1861, a general desertion of stage-drivers and express riders took place, a majority of whom were natural rovers, and always looking out for change of employment. I was not an exception, and as it had now been nearly a year since I saw my mother, while reports of her ill health frequently reached me, I decided to pay her a visit, and at the same time determine, if government service promised better pay and more excitement than I had been getting out of my engagement with the express company, to join the army. In pursuance of this resolve I went to Leavenworth, which was at that time an important outfitting post for the West and Southwest.

While in the city one day I met several of the old, as well as the young men, who had been members of the Free State party all through the Kansas troubles, and who had, like our family, lost everything at the hands of the Missourians. They now thought a good opportunity offered to retaliate and get even with their persecutors, as they were all considered to be Secessionists. That they were all Secessionists, however, was not true, as all of them did not sympathise with the South. But the Free State men, myself among them, took it for granted that as Missouri was a slave State the inhabitants must all be Secessionists, and therefore our enemies. A man by the name of Chandler proposed that we organize an independent company for the purpose of invading Missouri and making war on its people on our own responsibility. He at once went about it in a very quiet way, and succeed in inducing twenty-five men to join him in the hazardous enterprise. Having a longing and revengeful desire to retaliate upon the Missourians for the brutal manner in which they had treated and robbed my family, I became a member of Chandler's company. His plan was that we should leave our homes in parties of not more than two or three together, and meet at a certain point near Westport, Missouri, on a fixed day. His instructions were carried out, and we assembled at the rendezvous at the appointed time. Chandler had been there some days before us and, thoroughly disguised, had been looking around the country for the whereabouts of all the best horses. He directed us to secretly visit certain farms and collect all the horses possible, and bring them together the next night. This we did, and upon reassembling it was found that nearly every man had two horses. We immediately struck out for the Kansas line, which we crossed at the Indian ferry on the Kansas River, above Wyandotte, and as soon as we had set foot upon Kansas soil we separated with the understanding that we were to meet one week from that day at Leavenworth.

Some of the parties boldly took their confiscated horses into Leavenworth, while others rode them to their homes. This action may look to the reader like horse-stealing, and some people might not hesitate to call it by that name; but Chandler plausibly maintained that we were only getting back our own, or the equivalent, from the Missourians, and as the government was waging war against the South, it was perfectly square and honest, and we had a good right to do it. So we didn't let our consciences trouble us very much.

We continued to make similar raids upon the Missourians off and on during the summer, and occasionally we had running fights with them; none of the skirmishes, however, amounting to much. The government officials hearing of our operations, put detectives upon our track, and several of the party were arrested. My mother, upon learning that I was engaged in this business, told me it was neither honorable nor right, and she would not for a moment countenance any such proceedings. Consequently I abandoned the jay-hawking enterprise, for such it really was.

After abandoning the enterprise of crippling the Confederacy by appropriating the horses of non-combatants, I went to Leavenworth, where I met my old friend, Wild Bill, who was on the point of departing for Rolla, Mo., to assume the position of wagon master of a government train. At his request to join him as an assistant I cheerfully accompanied him to Rolla, where we loaded a number of wagons with government freight and drove them to Springfield.

Source

"Wild Bill" Hitckock would spend a lot of time in Springfield, Missouri and on July 21, 1865, would kill Dave Tutt in one of America's first quick draw duel's. His first combat experience came at Wilson's Creek where he later admitted, ..... ""It was the first time I was ever under artillery fire, and I was so frightened that I couldn't move for a minute or so, and when I did go back, the boys asked me if I had seen a ghost." (source - "Wild Bill Hickok" by Richard O’Connor - Doubleday & Company 1959)

Buffalo Bill would be awarded the Medal of Honor for later service in Kansas during the war - have it removed - then have it restored again - source

http://www.historybyzim.com/2014/01/buffalo-bill-cody-and-the-medal-of-honor/
 

Following the breaking out of the great Civil War in 1861, a general desertion of stage-drivers and express riders took place, a majority of whom were natural rovers, and always looking out for change of employment. I was not an exception, and as it had now been nearly a year since I saw my mother, while reports of her ill health frequently reached me, I decided to pay her a visit, and at the same time determine, if government service promised better pay and more excitement than I had been getting out of my engagement with the express company, to join the army. In pursuance of this resolve I went to Leavenworth, which was at that time an important outfitting post for the West and Southwest.

While in the city one day I met several of the old, as well as the young men, who had been members of the Free State party all through the Kansas troubles, and who had, like our family, lost everything at the hands of the Missourians. They now thought a good opportunity offered to retaliate and get even with their persecutors, as they were all considered to be Secessionists. That they were all Secessionists, however, was not true, as all of them did not sympathise with the South. But the Free State men, myself among them, took it for granted that as Missouri was a slave State the inhabitants must all be Secessionists, and therefore our enemies. A man by the name of Chandler proposed that we organize an independent company for the purpose of invading Missouri and making war on its people on our own responsibility. He at once went about it in a very quiet way, and succeed in inducing twenty-five men to join him in the hazardous enterprise. Having a longing and revengeful desire to retaliate upon the Missourians for the brutal manner in which they had treated and robbed my family, I became a member of Chandler's company. His plan was that we should leave our homes in parties of not more than two or three together, and meet at a certain point near Westport, Missouri, on a fixed day. His instructions were carried out, and we assembled at the rendezvous at the appointed time. Chandler had been there some days before us and, thoroughly disguised, had been looking around the country for the whereabouts of all the best horses. He directed us to secretly visit certain farms and collect all the horses possible, and bring them together the next night. This we did, and upon reassembling it was found that nearly every man had two horses. We immediately struck out for the Kansas line, which we crossed at the Indian ferry on the Kansas River, above Wyandotte, and as soon as we had set foot upon Kansas soil we separated with the understanding that we were to meet one week from that day at Leavenworth.

Some of the parties boldly took their confiscated horses into Leavenworth, while others rode them to their homes. This action may look to the reader like horse-stealing, and some people might not hesitate to call it by that name; but Chandler plausibly maintained that we were only getting back our own, or the equivalent, from the Missourians, and as the government was waging war against the South, it was perfectly square and honest, and we had a good right to do it. So we didn't let our consciences trouble us very much.

We continued to make similar raids upon the Missourians off and on during the summer, and occasionally we had running fights with them; none of the skirmishes, however, amounting to much. The government officials hearing of our operations, put detectives upon our track, and several of the party were arrested. My mother, upon learning that I was engaged in this business, told me it was neither honorable nor right, and she would not for a moment countenance any such proceedings. Consequently I abandoned the jay-hawking enterprise, for such it really was.

After abandoning the enterprise of crippling the Confederacy by appropriating the horses of non-combatants, I went to Leavenworth, where I met my old friend, Wild Bill, who was on the point of departing for Rolla, Mo., to assume the position of wagon master of a government train. At his request to join him as an assistant I cheerfully accompanied him to Rolla, where we loaded a number of wagons with government freight and drove them to Springfield.

Source

"Wild Bill" Hitckock would spend a lot of time in Springfield, Missouri and on July 21, 1865, would kill Dave Tutt in one of America's first quick draw duel's. His first combat experience came at Wilson's Creek where he later admitted, ..... ""It was the first time I was ever under artillery fire, and I was so frightened that I couldn't move for a minute or so, and when I did go back, the boys asked me if I had seen a ghost." (source - "Wild Bill Hickok" by Richard O’Connor - Doubleday & Company 1959)

Buffalo Bill would be awarded the Medal of Honor for later service in Kansas during the war - have it removed - then have it restored again - source
Thanks for posting this interesting story....
 
Author Donald Gilmore quotes Buffalo Bill as having said of his jayhawking days: "We were the biggest gang of thieves on record". Personally, I always liked the Buffalo Bill who I knew from histories and old newsreels as the leader and star of a successful wild west show, friend of Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull, etc. etc. etc. I was idolizing that larger than life guy who was such a great self promoter. I was HUGELY disappointed to discover that he had been a jayhawking Red Leg. You might say I was crestfallen. You could even say that I suddenly despised him.

This thread gives Bill (and me) a little wiggle room, because it suggests that he thought better of his jayhawking ways and switched to a more noble mode of service. I'm not real keen on the fact that he slaughtered so many bison, either, but at least he wasn't preying on the civilian population of Missouri.

He was supplying the army with meat, but he was also (knowingly or unknowingly) doing his part to make it impossible for various Plains Indian peoples to live off the land. He received, then lost, had reinstated his Medal of Honor for his service in the Indian Wars, but that is another very dubious matter--totally separate from the dubious subject of this thread.
 
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Following the breaking out of the great Civil War in 1861, a general desertion of stage-drivers and express riders took place, a majority of whom were natural rovers, and always looking out for change of employment. I was not an exception, and as it had now been nearly a year since I saw my mother, while reports of her ill health frequently reached me, I decided to pay her a visit, and at the same time determine, if government service promised better pay and more excitement than I had been getting out of my engagement with the express company, to join the army. In pursuance of this resolve I went to Leavenworth, which was at that time an important outfitting post for the West and Southwest.

While in the city one day I met several of the old, as well as the young men, who had been members of the Free State party all through the Kansas troubles, and who had, like our family, lost everything at the hands of the Missourians. They now thought a good opportunity offered to retaliate and get even with their persecutors, as they were all considered to be Secessionists. That they were all Secessionists, however, was not true, as all of them did not sympathise with the South. But the Free State men, myself among them, took it for granted that as Missouri was a slave State the inhabitants must all be Secessionists, and therefore our enemies. A man by the name of Chandler proposed that we organize an independent company for the purpose of invading Missouri and making war on its people on our own responsibility. He at once went about it in a very quiet way, and succeed in inducing twenty-five men to join him in the hazardous enterprise. Having a longing and revengeful desire to retaliate upon the Missourians for the brutal manner in which they had treated and robbed my family, I became a member of Chandler's company. His plan was that we should leave our homes in parties of not more than two or three together, and meet at a certain point near Westport, Missouri, on a fixed day. His instructions were carried out, and we assembled at the rendezvous at the appointed time. Chandler had been there some days before us and, thoroughly disguised, had been looking around the country for the whereabouts of all the best horses. He directed us to secretly visit certain farms and collect all the horses possible, and bring them together the next night. This we did, and upon reassembling it was found that nearly every man had two horses. We immediately struck out for the Kansas line, which we crossed at the Indian ferry on the Kansas River, above Wyandotte, and as soon as we had set foot upon Kansas soil we separated with the understanding that we were to meet one week from that day at Leavenworth.

Some of the parties boldly took their confiscated horses into Leavenworth, while others rode them to their homes. This action may look to the reader like horse-stealing, and some people might not hesitate to call it by that name; but Chandler plausibly maintained that we were only getting back our own, or the equivalent, from the Missourians, and as the government was waging war against the South, it was perfectly square and honest, and we had a good right to do it. So we didn't let our consciences trouble us very much.

We continued to make similar raids upon the Missourians off and on during the summer, and occasionally we had running fights with them; none of the skirmishes, however, amounting to much. The government officials hearing of our operations, put detectives upon our track, and several of the party were arrested. My mother, upon learning that I was engaged in this business, told me it was neither honorable nor right, and she would not for a moment countenance any such proceedings. Consequently I abandoned the jay-hawking enterprise, for such it really was.

After abandoning the enterprise of crippling the Confederacy by appropriating the horses of non-combatants, I went to Leavenworth, where I met my old friend, Wild Bill, who was on the point of departing for Rolla, Mo., to assume the position of wagon master of a government train. At his request to join him as an assistant I cheerfully accompanied him to Rolla, where we loaded a number of wagons with government freight and drove them to Springfield.

Source

"Wild Bill" Hitckock would spend a lot of time in Springfield, Missouri and on July 21, 1865, would kill Dave Tutt in one of America's first quick draw duel's. His first combat experience came at Wilson's Creek where he later admitted, ..... ""It was the first time I was ever under artillery fire, and I was so frightened that I couldn't move for a minute or so, and when I did go back, the boys asked me if I had seen a ghost." (source - "Wild Bill Hickok" by Richard O’Connor - Doubleday & Company 1959)

Buffalo Bill would be awarded the Medal of Honor for later service in Kansas during the war - have it removed - then have it restored again - source

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William Frederick Cody : Residence Leavenworth KS; 17 years old. On 2/19/1864 he enlisted and mustered into "H" Co. KS 7th Cavalry. He was Mustered Out on 9/29/1865.

Seventh Cavalry
KANSAS
(3-YEARS)
Seventh Cavalry. -- Cols., Charles R. Jennison Albert L. Lee
Thomas P. Herrick; Lieut.-Cols., Daniel R. Anthony, Thomas P.
Herrick, David W. Houston, William S. Jenkins, Francis M.
Malone; Majs., Daniel R. Anthony, Thomas P. Herrick, Albert L.
Lee, John T. Snoddy, Clark S. Merriman, William S. Jenkins,
Francis M. Malone, Charles H. Gregory, Levi H. Utt.

This regiment was recruited in the summer of 1861, and was
mustered into the U. S. service, 902 strong, at Fort
Leavenworth Oct. 28 1861, for three years. It was immediately
ordered into the field and served during the fall and winter
of 1861-62 in western Missouri.

Its first battle was on the Little Blue River, where Cos. A, B
and H were engaged with a force commanded by the notorious
Upton Hays and lost 9 killed and 32 wounded. On Jan. 31,
1862, it moved to Humboldt, Kan., and on March 25 was ordered
to Lawrence where Col. Jennison resigned and was succeeded by
Lieut.-Col. Anthony.

In May the regiment embarked on transports for Columbus, Ky.,
whence it shortly moved to Jacinto, Miss., and thence to
Rienzi, Miss., where it remained until the evacuation of the
post Sept. 30, 1862. It was assigned to Col. Philip H.
Sheridan's cavalry brigade, Army of the Mississippi, and while
stationed at Rienzi was constantly in the saddle, engaging in
numerous severe cavalry skirmishes.

Cos. B and E participated in the battle of Iuka and received
special notice from Gen. Rosecrans for bravery on the field
and in the pursuit. The regiment was active during Van Dorn's
raid upon Corinth, and was in the advance during the pursuit
to Ripley, Miss. Returning to Corinth, it next engaged in an
expedition into Alabama under command of Col. Lee, routed
Roddey's cavalry at Buzzard Roost station and took a number of
prisoners.

On its return to Corinth it was ordered to join Grant's army
at Grand Junction, and had a sharp engagement with the
Confederate cavalry under Gen. Jackson near Lamar, Miss. On
Nov. 28 it made a raid to Holly Springs and routed the enemy's
garrison when it charged into the town. As Grant's army moved
into Mississippi the 7th held the extreme advance during the
greater portion of the campaign.

It was the first to cross the Tallahatchie, led the advance
into Oxford, was first into Water Valley and was heavily
engaged with the advance at Coffeeville. It then fell back
with the cavalry to Water Valley and formed part of the force
sent to intercept Van Dorn, when that general captured Holly
Springs and burnt Grant's stores.

After joining in the pursuit of Van Dorn, it moved to Moscow,
Tenn., and was employed in guard duty along the line of the
Memphis & Charleston railroad until the middle of April, 1863.
Col. Lee was promoted to brigadier-general and the command of
the regiment devolved upon Lieut.-Col. Herrick.

In the latter part of April, as a part of Gen. Dodge's
cavalry, it was engaged with Roddey's and Forrest's cavalry at
Tuscumbia, Leighton and Town Creek, and then moved south with
the rest of the cavalry as a diversion in favor of Gen.
Grierson, who was then engaged in his famous raid through
Mississippi.

Attached to Col. Cornyn's brigade it had a sharp fight at
Tupelo in May, where the enemy was driven from the field with
heavy loss. The regiment was stationed at Corinth from May 9,
1863, to Jan. 8, 1864, during which time it was almost
constantly in the saddle and participated in many severe
battles and skirmishes, notably at Florence and Hamburg, Ala.,
Iuka, Swallow's bluff, Byhalia, Wyatt and Ripley, Miss., and
Jack's Creek, Tenn.

In Jan., 1864, while bivouacked near La Grange, Tenn, 455
members of the 7th reenlisted as veterans and on the 18th the
regiment was ordered to Memphis, where the veterans were
remustered and then proceeded to Kansas on 30 days' furlough.

On June 6, 1864, the regiment was again in Memphis. On July 5
it moved south from La Grange in advance of Gen. A. J. Smith's
infantry column, which moved against Forrest's cavalry, and it
acted as rear-guard when Smith turned east toward Tupelo. In
the battle of Tupelo, the 7th was on the right flank and was
only lightly engaged.

It had a sharp skirmish at Ellistown, and in August, when
Smith again moved against Gen. Forrest, it took a prominent
part in the expedition, being engaged at the crossing of the
Tallahatchie, Oxford and in the cavalry battle of Hurricane
creek. Returning to Memphis after this campaign it was
ordered to report to Gen. Rosecrans at St. Louis, where it
arrived Sept. 17, 1864.

Commanded by Lieut.-Col. Malone, it was active during the
Missouri campaign against Gen. Price, took part in all the
principal engagements, routed a superior force and captured 2
pieces of artillery at Independence, Mo. After this campaign
the regiment served by detachments in the St. Louis district
where it was employed against guerrillas until July 18, 1865.

It was finally mustered out at Fort Leavenworth, Sept. 29,
1865, having served a term of 3 years and 11 months, during
which it marched, exclusive of distance traveled on transports
and by rail, 12,050 miles. The regiment lost by death during
service 3 officers and 61 enlisted men killed in action or
mortally wounded; 1 officer and 97 enlisted men died by
disease and other causes.

Source: The Union Army, vol. 4, p. 208

****************************************************************************
 
View attachment 159261

William Frederick Cody : Residence Leavenworth KS; 17 years old. On 2/19/1864 he enlisted and mustered into "H" Co. KS 7th Cavalry. He was Mustered Out on 9/29/1865.

Seventh Cavalry
KANSAS
(3-YEARS)
Seventh Cavalry. -- Cols., Charles R. Jennison Albert L. Lee
Thomas P. Herrick; Lieut.-Cols., Daniel R. Anthony, Thomas P.
Herrick, David W. Houston, William S. Jenkins, Francis M.
Malone; Majs., Daniel R. Anthony, Thomas P. Herrick, Albert L.
Lee, John T. Snoddy, Clark S. Merriman, William S. Jenkins,
Francis M. Malone, Charles H. Gregory, Levi H. Utt.

This regiment was recruited in the summer of 1861, and was
mustered into the U. S. service, 902 strong, at Fort
Leavenworth Oct. 28 1861, for three years. It was immediately
ordered into the field and served during the fall and winter
of 1861-62 in western Missouri.

Its first battle was on the Little Blue River, where Cos. A, B
and H were engaged with a force commanded by the notorious
Upton Hays and lost 9 killed and 32 wounded. On Jan. 31,
1862, it moved to Humboldt, Kan., and on March 25 was ordered
to Lawrence where Col. Jennison resigned and was succeeded by
Lieut.-Col. Anthony.

In May the regiment embarked on transports for Columbus, Ky.,
whence it shortly moved to Jacinto, Miss., and thence to
Rienzi, Miss., where it remained until the evacuation of the
post Sept. 30, 1862. It was assigned to Col. Philip H.
Sheridan's cavalry brigade, Army of the Mississippi, and while
stationed at Rienzi was constantly in the saddle, engaging in
numerous severe cavalry skirmishes.

Cos. B and E participated in the battle of Iuka and received
special notice from Gen. Rosecrans for bravery on the field
and in the pursuit. The regiment was active during Van Dorn's
raid upon Corinth, and was in the advance during the pursuit
to Ripley, Miss. Returning to Corinth, it next engaged in an
expedition into Alabama under command of Col. Lee, routed
Roddey's cavalry at Buzzard Roost station and took a number of
prisoners.

On its return to Corinth it was ordered to join Grant's army
at Grand Junction, and had a sharp engagement with the
Confederate cavalry under Gen. Jackson near Lamar, Miss. On
Nov. 28 it made a raid to Holly Springs and routed the enemy's
garrison when it charged into the town. As Grant's army moved
into Mississippi the 7th held the extreme advance during the
greater portion of the campaign.

It was the first to cross the Tallahatchie, led the advance
into Oxford, was first into Water Valley and was heavily
engaged with the advance at Coffeeville. It then fell back
with the cavalry to Water Valley and formed part of the force
sent to intercept Van Dorn, when that general captured Holly
Springs and burnt Grant's stores.

After joining in the pursuit of Van Dorn, it moved to Moscow,
Tenn., and was employed in guard duty along the line of the
Memphis & Charleston railroad until the middle of April, 1863.
Col. Lee was promoted to brigadier-general and the command of
the regiment devolved upon Lieut.-Col. Herrick.

In the latter part of April, as a part of Gen. Dodge's
cavalry, it was engaged with Roddey's and Forrest's cavalry at
Tuscumbia, Leighton and Town Creek, and then moved south with
the rest of the cavalry as a diversion in favor of Gen.
Grierson, who was then engaged in his famous raid through
Mississippi.

Attached to Col. Cornyn's brigade it had a sharp fight at
Tupelo in May, where the enemy was driven from the field with
heavy loss. The regiment was stationed at Corinth from May 9,
1863, to Jan. 8, 1864, during which time it was almost
constantly in the saddle and participated in many severe
battles and skirmishes, notably at Florence and Hamburg, Ala.,
Iuka, Swallow's bluff, Byhalia, Wyatt and Ripley, Miss., and
Jack's Creek, Tenn.

In Jan., 1864, while bivouacked near La Grange, Tenn, 455
members of the 7th reenlisted as veterans and on the 18th the
regiment was ordered to Memphis, where the veterans were
remustered and then proceeded to Kansas on 30 days' furlough.

On June 6, 1864, the regiment was again in Memphis. On July 5
it moved south from La Grange in advance of Gen. A. J. Smith's
infantry column, which moved against Forrest's cavalry, and it
acted as rear-guard when Smith turned east toward Tupelo. In
the battle of Tupelo, the 7th was on the right flank and was
only lightly engaged.

It had a sharp skirmish at Ellistown, and in August, when
Smith again moved against Gen. Forrest, it took a prominent
part in the expedition, being engaged at the crossing of the
Tallahatchie, Oxford and in the cavalry battle of Hurricane
creek. Returning to Memphis after this campaign it was
ordered to report to Gen. Rosecrans at St. Louis, where it
arrived Sept. 17, 1864.

Commanded by Lieut.-Col. Malone, it was active during the
Missouri campaign against Gen. Price, took part in all the
principal engagements, routed a superior force and captured 2
pieces of artillery at Independence, Mo. After this campaign
the regiment served by detachments in the St. Louis district
where it was employed against guerrillas until July 18, 1865.

It was finally mustered out at Fort Leavenworth, Sept. 29,
1865, having served a term of 3 years and 11 months, during
which it marched, exclusive of distance traveled on transports
and by rail, 12,050 miles. The regiment lost by death during
service 3 officers and 61 enlisted men killed in action or
mortally wounded; 1 officer and 97 enlisted men died by
disease and other causes.

Source: The Union Army, vol. 4, p. 208

****************************************************************************
7th Kansas Cavalry = Jennison's jayhawkers. Buffalo Bill was a jayhawker.
 
Author Donald Gilmore quotes Buffalo Bill as having said of his jayhawking days: "We were the biggest gang of thieves on record". Personally, I always liked the Buffalo Bill who I knew from histories and old newsreels as the leader and star of a successful wild west show, friend of Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull, etc. etc. etc. I was idolizing that larger than life guy who was such a great self promoter. I was HUGELY disappointed to discover that he had been a jayhawking Red Leg. You might say I was crestfallen. You could even say that I suddenly despised him.

This thread gives Bill (and me) a little wiggle room, because it suggests that he thought better of his jayhawking ways and switched to a more noble mode of service. I'm not real keen on the fact that he slaughtered so many bison, either, but at least he wasn't preying on the civilian population of Missouri.

He was supplying the army with meat, but he was also (knowingly or unknowingly) doing his part to make it impossible for various Plains Indian peoples to live off the land. He received, then lost, had reinstated his Medal of Honor for his service in the Indian Wars, but that is another very dubious matter--totally separate from the dubious subject of this thread.
He only lost the MoH because he was a civilian scout and the criteria was later changed after the award was received. He did show valorous service at Summit Springs so given the award pyramid of the time he rated it.
 
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