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diff --git a/old/64136-0.txt b/old/64136-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 45ab5f3..0000000 --- a/old/64136-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6717 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of Early Steamboat Navigation on the -Missouri River, Volume I (of 2), by Hiram Martin Chittenden - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: History of Early Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri River, - Volume I (of 2) - Life and Adventures of Joseph La Barge - -Author: Hiram Martin Chittenden - -Release Date: December 26, 2020 [eBook #64136] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Charlie Howard and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF EARLY STEAMBOAT -NAVIGATION ON THE MISSOURI RIVER, VOLUME I (OF 2) *** - - - - - IV - - AMERICAN EXPLORERS SERIES - - =Early Steamboating on Missouri River= - - _VOL. I._ - - -[Illustration: CAPTAIN JOSEPH LA BARGE.] - - - - - HISTORY OF EARLY - STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION - ON THE - MISSOURI RIVER - - - LIFE AND ADVENTURES - OF - JOSEPH LA BARGE - - PIONEER NAVIGATOR AND INDIAN TRADER - - FOR FIFTY YEARS IDENTIFIED WITH THE COMMERCE OF THE - MISSOURI VALLEY - - - BY - HIRAM MARTIN CHITTENDEN - - _Captain Corps of Engineers, U. S. A._ - - AUTHOR OF “AMERICAN FUR TRADE OF THE FAR WEST,” “HISTORY - OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK,” ETC. - - - _WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS_ - - IN TWO VOLUMES - VOL. I. - - - NEW YORK - FRANCIS P. HARPER - 1903 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1903, - BY - FRANCIS P. HARPER. - - - =Edition Limited - to 950 Copies.= - - - - - TO - THE MEMORY - OF THE - =Missouri River Pilot= - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - PREFACE, xi - - - CHAPTER I. - - ANCESTRY OF CAPTAIN LA BARGE, 1 - - - CHAPTER II. - - CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH, 13 - - - CHAPTER III. - - ENTERS THE FUR TRADE, 22 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - CHOLERA ON THE “YELLOWSTONE,” 32 - - - CHAPTER V. - - FURTHER SERVICE AT CABANNÉ’S, 40 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - LAST YEAR AT CABANNÉ’S, 49 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - CAPTAIN LA BARGE IN “OPPOSITION,” 59 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - THE MISSOURI RIVER, 73 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - KINDS OF BOATS USED ON THE MISSOURI, 90 - - - CHAPTER X. - - STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION ON THE MISSOURI RIVER, 115 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - THE STEAMBOAT IN THE FUR TRADE, 133 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - VOYAGE OF 1843, 141 - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - VOYAGE OF 1844, 154 - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - CHANGED CONDITIONS, 167 - - - CHAPTER XV. - - INCIDENTS ON THE RIVER (1845–50), 177 - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - INCIDENTS ON THE RIVER (1851–53), 189 - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - ICE BREAK-UP OF 1856, 200 - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - THE HEAD OF NAVIGATION REACHED, 216 - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - FORT BENTON, 222 - - - CHAPTER XX. - - ABRAHAM LINCOLN ON THE MISSOURI, 240 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - -_VOL. I._ - - - CAPTAIN JOSEPH LA BARGE, _Frontispiece_ - - _Facing page_ - CAPTAIN JOSEPH LA BARGE (when young), 1 - - A NEW “CUT-OFF” IN THE RIVER, 77 - - MAP OF THE MISSOURI RIVER CHANNEL, 79 - - SNAGS IN THE MISSOURI RIVER, 80 - - THE INDIAN BULLBOAT, 97 - - MISSOURI RIVER KEELBOAT, 102 - - THE FIRST “YELLOWSTONE,” 137 - - ALEXANDER CULBERTSON, 228 - - FORT BENTON LEVEE, 238 - - - - -PREFACE. - - -In the summer of 1896 the author of this work, while engaged in -collecting data for a history of the American Fur Trade of the Far -West, met the venerable Missouri River pilot, Captain Joseph La Barge, -at his home in St. Louis. In the course of several interviews he became -deeply impressed with the range and accuracy of the old gentleman’s -knowledge of early Western history, and asked him if he had ever taken -any steps to preserve the record of his adventurous career. He replied -that he had often been urged to do so, but that lack of familiarity -with that kind of work had hitherto caused him to shrink from it, and -he presumed he should die without ever undertaking it. Believing that -his memoirs were well worth preserving, as a part of the history of the -West, the author proposed to prepare them for publication if he would -consent to dictate them. After some hesitation he concluded to try it, -and the work was forthwith begun. Full notes were taken in the rough, -and a clean copy was then submitted to Captain La Barge for revision. -He went through the whole with painstaking care, and the record was -left as complete as a memory of extraordinary power could make it. The -intention was, at the time, to put the notes into shape for publication -at once; but the Spanish-American war interfered with the author’s part -of the work, and before it could be resumed Captain La Barge died. - -This event led to a material change in the plan of the work, and it was -decided to make it, not merely a narrative of personal experiences, -but a history of steamboat navigation on the Missouri River. Very -few people now have any conception of the part which this remarkable -business played in the upbuilding of the West. There is no railroad -system in the United States to-day whose importance to its tributary -country is relatively greater than was that of the Missouri River to -the trans-Mississippi territory in the first seventy-five years of the -nineteenth century. The business of the fur trade, the intercourse -of government agents with the Indians, the campaigns of the army -throughout the valley, and the wild rush of gold-seekers to the -mountains, all depended, in greater or less degree, upon the Missouri -River as a line of transportation. - -[Sidenote: AN IMPORTANT BUSINESS.] - -It is not alone from a commercial point of view that the record of -this business is an important one. From beginning to end it abounds -in thrilling incident, and the life which it fostered was full of -picturesque and even tragic details. The circumstances surrounding a -voyage up or down the Missouri, whether by canoe, mackinaw, keelboat, -or steamboat, were quite out of the line of ordinary experience. No -other river in this country has a record to compare with it. - -Captain La Barge’s life embraced the entire era of active boating -business on the river. He saw it all--from the time when the Creole and -Canadian voyageurs cordelled their keelboats up the refractory stream -to the time when the railroad won its final victory over the steamboat. -He was on the first boat that went to the far upper river, and he made -the last through voyage from St. Louis to Fort Benton. He typified in -his own career the meteoric rise and fall of that peculiar business. He -grew up with it, prospered with it, and was ruined with and by it. He -saw and shared the wonderful metamorphosis that came over the Missouri -Valley in the space of fourscore years, and his reminiscences are a -succession of living pictures taken all along the line. - -[Sidenote: HISTORICAL METHOD ADOPTED.] - -It is hoped that the method adopted, of weaving the story which it is -here attempted to relate around the biography of its most distinguished -personality, will not detract from its value as historical material. It -is not the bare narration of events that gives history its true value, -but those intimate pictures of human life in other times that show what -people really did and the motives by which they were actuated. To this -end, biography, and even fiction, possess distinct advantages over the -ordinary method of historical writing. - -[Sidenote: SOURCES OF INFORMATION.] - -In the preparation of this work valuable personal aid has been received -from many sources, particularly from the Hon. Phil E. Chappelle of -Kansas City, Mo.; Messrs. N. P. Langford and J. B. Hubbell of St. Paul, -Minn.; Hon. Wilbur F. Sanders of Helena, Mont.; and General Grenville -M. Dodge of New York City. - -[Illustration: CAPTAIN JOSEPH LA BARGE - -(When a young man)] - - - - -HISTORY OF - -EARLY STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION - -ON THE MISSOURI RIVER - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -ANCESTRY. - - -In the far-reaching operations of the French Government upon the -continent of America, by which its western empire at one time embraced -fully half of what is now the United States and Canada, two streams of -colonization flowed inward from the sea. The course of one was along -the valleys of the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes to the upper -Mississippi and its tributaries. That of the other was along the lower -Mississippi northward from the Gulf of Mexico. The two streams met at -the mouth of the Missouri, where their blended currents were deflected -westward toward the unknown regions of the setting sun. Near this place -of meeting there arose, more than a decade before the birth of the -American Republic, a village which has now become one of the greatest -cities in the western world. Here, in the early days, the Canadians -from the north and the Creoles from the south, kindred in language and -tradition, mingled in common pursuits and enterprises, and for many -years bore an important part in the great movement which proceeded -onward from this common starting-point. - -Among the well-known families identified with this movement was one -whose ancestral line represented both the northern and the southern -blood, and was a pure type of their united quality. This was the family -of Captain Joseph La Barge, the subject of the present sketch. The -father of Captain La Barge was a typical representative of the French -peasantry of Quebec. His mother was a Creole descendant of both the -Spanish and French elements in the settlement of the Mississippi Valley. - -[Sidenote: ROBERT LABERGE.] - -On the paternal side the ancestors of Captain La Barge came from -Normandy, France. Robert Laberge was a native of Columbière in the -diocese of Bayonne, and was born in 1633. He came to America early in -life and settled in the county of Montmorency, below Quebec, where he -was married in 1663. He is said to have been the only person of the -name who ever emigrated to America. His descendants are now of the most -numerous family in the district of Beauharnois, if not in the entire -province of Quebec, where it has held important positions both in -Church and State. Its ramifications in the United States have likewise -become very extensive. The true spelling of the name was _Laberge_, and -this form still prevails in Quebec; but the St. Louis branch of the -family has for many years spelled the name in two words, _La Barge_. - -[Sidenote: JOSEPH MARIE LA BARGE.] - -Captain La Barge was of the sixth generation from his Norman ancestors. -His father, Joseph Marie La Barge, was born at Assomption, Quebec, -July 4, 1787.[1] He emigrated to St. Louis about 1808, just as he was -arriving of age. He traveled by the usual route, up the Ottawa River -and through the intricate system of waterways in northern Ontario which -leads to Georgian Bay and to Lake Huron. Thence he went by way of -Mackinaw Strait and Lake Michigan to Green Bay, and along the Fox and -Wisconsin rivers to the Mississippi, which he descended to St. Louis. -He used a single birch-bark canoe all the way, with only eight miles of -portaging. - -The elder La Barge led a varied career in St. Louis, as did most of the -pioneers in those days, when fixed callings were few and men turned -their hands to whatever fell in their way. A good deal of information -has survived concerning him, and all to his credit. He was evidently -a man of good parts, of strict integrity, loyal in his business -relations, and a bold lover of the adventurous life which characterized -the early history of this new country.[2] - -[Sidenote: IMPORTANT SERVICES.] - -At the time when the Sac and Fox Indians were giving the government -so much trouble, and endangering human life all along the upper -Mississippi, La Barge senior was employed in the perilous business -of carrying dispatches to Rock Island, having volunteered for this -service when others refused to go. He served in the War of 1812, and -was present in the battle of the River Raisin, or Frenchtown, January -22, 1813, and was there shot in the hand, losing two fingers. He also -received a tomahawk wound on the head, and carried the scar through -life. He became naturalized as a result of this service in the army. -Although entitled to a pension under the laws of the United States, he -never asked for nor received any. - -La Barge married in 1813, and some two years afterward acquired a -farm at Baden, a small village a few miles north of St. Louis, and -now within the limits of that city. His main business here was the -manufacture of charcoal, which he hauled to St. Louis for sale. He soon -moved to town, where he had gained quite an extensive acquaintance, -particularly among the Canadian voyageurs. Here he opened up a -boarding-house, which developed into a regular hotel or tavern, with -a livery attachment, at that time one of the most important in the -city. It was while engaged in this business that he served the English -traveler, James Stuart, already referred to. - -[Sidenote: ENGAGED IN THE FUR TRADE.] - -La Barge senior was, to a considerable extent, identified with the -early trapping business in the Far West, and has left his name on -geographical features in widely separated localities. There is a _La -Barge_ or _Battle Creek_, a tributary of the Missouri, which took its -name from some affair with the Indians in which La Barge bore a part; -but the details are apparently lost. The same is true of _La Barge -Creek_, a tributary of Green River in Wyoming, which was named before -1830. La Barge was present in General Ashley’s disastrous fight with -the Aricara Indians on the Missouri River in 1823, and was the man who -cut the cable of one of the keelboats so that it might drift out of -range of the fire of the Indians.[3] - -[Sidenote: DEATH OF THE ELDER LA BARGE.] - -La Barge senior lived to a good old age, and was sound and healthy to -the last. As a remarkable evidence of this, it was long remembered by -his acquaintances that he practiced in old age his favorite winter -pastime of skating. His death was the result of accident. He had heard -that a brother-in-law, Joseph Hortiz, was ill, and he resolved to go -to see him. It was a cold wintry day, and Captain La Barge tried to -dissuade him, but to no purpose. He slipped on the icy sidewalk at the -corner of Olive and Fourth streets, in St. Louis, struck the curb, and -received injuries from which he died two days later, January 22, 1860. - -Many interesting anecdotes of the elder La Barge have come down to us, -some of which are worth relating as illustrating the character of the -man in different situations. One of these comes from General Harney, -who was long an intimate friend of Captain La Barge. In the later years -of General Harney’s life, when physical ailments prevented his leaving -the house, he used to send for Captain La Barge, if the latter happened -to be derelict in his visits, to come and talk over old times. On one -of these occasions, not long before his death, he gave the Captain the -following story: - -[Sidenote: THE CAPTAIN AND THE LIEUTENANT.] - -“Your father,” he said, “was the only man who ever scared me. We were -ascending the Missouri River on a keelboat laden with troops and -supplies, he in charge of the boat, and I, a lieutenant, on duty with -the soldiers. In one place the boat had to round a sharp point, where -there was an accumulation of driftwood. The current was very strong, -and it required the utmost efforts of the men to stem it. When we -reached the most difficult place, the Captain stimulated his men by -calling out to them (in the French language), ‘_Hale fort! Hale fort!_’ -(‘Pull hard! Pull hard!’). I didn’t understand French, but thought I -detected in the Captain’s language something like the military command, -‘Halt.’ As some of the troops were on the line with the voyageurs, -and as they might not understand, I thought I could help the Captain -by repeating to them his command. This created some confusion, for -my men began to slacken while the Captain’s were pulling harder than -ever. Again he commanded, ‘_Hale fort!_’ and again I called to the -men to halt. The situation was extremely critical when the Captain -thundered a third time, ‘_Hale fort!_’ in a voice and manner not to be -misunderstood. The men all bent to the line and finally extricated the -boat from its perilous position. The Captain then came over to where -I was standing and told me that if I ever dared interfere again with -his management of the boat he would pitch me into the river. I knew -he meant what he said, and thereafter confined myself to my military -duties.” - -[Sidenote: ASSAULT AND BATTERY.] - -One fine morning in the early twenties a man called at the house of Mr. -La Barge, who met him at the door and asked him what he wanted. The man -said: “I applied to you a short time since for employment, having heard -that you were hiring men for the Ashley Expedition.[4] I was refused, -and I would like to know the reason.” - -“Simply because you did not suit,” replied La Barge. - -“I am as good a man as you are or any you have employed, and I take the -liberty of telling you so,” rejoined the six-footer. - -“I want no trouble,” replied La Barge, “and therefore will request you -to get out, or I will be compelled to put you out.” - -“Just what I want you to undertake,” was the retort. Scarcely were the -words out of his mouth when La Barge seized a rawhide riding whip and -started for the fellow and laid him about the back and shoulders so -vigorously that the man soon gave up the contest and took to his heels. - -The next morning a constable came and arrested La Barge on the charge -of assault and battery, with directions to bring him at once before -Esquire Garnier, Justice of the Peace. - -[Sidenote: FUN CHEAP AT FOUR DOLLARS.] - -“Lead the way, and I will follow,” said La Barge, taking down his -rawhide and starting along with the constable. La Barge told the people -he met on the way to come and see the fun. In due course the trial came -off and La Barge was fined four dollars. He thanked the Justice, but -handed him eight dollars, saying that the fun was cheap at that price, -and he would give the fellow another dose. He then seized his whip and -started for him, chasing him out into the street, where he gave him a -second drubbing, to the great delight of the crowd, who stood around -shouting and setting him on. - -[Sidenote: NOT A THIEF.] - -Another incident, which occurred late in life, exhibits the sterling -integrity of the man who could withstand the temptations of wealth -rather than do the smallest act of injustice. About the time that the -elder La Barge was married he purchased from Joseph Morin, for the -sum of twenty-five dollars, a small tract of land on Cedar Street, -between Second and Third. Land was then of very little value, and -transfers were often made without deed and with no more formality than -in exchanging cattle or horses. In this way La Barge traded off his -lot on Cedar Street to Chauvin Lebeau for a horse, with which he moved -to his Baden farm, only recently purchased. Here, as already narrated, -he manufactured charcoal and hauled it to town, where he sold it to -Theodore Bosseron and Vilrais Papin, then the principal blacksmiths -of the village. Long years afterward, when these transactions were -almost forgotten, and the property had become very valuable, a lawyer -presented himself to the old gentleman and asked him if he had ever -owned any property on Cedar Street. La Barge replied in the affirmative -and described its locality. The lawyer then asked him when and how -he disposed of it. He could not at first recall, but Mrs. La Barge -remembered the circumstances and related them to the lawyer, at the -same time remarking to her husband that that was the way they got their -horse to set themselves up on the farm with. The lawyer then assured -La Barge that the title to this property was still in him, and that he -could hold it against all comers, for there was absolutely no record -of the conveyance in existence. The old gentleman, with a look of -indignation, asked the lawyer if he took him for a thief. “I traded -that land,” said he, “to Chauvin Lebeau for a horse, which was worth -more to me then than the land was. I shall stand by the bargain now. -If Chauvin Lebeau’s heirs have no title, tell them to come to me and I -will make them a deed before I die.” - -Such are some of the glimpses we still have through the mists of time -of the father of Captain La Barge. - -[Sidenote: MOTHER OF CAPTAIN LA BARGE.] - -On the maternal side he was likewise descended from creditable -ancestry. Among the early mechanics in the village of Fort de -Chartres, near the mouth of the Ohio River, when to be a mechanic -was to be a leading citizen, were Gabriel Dodier and Jean Baptiste -Becquet, blacksmiths. The younger of these two men, Becquet, married -the daughter of the other. They had three children, the eldest being -a daughter, Marguerite Marianne. On the 27th of January, 1780, this -daughter was married to Joseph Alvarez Hortiz, who was the son of -François Alvarez and Bernada Hortiz, and was born in the town of -Lienira, in the Province of Estremadura, Spain, in the year 1753. -Alvarez was a private soldier in the military service of Spain, and -came to St. Louis after Spanish authority had been established there -in 1770. He attained the rank of sergeant, and being a man of some -education, was for several years detailed as military attaché to -the Governor. He finally became Secretary to the last two Spanish -Governors, Trudeau and Delassus, and had charge of the public archives -down to 1804. He had nine children, of whom the eighth was a daughter, -of the name of Eulalie. This daughter was married to Joseph Marie La -Barge in St. Louis, August 13, 1813. - -[Sidenote: HISTORIC DATA.] - -The parents of Captain La Barge thus represented the best traditions of -French and Spanish occupancy of the Mississippi Valley. Their marriage -took place after their country had become American territory, and -their offspring, the subject of our present inquiries, was born an -American citizen.[5] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. - - -Joseph La Barge, son of Joseph Marie La Barge and Eulalie Hortiz, was -born in St. Louis, October 1, 1815. He was the second child in a family -of seven children, three boys and four girls, who all grew to adult -years. The two brothers were Charles S., who was killed in a steamboat -explosion in 1852, and John B., who dropped dead at the wheel in 1885 -while making a steamboat landing at Bismarck, N. D. - -[Sidenote: INDIAN AND INFANT.] - -Soon after the birth of Captain La Barge the parents moved to the -newly acquired farm in Baden. There is but one incident relating -to the young child while living here that need detain us. Although -this place was distant only six miles from where the courthouse of -St. Louis now stands, it was at that time unsettled and uncleared, -and Indians not infrequently roamed in the vicinity. The Sac and Fox -tribes were particularly troublesome, and many were the outrages which -they committed upon the isolated settlement. The incident in question -occurred one day just before the father had started on his usual trip -to town. He was loading his cart at some distance from the garden, -where Mrs. La Barge had gone to dig some potatoes to send to her mother -in the village. Housewives in those days seldom enjoyed the luxury -of nurses, and Mrs. La Barge was obliged to carry her child with her -into the garden. Depositing him between the rows of potatoes, she was -proceeding with her work, when suddenly the house dog set up a cry -of alarm. Looking up, Mrs. La Barge was horrified to see an Indian -approaching. She uttered a scream and started for the house, forgetting -in the suddenness of her alarm the baby in the garden. Meanwhile the -father had heard the dog’s bark and his wife’s screams, and hastened -to see what was the matter. His first question was about the baby, and -Mrs. La Barge, more terrified than ever, rushed back to where she had -left him. Fortunately the dog had held the Indian at bay, and when -the father arrived, gun in hand, he beat a prompt retreat. Captain La -Barge’s father often reminded him of this incident in after years, -predicting that he would always escape harm from the Indians, for they -had had their opportunity and had failed. In his many experiences with -the Indians throughout a life spent in their country, he never suffered -personal injury at their hands, and came to have faith in his father’s -prediction. - -Captain La Barge was not yet two years old when the first steamboat -came to St. Louis, nor four when the first one entered the Missouri -River. It is said that his father used to take him to the river bank to -see these early boats, and that they always had a great attraction for -his youthful fancy. To be a steamboat master was his ambition, and he -spent much of his time as a child in drawing boats and making models, -and thus unwittingly training himself for his after career. - -The boy was a leader among his fellows, and an expert in all youthful -games practiced at the time. In contests of skill among the boys of the -village each side was anxious to secure Joe La Barge. “He could jump -higher,” says one authority, “run faster, and swim farther than any -other lad in the town.” - -[Sidenote: LAFAYETTE’S VISIT.] - -[Sidenote: BOTH FRENCHMEN.] - -Among the noteworthy events of Captain La Barge’s childhood, the memory -of which clung by him even in old age, was the visit of Lafayette to -St. Louis in 1825. This venerable patriot, whom, next to Washington, -Americans in that day delighted to honor, arrived in St. Louis on -board the steamer _Natchez_, at 9 A. M., May 29. He was met at the -wharf by a committee of leading citizens, and an address of welcome -was made by the Mayor, to which Lafayette responded. He then entered a -carriage with the Mayor and Mr. Auguste Chouteau and Stephen Hempstead, -a soldier of the Revolution, and was driven to the house of Mr. -Pierre Chouteau, Sr., which had been prepared for his reception. He -was escorted by a company of light horsemen, and also by a company -of uniformed boys, of whom Captain La Barge, then ten years old, was -one. The Captain always remembered the venerable appearance of the -General and his review of the youthful troop. He shook hands with them, -indulged in the pleasant questions which age delights to ask of youth, -and doubtless himself took a keen pleasure in the incident, because -most of his youthful auditors could reply in his own tongue.[6] - -An interesting sequel of Lafayette’s visit to St. Louis occurred -in that city in 1881, on the occasion of the visit of Lafayette’s -grandson with General Boulanger and party, who had come to America -to attend the centennial celebration of the surrender of Yorktown. -Captain La Barge was sent for, to meet the distinguished company at -the Merchants’ Exchange. When introduced to the members of the party, -the grandson of Lafayette came forward, and taking La Barge by both -hands, looked at him a moment and said: “You have seen one whom I wish -it were my lot to have seen, and that is my revered grandfather.” He -cordially urged the Captain to come to his home if he should ever visit -France, and in other ways showed an almost affectionate interest in -this individual who had once, though but a boy, beheld the face of his -distinguished ancestor. - -[Sidenote: EARLY SCHOOLING.] - -Captain La Barge’s schooling was necessarily very limited, for the -educational facilities of St. Louis in those days were of a truly -primitive order. He first went to a schoolmaster of considerable local -renown, Jean Baptiste Trudeau, at the latter’s private residence on -Pine Street, between Main and Second. Here he studied the common -branches, all in French. He went for a time to Salmon Giddings, founder -of the First Presbyterian Church, in St. Louis, and later to a more -pretentious school kept by Elihu H. Shephard, an excellent teacher. -At both of these schools instruction was given in English. Captain -La Barge’s parents foresaw that their native tongue could not long -survive in common use, and felt it to be their duty to equip their son, -so far as their slender means would permit, with the language of his -country. The pupil found the task a tedious one, and was a long while -in mastering it. He never forgot the almost insurmountable obstacle -he found in the English “th.” He used his native language in common -intercourse down to nearly 1850, and retained a fluent command of it -to his death. He also acquired a very perfect command of English, in -which there was no trace of foreign accent, but in which the mellowing -influence of the softer tongue had produced a modulation of the voice -that was very pleasant to listen to. - -[Sidenote: IN COLLEGE.] - -In 1819 there was established in Perry County, Mo., a Catholic School, -St. Mary’s College. Young La Barge was sent there at the age of twelve, -and remained three years. On their way to the college himself and -father traveled by the steamer _Tuscumbia_. It was Captain La Barge’s -first ride in a kind of boat with which most of his after life was to -be connected. The desire of the young man’s parents was to educate -their son for the priesthood, and his course at college was shaped -somewhat to that end. But the boy did not fall in with their plans, as -his tastes ran in a different direction. He did not finish the course, -for his career at the school was summarily cut short by a delinquency -which is the only one we have to record in a life of more than -fourscore years. He became involved in intrigues with young women to an -extent which barred him from a further continuation of his course. - -[Sidenote: IN HARD LUCK.] - -Associated with him in this unfortunate episode was Edward Liguest -Chouteau, a youth of about the same age as himself. The young men -walked to St. Genevieve, on the Mississippi. Chouteau was without -funds, and La Barge nearly so, having scarcely the amount of a single -steamboat fare to St. Louis. They found the _De Witt Clinton_ at the -bank on her way up the river. La Barge told the captain of the boat the -straight story of their misfortune: that they had only enough money -for a single fare to St. Louis, and would have to walk unless they -could make some arrangement with him. He laughed, and told them to get -on board and he would see them home. This incident, in which the two -young men were companions in misfortune, was not forgotten by either, -and we shall have occasion to refer to it again in the course of this -narrative. - -After La Barge left college his father placed him in the office of -John Bent, a leading lawyer of St. Louis, and one of the noted Bent -brothers. He soon became disgusted with his new situation on account of -his preceptor’s habit of excessive drink. He then went into a clothing -store, and after remaining about a year, left that. - -[Sidenote: ATTRACTIONS OF THE FUR TRADE.] - -The restless ambition of the young man was now directed toward a -kind of life which, in every portion of the country, has filled up -the period between discovery and settlement--the business of the fur -trade. At this particular time it was the only business carried on in -the trans-Mississippi territory beyond the few scattering settlements -along the lower Missouri. Large parties of hunters and trappers -remained constantly in the wilderness, wandering all over those vast -regions in quest of beaver and other fur. Each spring expeditions set -out for various points in the Far West from Santa Fe to the British -boundary, carrying supplies and recruits and bringing back the furs -collected during the previous year. The great bulk of this business was -done along the Missouri River, where trading posts were established -throughout the entire valley. The annual journeys to these posts were -always made by water. In the keelboat days they consumed an entire -summer, but after the steamboat came they were completed by the middle -of July. - -[Sidenote: CHOICE OF CAREER.] - -From its very nature this business was one of adventure and excitement, -and particularly attractive to those who were fond of an independent -and out-of-door life. We can but faintly imagine at this day how strong -was the attraction for youth in this wild life. Now it is considered a -great piece of good luck for a boy to get on a common surveying party -in the mountains, where he may see something of the wildness of nature, -and perhaps catch sight of some surviving specimens of the larger game. -In those days a trip to the mountains meant adventure of the genuine -sort--absence from civilization, ever-present danger from the Indians, -game of all kinds in abundance, and the grandeur and beauty of nature -in a region still unknown except to a very few. - -Being now at the impressionable age of sixteen, young La Barge became -infatuated with the tales of adventure related by those who came back -every year from the distant mountains. He told his father that, for -the present, his mind was made up. He would join one of the fur-trade -expeditions and see something of the Indian country. This decision met -a responsive chord in the adventurous nature of the father, who said -he had no objection if the mother were willing. The matter was laid -before her, and after much entreaty and expostulation, her consent was -secured. This was in the year 1831. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -ENTERS THE FUR TRADE. - - -Captain La Barge did not immediately find an opportunity to visit -the Indian country. The annual expeditions for the year had all -gone. The _Yellowstone_ was already far away on her historic first -trip up the Missouri for the American Fur Company, and nothing was -left for the impatient youth but to await a later opportunity. When -the _Yellowstone_ returned from her voyage, she was sent down the -Mississippi to pass the time until the following spring in the Bayou -la Fourche sugar trade. La Barge was engaged as second clerk on this -voyage and found himself in constant demand as interpreter during the -winter. The people of the Bayou la Fourche district spoke only French, -which most of the officers of the boat did not understand. La Barge, -who knew both French and English well, was of great use in carrying on -the trade. - -In the spring of 1832 the _Yellowstone_ returned to St. Louis to -prepare for her second voyage up the Missouri. This boat had been -built as an experiment, to determine if it would be practicable to -substitute steamboats for keelboats in the trade of the upper river. In -the summer of 1831 she had gone as far as Fort Tecumseh, which stood -on the opposite shore from the present capital of South Dakota. It was -now proposed to take her as far as the mouth of the _Yellowstone_. The -attempt was completely successful, and the voyage has ever since been -considered one of the landmarks of the early history of the West. - -[Sidenote: ENTERS AMERICAN FUR COMPANY SERVICE.] - -Although La Barge was only in his seventeenth year he signed a contract -binding himself to the service of the American Fur Company, as -voyageur, engagé, or clerk, for a period of three years, at a salary -of seven hundred dollars for the whole time.[7] He did not go as part -of the boat’s crew, but as an employee of one of the posts. No place -was specified in his engagement, but his assignment was left to the -bourgeois of the different posts, who came down to the boat when it -arrived, looked over the new engagés, and selected such as they thought -would suit them. Young La Barge was a promising-looking lad, and did -not get above Council Bluffs, where he was taken off and put to work at -Cabanné’s post, a few miles above the modern city of Omaha. - -[Sidenote: BATTLE OF BAD AXE.] - -When the _Yellowstone_ returned from Fort Union, John P. Cabanné, the -bourgeois in charge of the post, went down to St. Louis and took La -Barge with him. While waiting to return to the upper country the young -engagé took temporary service on the steamboat _Warrior_, Captain -Throckmorton, bound for the seat of the Blackhawk, or Sac and Fox, -war. She was loaded with government stores for Prairie du Chien, -and La Barge went along in some subordinate capacity. It happened -that she arrived at the scene of the Battle of Bad Axe just as that -decisive conflict was going on. Captain Throckmorton saw a number -of Indians trying to make their escape by swimming the river and he -fired into them, killing several. They proved to be all women, and the -over-zealous captain long had reason to regret his hasty action. After -this adventure the _Warrior_ returned to St. Louis. - -[Sidenote: CABANNÉ AND LECLERC.] - -When Cabanné went back to his post at the Council Bluffs young La Barge -went with him to commence in earnest his life in the Indian country. -His initiation into the business of the fur trade was such as to leave -a lasting impression on his mind. He had not been at Cabanné’s post -very long when he had a lively experience of the evils of competition -in that business, and of the extreme measures to which unrestrained -rivalry sometimes led. Narcisse Leclerc, at one time an employee of -the American Fur Company, had saved a little means, which certain -parties in St. Louis eked out to a respectable sum, and he resolved to -go into the trading business on his own and their account. Under the -style of the Northwest Fur Company he carried on a prosperous trade in -a small way for two or three seasons. The American Fur Company, jealous -of all opposition, always treated these petty rivals with the utmost -severity, and, if possible, crushed them by sheer force. When it could -not do this it bought them out. Leclerc, who was a shrewd fellow, and -as unscrupulous as any of the company’s agents, had developed staying -qualities which caused the company a good deal of uneasiness. He went -up the river in the autumn of 1832 with a larger outfit than ever, -and the company determined that something must be done to arrest his -career. The problem was left for Cabanné to solve, and he was given -authority, as a last resort, to offer Leclerc outright a thousand -dollars if he would not carry his trade up the river beyond a specified -point. - -[Sidenote: RUDE INITIATION.] - -Circumstances, however, threw in Cabanné’s way what he considered a -better means of dealing with Leclerc. Congress had lately passed a -law prohibiting the importation of liquor into the Indian country. -Cabanné found out in some way that Leclerc had smuggled a considerable -quantity past the military authorities at Leavenworth. Here was his -opportunity. He would stop the expedition, and confiscate the property -on the ground that Leclerc was violating the law of the land. It did -not seem to occur to him that the enforcement of the law is intrusted -to duly constituted officials, and that he, not being one of these, -could not legally do more than inform against Leclerc. He did not -trouble himself about fine distinctions of that sort. Exultantly he -wrote to the house in St. Louis: “Have no fear; leave the matter to me, -and I will make our incapable adversary bite the dust.” - -Cabanné laid his plans well for the capture of Leclerc’s outfit. As -soon as the boat passed his post he organized a party under charge of -Peter A. Sarpy, clerk at the post, to go and arrest Leclerc. Sarpy -picked out about a dozen men, among whom was the new engagé, La Barge. -They were all well armed and carried besides a small cannon. Going -to a point near old Fort Lisa, where the channel of the river came -in close to a high impending bank, Sarpy stationed his men there and -awaited Leclerc’s arrival. At the proper time, when the voyageurs were -cordelling the boat along a sandbar just opposite, scarcely a hundred -yards off, he ordered Leclerc’s party to surrender or he would “blow -everything out of the water.” Although Leclerc had some thirty men, -they were mostly unarmed, and could make no effective resistance. They -surrendered, and the whole outfit returned to Cabanné’s post, where the -liquor was confiscated and the expedition broken up. - -[Sidenote: SERIOUS COMPLICATIONS.] - -This drastic measure came near proving fatal to the company’s business -upon the river. Leclerc immediately returned to St. Louis, where he -began suit against the company and lodged a criminal complaint against -Cabanné. The matter bore a very serious aspect for a time. It was with -the utmost difficulty, and with an evident resort to misrepresentation, -that the company’s license was saved; and doubtless it would have been -revoked but for the influence of Senator Thomas H. Benton. As it was, -it cost the company a large sum of money, increased the public distrust -of this powerful concern, and banished Cabanné, one of its most -efficient servants, permanently from the country. - -[Sidenote: THE PAWNEES.] - -At Cabanné’s post La Barge was employed in the various duties of -engagé, and was frequently sent out to surrounding bands of Indians -with small outfits of merchandise to trade for their furs. His most -interesting and valuable experience in this line was with the Pawnees, -who resided on the Loup Fork of the Platte, about one hundred miles -west of the Missouri. They were what are called permanent village -Indians; that is, they had fixed villages made of large, strong houses, -where they regularly lived; while many of the tribes, like the Sioux, -Crows, and Blackfeet, lived only in tents, and were always moving from -one place to another. The Pawnees, it is true, roved about a great deal -on their hunting and war expeditions, but they had a fixed place of -abode to which they always returned from their wanderings. Their houses -were circular in form and quite large, being sometimes sixty feet in -diameter, and, to judge from pictures of them, resembled in appearance, -when seen from a distance, a group of oil tanks in a modern petroleum -district. - -Near to their villages the Pawnees cultivated extensive fields of maize -or Indian corn. After the spring planting was over they generally went -on long excursions to hunt buffalo, to make war, or to secure wood and -other materials for the village. Their cornfields were left to shift -for themselves during this period, and their enemies sometimes took -advantage of this fact; but on the whole the latter were very cautious -about what they did, for they knew that the wily Pawnee would learn who -the robbers were and would not fail to exact full retribution. When the -corn was ripe the Indians gathered it and remained in their villages -a considerable part of the winter. Their business, however, compelled -them at this season to make their hunts for robes and furs, which were -salable only when taken during the cold weather. When the skins were -brought into the villages the squaws took them, scraped them down, -rubbed them with brains or pork, and otherwise manipulated them until -they were soft and flexible and ready for the trade. - -The custom of the traders was to send over from their posts near the -old Council Bluffs one or more clerks, with a few men and the necessary -merchandise, to reside in the villages until the trade was over. The -clerk generally lived in the lodge of the principal chief, kept his -goods there, and also such furs as were received in trade. After the -season’s business was over the furs were loaded into bullboats, in -which they were floated down the Loup and the Platte rivers to the -Missouri. Here they were reshipped in large cargoes to St. Louis. - -[Sidenote: LA BARGE WITH THE PAWNEES.] - -It was on a business of this kind that young La Barge spent his first -winter in the Indian country--1832–33. His party consisted of four -men, who, with the merchandise, were accommodated in the lodge of the -chief Big Axe. Here they settled down to genuine Indian life--not half -so uninteresting and repulsive as one might be disposed to think. The -business of the trade, the ceremonials, the games and gambling, and the -never-failing attractions of the gentler sex, which, one may easily -believe, are as potent in the wilderness as in the city, all operated -to make the time pass agreeably during the long and severe winters. The -huts were very comfortable, and Captain La Barge always remembered -them as the coolest habitations in summer and the warmest in winter of -any that he had ever occupied. He noted as a remarkable peculiarity -that mosquitoes never entered them. - -[Sidenote: LEARNING PAWNEE LANGUAGE.] - -During his winter sojourn among the Pawnees La Barge applied himself -assiduously to learning their language. The interpreter would give him -words and sentences in Pawnee and he would write them down and learn -them. He practically mastered the language in the course of the winter, -to the great astonishment of the natives and even of the whites. To the -Indians the process of writing was a great curiosity, a “big medicine,” -and when they saw young La Barge write down something and then read it -off, they would put their hands to their mouths in their characteristic -manner of expressing wonder. - -[Sidenote: THE CROW PRISONER.] - -There were numerous Indian scares during the winter, and Captain La -Barge fully expected to see something of Indian warfare before he left -the villages, but nothing of the sort actually occurred. In the spring -of 1833, before he left for the Missouri, Major John Dougherty, Indian -agent residing at Bellevue, about ten miles below the modern city of -Omaha, arrived at the villages for the purpose of ransoming a female -prisoner of the Crow nation, who had been sentenced to be burned at -the stake. He prevailed, through Big Axe, chief of the Pawnee Loups, -upon having her given up on payment of the ransom. He then started -back with her to Bellevue, accompanied by an escort, until at a safe -distance from the villages. When about ten miles on their way they were -overtaken by a Pawnee chief, Spotted Horse, who came riding up at a -gallop, and when opposite the woman, shot an arrow through her heart. - -When the high water of spring arrived the furs were loaded into -bullboats and shipped down to the mouth of the Platte. La Barge -returned to Cabanné’s, and after a short time started for St. Louis -with a fleet of mackinaw boats loaded with furs. He reached St. Louis -in the latter part of May, 1833. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -CHOLERA ON THE “YELLOWSTONE.” - - -Before La Barge arrived in St. Louis the company had dispatched two -boats to the upper river--the _Yellowstone_ and the _Assiniboine_. The -voyage of 1833 is particularly noteworthy as the one on which Prince -Maximilian of Wied made his celebrated visit to the upper Missouri--a -visit which has done more than any other one thing to preserve a true -picture of those early times. The _Yellowstone_ went only as far as -Fort Pierre, whence she returned immediately, and as soon as another -cargo could be shipped, started on a trip to Council Bluffs. - -[Sidenote: CHOLERA ON THE “YELLOWSTONE.”] - -Captain La Barge went back up the river on this second trip of the -_Yellowstone_ to return to his post. It proved to be a most trying and -pathetic voyage. The cholera, which was then epidemic throughout the -country, broke out with great virulence on the boat, and so many of -the crew died that Captain Bennett was forced to stop at the mouth of -the Kansas River until he could go back to St. Louis for a crew. His -pilot and most of his sub-officers were dead, and he was compelled to -leave the boat in care of young La Barge, who thus began his career -as a steamboat man on the Missouri. His several voyages had given him -considerable knowledge of the art of handling these boats, and he had -no misgivings in being left in charge, except the fear that the cholera -might take him off. It was a very trying moment. Captain Bennett, when -he started back to St. Louis, cried like a child. The terrible power of -the disease unstrung everyone’s nerves. Victims often died within two -hours after being attacked, and no one knew when his turn would come. - -Scarcely had Captain Bennett left when a new difficulty arose. The -“graybacks,” as the scattered population of western Missouri were then -called, having learned that the _Yellowstone_ had cholera on board, -organized themselves into a _pro tempore_ State board of health and -ordered Captain La Barge to take the boat out of the State, or they -would burn her up. The engineer and firemen were dead, so Captain -La Barge fired up himself, and, acting as pilot, engineer, and all, -succeeded in getting the boat above the mouth of the Kansas and on -the west shore of the river, outside the jurisdiction of the State of -Missouri. - -[Sidenote: A FRIEND IN NEED.] - -The _Yellowstone_ had a quantity of goods on board consigned to Cyprian -Chouteau’s trading post, which was located some ten miles up the Kansas -River. Captain Bennett had directed La Barge to turn over these -goods to the consignees during his absence. Accordingly, at the first -opportunity, he set off alone on foot to find the trading post and tell -Mr. Chouteau to come and get his goods. When about a mile from the post -he was met by a man who had been stationed there to watch for anyone -coming from the Missouri. The news of the cholera was abroad and the -lonely post had quarantined itself against the civilized world. The man -would not permit La Barge to come nearer, and threatened to shoot him -if he persisted. La Barge agreed to stay where he was if the man would -return to the post and carry his message to Chouteau. This was done, -and Chouteau sent back word to store the goods on the bank and leave -them there. It was now too late to return to the boat that night after -a fatiguing day’s work, and La Barge would have had to go supperless -and coverless to sleep but for the kind offices of his old college -chum and former companion in misfortune, Edward Liguest Chouteau, who -happened to be at the post. Hearing of La Barge’s situation, he went -to find him. He reached his friend’s bivouac about midnight and found -him trying to pass the night in some comfort around a large bonfire. He -brought something to eat and a large buffalo robe to sleep on, and La -Barge got through the remainder of the night very well. - -[Sidenote: DISTRESS SIGNAL UNANSWERED.] - -While the _Yellowstone_ was lying above the mouth of the Kansas the -_Assiniboine_ passed down on her return trip.[8] La Barge signaled for -assistance, but Captain Pratt would not stop. “It was pretty hard,” -observed the captain, in narrating this affair. “I never refused -to answer a distress signal, even if the boat were engaged in the -strongest opposition; but our two boats were in the same trade, bound -to assist each other, and yet we were left there alone in the severest -straits, with no idea when we should be relieved.” - -[Sidenote: BURIALS ALONG THE MISSOURI.] - -When asked how these grave dangers, which were more or less his portion -through life, affected him, Captain La Barge replied that, if in -idleness and given time to think about them, they always depressed and -in a measure unnerved him; but he was generally actively engaged, and -the interest in his work and the responsibility resting upon him caused -him to forget the danger. Violence and death were a familiar feature -of the life in which he was engaged, and to some extent he became -hardened to them. Speaking of the great number of deaths along the -river, the Captain shook his head reflectively as he told of the many -burials that it had been his lot to make. “There is a spot just below -Kansas City--I could point it out now,” he said, “where I buried eight -cholera victims in one grave. I could easily name a hundred localities -along the river where I have buried passengers or crew. I generally -sought some elevated ground for this purpose, which the ravages of the -river could not reach. The graves were marked, if at all, with wooden -head-boards, for there was generally no other material at hand, and -if there were, time did not permit the use of it. It will never be -known, and cannot now even be conjectured, how many of these forgotten -graves there are, but enough to make the shores of the Missouri River -one continuous cemetery from its source to its mouth. Were every white -man’s grave along that stream distinctly marked, the voyageur would -never be out of sight of these pathetic reminders of futile contests -with the universal enemy. But, alas! no mark remains upon any but a -very few, and the names of those who are buried in them are forever -wrapped in oblivion.” - -After a long delay Captain Bennett returned with a crew on the -steamboat _Otto_, Captain James Hill, an opposition boat in the service -of Sublette & Campbell. This was the year when Sublette & Campbell made -such a strong show of competition with the American Fur Company.[9] -Sublette himself was on board the _Otto_ at the time. As soon as -Captain Bennett resumed charge of the _Yellowstone_ the boat proceeded -on her way and reached Cabanné’s post in August. - -[Sidenote: IN THE PAWNEE CORNFIELDS.] - -Cabanné having been expelled from the Indian country, the post had a -new bourgeois, Joshua Pilcher, a man of long experience in the Indian -country, and former president of the Missouri Fur Company. Late in the -month of August Pilcher sent La Barge with a small outfit of goods -to the Pawnee villages to buy some buffalo meat. La Barge packed his -goods on five horses and set out. He found the Pawnees still absent, -and as war parties of their enemies might be lurking around the vacant -villages, he thought it prudent to await at a distance the return of -the Indians. In the meanwhile his party ran out of provisions, and -their situation was becoming serious when La Barge decided to go and -get corn enough from the fields to last them until the Pawnees should -return. He went with another man, and they soon loaded themselves -with ears and returned to camp. This process continued successfully -for several days, great pains being taken to levy tribute uniformly -throughout the cornfield, so that the Indians might not detect the -loss. They were not skillful enough in this, however, and finally had -to pay for the corn. - -[Sidenote: STANDING OFF THE SIOUX.] - -On the fourth day of their foraging expeditions they were discovered -by a small war party of Sioux about a mile off. They took to flight, -and tried to infuse some life into their mules, but the stolid animals -would not hurry. This was particularly the case with La Barge’s mule, -which could scarcely be driven into a slow gallop. La Barge saw that -at the rate they were going they would surely be cut off, and he told -his companion, who had the best mule, to hurry to camp for help, and -he would stand the Indians off with his rifle. The companion did not -like to do this, but La Barge insisted. He felt comparatively safe -for a short time, for he was in a perfectly open plain, where it was -impossible for the Indians to approach under cover. Whenever they -drew too near he would level his rifle at them and they would venture -no further. In the meanwhile he kept moving on toward camp, and soon -had the pleasure of seeing his companion riding up at full speed with -re-enforcements. - -[Sidenote: COMPLIMENTARY OFFER.] - -When the Pawnees returned La Barge bought a good supply of meat and -took it to Cabanné’s. There he found that veteran mountaineer, Etienne -Provost, who at that time probably knew the western country better than -any other living man. He had just come in for the purpose of guiding -Fontenelle and Drips, partners in the American Fur Company mountain -service, and owners of the trading post at Bellevue, to the Bayou -Salade (South Park, Colorado), where they intended to spend the winter -trapping beaver. Provost heard of La Barge’s adventure and complimented -him very warmly upon it. He was now an old man, but he came up to La -Barge, took him by both hands, and said to him: “I am glad you did not -show the white feather to those rascals. You are the kind of man for -this country. I am going to ask Major Pilcher to let you go with me. -I have need of such men.” La Barge was very anxious to go, filled as -he was then with the thirst of youth for adventure. But Major Pilcher -needed his services and would not consent. Pilcher was very kind to La -Barge, even permitting him to eat at his table--a great concession, -for none of the employees were allowed to eat with the bourgeois of -the post unless it was so stipulated in their contract of service. -Pilcher took a special pride in his young engagé, and tried to put -opportunities for distinction in his way. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -FURTHER SERVICE AT CABANNÉ’S. - - -[Sidenote: METEORIC SHOWER.] - -In November, 1833, Pilcher sent La Barge down to a small trading post -at the mouth of the Nishnabotna (river where they make canoes), kept -by Francis Duroins for the convenience of a local band of Indians. -La Barge’s mission was to take two twenty-gallon kegs of alcohol to -Duroins. He was accompanied by a half-blood Indian, and they made the -trip in a canoe. The first night they encamped on Trudeau Island, -about two and a half miles above the mouth of the Weeping Water River. -This island was named after Zenon Trudeau, a trader, brother of the -noted schoolmaster, Joseph Trudeau, and was later called Hurricane -Island, from the circumstance of its having been swept by a tornado. -It has since been entirely washed away. This was the night of the -ever-to-be-remembered meteoric shower of 1833. La Barge was awaked -from his sleep by the brilliant light, and, though not apprehensive of -any impending calamity, was naturally awe-struck at the extraordinary -display. The meteors were flying, as it seemed to him, in all -directions, and their number and brilliancy made the night as light -as day. The half-breed companion was absolutely panic-stricken, and -declared that the day of doom was at hand. But he did not forget, in -his fright, the divine injunction to “eat and drink, for to-morrow we -die.” Rolling himself up in his blanket, he besought La Barge to open -the keg of alcohol and let him meet his fate as became a man in that -wild and lawless country. - -As nearly as La Barge could recall, the heavier part of the shower -lasted about two hours. A singular incident occurred early in its -duration. A deer which had become frightened at the unusual sight came -bounding through the undergrowth and plunged directly into camp, coming -to a dead halt scarcely six paces from where La Barge was sitting. He -seized a shotgun and killed it with a load of buckshot. - -[Sidenote: THE EXPRESS.] - -In January, 1834, the winter express came up from St. Louis. The -express was a matter of great importance in the early fur trade. It was -sent from St. Louis every winter to all the posts. Usually an express -started downstream from the upper posts before the arrival of that -from below. They generally met at Fort Pierre, exchanged dispatches, -and each made the return trip from that point. By means of the express -an interchange of views was had between the house in St. Louis and -the partners in the field; and the latter were able to send down -statements of business, requisitions for supplies, with information as -to the prospects for the ensuing season’s trade at the upper posts, and -the condition of snow in the mountains. The carrying of the express -was a matter of great danger and hardship. It was generally done in -the dead of winter. Between Pierre and St. Louis it was carried on -horseback; above Pierre on dogsleds. The packages were put up with the -most scrupulous care, and were intrusted only to those in whom the -company had absolute confidence. The bearers were not permitted to -carry anything else, nor to do errands for others, but were required to -attend to the express only. The chief danger on the long journey was -from the cold, for at this season the Indians were not dangerous, being -generally huddled together in their villages for the winter. The route -above Bellevue was along the west shore to opposite Vermillion, where -it crossed the river and remained on the east shore the rest of the way -until opposite Fort Pierre. - -Captain La Barge’s father brought up the express from St. Louis in the -winter of 1834. He was to return from Cabanné’s post, and Pilcher was -to provide for its carriage the rest of the way. A few days before -his arrival a brutal murder occurred at the post. A half-breed named -Pinaud, while in a state of drunkenness, shot and killed a white man -named Blair. Both of the men were hunters for the post. Pilcher -immediately put Pinaud in irons, to be held until he could be sent to -St. Louis for trial. When the elder La Barge arrived Pilcher asked him -if he would undertake to deliver the prisoner to the United States -authorities in St. Louis. He agreed to try it. When ready to start -he requested Pilcher to remove the irons and put Pinaud on a mule. -This astonished Pilcher a good deal, but La Barge explained that the -man could ride better with the free use of his limbs, which was also -necessary to keep him from freezing to death. He said he could catch -him if he undertook to run, for the mule was no match in speed for his -horse. He would take the irons and put them on in camp. - -[Sidenote: TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE.] - -The prisoner was delivered in due time to the proper authorities in -St. Louis, where he was held for trial. And now ensued one of those -miscarriages, or rather travesties, of justice which marked the -entire history of the American Fur Company on the Missouri River. -Although Pinaud’s crime was a cold-blooded and causeless murder, it -was nevertheless of vital importance that he be acquitted; otherwise -it would bring out the fact that the Company was violating the Federal -statutes by selling liquor at its posts. The company therefore took -good care that none of the people from the upper country who were -conversant with the facts should be in St. Louis when the trial came -off. The prosecution, consequently, could produce no witnesses, and the -man was acquitted. - -[Sidenote: LA BARGE CARRIES EXPRESS.] - -Two or three days after the elder La Barge left Cabanné’s post for St. -Louis, Pilcher summoned young La Barge to him and asked him to take the -express to Pierre. “There are old voyageurs here whom I can send,” he -said, “but I can’t trust them. I want you to go. What do you say to it?” - -“Well, Major,” La Barge replied, “I have never been as far above this -post in my life, but if you have confidence in me I think I can get -through.” - -“I believe you will,” said the Major. “I will trust you, at any rate. -Get ready and you shall have the best horse in the post.” - -In fact Pilcher gave La Barge his own horse, a very fine animal. -Captain La Barge made ready and set out alone in a country entirely new -to him, uninhabited by white men, and now buried in the embrace of a -northern winter. He took a few pounds of hard bread and a few ears of -corn to parch, but for the rest subsisted on game. He followed the foot -of the bluffs as far as possible, and in due time reached Fort Pierre. -Fortunately, the day after his arrival the express from Fort Union came -in. Exchanges were made, and after a short rest La Barge set out on his -return trip. He reached Cabanné in good time. The exploit gratified -Pilcher highly, and he said to La Barge, “I knew I had made no mistake.” - -[Sidenote: A MOMENTARY FRIGHT.] - -Captain La Barge recalled only two incidents on this trip: He saw one -day, what he never saw before nor afterward, although he had heard -hunters and Indians relate similar experiences, two dead elk whose -horns had become interlocked in fighting, and who had died bound -together in that way. While in camp one night, just above Vermillion, -he had a good fire of dry cottonwood and willows, and was roasting a -prairie chicken in the flame. Happening to look up, he saw four gray -wolves only a little way off on the opposite side of the fire, looking -steadily at him. He was almost paralyzed at the sight, but nevertheless -did not leave his place, but quietly got his gun and pistols convenient -for action and sat still and watched his visitors. After looking at him -a few minutes, and concluding, apparently, that he was not the kind of -game they were after, they withdrew. - -[Sidenote: AFTER HORSE THIEVES.] - -In the month of April, 1834, La Barge was sent with a party under one -La Chapelle to go to the Pawnees and bring down the bullboats with the -winter’s trade. They were detained several days at the Pawnee Loup -village, waiting for some of the Indians to come in. During this delay -a band of horse-stealing Sioux slipped into the village one stormy -night, and, opening the corrals, let out some sixty head of horses and -got away without waking anybody up. When the theft was discovered the -following morning the chief called for volunteers to go in pursuit. -Some seventy-five men started, and with them La Barge and a companion -named Bercier. La Barge had never had an experience of this sort, and -thought the present opportunity a good one. On the second evening after -their departure they discovered the thieves and their horses encamped -on the Elkhorn River. There were about fifteen of the Indians. The -pursuers carefully reconnoitered the position, and next morning at -daybreak attacked it, killing eleven of the Indians and capturing all -of the horses. The man Bercier, who accompanied La Barge, met death at -the hand of another tribe of Indians thirty-one years afterward. In -1865 he went up the Missouri with Captain La Barge to Fort Benton, and -was killed by the Blackfeet on the Teton River near that post. - -[Sidenote: RATTLESNAKES.] - -On their way down the Platte from the Pawnees, on this trip, the party -were greatly annoyed by rattlesnakes at the camps on shore. If they -made camp before dark they carefully scoured the entire neighborhood -and killed or drove off these dangerous reptiles. But they often kept -on the river as long as they could see, and on such occasions could -not take the usual precaution. The snakes were not pugnacious, and -sought the camp only because of the warm nestling places they found -there. They liked to creep into or under the blankets, and the great -danger was that when the occupant of the bed awoke he might step on -or otherwise hurt the snakes and cause them to strike before he was -conscious of their presence. On one occasion Captain La Barge found -two of these snakes under his coat, which he had folded and used for a -pillow. In some places they were so numerous as to cause the Indians to -move their camps. An instance of this kind occurred at Red Cloud, below -what is now Chamberlain, S. D., where the site of the agency had to be -changed. As late as 1883, when Captain La Barge was pilot of a boat in -the service of a United States surveying party, he took some members -of the party to a point near the Bijoux hills, where he remembered -having seen long years before a colony of rattlesnakes. Sure enough, -there they were, still as thick as in former days. The party killed 130 -within a few minutes. Captain La Barge could not recall a single death -from a rattlesnake bite in his whole experience on the river. He stated -that swine were the best exterminators of these reptiles. - -As soon as the robes had been packed into mackinaw boats at the mouth -of the Platte, about the middle of May, 1834, La Barge started for St. -Louis. This was the last of his service with Pilcher, for before his -return the Major had left the post for some more important business -in St. Louis. He had taken a great liking to the young engagé and -undertook to secure him a promotion. He sent down by La Barge a letter -of recommendation to Daniel Lamont, one of the partners of the upper -Missouri department of the American Fur Company. Captain La Barge knew -nothing of the letter at the time. It eventually found its way into the -Chouteau archives, where it was discovered by the author of this work -and shown to Captain La Barge sixty-two years after it was written. It -read as follows: - -[Sidenote: LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION.] - - “NEAR THE BLUFFS, May 16, 1834. - - “DEAR SIR: The bearer of this, Joseph La Barge, wintered - with me last winter, and has been faithful, active, and - enterprising. He wishes to get a clerkship on the Missouri, - but I have not employed him for the reason that I have no use - for him, nor do I suppose that Mr. Chouteau will employ him - for this post, as I have informed him that there is no use for - additional clerks. La Barge writes a tolerably good hand, and - if you have any place for him above, I can recommend him as a - modest and good young man who has done his duty here (as an - engagé) very faithfully, and I think him worthy of a better - situation. - - “Your friend, - “JOSHUA PILCHER.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -LAST YEAR AT CABANNÉ’S. - - -After a few weeks’ visit among his friends in St. Louis in the spring -of 1834 La Barge started back on the steamer _Diana_ for Cabanné’s -post. Pilcher was no longer in charge, having been succeeded by Peter -A. Sarpy. During his service under Sarpy La Barge had an adventure -which came near cutting off his career on the river almost at its -beginning. Late in the fall of the year Sarpy sent him down to Bellevue -to take charge of a herd of horses which was being wintered there for -the mountain expeditions of Fontenelle and Drips. There were about -150 horses in the herd, and they were kept on the east side of the -river in the bottoms, where they subsisted mostly on the bark of young -cottonwood trees. This kind of forage was extensively used in those -days. It was an excellent food and was liked by the stock. Instances -are recorded where they have taken it in preference to grain. Horses -throve well upon it, and it is related that Kenneth McKenzie at Fort -Union fed it exclusively to his hunting stock. - -[Sidenote: HORSE WOOD.] - -The method of preparing the bark for forage along the Missouri River -was as follows: The trees were cut down and the trunk then cut into -short logs three or four feet long. In the winter time the bark was -frozen and had to be thawed out before using. To do this the logs were -stood up in front of a fire and turned around gradually until the bark -was warmed through. It was then peeled off with drawknives and cut -up into small pieces, after which it was ready for food. It was very -essential that the bark be thawed out when fed, for the sharp edges -of the shavings were like knife blades if frozen, and liable to cut -the throats and stomachs of the horses. Animals were occasionally lost -from this cause. After the logs had been stripped of their bark they -were split and piled on the river bank, forming an excellent fuel for -the next season’s steamboat. Traders at the various posts were under -standing instructions to gather up the “horse wood” in their vicinity -and pile it on the bank of the river, where it could be reached by the -boats. - -[Sidenote: INTO AN AIR HOLE.] - -It was while engaged in this work of caring for horses that La Barge -had the adventure just alluded to. It was mid-winter, 1834–35. The -Missouri was frozen deep, and a pathway led from the post at Bellevue -across the river on the ice to the east bottoms, where the herd was -kept. The path ran between two large airholes through the ice--one -just above and the other about a hundred yards below. The weather -was extremely cold, and there was every indication of an approaching -blizzard. Captain La Barge wrapped himself in a blanket coat, held -tight to his body by a belt, and was armed with a rifle, tomahawk, and -knife. He experienced no difficulty in crossing to the east shore, for -the wind was behind his back. But before he was ready to return the -blizzard was on in full force; the wind came from the west obliquely -across the river, and the drifting snow completely obliterated the -path. La Barge nevertheless felt confident of crossing all right, -for the distance was short, and he knew the way so well that he felt -as if he could follow it blindfolded. In fact, that was practically -his present situation, for the wind drove the snow into his face so -violently that it was impossible to look ahead. Getting his bearings -as well as he could, he started across on a slow run in face of the -blinding storm. It would seem in any case to have been a reckless -performance, considering the existence of the airholes near the path; -but La Barge was not given to enlarging upon future dangers, and forged -boldly ahead. For once his confidence deceived him. All of a sudden he -plunged headlong into the river. He instantly realized that he was in -one of the air holes--but which one? If the lower one, he was certainly -lost, for the swift current had borne him under the ice before he came -to the surface. If the upper hole, he might float to the lower. But -did the current flow directly from one to the other, and would he be -at the top at the critical instant? All these questions and many more -flashed through his mind with the rapidity of thought in the presence -of imminent peril. He soon rose to the surface and bumped the overlying -ice. Sinking and rising again he bumped the ice a second time. The -limit of endurance was almost reached, when suddenly his head emerged -into the open air. Spreading out his hands, he caught the edge of the -ice. He held on until he could draw his knife, which he plunged into -the ice far enough to give him something to pull against, and after -much severe and perilous exertion he drew himself out. He had stuck -to his rifle all the time without realizing the fact, and came out as -fully armed as when he went in. - -[Sidenote: MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.] - -But now a new peril awaited him. The storm was at its height, the cold -intense, and his clothing was drenched through. The bath which he had -received had not chilled him in the least, for the water was much -warmer than the air outside, and his exertion would have kept him warm -anyway; but out in the wind the chances were that he would freeze if -he did not quickly reach a fire. Hastily recovering his bearings, he -set out anew, and had the good fortune to reach the post without any -further delay. - -It is needless to say that the inmates of the post were slow to credit -the Captain’s story, in spite of the proof afforded by his frozen -clothing. Martin Dorion, one of the most respectable of the numerous -family of that name, said to La Barge, “Your time hasn’t come yet. Your -work remains to be done.” It was not until after he had changed his -clothing and had settled down by a strong fire that the reaction from -the terrible strain came; but then for a little while he felt as if he -could not keep himself together. - -[Sidenote: EXPERT SWIMMER.] - -La Barge was an expert swimmer, having practiced the art from -childhood. He learned to swim in the old Chouteau pond, which filled -the hollow near where the Union Station of St. Louis now stands. It was -not an uncommon feat for him in his younger days to leap from a boat -when he saw an elk or deer crossing the river, outswim and catch it, -hold on to it until its feet touched the bottom, and then kill it as it -was ascending the bank. - -In the year 1850 La Barge was making a voyage to the upper river on -the steamer _St. Ange_. Mrs. La Barge and some other ladies were on -board. One day a boy fell overboard from the forecastle. La Barge, -who happened to be near, instantly leaped in and seized him, keeping -him from the wheel (it was a sidewheel boat), and got him to shore -before the boat could get there. A lady sitting on the deck with Mrs. -La Barge asked her if she was not alarmed when her husband leaped -overboard. She replied that she was not in the least; that she knew -Captain La Barge’s qualities as a swimmer too well to doubt his ability -to rescue the boy. - -[Sidenote: RECOVERING A YAWL.] - -In the summer of 1838, when La Barge was serving as pilot on the -_Platte_, another incident occurred which illustrated his skill as a -swimmer. At a point some twelve miles below Fort Leavenworth one of the -guys of the yawl derrick broke, precipitating the yawl into the river. -This craft was so essential to the steamboat in navigating the Missouri -River that its loss would at any time be irreparable. The alarm was -instantly given that the yawl was overboard. Captain La Barge was in -his stateroom, but immediately hastened to the stern of the boat, -where he met Captain Moore, the master. The latter said he had ordered -the steamboat to the shore and would send men down the bank to try to -recover the yawl. Captain La Barge replied, “I will get the yawl; send -some men down to help me bring it back.” So saying, he plunged into the -river, overtook the yawl, and brought it to land half a mile below the -boat. - -In the spring of 1835 Captain La Barge went down, as usual, with the -mackinaws to St. Louis. This terminated his three years’ engagement -with the company. He remained in St. Louis all summer except when -absent on short river trips in the vicinity. In the fall he went up the -Missouri to the Black Snake Hills (St. Joseph, Mo.), where he engaged -for the winter to the trader Robidoux, who was in charge. Nothing of -interest transpired, and in the spring he returned to St. Louis. - -[Sidenote: PRACTICAL APPRENTICESHIP.] - -The next four years of Captain La Barge’s life were a practical -apprenticeship in the business which he was to follow as a career. They -were spent almost entirely on the lower river in the various capacities -of clerk, pilot, and master on different boats. Not many events of -special note occurred, and the actual voyages made are now somewhat -uncertain. But the experience was a useful one, and by the time it -was over the Captain had won a reputation as a pilot which thereafter -insured him continuous service. - -[Sidenote: LEAVES AMERICAN FUR COMPANY SERVICE.] - -The Captain’s first service during this time was as assistant pilot -on the steamer _St. Charles_, but the boat was burned at Richmond -landing, opposite Lexington, Mo., July 2, 1836. He then engaged as -pilot on a new boat, the _Kansas_, and ran in the lower river the -rest of the season. In the spring of 1837 he shipped as clerk on the -steamboat _Boonville_, but this boat was wrecked on a snag early in -November near the mouth of the Kansas River, and was lost with a full -cargo of government freight. In the spring of 1838 he went as pilot on -the _Platte_, a boat built during the previous winter, and the first -double-engine boat that ever plied the river. He remained on this boat -for two years, mainly on the lower river. He made but one trip to the -far upper river, and started, in the fall of 1838, for the Bayou la -Fourche, to spend the winter in the sugar trade. The boat had gone -scarcely thirty miles below St. Louis when she ran upon a snag, which -tore an immense hole in the bottom and caused her to sink immediately. -In the spring of 1840 the Captain again entered the service of the -American Fur Company as pilot of the steamer _Emily_, which was to -make a trip to Fort Union. Before the season was over the company -assigned him to work on a new steamboat, the _Trapper_. For some reason -the Captain did not like this assignment and refused to accept it. -This incensed the company, who considered him bound to serve wherever -directed. Neither side would yield, and the Captain forthwith left the -service of the company. - -[Sidenote: THE MORMONS.] - -During these four years of apprenticeship several incidents of interest -occurred, some pertaining to the local history of the country and -others of a purely personal character. Captain La Barge saw a good deal -of the Mormons, who at this time were undergoing those persecutions -in western Missouri which finally drove them from the State. They -were frequently on the steamboats, and the Captain at one time or -another saw nearly all the leaders, including Joseph Smith and his -brother Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon, Orson Hyde, and others. Captain La Barge -never liked the appearance or demeanor of Smith, and never believed -in his sincerity. He thought more of Rigdon, who was a most pleasant -talker and who once preached a sermon on his boat. Captain La Barge’s -knowledge of the Mormons and their doings at this time led them to -request him, nearly sixty years afterward (1895), to appear for them -and give evidence as to their title to the land in Independence, Mo., -on which their temple was built. - -[Sidenote: DANIEL BOONE.] - -Another incident which occurred about this time calls up one of the -famous characters of American frontier history--Daniel Boone. This -noted pioneer had passed most of his life in Kentucky, but when -settlement began to crowd upon his primeval domain he moved westward -and settled in Warren County, near St. Charles, Mo., where he died -in 1820. Some years later, by agreement between the governments of -Kentucky and Missouri, Boone’s remains were moved to the latter State. -A committee from the Kentucky Legislature went to Missouri on the -occasion of the removal and were taken up the river to Marthasville, -where Boone was buried, on the steamer _Kansas_. Captain La Barge, who -was serving on the _Kansas_ at the time, recalled the circumstances -perfectly. Many years later he was invited to go to Frankfort, Ky., to -attend an anniversary celebration pertaining to Boone’s career, but was -not able to accept. La Barge’s father knew Boone intimately, and La -Barge himself was a warm friend of his son Nathan Boone. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -CAPTAIN LA BARGE IN “OPPOSITION.” - - -The term “opposition” in the early Missouri River fur trade had a -definite and specific meaning. It applied to any trading concern, -great or small, individual or collective, which was doing business in -competition with the American Fur Company. So powerful was this company -that it never permitted any other company or trader to occupy the same -field with itself except at the cost of ruinous commercial warfare. -There were many attempts to compete with it, but all of them ended in -failure. - -The incident related in the last chapter, which led Captain La Barge -to quit the company’s service, induced him to try his own luck as an -opposition trader; but the result, which quickly developed, was quite -like that of his many predecessors and successors in the same line. -The Captain had laid by a few thousand dollars, which he put into the -venture, and secured additional capital from J. B. Roy and Henry Shaw -of St. Louis. The steamer _Thames_ was chartered to convey the cargo as -far as Council Bluffs, for, owing to the lateness of the season, it -was not thought safe to attempt to take the boat further. An outfit of -wagons was carried along, and it was expected that they would be able -to purchase enough horses and oxen to haul the goods the rest of the -way. - -[Sidenote: EN ROUTE TO FORT LOOKOUT.] - -It was late in the summer when the boat arrived at Council Bluffs. -She was promptly unloaded and turned over to her owners, and the -Captain immediately set about organizing his wagon train. October had -come before he was finally ready to start. His plan was to reach old -Fort Lookout before winter set in. He knew that that post had been -abandoned, but he understood that it was still in a good enough state -of preservation to winter in. At _L’Eau qui Court_ (Niobrara River) he -was compelled to abandon his wagons on account of the snow, and build -sleds. He traveled the rest of the way on the frozen surface of the -river. - -[Sidenote: TROUBLE BEGINNING.] - -Soon after leaving the Niobrara Captain La Barge had a foretaste of -what he must expect from the American Fur Company, and found that he -must be prepared to contend, not only with the long-established power -and unscrupulous methods of that great organization, but with the -petty trickery of small traders who were trying to make some headway -in the country. At the Niobrara he found Narcisse Leclerc, the same -whose expedition he had helped break up at Council Bluffs eight -years before. The Captain knew him well as a man acquainted with the -Indians and capable of rendering efficient service, but devoid of good -principle and ready for any underhand action that would promote his -interest. La Barge found him, with his family, entirely destitute, and, -counting on his well-known hostility to the company, he thought that if -he were to employ him he might depend on his loyalty. He accordingly -engaged him, but later bitterly regretted it. - -Soon afterward, when Captain La Barge and Leclerc had passed Handy’s -old trading post, where Fort Randall later stood, they were met by -a party of ten Indians and a white man by the name of Bruyère, who -claimed that they were en route from Pierre to Vermillion. Leclerc -cautioned La Barge not to believe them, for he was certain that they -had been sent down from Pierre to spy out La Barge’s movements and -break up his expedition if possible. La Barge’s experience in the -Indian trade, and his strong backing in St. Louis, made his opposition -a matter of much importance. It was decided that it must be gotten -rid of in some way, by force if that were practicable, and if not, by -purchase or competition. The party that had come down the river was -evidently sent to find out what could be done. - -[Sidenote: HAPPY EFFECT OF LIQUOR.] - -A parley ensued and La Barge invited Bruyère and his party to go back -to Handy’s old post and he would give them a feast. This was agreed to, -and after reaching the post and fixing camp they were first treated -to coffee and hard tack. La Barge then gave Bruyère some liquor, and -asked him if he should give the Indians some. Bruyère assented, saying -the Indians liked it and he could take care of them. Bruyère’s party -numbered eleven in all. The Captain resolved to get them all deadly -drunk and then set out, leaving some liquor to keep them drunk the -longer. As the liquor began to work on Bruyère he became communicative, -and openly avowed his mission, which was the same as Leclerc had -sagaciously foreseen. “You treat me better than any trader ever treated -me before,” he said. “I was sent here to do you harm, but now I am for -you, and if any Indians attempt to harm you I will defend you.” - -[Sidenote: THE UNARMED INDIANS.] - -La Barge then went on to Fort Lookout without any further molestation -and took possession of the abandoned buildings, intending to conduct -his winter trade there. Shortly afterward he received, by the hands of -an Indian, a note from the agent at Pierre, inviting him in the most -polite and courteous terms to come to his post, as he had some business -to propose, and particularly wanted to have a friendly visit. Here -again La Barge’s suspicions were aroused. The Indian messenger, who -was a brother-in-law of the agent, had come to Fort Lookout totally -unarmed, a thing unheard of in the Indian country. He at once inferred -that the Indian hoped to allay any fears which La Barge might have of -traveling alone with him. La Barge received him kindly, said he would -decide in a day or two, and asked him to wait. At the first opportunity -the Captain strolled off with his gun, as if on a chicken hunt, and set -out on the route by which the Indian had come. He followed the trail -several miles, when he found the place where the Indian had cached his -gun under a tree top. La Barge confiscated the outfit, took it to camp, -and hid it. He then told the Indian that he was ready to go to Pierre, -and that they would start the next morning. They accordingly set out -at an early hour, intending to accomplish the journey in two days. The -distance was something over sixty miles by land, though one hundred by -river, for the great bend of the Missouri lay between the two places. -When they reached the place where the Indian had cached his gun the -latter excused himself for a moment, telling La Barge not to wait. -After a while he came up, but showed no signs of what his feelings must -have been. He behaved very well all the way. The first night was spent -on a sandbar of the river, and Fort Pierre was reached at a good hour -on the afternoon of the second day. - -[Sidenote: LA BARGE UNSOCIABLE.] - -The agent could not at first conceal his astonishment at seeing La -Barge, but quickly recovered himself, and feigned great pleasure at the -meeting, saying he was glad La Barge had gotten through safely--there -were so many scoundrels around the country that one’s life was in -danger, if unprotected. The agent then gave La Barge a good supper, and -after it was over insisted that he must sit up all night and talk about -things in St. Louis. Jacob Halsey was clerk at the time. They pressed -the Captain to join them in their drinks, but without success. The -agent then lost his temper, declared that La Barge was “unsociable,” -and that he was insulting his host by refusing his hospitality. La -Barge replied that if it was necessary to get drunk in order to be -sociable he would not be sociable. - -[Sidenote: PROPOSITION FOR PURCHASE.] - -“I had not been in the Indian country so many years for nothing,” said -Captain La Barge, when describing this affair. “I knew perfectly well -the unscrupulous methods of the company, for I had been an eyewitness -of them. They cared not how desperate the measure to arrive at their -end if only they could escape detection, and this was a comparatively -easy matter. ‘Killed by the Indians,’ and similar reports, were used -to veil deeds which were too black to expose to the world. It was no -uncommon thing for servants of the company who had started for St. -Louis, with a statement of the amount to their credit, to be heard -of no more. Knowing these things, I was confessedly distrustful of my -hosts. I knew that they dared do nothing openly, for that would lead to -prompt report and investigation; but if I were to join in their revels, -and lose my self-control, it would be easy enough to involve me in a -fray with an Indian and get rid of me in that way, or get me to sign -some agreement drawn up by themselves, which should rob me of my outfit -and drive me out of the country. Although a temperance man anyway, I -resolved to be particularly so on this occasion, and remain absolutely -sober. I knew well enough that a proposition would soon come to buy -me out, and I had no intention of losing my ability to drive a good -bargain. - -“The expected proposition came from the agent on the morning of my -second day at Pierre. It was not as liberal as I thought it ought to -be, and I rejected it. Next day an express came from Lookout with -serious news for me. Leclerc, without the slightest authority, had -taken a third of my outfit and had gone to the Yanktonais Indians to -trade. This would seriously interfere with my plan, which was to hold -my outfit at Lookout until I knew what terms the company would offer. -I now felt that the quicker the matter was closed up the better, and -knowing the great hazard of attempting to oppose so powerful a company, -I accepted the proffered terms. These were that the company should -take my entire outfit at an advance of ten per cent. upon the cost to -me where it was, while I was to engage myself to the company for a -period of three years. - -[Sidenote: SEEKING A SHORT CUT.] - -“Even after this arrangement the agent subjected me to new and imminent -peril, as if still hoping that he would arrive at his end by a shorter -cut. Although he could just as well have instructed his trader on the -Little Cheyenne to receive and receipt for the goods in Leclerc’s -possession, he insisted that I should go to that post and either get -the goods or make a personal transfer to the trader there. He refused -me any escort, and the only thing that he would do was to lend me -a horse and sled. The mission was a particularly perilous one. The -Yanktonais were the most dangerous and hostile of all the Sioux tribes. -They knew the value of opposition in securing them better terms in -trade, and if they were to learn that my mission was to sell out to the -company, they would unquestionably undertake to wreak vengeance on me. -Notwithstanding the needlessness, as well as the peril, of the trip, I -was compelled to go, and accordingly set out. - -[Sidenote: ZEPHYR RENCONTRE.] - -[Sidenote: INDIANS INSOLENT.] - -“The overland distance to the mouth of the Big Cheyenne was about forty -miles, and I made it in one day. Here the American Fur Company had a -wintering post under charge of a man named Bouis, who had with him as -interpreter a very valuable man by the name of Zephyr Rencontre.[10] -Zephyr was a good friend of mine and I resolved to practice a little -strategy to secure his company to the Little Cheyenne and his -assistance there. When I reached the post at the Big Cheyenne, Bouis -exclaimed, with a good deal of astonishment, ‘What! are you alone?’ -I replied that I was, but that I had authority to take Zephyr to the -Little Cheyenne camp and return. Bouis was somewhat surprised at this, -but said that if such were the orders he would go. We set out at once, -and as soon as we were well on the way, I laid the whole matter before -Zephyr. He advised me by all means not to try to take the goods away, -for such an attempt would enrage the Indians. The thing to do was to -get an inventory of the goods from Leclerc, transfer it to the trader -there, Paschal Cerré, get his receipt, and thus transact the whole -business on paper without the knowledge of the Indians. We arrived -safely at the post and proceeded at once to our business. Everything -went well under Zephyr’s management for a time, but the suspicion -began to spread among the Indians that I was there either to remove -my goods or to sell out, and they began to assume a tone of insolence -and bravado. Leclerc was probably responsible for this, for he did -not relish at all the turn that things had taken. In the meanwhile I -took refuge in the lodge of an Indian who was a friend of Zephyr. The -latter said he would dispatch the business with all possible speed. The -Indians were feasting from lodge to lodge, and Zephyr said they might -try to annoy me at any time, but told me to remain right there, say -nothing to them, nor resent their actions if they became troublesome. -‘I am looking out for you,’ he said, ‘and have also some of my Indian -friends on guard.’ Along in the evening the Indians began to come -around, evidently in very bad temper, but none of them entered the -tent. They made things very uncomfortable, however, and several times I -concluded that all was over. They slashed the tent with their knives, -and stuck their guns through and shot into the fire, throwing the coals -all over me. They were trying to anger me to the point of resistance, -as Zephyr had said they would, and they came near succeeding. I could -hardly stand it. It seemed certain that I should be killed, and if -I failed to take off one or two of them I should die that much less -satisfied. I kept control of myself, however, and presently Zephyr came -to me announcing that the business was completed, the inventories -receipted, and that when a young Indian should come and tell me to -follow I was to get up and go. It was about midnight that the Indian -appeared and beckoned me to follow. I left the tent through one of the -openings which the Indians had slashed in it, and we immediately struck -out at a rapid pace down the Little Cheyenne. After proceeding four or -five miles I was joined by Zephyr, and the young Indian was sent back. - -[Sidenote: NIGHT MARCH.] - -“We then started straight across the hills for the mouth of the Big -Cheyenne, some forty miles distant. It was very important to get there -early the next day, lest we be cut off by the Indians. We ran a good -deal of the way, but such was the severity of the weather that we -almost froze. The thermometer must have reached thirty degrees below -zero. On the open hills the cold was terrible, and the side of my body -next to the wind became thoroughly numbed. The journey was not without -decided interest, however, for we were treated to one of the most -beautiful displays of the Aurora Borealis that I have ever seen. - -“We reached the mouth of the Big Cheyenne a little after sunrise, and -I immediately got breakfast and set out for Pierre, where I arrived -about nightfall. When I reached the fort the agent could hardly believe -his eyes. ‘What! are you back already?’ he said. ‘I hardly thought you -would succeed in turning those goods over.’ I replied that I too was -astonished that I had got out of that scrape uninjured. ‘How did you -manage it?’ he asked. ‘I took Zephyr along with me.’ ‘Why, how could -Bouis spare him?’ ‘By your order. Didn’t you authorize me to take him?’ -‘No, I never gave any such authority,’ said the agent, as he turned -away in anger that he had been so completely outwitted. - -“The next day the agent detailed James Kipp, with three or four men and -a dozen Indians, to go with me to Lookout and receive the goods at that -point. The Indians were wholly unnecessary, and I can explain their -being sent only on the theory that the agent had not yet given up the -short cut for destroying this new opposition. But Kipp was a different -sort of man, and although he was sometimes compelled to do the bidding -of others to save himself, he never approved of such desperate measures. - -[Sidenote: UGLY BUSINESS TERMINATED.] - -“When we set out Kipp was on horseback and I on foot, and he said, -‘Well, let’s see who will get to Lookout first.’ Bercier and I were the -only ones who reached there that night, but I was so badly used up that -it was several days before I could walk naturally. Kipp did not get in -for two days. The rest of the property was then turned over and the -ugly business brought to a close.” - -Such was Captain La Barge’s first experience in opposing the American -Fur Company; and if it resulted in a quick collapse the profitable -termination to himself, and the extreme opposition of the company, -showed that they did not regard his enterprise with an easy eye. The -whole affair made them set a higher value on La Barge’s services and -treat his opinions and rights thereafter with more consideration. - -As soon as the business with the Fur Company was completed La Barge -set out for Bellevue, arriving there about April 1, 1841. He at once -went to the Pawnees, where he used to go seven or eight years before, -and brought down the bullboats. He was glad to make this trip, for he -always liked the Pawnees. Having arrived at the mouth of the Platte -with the bullboats and transferred their cargo, he set out for St. -Louis with the mackinaws. - -[Sidenote: MARRIAGE OF CAPTAIN LA BARGE.] - -[Sidenote: PELAGIE GUERETTE.] - -The summer of 1842 was mostly spent on the lower river, without any -incident of especial note. This year was marked, however, by a very -important event in the life of Captain La Barge. On the 17th of August, -1842, he was married to Pelagie Guerette. His wife’s mother’s name was -Marie Palmer, one of a noted Illinois family of that name. Her father’s -name was Pierre Guerette, one of the Louisiana French, and he was born -in Kaskaskia, Ill. He was a millwright and architect. He built for -Auguste Chouteau one of the first grist mills run by water in St. -Louis. The mill was located at the old dam which extended from Chouteau -Avenue to Market Street, in the vicinity of Ninth Street. Pelagie -Guerette was born January 10, 1825, and was therefore nearly ten years -Captain La Barge’s junior. He had known her from childhood. She was a -beautiful woman, and although not robust in health, reared a family of -five boys and two girls, to adult years. She was a very sensible, noble -woman, and a constant help to her husband during their married life of -nearly sixty years. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE MISSOURI RIVER. - - -[Sidenote: DEPARTED GLORY.] - -We have now followed the career of Captain La Barge through the various -experiences of youth and early manhood until he is finally settled in -the business of his subsequent life--the navigation of the Missouri -River. It is therefore a proper time to consider the nature of that -business, its features of peculiar interest, and its relation to the -growth of the western country. This is the more important because it -is a phase in the development of that country which has permanently -passed away, and in the general mind is already buried in oblivion. -Yet for fully a hundred years the history of the Missouri River was -the history of the country through which it flowed. Its importance -no one to-day can comprehend. Now the railroad has made accessible -almost every section of the country. Then there were no railroads to -speak of west of the Mississippi, nor, for that matter, any other -roads worthy of mention. The river was the great, and almost the only, -highway of travel and commerce. Everything was done with reference -to it. Commercial posts and military garrisons were established; -expeditions were undertaken, and all business operations were carried -on with careful reference to this mighty stream, which descended from -the distant mountains to the very heart of the continent and thence to -the sea, whence the road was open to every quarter of the globe. But -now its influence upon the growth of the western country has ceased to -exist. The mighty river, which was once alive with steamboats and other -craft, from the Great Falls to its mouth, cannot boast a single regular -packet. In the most absolute sense its glory has departed, and not a -trace is left to remind the modern observer of its former greatness. -In the following descriptions, therefore, we hope to be serving the -true purpose of history, in gathering together for preservation some -interesting features of a type of our frontier life which has long -since run its appointed course. - -Of all the rivers on the globe the longest is the Missouri-Mississippi. -On the summit of the Rocky Mountains, above the upper Red Rock Lake, -some forty miles west of the Yellowstone National Park, and directly on -the boundary between the States of Montana and Idaho, Jefferson Fork -of the Missouri, finds its source. From this point, by a continuous -water course to the Gulf of Mexico, the distance is 4221 miles. The -river is formed by the confluence of three fine mountain streams which -unite at a point about fifty miles south of Helena, Mont. They were -named by their discoverers, Lewis and Clark, the Jefferson, Madison, -and Gallatin rivers, in honor of the national administration which set -on foot the expedition of these explorers. Two of these streams rise in -the Yellowstone National Park, and the other, as we have seen, a little -distance to the westward. - -[Sidenote: THE YELLOWSTONE.] - -Of the many tributaries of the Missouri the most important is the -Yellowstone, which rivals in size the main stream and joins it nearly -eight hundred miles below the Three Forks. Like the Missouri it finds -its source in and around that now famous region, where Nature has -lavished without stint her most marvelous handiwork, and which the -government of the United States has set apart for the common enjoyment -of the people. Both the Missouri and the Yellowstone rivers, in the -upper portions of their course, flow over immense cascades and rapids -which have become well known among the cataracts of the globe. The -Great Falls of the Missouri are located near the modern city of the -same name. They comprise several cataracts and rapids, the highest -perpendicular distance being 87 feet, and the total fall over 500 feet. -The falls of the Yellowstone are within the National Park, the highest -perpendicular distance being 310 feet, and the total descent from -Yellowstone Lake to below the first cañon near Livingston, Mont., being -about 3200 feet. - -[Sidenote: ALLUVIAL CHARACTER.] - -Upon emerging from the foothills of the mountains, both streams -begin to assume that peculiar character which distinguishes them -throughout the rest of their course to the sea. They flow through -alluvial bottoms, built up of the detritus from the highlands and -mountains, until the present bed of the river is in most places fifty -to a hundred feet above the original bed in the solid rock. The -usual characteristics of an alluvial river are here found in their -highest development--a muddy current, freshly formed islands, sandbars -innumerable, an unstable channel, and a shifting bed which is never in -the same place for two years in succession. - -Among the most striking phenomena of a river like the Missouri is the -constant change that is going on in the location of its channel. This -seems to be in some places a periodical matter. The forces of the river -get to working on particular lines and push their devastations for -many years in one general direction. Being finally arrested by some -insurmountable obstacle, or turned, it may be, by trifling causes, -they work in another direction, and invade lands which have enjoyed -long immunity, and upon which the cottonwood, walnut, and cedar have -attained mature growth. - -[Illustration: A NEW “CUT OFF” - -Old course of river toward background - -Old course of river from background] - -[Sidenote: A WINDING WATERWAY.] - -The river, in its unrestrained rambles from bluff to bluff, performs -some curious freaks. It develops the most remarkable bends, varying in -length from one to thirty miles, with distances across the necks but a -small fraction of those around. In time these narrow necks are cut in -two, and the river abandons its old course, which soon fills up near -the extremities of the bends and leaves crescent-shaped lakes in the -middle. This process is a never-ending one, and the channel distances -along the river are in a state of never-ending change. There is one -bend in the upper river, known from the earliest times as the Great -Bend, which was not formed in the way just described. The course of the -river here is comparatively permanent, and is evidently the same as -that of the original stream bed. The distance around is nearly thirty -miles, while that across is only a mile and a half. It was a regular -custom with travelers, when the Indians were not too dangerous, to -leave the boats at the beginning of this bend and walk across, going on -board on the other side. - -The existence of so many bends increased the length of the channel, -but this drawback was more than offset by the reduction of the slope -which made the current less strong and enabled steamboats to overcome -it with greater ease. The river is like a great spiral stairway -leading from the ocean to the mountains. A steamboat at Fort Benton -is 2565 feet--two and one-half times the height of the Eiffel tower in -Paris--above the level of the sea; yet so gentle is the slope nearly -all the way that, in placid weather, the water surface resembles that -of a lake. This wonderful evening-up of the slope of the river by the -extreme sinuosity of its course is a fact not only interesting as a -natural phenomenon, but of the utmost importance in the behavior and -use of the stream. - -[Illustration: CHANGES OF THE CHANNEL OF THE MISSOURI RIVER - -THROUGH MONONA COUNTY, IOWA. - -_Present Channel Distance, 44 Miles_ - -(COMPILED BY MITCHELL VINCENT, ONAWA, IOWA.)] - -Not only does the general course of the river have these larger -windings, but in periods of low water they are multiplied many fold. -When a large proportion of the river bed between its banks becomes -exposed, as it does in the low-water season, the stream flows back -and forth across this bed until its length is largely increased over -that at high water. Here again is to be seen the wisdom of nature’s -methods. In periods of high water, when it is important to move the -floods rapidly down the valley, the river straightens out, shortens its -length, increases its slope, and accelerates its velocity of flow. - -[Sidenote: ANNUAL TONNAGE.] - -Of the immense carrying power and potential energy of this stream it -is difficult to form an adequate conception. It yearly carries into -the Mississippi 550,000,000 tons of earth, which has been brought an -average distance of not less than 500 miles. The work thus represented -is equivalent to 275,000,000,000 mile-tons, or tons carried one -mile. The railroads of the United States carried in the year 1901 -141,000,000,000 mile-tons of freight. - -[Sidenote: BEDS OF THE OLD RIVER.] - -That such an exercise of power should leave its impress deep upon the -country through which the river flows is not to be wondered at. Every -year thousands of acres of rich bottom lands are destroyed. Forests, -meadows, cultivated fields, farmhouses, and villages fall before its -tremendous onslaught, and the changes that have been wrought in the -topography of the valley during the past one hundred years almost defy -belief.[11] To one familiar with its history, the many crescent-shaped -lakes and curvilinear benches show where the river once flowed and -where it may flow again. In recent years the government has seriously -undertaken to set metes and bounds to the migratory habits of the -stream; but it has found a most refractory subject to deal with. Even -with the expenditure of vast sums of money in the construction of the -most powerful dikes and improved bank protection known to engineering, -it can never feel certain that its prisoner will not break its bonds at -any moment and escape. - -[Illustration: SNAGS IN THE MISSOURI RIVER - -(After Maximilian)] - -[Sidenote: SNAGS AND SAWYERS.] - -As with most of our Western streams the principal arboreal growths -along the banks of the Missouri are the willow and cottonwood. The -willow matures very rapidly, and well-grown forests are constantly met -with in places where the river flowed but two or three years before. -The cottonwood requires more time to mature, but this is afforded -by those longer cycles of change in which the river passes back and -forth across the bottoms. On many of the islands along the central -portion of the river there were formerly extensive growths of cedar. -The walnut and other trees abound to a less extent. Every year great -numbers of trees that line the river bank are undermined and fall into -the stream. They are borne along by the current until they become -anchored in the bottom, where they remain with one end sticking up and -pointing downstream, sometimes above and sometimes below the surface. -These trunks or branches have always been the most formidable dangers -to navigation of the river. They are called snags or sawyers, though -sometimes, from the ripple or break in the surface of the water, -“breaks.” It is, in fact, only by the appearance of these breaks that -a submerged snag can be discovered by the pilot; and fortunately, in -a rapid current, like that of the Missouri, a snag will cause such a -break if it is near enough to the surface to touch the bottom of a -boat. These snags were the terror of the pilot, as well they might be. -The record of steamboat wrecks on the Missouri, and it is an appalling -one, shows that about seventy per cent. were due to this cause. - -[Sidenote: THE MISSOURI IN WINTER.] - -A large portion of the river is in a latitude where it freezes over -every winter. During the ice period it is indeed effectually enchained. -The banks are safe for a season, and the water itself becomes -comparatively clear. But as soon as the breezes of spring soften the -ice the river resumes its customary wanderings, with renewed vigor -after its long rest. By way of celebration of its release from its icy -prison it frequently gives exhibitions of power that far surpass all -its other manifestations. When the ice “breaks” and begins to “run,” -it is liable to strand like a steamboat on the shallow bars. Other ice -following, and finding the way obstructed, piles up on that before it. -Gradually, sometimes, and sometimes rapidly, the accumulation spreads, -cutting off the channel of the river, until, as often happens, it -forms a veritable dam across the entire stream. These ice “gorges” -develop a power that nothing can withstand, and the amount of property -destroyed by them in the history of the river has been very great. -There is almost nothing that can be done to break them. Dynamite -explosions are resorted to, but the ice piles up so rapidly and in -such vast quantities that the most powerful blast seems harmless. In -the face of this appalling danger man is forced to stand a helpless -spectator until the river itself accumulates sufficient force to burst -through the dam. It has more than once happened that, before the dam -has given way, the river has cut an entirely new channel. - -[Sidenote: ICE GORGES.] - -The moving of the ice, even when not accompanied by serious blockades, -is always an impressive sight. Usually the warm weather loosens it from -the shore before it begins to move, and even disintegrates it, so that -it is unsafe to cross upon. The softer it becomes before it begins to -run the less danger is there of its gorging. After the movement begins -it continues for several days, until the vast quantities of ice stored -in the river above have floated by, or melted away. During the height -of the movement the crushing of innumerable ice cakes upon each other -produces a continuous roar which can be heard for a long distance from -the river. - -To the lonely dwellers of the valley in the early times the annual -“break-up” of the ice was the most welcome event of the year, for it -was the knell of the long and tedious winter, and the certain harbinger -of approaching spring. - -[Sidenote: ANNUAL FLOODS.] - -The river has two regular floods every year, one usually in April -and the other in June. The first flood is short, sharp, and often -very destructive. The second flood is of longer duration and carries -an immensely greater quantity of water, but does less damage than -the first. The April flood is due to the spring freshets along the -immediate valley as the snow melts off and the first rains come. The -June rise comes primarily from the melting snows in the mountains. The -great and exceptional floods, however, are not due to these regular -causes, but to periods of long and excessive precipitation in the lower -portions of the valley. - -The slope of the river in the lower half of its course is less than a -foot to the mile, and the velocity of its current varies from two to -ten miles per hour, depending upon the stage of the water. - -[Sidenote: BEAUTY OF THE RIVER.] - -From an æsthetic point of view, the Missouri River has an unenviable -reputation. People who never see it except in crossing railroad -bridges, from which they look down into a mass of muddy, eddying water, -are liable to compare it unfavorably with other important streams. -But to him who is fortunate enough to travel upon it, and study it -in all its phases, it is not only an attractive stream, but one of -great scenic beauty. As seen in its more placid periods, near morning -or evening, when the slanting rays of the sun show the water mainly -by reflection, robbing it of its muddy tinge, and replacing it by a -crimson hue or silver glimmer that stretches away toward the horizon, -cut off again and again by the bends of the river, but ever and anon -reappearing until lost in the distance, there are few scenes in nature -that appeal more strongly to the eye of the artist. - -Again, in its less peaceful moods, when the persistent prairie winds -blow day after day without ceasing, there is a peculiar attractiveness -about the weird scene. In all directions, as far as the eye can reach, -the air is filled with clouds of sand, drifting along the naked bars, -and changing their forms almost as rapidly as does the water those in -the bed of the river. The willows and cottonwoods bend complainingly -before the blast. The river is lashed into foam, and often becomes so -tempestuous that rowboats cannot live in it, while larger craft, making -a virtue of necessity, lie moored to the shore until the wind has -abated its fury. - -[Sidenote: PRAIRIE STORMS.] - -Perhaps the most frightful scenes on the river are the violent summer -storms of thunder, hail, and rain, with the characteristic tornado -tendencies so common in the central prairies. When these black storms -gather, and the incessant lightning seems to bind the clouds to the -earth, and the rolling and agitated vapors disclose the terrible play -of the winds, the river man discreetly makes for shore, and loses no -time in gaining the shelter of some friendly bank. The fury of these -storms as they break into the valley, pouring down wind and rain with -terrific violence, until the river yields up clouds of spray like -the vortex of Niagara, forms one of the wildest and most sublime -manifestations of the forces of nature. It cannot be truly enjoyed by -an eyewitness, because of the element of danger which is present, but -the impression produced upon one who is fortunate enough to pass safely -through it remains ineffaceable in the memory. These storms generally -come from the southwest, and it was a well-recognized rule on the river -in boating days to tie up for the night on the southwest, or right -shore of the river, so as to be under cover of a bank if a storm should -come before day. Accidents from these storms were numerous. Boats were -often torn from their moorings and driven upon the bars, where they -were as good as lost. Smokestacks, hurricane deck, and pilot-house were -frequently carried away and windows destroyed by the hail. - -[Sidenote: INFLUENCE OF THE WEATHER.] - -The condition of the weather had an influence upon the business of -navigating the river which was of the highest importance, yet would -never occur to one unless his attention were directed to it. The -excessively uneven and broken condition of the bed of the river, filled -as it was with ever-shifting sand-drifts or bars, sometimes called -reefs by the river men, produced an appearance upon the surface of -the water which was almost the only guide in tracing out the sinuous -channel. The experienced pilot could tell from this appearance, not -only where snags and other hidden obstructions were, but the outlines -of submerged sandbars, and the position of the deepest water. Anything, -like wind or rain or a slanting sun, which disturbed this normal -appearance, disturbed the serenity of the pilot’s mind. Wind was less -troublesome than rain, for it ruffled the deep water more than the -shallow, and thus left some indication of the locality of each. Rain, -on the other hand, reduced everything to a common appearance. The -sun, when below forty-five degrees from the horizon, was exceedingly -troublesome on account of the reflection from the water whenever the -boat was sailing toward it. - -Captain La Barge records a curious fact in regard to the appearance -of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers as seen by night. He found the -Missouri much easier to “read,” and always experienced a feeling of -relief when he left the main stream and entered its great tributary. -The Mississippi seemed black in the night, and this appearance -aggravated the darkness. The Missouri, on the other hand, had a -distinct whitish tinge, and it seemed, as he entered the stream, as if -a faint light had been struck up along its surface. - -[Sidenote: DISCOVERY OF THE MISSOURI.] - -Such are some of the more striking physical characteristics of this -very remarkable stream. It is not surprising that, in the early times, -when it first came to be known, it produced a profound impression on -the minds of explorers and drew from them expressions of wonder and -awe. Marquette and Joliet, who discovered the river in 1673, were -floating down the Mississippi in a comparatively clear current, when -they came to a point where a mighty volume of water poured itself -into the Mississippi from the west shore, carrying trees, stumps, and -drift of all descriptions. It filled them with amazement, as it has -every person since who has stood at the confluence of these two mighty -streams, particularly when the Missouri is bringing down the great -floods of spring. - -We do not know when the Missouri was first entered by white men, but -probably about the year 1700. The French had made sufficient progress -along its course in the early years of the eighteenth century to alarm -the Spaniards, who, in the year 1720, sent an expedition to destroy the -Missouri Indians, the allies of the French. This expedition was itself -destroyed by the Missouris, but the event caused the French to build -a post some two hundred miles up the river on an island opposite the -village of the Missouris. This was Fort Orleans, and was, so far as we -know, the first structure erected by white men along the course of the -stream. - -[Sidenote: NAME OF THE RIVER.] - -The name of the river comes from the tribe of Indians just mentioned, -who once dwelt at its mouth, but were driven from this position by -the Illinois Indians. The word means “dwelling near the mouth of the -river,” and has no reference to the muddy quality of the water. - -The fact that the Missouri River is longer than the entire Mississippi, -and more than twice as long as that portion of the latter stream above -the mouth of the Missouri, has led to the frequent observation that -the name which applies to the lower course of the Mississippi should -apply also to the tributary. But this would evidently not be a fitting -nomenclature. The Mississippi is the trunk stream, receiving the -drainage from the Alleghenies on the east and the Rockies on the west. -It divides the continent into approximately symmetrical portions. This -division has entered into the very life of our national development, -and is so natural and convenient that the stream itself from north to -south is appropriately known by a single name. The Missouri is the -great tributary from the mountains on the west, as the Ohio is from -the mountains on the east. The characteristics of the Missouri are so -peculiarly its own that a separate name is more befitting than one -divided between itself and another and very different stream. - -[Sidenote: EARLY EXPLORATION.] - -During the eighteenth century the French gradually extended their -knowledge of the river. It is not likely that the voyageurs had -ascended as far as to the Mandan villages, a short distance above the -modern capital of North Dakota, when, in 1738–43, De la Verendrye -crossed over from the north and struck the river at that point. But it -is quite certain that at the time of the founding of St. Louis, 1764, -the river was well known for a thousand miles above its mouth. From -that time knowledge of it increased more rapidly, and when Lewis and -Clark went up the river in 1804, they found that white men had preceded -them almost to the mouth of the Yellowstone. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -KINDS OF BOATS USED ON THE MISSOURI. - - -[Sidenote: RIVER BOATS.] - -The swift and turbulent character of the Missouri River led to -exaggerated accounts by the early explorers of the difficulty of -navigating it. Such navigation was at first considered wholly out of -the question except in the simplest craft. Tradition says that Gregoire -Zerald Sarpy was the first to introduce keelboats on the river, but the -date of this essay is not very definitely fixed. It would seem that the -French must have used large boats at the time they were established at -Fort Orleans. In any event the advent of the keelboat on the Missouri -in connection with the fur trade could not have been long after the -founding of St. Louis, and probably antedated it. Gradually these boats -made their way to points farther and farther up the river, until in -1805 they were taken by Lewis and Clark to the head of navigation. A -similar experience was gone through with in the case of the steamboat. -It was at first thought impossible for such boats to navigate the -river at all, but in 1819 the attempt was made, and the _Independence_ -entered the Missouri on either the 16th or 17th of May, and ascended -the river two hundred miles. The _Western Engineer_, a government boat, -went as far as the old Council Bluffs in the same year. From that -time on steamboats remained on the river, making farther and farther -advances toward the head of navigation, which was finally reached forty -years after the first boat entered the river. - -The principal craft which have been used on the Missouri and its -tributaries are the canoe, mackinaw, bullboat, keelboat, and steamboat. -The yawl, a very important boat, was not much used for independent -navigation, but rather as an appurtenance to the steamboats. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: THE CANOE.] - -The _canoe_ was the simplest and most generally used of all the river -craft. It was the wooden canoe, or “dugout,” and not the bark canoe -which was so much used where the proper material could be found. -The Missouri River canoe was generally made from the logs of the -cottonwood, though frequently from the walnut, and occasionally from -cedar. The cottonwood in the river bottoms attained immense size, ample -for the largest canoes, for these boats rarely exceeded thirty feet -in length and three and one-half in width. The ordinary length was -between fifteen and twenty feet. A suitable tree having been found, it -was felled and a proper length of the trunk was cut out. The exterior -was straightened with the broad-ax, and reduced to a round log shorn -of all roughness and irregularity. The top was then hewn off, so as to -leave about two-thirds of the log. The ends were given a regular canoe -model, and were sometimes turned up on bow and stern with extra pieces -for purpose of ornament. The log was then carefully scooped out from -the flat surface so as to leave a thin shell about two inches thick at -the bottom and one at the rim. To support the sides and give strength -to the craft the timber was left in place at points from four to six -feet apart, making solid partitions or bulkheads. A good-sized canoe -was easily built by four men in as many days. They had tools especially -adapted to the work, the most important being the _tille ronde_, or the -round adz. - -These log canoes made excellent craft, strong, light, and easily -managed. A full crew generally consisted of three men, two to propel -and one to steer. The paddle (French _aviron_) was always used. A mast -was occasionally placed in the center and rigged with a square sail, -but this could be used only with an aft wind, for fear of capsizing the -canoe. - -Sometimes these boats were made with a square stern, and were then -called pirogues; but this name was more frequently used where two such -boats were rigidly united in parallel positions a few feet apart and -completely floored over. On the floor was placed the cargo, which was -protected from the weather by the use of skins. Oars were provided in -the bow for rowing and a single oar in the stern between the boats for -steering. Sails could be used with a quartering wind on these boats -without danger of upsetting. Dubé’s ferry, on the Mississippi, one of -the earliest ferries of St. Louis, used a boat of this kind. - -[Sidenote: BEAR’S OIL AND HONEY.] - -The principal use of the canoe was for the local business of the -larger river posts. Often, however, they were used in making trips to -St. Louis, even from the remotest navigable points of the main stream -or its tributaries. Many such a journey has been made with a single -voyageur running the gantlet of hostile tribes all the way from the -mountains to the Mississippi. A common use of the canoe was for sending -express messages down the river, and there are several records of their -having been used to transport freight. An example of this last use was -the shipment of bear’s oil, which was extensively used in St. Louis -as a substitute for lard in the early days when swine were scarce and -black bears plentiful. The oil was extremely penetrating, and would -rapidly filter through skin receptacles. Barrels or casks not being -available, the center apartment of the canoe was filled with the oil -and tightly covered with a skin fastened to the sides of the boat. -Honey was also transported in this way. In those days bee trees were -exceedingly plentiful in the Missouri bottoms, and large quantities of -honey were taken from them. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: THE MACKINAW.] - -The _mackinaw boat_, as the name implies, was an imported design, -having already been used on the Eastern lakes and rivers. It was made -entirely of timber, and before nails were carried up the river all -the parts were fastened with wooden pins. The bottom was flat, and -was made of boards about one and a half inches thick. On these rested -cross-timbers, to which, and to the bottom, were fastened the inclined -knees that supported the sides. The boats were sometimes made as large -as fifty feet long and twelve feet beam. The plan was that of an acute -ellipse, and the gunwale rose about two feet from the center of the -boat toward both bow and stern. The keel showed a rake of about thirty -inches from the bow or stern to the bottom. The hold had a depth of -about five feet at the two ends of the boat, and about three and one -half at the center. - -The central portion of the boat was partitioned off from the bow and -stern by two water-tight bulkheads or partitions. Between these the -cargo was loaded, and piled up to a height of three or four feet above -the gunwale and given a rounded form. Over the cargo lodge skins were -drawn tight and fastened with cleats to the sides and gunwales of the -boat, so as to make practically a water-tight compartment. In the bow -were seats for the oarsmen, and in the stern an elevated perch for the -steersman, from which he could see over the cargo in front, and give -directions to the crew in the bow or study the river ahead. - -The crew of the boat ordinarily consisted of five men, four at the -oars and one at the rudder. The latter had charge of the boat, and was -called the _patron_. Only experienced, courageous, and reliable men -were chosen for this responsible work. - -[Sidenote: CHEAP TRANSPORTATION.] - -These boats were only used in downstream navigation, and the labor -of handling them was not arduous. The men found ample time for song -and gossip, and every hour or so, after a vigorous pull, would take -advantage of a good stretch of river to rest their oars (_laisser -aller_) and take a smoke (_fumer la pipe_). Then they would let fall -their oars (_tomber les râmes_) and bend to their work for another -hour. They ran from fifteen to eighteen hours per day and made from 75 -to 150 miles. The boats carried about fifteen tons of freight, and the -cost per day was about two dollars. Transportation by mackinaw boat was -therefore inexpensive. - -These boats were cheaply made, and were intended only for a single -trip down to St. Louis, where they were sold for four or five dollars -apiece. After the advent of the steamboat the mackinaws were frequently -carried back to the upper rivers on the annual boat, for even steam did -not absorb the peculiar field of usefulness of these craft. They were -quite safe and were preferred to the keelboat for downstream navigation. - -[Sidenote: THE CHANTIER.] - -The lumber for the mackinaws was manufactured where the boats were -built, or rather the latter were built where suitable timber could be -found. There being no sawmills, the boards had to be sawed by hand, -and for this purpose the logs were rolled upon a scaffold high enough -for a man to work underneath. They were first hewed square, and were -then sawed by two men, one standing above and the other below. At all -important posts there was a _chantier_ (French for boatyard) located -where timber was to be had. Here all woodwork was done. The Fort Pierre -chantier, always called the navy yard, was some fifteen miles above -the post, and was a very active place. The Fort Union chantier was -twenty-five miles above the post, while that at Fort Benton was three -miles below at the mouth of Chantier (now Shonkin) Creek. At all these -workyards skilled artisans were employed. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: THE BULLBOAT.] - -The _bullboat_ of the fur traders, in distinction from the tubs -which were used by some of the Missouri River tribes, was an outgrowth -of the conditions of navigation on such streams as the Platte, -Niobrara, and Cheyenne. The excessive shallowness of these streams -precluded the use of any craft drawing more than nine or ten inches. -The bullboat was probably the lightest draft vessel ever constructed -for its size, and was admirably fitted for its peculiar use. It was -commonly about thirty feet long by twelve wide and twenty inches deep. - -[Illustration: THE INDIAN BULLBOAT - -(After Maximilian)] - -The frame of the bullboat was constructed by laying stout willow poles, -three or four inches in diameter, lengthwise of the boat, and across -these similar poles, the two layers being firmly lashed together with -rawhide. The side frames were made of willow twigs about an inch and -a half in diameter at the larger end and six to seven feet long. The -smaller ends were lashed to the cross-poles, and about two feet of the -larger ends were then bent up to a vertical position. Along the tops of -the vertical portions and on the inside was lashed a stout pole like -those forming the bottom of the framework. To this gunwale were lashed -cross-poles, at intervals of four or five feet, to keep the sides from -spreading. No nails or pins were used for fastenings, but rawhide -lashings only. The frame so constructed was exceedingly strong, and its -flexible quality, by which it withstood the continuous wrenching to -which it was subjected, was an important element of strength. - -[Sidenote: METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION.] - -The framework, being completed, was then covered with a continuous -sheet of rawhide formed by sewing together square pieces as large as -could be cut from a single buffalo hide. Only the skins of buffalo -bulls were used for this purpose (whence the name of the boat), for -they were the strongest and best able to resist abrasion from rubbing -on the bottom of the river. The pieces were sewed together with buffalo -sinew. Before this work was done the hides were carefully dressed by -the Indians so as to be free of hair and perfectly flexible. When the -covering was all sewed together it was thoroughly soaked and then -placed over the framework and the sides and ends made fast to the -gunwale of the boat. The hides would then dry and shrink until they -were drawn as tight as a drumhead. - -The final operation in the work was to pitch the seams. The material -used was a mixture of buffalo tallow and ashes, and it was carefully -rubbed into all seams or cracks until the whole covering was -water-tight. - -[Sidenote: NAVIGATION BY BULLBOAT.] - -The boat so built was very light, and could be easily turned over by -two men. When in the water and ready for its cargo, a layer of loose -poles was laid lengthwise on the bottom so as to keep the cargo five -or six inches from the bottom and protect it from any water that might -leak in. The cargo nearly always consisted of furs, securely packed -in bales about thirty inches long, fifteen inches wide, and eighteen -inches deep. They were placed one bale deep over the bottom of the -boat, leaving space in bow and stern for the pole men. The bales were -always laid flatwise, so that if the water should reach them it would -injure only the bottom skins and not all, as it would if they were set -edgewise. The cargo rarely exceeded six thousand pounds. - -The boat was handled by means of poles, and the crew generally -consisted of two men. The draft of the boat, when placed in the water -in the morning, was about four inches, but the boat hide becoming -soaked during the day, and possibly some water leaking in, it would -probably be as much as six or eight inches by night. Every evening when -camp was made the boat was unloaded, brought up on the bank, and placed -in an inclined position, bottom side up, to dry. In this position it -served as a shelter for both cargo and crew. In the morning the seams -were repitched, and any incipient rents or abrasions were carefully -patched. The boat was then launched and reloaded and the voyage resumed. - -[Sidenote: FREAKS OF THE WIND.] - -Low water, even on the Platte, was generally preferred to high water -for bullboat navigation, because in high water the current was too -strong. Every little while the boat would glide into deep pockets, -where the poles could not touch bottom, and it was then necessary to -drift with the current until a shallower stretch would give the men -control again. Sometimes in those wide and shallow expanses, which -give the Platte such a pretentious appearance in high water, the wind -would play vexatious pranks with the bullboat navigators. A strong -prairie gale blowing steadily from one direction during the day would -drift most of the water to the leeward side of the stream. The boat -would naturally follow the same shore, and the night camp would be made -there. If, as often happened, the wind changed before re-embarkation, -the river would very likely be wafted to the other side of its broad -bed, and the crew would find themselves with half a mile of sandbar -between them and the water. - -[Sidenote: NOTED BULLBOAT VOYAGES.] - -Bullboat navigation, as here described, was most frequently resorted to -in bringing the trade of the Pawnees on the Loup Fork of the Platte to -the Missouri, but it was likewise extensively used on the Cheyenne and -Niobrara and other tributaries. There were some very extensive bullboat -voyages. A good many were made from Laramie River to the mouth of the -Platte, but generally it was impossible to find enough water to make -a continuous voyage. In 1825 General Ashley loaded one hundred and -twenty-five packs of beaver into bullboats at the head of navigation -on the Bighorn River, with the intention of conveying them in that -way to St. Louis. But at the mouth of the Yellowstone he met General -Atkinson, who offered him the use of his keelboats for the rest of the -journey. In 1833 the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, Captain Bonneville and -Nathaniel J. Wyeth, embarked all their furs, the product of a year’s -hunt, in bullboats on the Bighorn River, and together went downstream -to the mouth of the Yellowstone. Sometimes these boats were actually -given names, and we have a record of the bullboat _Antoine_, in which a -free trapper, Johnson Gardner, shipped his furs from the “Crossings of -the Yellowstone” to Fort Union in 1832. - -The boats just described were quite different from the hemispherical -tubs used so extensively by the Mandans and other tribes of the upper -Missouri. These little boats had a circular rim or gunwale, and the -willow supports passed from one side entirely under the boat to the -other. The frame was generally small enough to be covered with a single -hide, and was designed to carry ordinarily but one person. A fleet of -these boats, numbering a hundred or so, was one of the most singular -sights ever witnessed on the river. The squaws often used them, on -occasions of buffalo hunts above the village, to transport the meat -downstream. In fact the women rather than the men were the navigators -of this picturesque little craft. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: THE KEELBOAT.] - -We now come to the _keelboat_, the representative river craft of -ante-steamboat days. It was in this boat that the merchandise for the -trade was transported to the far upper river, and it was used on all -important military or exploring expeditions. It was a good-sized boat, -sixty to seventy feet long, and built on a regular model, with a keel -running from bow to stern. It had fifteen to eighteen feet breadth of -beam and three or four feet depth of hold. Its ordinary draft was from -twenty to thirty inches. It was built in accordance with the practice -of approved shipcraft, and was a good, stanch vessel. Keelboats were -generally built in Pittsburgh at a cost of two to three thousand -dollars. - -[Illustration: MISSOURI RIVER KEELBOAT - -(After Maximilian)] - -For carrying freight the keelboat was fitted with what was called a -cargo box, which occupied the entire body of the boat excepting about -twelve feet at each end. It rose some four or five feet above the deck. -Along each side of the cargo box was a narrow walk about fifteen inches -wide, called the _passe avant_, the purpose of which will be explained -further on. On special occasions when these boats were used for -passenger traffic, as on expeditions of discovery or exploration, they -were fitted up with cabins, and made very comfortable passenger boats. - -[Sidenote: THE CORDELLE.] - -For purposes of propulsion the boat was equipped with nearly all the -power appliances known to navigation except steam. The cordelle was the -main reliance. This consisted of a line nearly a thousand feet long, -fastened to the top of a mast which rose from the center of the boat -to a height of about thirty feet. The boat was pulled along with this -line by men on shore. In order to hold the boat from swinging around -the mast, the line was connected with the bow by means of a “bridle,” -a short auxiliary line fastened to a loop in the bow and to a ring -through which the cordelle passed. The bridle prevented the boat from -swinging under the force of the wind or current when the speed was not -great enough to accomplish this purpose by means of the rudder. The -object in having so long a line was to lessen the tendency to draw the -boat toward the shore; and the object in having it fastened to the top -of the mast was to keep it from dragging, and to enable it to clear the -brush along the bank. - -It took from twenty to forty men to cordelle the keelboat along -average stretches of the river, and the work was always one of great -difficulty. There was no established towpath, and the changing -conditions of the river prevented the development of such a path -except along a few stable stretches. It was frequently necessary to -send men ahead to clear the most troublesome obstructions away. In some -places, where it was impossible to walk and work at the same time, a -few men would carry the end of the line beyond the obstruction and make -it fast, while the rest would get on board and pull the boat up by -drawing in the line. This operation was called warping. - -[Sidenote: NAVIGATION BY CORDELLE.] - -When the boat was being cordelled there stood at the bow, near where -the bridle was attached, an individual called in French a _bosseman_ -(boatswain’s mate), whose duty it was to watch for snags and other -obstructions, and to help steer the boat by holding it off the bank -with a pole. There was selected for this place a man of great physical -strength, prompt decision, and thorough knowledge of the river. -The patron, or master of the boat, stood at the rudder, which was -manipulated by means of a long lever from the rear end of the cargo -box. This position gave him an elevated point of view, from which he -could overlook everything. - -[Sidenote: NAVIGATION BY POLE.] - -There were many places where the keelboat could not be cordelled at -all, as along sandbars where the water was too shallow for the boat -to get near the shore, or the alluvium too soft for the men to walk -in. At such times it was necessary to resort to the pole, as it was -called. This was a turned piece of ash wood regularly manufactured at -St. Louis. On one end was a ball or knob to rest in the hollow of the -shoulder, for the voyageur to push against; and on the other was a -wooden shoe or socket. In propelling the boat with these poles eight or -ten voyageurs ranged themselves along each side, near the bow, facing -aft, pole in hand, one in front of the other, as close together as -they could walk. The whole operation was under the direction of the -patron. At his command “_A bas les perches_” (down with the poles), -the voyageurs would thrust the lower ends into the river close to the -boat and place the ball ends against their shoulders, so that the poles -should be well inclined downstream. They would all push together, -forcing the boat ahead, as they walked along the _passe avant_ toward -the stern, until the foremost man had gone as far as he could. The -patron then gave the command “_Levez les perches_” (raise the poles), -upon which they would be withdrawn from the mud, and the men would walk -quickly back to the bow and repeat the operation. All steering was -done while the poles were up, for the boat could not change direction -while the men were pushing. It was always essential to give the boat -sufficient momentum at each push to keep her going while the men were -changing position. The _passe avant_ had cleats nailed to it to keep -the feet from slipping, and the men, when pushing hard, sometimes -leaned over far enough to catch hold of the cleats with their hands, -thus fairly crawling on all-fours. - -In some places where the water was too deep for the poles and where -cordelling was impracticable, oars were resorted to. There were five or -six of these on each side of the bow. They often furnished assistance -also when the boat was being cordelled. - -[Sidenote: NAVIGATION BY SAIL.] - -A great reliance in propelling the keelboat, strange as it may seem -considering the nature of Missouri River navigation, was the wind. A -mast was rigged, with a square sail spreading about one hundred square -feet of canvas, which often gave sufficient power to propel the boat -against the swift current of the river. Unless the direction of the -wind were altogether wrong the sinuous course of the stream would every -now and then give an aft or quartering breeze. In some places the wind -seemed to follow the bends, blowing up or down the river clear around. -Thus Brackenridge relates that when Manuel Lisa’s boat, in June, 1811, -was going around the Great Bend below Fort Pierre, where in the course -of thirty miles the river flows toward every point of the compass, an -aft wind was experienced all the way, and the entire circuit was made -under sail. Some idea of sailing speed up the Missouri under favorable -conditions may be gleaned from the fact that, on the day of passing -the Great Bend, Lisa’s boat made seventy-five miles, a portion of -the distance being made at night by the light of the moon. And on -another occasion on the same trip Brackenridge records that “we had an -extraordinary run of forty-five leagues from sun to sun.” - -[Sidenote: KEELBOAT SPEED.] - -Thus, by means of the cordelle and pole, the oar and sail, the sturdy -keelboat worked and worried its way up the turbulent Missouri in the -early days. It was a slow and laborious process at best. A good idea -of its maximum accomplishment under rather unfavorable conditions is -furnished by Manuel Lisa’s voyage, already referred to. It was made -with an exceptionally fine boat, a picked crew, and the most untiring -and energetic commander that ever ascended the Missouri. There was -especial necessity for rapid progress, for it was of the greatest -importance to overtake the Astorian expedition, which was a long -distance ahead, before it should reach the dangerous Sioux country. The -difficulties from wind and storm were greater than the average, and the -rate of progress was not increased by any fortuitous aids. Lisa left -St. Charles, 28 miles above the mouth of the Missouri, April 2, 1811. -He overtook Hunt at 1132 miles, on the morning of June 11. He therefore -made about 1100 miles in sixty-one days, or about 18 miles per day. -This, however, was better than the average. A keelboat trip to the -upper river was practically an entire summer’s operation. - -[Sidenote: LABORIOUS OCCUPATION.] - -Above the mouth of the James or Dakota River keelboating was easier -than below, because the natural obstacles of all sorts were less; but -everywhere it was a very laborious process. Captain La Barge often -remarked that it would be wholly impossible in this day to get men to -undergo such exertions as were required of the keelboat crews. They -worked early and late, in water and out, and often to the very limit -of endurance. Their food was of the plainest description, consisting -mainly of pork, lyed corn, and navy beans. From this allowance, slender -as it was, meat was cut off as soon as the game country was reached. -The cooking was done at the night camp for the following day. On top of -the cargo box there was sometimes placed a cooking stove, in a shallow -box filled with ashes or gravel to protect the roof from fire. The -men’s baggage was stored in the front of the cargo box, where there -was also a place for anyone to lie down who might fall sick. It was, -however, a very poor place to be sick in. There were no medicines, no -physicians, no nurses or attendants, and nothing but the coarsest food. -The prospect itself was enough to frighten everyone into keeping well. - -The hired laborers who did the work on these river expeditions were -called voyageurs, and were generally of French descent. They were an -interesting class of people, and presented a phase of pioneer life -on the Missouri which has become wholly extinct. They were a very -hard-working class, obedient, cheerful, light-hearted, and contented. -It was a marvel to see them, after a hard day’s work, dance and sing -around the evening campfire as if just awakened from a refreshing -sleep. The St. Louis Creoles were regarded as more desirable boatmen -than the French Canadians. The American hunter was not so useful in -river work as the French voyageur, but was far more valuable for land -work and in situations involving danger or requiring the display of -physical courage. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: DECAY OF ROMANCE.] - -[Sidenote: NOTEWORTHY SCENES.] - -[Sidenote: THE FIRE CANOE.] - -Washington Irving, whose love of the romance of early Western history -was ardent and sincere, beheld with unfriendly eye the introduction of -the _steamboat_ upon the Missouri. He lamented the “march of mechanical -invention,” which was “fast dispelling the wildness and romance of -our lakes and rivers,” and “driving everything poetical before it.” -However well-founded this fear may have been in the general case, we -are inclined to think that the exact reverse was true of the Missouri -River steamboat. This remarkable craft introduced romantic features of -which the old keelboat and its Creole crew never dreamed. The incidents -of a single steamboat voyage from St. Louis to Fort Union would make -an entertaining chapter in any book of adventure. As to impressiveness -of appearance, certainly no craft on our Western waters, if upon any -waters of the globe, displayed more majesty and beauty, or filled -the mind with more interesting reflections, than these picturesque -vessels of the early days in the boundless prairies of the West. The -very surroundings lent a peculiar attraction to the scene. In every -direction the broad and treeless plains extended without water enough -anywhere in sight even to suggest a boat. Winding through these plains -was a deep valley several miles broad, with a ribbon of verdure running -through it along the sinuous course of the river. Everything was still -as wild and unsettled as before the advent of the white man, and there -was little or nothing to suggest the civilization of the outside world. -In the midst of this virgin wildness a noble steamboat appears, its -handsome form standing high above the water in fine outline against the -verdure of the shore; its lofty chimneys pouring forth clouds of smoke -in an atmosphere unused to such intrusion, and its progress against -the impetuous current exhibiting an extraordinary display of power. -Altogether it formed one of the most notable scenes ever witnessed upon -the waters of America. Naturally enough the wild Indian viewed with -feelings of awe this great “fire canoe,” whose power to “walk on the -water” had subdued the intractable current to its own will. It is said -to have been the advent of the steamboat which finally turned the scale -of the Indian’s favor toward the Americans as against the British. - -In truth, the Missouri River steamboat was a most attractive-looking -craft. Unlike an ocean vessel, which is in large part buried beneath -the waves, the river boat drew only three or four feet of water, and -was therefore almost entirely above the surface. This gave it a great -apparent size compared with its actual dimensions and tonnage. Its -architectural design was pleasing to the eye. Its successive decks, -surmounted by the texas and pilot-house, all painted a clear, even -white, made it look like a veritable floating palace as it moved -majestically among the groves of cottonwood and willow, or through the -parched plains of the ashen-colored sage brush. - -The criticism has been made that the river steamboat is one of the -few modern mechanical contrivances which have shown no particular -development, but remain to-day as they were long ago. The criticism -is a mistaken one. If comparison be made between the first river -steamboats and the best of to-day it will be found that progress in -this development is quite up to that in other lines, and it is doubtful -if any other machine is more perfectly adapted to its peculiar work. -In very recent years there has naturally been but little development, -for the steamboat business on Western rivers has largely passed away. - -[Sidenote: THE FIRST “YELLOWSTONE.”] - -The earlier boats were usually of the sidewheel pattern, with only one -engine, and an immense flywheel to keep it from stopping on the dead -point. Unlike the modern boat, most of the accommodations for freight -and passengers were abaft of the wheels. The stages for getting on -and off were located there. The forward part was mainly taken up with -machinery. The men’s cabins were in the hold. The shape of the boat was -ill adapted to its work. It had a model keel, which gave it fully six -feet draft with half of the load which has since been carried on three -feet.[12] - -[Sidenote: THE MODERN STEAMBOAT.] - -Far different from this early boat was that used in the later years -of business on the Missouri. The first-class modern river steamboat -was about 220 feet long and 35 feet wide, and would carry 500 tons. -It was built with a flat bottom, so that it would draw, say, thirty -inches light and fifty loaded. It was propelled by a stern-wheel, a -most excellent arrangement, which had become practicable through the -invention of the balanced rudder: that is, a rudder with a part of the -blade on each side of the rudder post. There were two engines of long -stroke, one on each side of the boat, communicating directly with the -wheel shaft and thus avoiding all loss from the friction of gearing. A -proper distribution of the weight required that the boilers be placed -well forward. This left a large space between them and the engine room, -which was well aft. - -[Sidenote: FIGURATIVE DESIGN.] - -The forecastle was equipped with steam capstans and huge spars, which -served a purpose similar to that of the poles on a keelboat in pushing -the boat over sandbars. Steam hoisting apparatus was used, and in the -hold were light tramway cars to convey the freight from the hatchway -to its place of deposit. Enormous stages, swung from derricks on -either side of the bow, facilitated communication with the high banks -of the river. The quarters of the crew and steerage passengers were -on the boiler deck. On top of the hurricane deck was the texas--a -suite of rooms for the officers of the boat. Above the texas stood the -pilot-house, high over the river--a very important consideration, for -the more directly the pilot could look down the better he could see the -channel. The hurricane deck, and particularly the pilot-house, were -favorite resorts for the passengers. - -High above all towered the lofty smokestacks, carrying the sparks -from the wood fire well away from the roof of the boat and giving a -strong draft to the furnace. Between the two chimneys the name of the -company generally appeared in large initial letters, legible for a long -distance.[13] One or more flags displayed their colors to the breeze, -and a light armament, consisting of one or two small cannon, answered -the double purpose of firing salutes and terrifying Indians who became -too defiant. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION ON THE MISSOURI RIVER. - - -The Missouri River pilot was beyond question the most skillful -representative of his profession. In no other kind of navigation were -the qualities of quick perception, intuitive grasp of a situation, -nerve to act boldly and promptly, coolness and judgment in times of -danger, so important and so constantly in demand. Navigation on the -ocean was child’s play in comparison. The Missouri represented in the -highest degree the peculiar dangers characteristic of alluvial streams. -Its current was swift, its channel full of snags, its surface nearly -always ruffled by the prairie gale, and never for five minutes in -succession in a condition which would permit the pilot to take his hand -from the wheel or the engineer to let go of the throttle. The elaborate -system of communication between the pilot-house and the engine room was -always in service, and the tinkle of signal bells in the engineer’s -ear was almost continuous. The position of pilot was responsible and -exacting, and called for a high order of ability. And so it resulted -that the better class of pilots were men of high standing and -character, in whose care business men unhesitatingly intrusted their -property and the lives of their families. - -[Sidenote: THE TWO BARKS.] - -The ever-shifting condition of the river channel[14] caused the pilot -to seek all available information as to its latest position. When -other boats were met there was an eager swapping of notes, for it was -a common practice in later years for pilots to assist each other by -keeping notes of the condition of the river over which they passed.[15] -The pilots thus came to know the river by heart from its mouth to the -head of navigation. The extraordinary knowledge of its topography and -nomenclature which Captain La Barge retained to the end of his life was -almost incredible. There was not a bend or rapid, a bed of snags, or -other feature in all of its twenty-six hundred miles that was not as -familiar to him as the rooms of his own house. - -[Sidenote: THE FUEL PROBLEM.] - -The most serious problem with which the Missouri navigator had to -deal was that of procuring fuel. Wood alone was used, and this was -obtained from the growths on the banks of the river. Cottonwood was -the main reliance, because of its greater abundance, but it was -not a first-class firewood. If green, it was next to impossible to -maintain steam with it except by the aid of rosin. It was often found -impracticable to carry the boat from one established wooding place to -another, and it was then necessary to gather drift logs, or anything -else that could be found. Whenever a trading post was abandoned its -palisades and buildings quickly found their way into the steamboat -furnaces, to the great, though transient, delight of the crew. - -In the earlier years the fuel was cut by the crew itself as the boat -proceeded on her voyage. But as the traffic became more regular, wood -yards were established, either by the boat-owners or by others who cut -wood for sale. The Indians themselves found the business a profitable -one, and finally refused to let the whites cut wood at all. The sale -of their wood thus became a source of considerable revenue to them. -In later years, during the Sioux hostilities, the wooding of boats -was a most perilous matter. Crews were attacked at the landings and -only the most vigilant precaution prevented great loss of life at such -times.[16] To reduce this danger as much as possible, Captain La Barge -equipped one of his boats with a sawmill, and took along a yoke of -oxen. When he had to have wood he swung out a large stage, drove the -team ashore, and dragged several logs on board with the utmost speed. -As soon as this was done the boat proceeded on her way and the crew -then sawed up the wood. - -The “wooding” of a boat was an interesting performance. The moment the -boat touched the bank for this purpose the mate called out “woodpile,” -and every available man leaped ashore, loaded himself with wood, and -hastened back to the boat. In an incredibly short time the work was -done and the boat was again on her way. - -[Sidenote: STEAMBOAT HOURS.] - -Steamboat hours were as long as the light of day would permit. It was -not customary to run at night, unless there was ample moonlight and the -business was extremely urgent. But every hour of daylight was improved. -In the higher latitudes morning and evening twilight almost touched -hands across the few hours of intervening darkness. Three o’clock A. M. -was a common hour of starting, and 9 P. M. of stopping. The crew were -divided into four watches, so that they could take turns in getting -sleep during the day. - -[Sidenote: EFFECT OF WIND.] - -The early morning run was liable to be the most successful of the -day, unless it were the late evening run. At both times the wind -was generally low enough to form no serious drawback. The landscape -likewise appeared at its best, and the sight of sunrise or sunset on -the river was one to be remembered. The water was comparatively calm at -those hours, particularly in the early morning. Later in the day the -wind generally began to rise, and the pilot always viewed as an evil -omen the first cloud of sand that he saw drifting over the valley. If -the wind increased beyond a certain point he was compelled to make for -the shore and wait for it to subside. The area of the boat exposed to -the wind was so great that in narrow channels it was impossible to keep -within them, and it was often necessary to lie at the bank for several -hours. This enforced idleness was generally improved in cutting wood -for present and future needs. - -[Sidenote: SOUNDING THE CHANNEL.] - -The danger from snags was always present and sometimes very great, and -the passage of these obstructions was a matter of anxious solicitude -on the part of both officers and passengers. Less dangerous, but not -less annoying, was the passage of shallow bars where there was not -sufficient depth to float the boat. This usually occurred at the -“crossings,” or places where the channel, after having followed one -side of the river-bed for a distance, crossed over to the other. In -these places the channel generally split up into chutes, none of which -might have the required depth of water. The pilot’s first step would -be to select the most promising channel. If this failed, he retreated -and tried another. Always at such times one of the deck hands was kept -at the bow on the forecastle sounding the channel--a function most -interesting and novel to one who had never witnessed it. On the shallow -Missouri a pole was used instead of a lead line. A deck hand seized -this pole and thrust it into the water every five seconds, at the same -time calling out the depth in a drawling, sing-song voice. The Canadian -boatmen would generally preface these calls with a snatch from some of -their native songs, winding up with the required information as a sort -of refrain. So novel was the performance to the uninitiated that an -expert sounder would attract around him an audience of listeners. - -[Sidenote: WALKING OVER SANDBARS.] - -In case no channel was found by direct trial with the boat, the pilot -sent the mate out in a yawl, or more generally went himself, and -carefully sounded the entire river over the shallow portion. Having -determined where the deepest water lay, he returned to the boat, and -if the obstacle were not too great, at once proceeded to move the -boat over it. Steaming in the proper direction, as determined from -the sounding, he would run the boat as far as she would go. The crew -then lowered the huge spars on either side, set them in the sand with -the lower ends pointing downstream so that a pull on the lines would -both lift the boat and crowd it ahead; then hauled taut the lines, -threw them around the capstans, and proceeded to “walk” the boat over -the bar. The process was often long and laborious, and instances were -not uncommon where one or two days were consumed in this way. An -occasional resource, which always puzzled the uninitiated, was to set -the wheel going with a reverse motion, as if trying to back the boat. -The object of this was to dam the river up slightly and relieve as much -as possible the pressure on the bar. The water was sometimes backed in -this way up to a height of four inches, and this meant a great deal. -The backward power of the wheel was so much less than the forward power -of the spars that it was not considered at all. This was one of the -scientific aspects of Missouri River navigation. - -[Sidenote: WARPING OVER RAPIDS.] - -The few rapids on the river which were too steep for the boat to stem -unaided were usually passed by the method of warping. As soon as the -boat reached the foot of a rapid she made for the shore. The moment -her prow touched the bank a dozen men leaped out and started on the -run up along the water’s edge. The foremost carried a pick and spade -and a few stakes, the second a stick of timber a little smaller than a -railroad tie, and the rest at proper intervals a strong line which was -rapidly uncoiled from the boat. Having arrived well beyond the head of -the rapid the men proceeded to plant a “dead man”: that is, they dug a -trench three or four feet deep in the hard prairie soil, large enough -to receive the stick of timber, and with the long dimension at right -angles to the river. The timber was then buried and firmly staked down, -and the line fastened to it at its middle, while the crew on the boat -threw their end of the line around the capstan, which was then slowly -wound in under the power of steam. The operation was a very slow one, -though less so as a general thing than sparring over sandbars. - -Occasionally the pilots encountered genuine whirlpools of such -magnitude that steamboats could not cross them. In 1867 the _Bishop_ -was swamped in an eddy caused by a new cut-off on the river. The boat -was caught at the point where the swift current of the cut-off entered -the old channel. At about the same time the _Miner_ narrowly escaped -disaster in a violent eddy not far below Sioux City, Ia. The whirl of -the water was so swift that the center of the eddy was nearly twelve -feet below its circumference. The boat was trying to pull itself by -with a line when it was caught by the eddy, swung out into the stream, -whirled violently around and careened over until the river flowed right -across the lower deck. Wood and all other movable material were swept -off, and two men were drowned. Only the mate’s presence of mind in -slacking off the line saved the boat. - -[Sidenote: DANGER FROM INDIANS.] - -One of the most formidable perils of Missouri navigation during the -period from 1860 to 1876 was the hostility of the Indians. The Sioux -tribes in particular terrorized the boatmen all along the valley from -the Niobrara to Milk River. Many were their actual attacks and many -were the lives lost. It became necessary on some voyages to barricade -the decks and staterooms, and the most careful vigilance night and day -was required in order to avoid disaster. - -[Sidenote: STEAMBOAT EXPLOSIONS.] - -An exciting and often dangerous pastime indulged in by the river boats -was racing. This was particularly true of the period about 1858, -when the boating business was rather overdone and there was great -competition in the trade. Racing on the Missouri was very risky in -any case, owing to the uncertainty of the channel and the abundance -of shags; but the chief danger arose from the temptation to raise -the steam pressure above a safe limit. Of all classes of steamboat -disasters, the most dreadful were those caused by boiler explosions. -There were six of these wrecks in the history of the river, although -it is not known that they were all caused by racing. In 1842 the _Edna_ -was destroyed at the mouth of the Missouri, and forty-two German -emigrants were killed. The most terrible accident was that of the -_Saluda_, April 9, 1852, at Lexington, Mo. The boat was a sidewheeler, -with two large boilers, and was on her way up the river with a load of -merchandise and many Mormon passengers. The river was very high and -the current so strong that the boat could not round the point just -above town. After waiting several days without any improvement of the -situation, the captain, Francis F. Belt, ordered another trial. Going -into the engine room, he inquired how much steam was being carried. -The engineer replied that he was carrying every pound that the boilers -could stand. The captain recklessly ordered more steam to be made, and -declared with an oath that he would round the bend or blow the boat to -pieces. He then went above, rang the bell, and ordered the lines cast -off. The boat swung into the stream; the engines made but one or two -revolutions when the boilers burst with a terrific explosion that blew -the boat into splinters and scattered them far and wide. Nearly all the -officers were killed, among them the pilot, Charles La Barge, Captain -La Barge’s brother, and the second pilot, Louis Guerette, Mrs. La -Barge’s brother. It is said that over one hundred bodies were found. -Several children who escaped, but had lost their parents, were adopted -by the people of Lexington and grew up to be citizens of Missouri -instead of Mormon residents of the future State of Utah. The bell of -this boat was blown out on the bank while yet it was ringing under -the hand of Captain Belt. It was purchased with other wreckage by a -resident of Lexington, who sold it to the Christian Church in Savannah, -Mo., where it has done duty for the past fifty years. - -[Sidenote: HUNTERS FOR THE BOATS.] - -After the time when the boats began to carry passengers in considerable -numbers, much more attention was paid to the table fare than in the -days when the passenger list was made up almost entirely of men going -to service with the fur companies. In those days pork, lyed corn, and -navy beans made up the substance of the bill of fare. It was always a -rule, when in the Indian country, to rely on game for meat. For this -purpose hunters were regularly employed on the various boats, selected -for their skill, and never called upon for any other work. The hunter’s -custom was to leave the boat about midnight, some three or four hours -before she was to start, and to scour the bank of the river, keeping -well ahead. Whenever any animal was killed it was hung up in some -conspicuous place, and was brought in by the steamboat yawl as the boat -came along. - -Captain La Barge had many of these hunters in his employ during his -career. Henry Chatillon, the same who appears in Francis Parkman’s -“Oregon Trail,” was one. He was a fine man, an excellent hunter, and -sensible and gentlemanly in all his relations. The Captain’s favorite -hunter, however, was Louis Dauphin, who was more fearless than -Chatillon and equally skillful as a hunter. He had a very long career -on the Missouri River. He seemed to delight in danger, and was never -afraid of the Indians; but his lack of prudence at last cost him his -life, and he was killed by the Sioux near the mouth of Milk River in -1865. - -[Sidenote: PASSENGERS AND CARGO.] - -Such are some of the peculiar features of Missouri River navigation -as it existed fifty years ago. To bring back more of the reality of -what has now become only a reminiscence, let us follow one of these -steamboats on a typical voyage up the river. The principal event on -the annual trip was the embarkation at St. Louis. The cargo consisted -of a heterogeneous assortment of goods, designed for the Indian trade -and for the equipment of hunting and trapping parties. It frequently -included also the government annuities for the various tribes, and -stores for the Indian agencies and military posts. The passengers -composed an even more heterogeneous mixture than the cargo itself. -There were, first, the regular boat crew, numbering from thirty to -forty. Very likely there were several Indians returning home from -St. Louis, or even from Washington. Then there were recruits for the -various trading companies, consisting of hunters, trappers, voyageurs, -and mountaineers, and possibly a company of soldiers for some military -service. Nearly always there were passengers distinguished for wealth -or scientific attainment, who were making the journey for pleasure or -research. Government exploring parties generally traveled by boat to -the initial point of their expeditions. In all there were from one -hundred to two hundred people on board, with sufficient variety to -insure vivacity and interest, however monotonous the journey might -otherwise be. - -[Sidenote: DEPARTURE FROM PORT.] - -The departure from port was always attended with more or less carousing -and revelry, particularly in the keelboat and early steamboat days, -when a trip up the river might mean years of absence. The kind of -farewell that captured the fancy of the average voyageur was a general -debauch, which often disqualified him from being ready when the hour -of departure arrived. Sometimes these delinquents who failed to appear -hied themselves across the country to St. Charles, and joined the boat -there. In order to protect itself from loss, the American Fur Company -made all its payments to the men conditional upon a certain amount -of service. It made an allowance of clothing and blankets, but never -delivered them until the men were on board and out of port. Wages were -never advanced except to trusted employees. - -As the boat swung out into the stream a running salute of musketry was -kept up by the mountaineers and others until it was out of hearing. -The roll was then called, and the engagés were given their parcels of -clothing. Next began the work of putting the boat deck in order for the -trip. The bales of goods, which were strewn about in disorderly heaps, -were carefully stowed away, and before night the boat was reduced to -the appearance which it would wear during the remainder of the trip. - -[Sidenote: SETTLING CHAMPIONSHIP.] - -There still remained to be settled a final preliminary to a successful -and harmonious voyage--the championship for physical prowess among the -engagés on the boat. As in a herd of cattle, so here, someone must be -recognized as the strongest--able to whip anybody else in open contest. -The crew being largely strangers to each other in starting, there were -more or less friction and bickering until a settlement by fist force -was reached. Usually the contest would settle down to a small number in -a short time. It was a favorite pastime with that veteran mountaineer, -Etienne Provost, who was often sent up in charge of recruits, to -compel an early settlement which would determine all blustering and -quarreling. He would form a ring on the forecastle and compel every -braggart to make good his claims before the assembled passengers and -crew. One after another would succumb, until one man would emerge from -the contest victorious over all the others. He would then be awarded -the championship, and receive a red belt in token thereof. - -[Sidenote: YANKEE JACK.] - -Captain La Barge recalled an interesting incident of this kind in -which he himself had a hand. It was on the _Robert Campbell_, in -1863. He had on board a large quota of Irish engagés, in fact they -were mostly of this nationality; but there was one well-built, quiet, -rawboned American, whose full name he had forgotten, but who was -commonly known as Yankee Jack. In modern slang, the Irishmen “had it -in” for this Yankee, and made his life as uncomfortable as possible. -Two men in particular made it a point to harass and annoy him in every -conceivable way, until the Captain finally asked Jack why he did not -resent their conduct. Jack, who had a higher respect for authority than -his persecutors, had not felt at liberty to take the matter up on the -boat, but now told the Captain that, if he would permit it, he would -settle the matter once for all very promptly. The Captain told him to -go ahead, and himself arranged the preliminaries, and told the Irishmen -that they would have to stand up and “take their medicine.” With a good -deal of contempt for the Yankee they made ready for the fray. A place -was cleared on the deck and one of the men stepped out before Yankee -Jack, and the battle began; but before the Irishman knew “where he was -at” he lay sprawling upon the floor totally _hors de combat_. The next -man stepped up and was led to the slaughter with as little ceremony as -the other. For the rest of the voyage the Yankee was unmolested. - -[Sidenote: INTERESTING DIVERSIONS.] - -While the officers and crew were kept alert and active the livelong day -in getting their boat up the troublesome stream, the passengers whiled -away their time as best they could. Games of all practicable sorts were -indulged in. It was a common pastime to stand on the forecastle or -boiler deck and shoot at geese and ducks on the river. Now and then the -sight of deer and other animals enlivened the moment, and occasionally -the appearance of Indians on the bank caused a flutter of excitement. -To relieve the tedium of the voyage it was a common thing, when there -was no danger from the Indians, to land at the beginning of extensive -bends, and ramble across the country to the other side, rejoining the -boat when it came along. - -[Sidenote: THE PILOT’S STORIES.] - -The pilot-house was the favorite resort on the boat when the condition -of navigation would permit the passengers to be there. The pilot was -always an interesting personage to get acquainted with. When in the -proper mood and sailing along some easy stretch of river, he would -unloosen his tongue and entertain his listeners with tales of _his_ -adventurous experiences, in reality the accumulated stories of many -years, but as new to the tenderfoot as if told for the first time. Here -he would point out a dry sand waste where the channel ran the year -before and where now a fine crop of willows was shooting vigorously -upward. The high bank yonder, with a grove of cottonwoods close to the -water’s edge, was where the boat was attacked by Indians a few years -before and two of the crew killed. The holes where bullets tore through -the pilot-house were still visible as tragic reminders of a hairbreadth -escape. A little further on was where the boat once had to stop to -let a herd of buffalo cross the river, for it would not do to try to -run through the herd lest their huge bodies become entangled in the -wheels and cripple it altogether. Sometimes these delays amounted to -several hours. In another place the Captain would point out the grave -of some Indian chief reposing in the arms of a tree, where it had been -placed by his people years before, and the sight would suggest many -thrilling experiences, and even tragedies, which marked the intercourse -of these primitive people with the navigators of the river. The recital -of these traditions appealed to the imagination of the traveler, -and helped allay the monotony of the voyage. If the landscape might -often be likened to the “uniform view of the vacant ocean,” there -were nevertheless a thousand features on every trip which the most -interesting ocean voyage lacks. - -[Sidenote: ARRIVAL AT TRADING POST.] - -Among the important events of every voyage were the arrivals at the -various trading posts. To the occupants of these remote stations, -buried in the depths of the wilderness, shut out for months from any -glimpse of the world outside, the coming of the annual boat was an -event of even greater interest than to the passengers themselves. -Generally the person in charge of the post, with some of the employees, -would drop down the river two or three days’ ride and meet the boat. -When she drew near the post, salutes would be exchanged, the colors -displayed, and the passengers would throng the deck to greet the crowd -which lined the bank. The exigencies of navigation never left much time -for celebration and conviviality. The exchange of cargo was carried on -with the utmost dispatch, and the moment the business was completed the -boat proceeded on her way. - -These are some of the typical features of steamboat life as it used to -exist on the Missouri River. In later years, when the gold discoveries -in Montana gave the business such an astonishing impetus, other -features of interest developed. The business was always a romantic -one, and will stand in American frontier history as one of its most -picturesque and delightful memories. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE STEAMBOAT IN THE FUR TRADE. - - -The most important early use of steamboats upon the Missouri River -was in connection with the fur trade, for this was the principal -business conducted along the valley in the first half of the nineteenth -century.[17] Steamboats had entered the river in 1819, but that early -experiment had not been very successful and had led to no regular -traffic as late as 1830. The American Fur Company, which monopolized -the fur trade of the Missouri Valley, continued to send its annual -cargoes of merchandise up the river in keelboats. The great difficulty, -heavy cost, and extreme delay by this method of transportation were a -serious handicap upon the business. It took an entire summer to reach -the far upper posts and not infrequently ice closed the river before -this could be done. A large crew was required for a comparatively small -cargo, and it was necessary to bring them all back in order not to -have more men in the field than were needed. - -[Sidenote: A STEAMBOAT FOR THE FUR TRADE.] - -It was from considerations of this character that the use of steamboats -was determined upon in the summer of 1830, and from that time the true -history of Missouri River navigation begins. The American Fur Company -then had its headquarters in New York. John Jacob Astor was the real -head of the company, although his son, William B. Astor, was its -president. The Western Department of the Company was established in -St. Louis and managed by the firm of Bernard Pratte & Company. Pierre -Chouteau, Jr., writing for the firm, August 30, 1830, to the house in -New York, thus describes the beginning of this new undertaking: - -[Sidenote: DISADVANTAGES OF KEELBOATS.] - - “Since the loss of our keelboat and the arrival of Mr. - McKenzie,[18] we have been contemplating the project of - building a small steamboat for the trade of the upper Missouri. - We believe that the navigation will be much safer in going up, - and possibly also in coming down, than it is by keelboat. The - only serious drawback will be the danger of breakage of some - important pieces of machinery, which it would be difficult - and perhaps impossible to repair on the spot. However, after - consultation with some of the ablest steamboat captains, we - think that by having spare parts and a good blacksmith outfit - on board, we may be able to overcome this difficulty. I imagine - that there will always be a little risk to run, but I also - believe that, if we succeed, it will be a great advantage - to our business. The expenses we are annually put to in the - purchase of keelboats and supplies, and in advances to engagés - before their departure, are enormous, and have to be repeated - every year. With the steamboat we could keep all our men in the - Indian country, where we could pay the greater part of their - wages in merchandise instead of making the large outlay of cash - which we are now constantly required to do.[19] The boat would - make the voyage to the upper river every spring. By starting - from here [St. Louis] at the beginning of April with the full - season’s outfit of merchandise, it would probably be back - early in June, and bring with it a portion of the peltries. - The finer furs could still be brought down in the ordinary - way. The merchandise would all reach its destination before - ice closed in the fall, which we now sometimes fail to do, to - our great loss. Furthermore, by having boats on hand at the - trading posts, we can always bring down the returns in case of - accident to the steamboat. After the return of the latter from - the annual trip it can be used in freighting on the lower river - during the balance of the season. Such a boat as we require we - think will cost in Cincinnati or Marietta about $7000, but as - we shall want a number of duplicate parts and extras the cost - may amount to $8000. - - “Our plan, promising as it seems to us, has its difficulties, - and we submit it to you for approval before taking definite - action. We beg you to think it over and reply as soon as - possible, for, in case of your approval, we have no time to - lose in getting the work under way, if the boat is to be ready - by spring.” - -[Sidenote: FIRST VOYAGE.] - -Such is the clear statement of the origin of a business which thirty -years later assumed enormous proportions. The house in New York gave -its approval, the boat was built, and was named, most appropriately, -the _Yellowstone_, and in the spring of 1831 started on its first -voyage for the far upper river. - -[Illustration: THE FIRST YELLOWSTONE - -(After Maximilian)] - -[Sidenote: CHOUTEAU BLUFFS.] - -The boat did not get as far as was expected on this trip. A little -above the mouth of the Niobrara River it was stopped for a time by low -water. Pierre Chouteau, Jr., who, with McKenzie, was the soul of -the enterprise, was a passenger. Burning with impatience at the delay, -he sent to Fort Tecumseh for lighters to take off a portion of the -cargo. Every day he got out upon the high bluffs overlooking the river -and paced up and down, watching for the desired assistance and praying -for a rise in the river. The bluffs have ever since been known as the -Chouteau Bluffs. - -At last three boats came down and relieved the steamer of enough of her -cargo to enable her to reach Fort Tecumseh, where Fort Pierre, S. D., -now stands. No attempt was made to go farther, and in a short time she -returned to St. Louis. - -In spite of the failure to reach the mouth of the Yellowstone -the experiment was considered enough of a success to justify its -repetition. Accordingly, in the spring of 1832, the _Yellowstone_ set -out again, and this time reached Fort Union. The voyage was highly -successful, and the return trip was made at the rate of a hundred -miles a day. Pierre Chouteau, Jr., was again a passenger. Since the -previous year Fort Tecumseh had been rebuilt in a situation less -exposed to the ravages of the river, and was ready for occupancy when -the _Yellowstone_ arrived on her upward trip. It was at that time -christened _Fort Pierre_, in honor of the distinguished visitor and -member of the company. George Catlin, the painter of Indian scenes and -portraits, was also a passenger, and his writings and sketches have -added to the celebrity of the voyage. - -[Sidenote: SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT.] - -The success of the second experiment in navigating the Missouri gave -great satisfaction to the company and to the public in general, for it -had never been considered possible to take steamboats so far. It added -seventeen hundred miles to the internal navigable waters of the United -States, with every prospect that this would be extended to the very -foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The voyage created great interest -both in this country and in Europe, and John Jacob Astor, who was in -France at the time, wrote home that nearly all the public journals of -the Continent had made mention of it. Ramsay Crooks, general agent of -the company in New York, thus expressed his pleasure to the house in -St. Louis at the great success which they had achieved: - -[Sidenote: CONGRATULATIONS.] - - “I congratulate you most cordially on your perseverance and - ultimate success in reaching the Yellowstone by _steam_, and - the future historian of the Missouri will preserve for you the - honorable and enviable distinction of having accomplished an - object of immense importance, by exhibiting the practicability - of conquering the obstructions of the Missouri, considered till - almost the present day insurmountable to steamboats, even - among those best acquainted with their capabilities. You have - brought the Falls of the Missouri as near, comparatively, as - was the River Platte in my younger days.” - -The experiment thus inaugurated grew into a regular business. The -American Fur Company sent up one or more boats every spring, as long -as it continued in the business. In the spring of 1833 it sent up two -boats, the _Yellowstone_ and the _Assiniboine_. It was this year that -Maximilian, Prince of Wied, went up and spent several months at Forts -McKenzie, Clark, and Union.[20] The _Assiniboine_ went above Fort Union -for some distance, thus making another advance toward the head of -navigation. It was caught in this advanced situation by low water, and -was compelled to remain there all winter. - -[Sidenote: AN EARLY LOGBOOK.] - -A most interesting and valuable relic of these early steamboat days has -survived in the form of a journal, or logbook, covering the voyages -from 1841 to 1847 inclusive. It is all in French except that for the -year 1847. It is very complete, and exhibits in the clearest detail the -manner of life which existed on the Missouri River steamboat in those -early days. Captain La Barge was pilot on some of these voyages, and -we shall now note a few of the interesting incidents with which he was -connected, for they furnish a living picture of a condition of things -which has long since ceased to exist. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -VOYAGE OF 1843. - - -The voyage of 1843 is known in more complete detail than any other in -the history of the river. There are two complete journals of it--the -Sire logbook, just referred to, and the published journal of the great -naturalist, Audubon, who was one of the passengers. Captain La Barge -himself gave the present author his full recollections of the trip. -There were in all about one hundred passengers, besides some Indians -returning to their country from a visit to St. Louis. The passenger -list included the usual picturesque variety, but its most conspicuous -and noteworthy feature was, of course, the presence of Audubon and his -party of scientists. Captain Joseph Sire was master of the boat and -Captain La Barge pilot. - -The _Omega_ left St. Louis April 25, 1843. Along the lower course -of the river the voyage was more than ordinarily difficult. The -waters were high and the bottoms were badly overflowed, making shore -excursions very unpleasant. The current was strong and the winds so -severe and constant that the boat had to lie at the bank for several -hours nearly every day. These delays were improved by the boat crew in -procuring wood, and by the scientists in studying the country. - -[Sidenote: AN INDISPENSABLE ARTICLE.] - -No incident worthy of particular mention occurred until the boat -reached Bellevue, a few miles below the modern site of Omaha, Neb. The -importation of liquor into the Indian country was prohibited under the -severest penalties, and inspectors were stationed at Leavenworth and -Bellevue to examine all cargoes bound up the river. Now it so happened -that liquor was the one article above all others that the traders -considered indispensable to their business, and they never failed to -smuggle it through in some way or other. In the earlier years there was -only one place at which the cargoes going up the river were inspected, -and that was Fort Leavenworth. Later, when an Indian agency was -established at Bellevue, that place also became a point of detention. -At this particular time it was the _bête noire_ of the American Fur -Company traders. The military authorities at Fort Leavenworth, from -long experience in the country and intimate knowledge of conditions -prevailing there, exercised their office as inspectors with reasonable -judgment and discretion. They understood very well that the small -competing traders would smuggle liquor past them in spite of all they -could do, and that to deprive the only responsible company on the -river of its means of maintaining itself was simply to debauch the -trade with the Indians to a reckless and demoralizing rivalry among a -horde of irresponsible traders. They were therefore very lenient in -their inspections, and the company rarely had any difficulty in getting -past them. - -[Sidenote: A ZEALOUS CLERGYMAN.] - -Not so, however, with some of the newly appointed Indian agents. It -was about this time that the Indian Department tried the experiment -of assigning clergymen to the agencies--an example of good intentions -but bad judgment. These new agents showed more zeal than discretion -in their work, and although they put the traders to a great deal of -trouble, it is doubtful if they lessened by a single drop the amount of -liquor carried into the country. - -On the occasion of the voyage of 1843 the agent at Bellevue happened -to be absent from his station when the boat arrived. Elated at this -unexpected good fortune, Captain Sire lost no time in putting off the -freight destined for this point and in getting on his way. He pursued -his voyage until nine o’clock that evening, and doubtless felicitated -himself that he was out of danger. But it appears that the agent had -delegated the function of inspector during his absence to the commander -of the United States troops in the vicinity. The boat left her mooring -at daylight next morning, but had scarcely gotten under way when a -couple of rifle shots were fired across her bow. She brought to at once -and made for the shore. There Captain Sire found a lieutenant in charge -of a few dragoons, who had come from his camp four miles distant. The -young officer came on board and presented to Captain Sire a polite note -from Captain Burgwin, commander of the camp, stating that his orders -required him to inspect the boat before letting her proceed. - -[Sidenote: A DASH OF COLD WATER.] - -This was like a dash of cold water to the buoyant spirits of Captain -Sire, and none the less so to Audubon, to whom, as well as to the -company, the loss of the liquid portion of the cargo would have been -irreparable. The naturalist had a permit from the government to carry -with him a quantity of liquor for the use of himself and party, and -upon showing his credentials to the young officer he was, to use his -own words, “immediately settled comfortably.” But in the moment of his -good fortune he did not forget his companions who were not yet “settled -comfortably.” He understood that time was required to prepare for the -approaching function, and he could at least help to secure this time -by delaying inspection as long as possible. He accordingly expressed -a desire to visit the camp, and the lieutenant detailed a dragoon to -accompany him. The great naturalist rode four miles to call upon an -obscure army officer whom he knew he could see in a short time by -waiting at the boat. The officer was overwhelmed at the honor of the -visit, and when Audubon offered to present his credentials he politely -and gallantly replied that his name was too well known throughout the -United States to require any letters. Audubon says of the occasion: -“I was on excellent and friendly terms in less time than it has taken -me to write this account of our meeting.” Between his entertaining -conversation and the shooting of some birds he contrived to detain the -Captain for a good two hours before they returned to the boat. - -[Sidenote: THE TRAMWAY IN THE HOLD.] - -The time had not been wasted by Captain Sire and his loyal crew. The -shallow hold of the steamboat of those days was divided lengthwise into -two compartments by a partition or bulkhead running the full length of -the boat. A narrow-gauge tramway extended down each side of the hold -its entire length, the two sides connecting with each other by a curve -which passed under the hatchway in the forecastle. Small cars received -the cargo let down through the hatchway, and carried it to its place -in the hold or brought it out again when the boat was being unloaded. -A car could pass from the stern of the boat on one side of the hold -around the curve in the bow and to the stern of the boat on the other -side. There being no windows in the hold, everything was buried in -blackness a few feet from the hatchway. Workmen were lighted to their -labors by means of candles. - -During the absence of Audubon the crew had loaded all the liquor upon -the cars, and had run them down on one side of the hold far enough -from the hatchway to be entirely concealed in the darkness. They were -carefully instructed in the part they had to play in the approaching -comedy, and very likely were put through a preliminary rehearsal or two. - -[Sidenote: THE VIRTUOUS SIRE.] - -When Captain Burgwin arrived in Audubon’s company, he was received -most hospitably and treated to a luncheon, in which was included, as a -matter of course, a generous portion from the private store embraced -in Audubon’s “credentials.” By this time the young Captain was in -most excellent temper and was quite disposed to forego the inspection -altogether. But the virtuous Sire would not have it so. “I insisted, as -it were,” says the worthy navigator in his log of May 10, “that he make -the strictest possible search, but upon the condition that he would do -the same with other traders.”[21] - -[Sidenote: A FAIR PROPOSITION.] - -A proposition so eminently fair was at once agreed to by the inspector, -whose mellow faculties were now in a most accommodating condition. -The shrewd steamboat master, who never forgot to be sober when his -company’s interests were at stake, escorted the officer down the -hatchway, and together they groped their way along the hold by the -light of a not too brilliant candle. It may be imagined with what zeal -the scrupulous Captain thrust the ineffectual flame into every nook and -corner, and even insisted that the inspector move a box or bale now and -then to assure himself that everything was all right. - -Arrived at the foot of the hold, they passed through an opening and -started back on the other side. The officer was doubtless too much -absorbed with the effects of his recent collation to notice the glimmer -of light under the hatchway at the other end of the boat, where a -miniature train with its suspicious cargo was creeping stealthily -around the curve and disappearing toward the side which they had just -left. The party finished their inspection, and everything was found -quite as it should be. With many protestations of good will the clever -hosts and their delighted guest parted company, and the good Captain -Sire went on his way rejoicing. But woe to the luckless craft of some -rival trader which should happen along with no Audubon in the cabin and -no tramway in the hold.[22] - -The ordeal of inspection being over, the boat proceeded on her way with -no further drawbacks than those arising from the various hindrances -to navigation. One of the disagreeable features of the trip above the -mouth of the Big Sioux River was the vast number of dead buffalo that -were encountered. They had been drowned on the upper river at the time -of the spring break-up in attempting to cross the ice after it became -too weak. Their bodies had then floated downstream and had lodged -all along the river on sandbars, islands, or the low shores. Some -time having elapsed since they were drowned, their flesh was now in a -condition that rendered the air almost insupportable. - -[Sidenote: AN INDIAN ATTACK.] - -An incident which caused considerable excitement, but luckily no -misfortune, occurred at Handy’s Point (where Fort Randall later stood) -on the 22d of May. A band of eight or ten Santee Indians, apparently -angered because the boat would not stop for them, opened fire upon it -from the bank. The bullets tore through the cabins and pilot-house, -but by the greatest good luck no one was hurt. A Scotchman who was -asleep in his bunk was awakened and terribly frightened by one of the -bullets which entered his berth, passing through his pantaloons, and -flattening itself against a trunk. Audubon saved two of the spent -bullets as relics. He was himself standing near one of the chimneys and -saw a bullet splash in the water just in front of the boat. Considering -the large number of people on board, the escape of everyone was almost -miraculous. - -[Sidenote: CAREFUL OF HIS EYESIGHT.] - -Captain La Barge was at the wheel at the time. In the pilot-house with -him was a French negro from Louisiana named Jacques Desiré, always -known as Black Dave. He was an excellent pilot and was on board with -a crew to return with the steamboat _Trapper_, which had been left up -the river the previous autumn on account of low water. When the bullet -crashed through the pilot-house Black Dave walked quietly out and took -shelter behind one of the smokestacks, where he remained until the boat -was well away from the scene of the attack. Captain La Barge asked him -why he did not remain in the pilot-house, so as to be ready to take the -wheel in case he himself were disabled. Dave replied that it was not -the fear of bullets that drove him away, but that his eyesight was all -he had to make his living by, and he was afraid of its getting injured -by the flying glass. - -[Sidenote: AN UNPOPULAR PASSENGER.] - -As may readily be understood, a feature of first importance on this -trip was the presence of so distinguished a passenger as the naturalist -Audubon. The impression which the celebrated scientist made upon the -crew and those who were entertaining him was quite unfavorable. He was -very reserved, and when he did hold intercourse with members of the -crew it was generally in an overbearing manner which alienated their -good will. It thus resulted that his hunters rendered him inefficient -service, and his journal is full of complaints at their failure to keep -their promises. Certain personal habits aggravated this defect, and -altogether he was not a popular traveler with the crew. - -Captain La Barge mentions several instances of his ill treatment, one -of which concerned himself, and is here given in his own words, as he -once prepared them for publication in the _Missouri Republican_: - -[Sidenote: THE BLACK SQUIRREL.] - - “On one occasion he [Audubon] asked me if I had ever seen any - black squirrels during my voyages on the upper Missouri River. - My answer was that I had often killed them. ‘Do you know what - a black squirrel is?’ he asked. I replied that I knew what I - called a black squirrel, and would try to get him one at the - first opportunity. A few days later we were windbound. Seeing - that we would be compelled to remain tied to the bank most of - the day I took my gun and started around to look for a black - squirrel. I was fortunate. I ran across a very fine one and - shot him. He proved to be a fine large buck. I brought him - aboard. The first person I met was Mr. Bell, taxidermist of the - Audubon party, who remarked, after examining the squirrel, that - it was certainly a very fine specimen. He called Mr. Audubon’s - attention to it, who examined the animal carefully, and then - said to me: ‘_That_ is what you call a black squirrel, is it? - I expected as much. It is very strange that people born and - raised in a country do not know the names of the animals and - birds which it produces.’ After the squirrel had been thus - criticised for some time, I remarked that I would take it down - to the cook and have it baked for dinner. ‘No, no!’ said Mr. - Audubon, ‘Mr. Bell will take care of it’; and then walked off. - - “Some few days after this one of his assistants called to me to - show me a painting that Mr. Audubon had finished that morning. - This was after dinner, as Mr. Audubon had always to retire - to his stateroom after that meal and have his long afternoon - nap. The assistant took advantage of this opportunity to show - me some of the drawings which Mr. Audubon was opposed to our - seeing. On entering the room I saw the drawing of the squirrel - just finished, and certainly I never saw anything representing - life so strikingly. The assistant then told me that Mr. - Audubon had remarked that it was the best specimen of a black - squirrel that he had ever painted.” - -[Sidenote: THE OVER-WISE BOTANIST.] - -[Sidenote: A KERNEL OF CORN.] - -The crew soon lost a good deal of the deference and respect which were -justly due to individuals of such scientific attainments as were those -of the Audubon party; and it is to be feared that they played pranks -on them now and then which they would have avoided with people of more -congenial manner. Etienne Provost was serving as guide to the party. -No one in that day knew the Western country better than he, and he was -quite astonished when Mr. Prou, Audubon’s botanist, said to him one day -that he could tell the name of any plant in that country from the leaf -and stalk, even if he had never seen it growing. “You may think so,” -said Provost, “but I will undertake to prove that you are mistaken; for -I know a plant that grows in this country whose name you will not be -able to tell, even with the aid of your books.” Soon afterward the boat -landed to take on wood near the mouth of the Cheyenne River. A band of -Indians had spent the previous winter near by and had dropped some of -their corn on the ground. This was now well sprouted and the tender -blades were just shooting up. Provost carefully cut the ground around a -spear of the corn so as not to disturb the roots or the kernel, which -was still attached thereto. He deftly concealed everything except one -leaf and then showed it to Mr. Prou. The eager scientist was looking -for some test of a formidable character, and anything like corn did -not even occur to him. It is doubtful if he realized at the time that -corn was grown in that country. He racked his brain for a plant that he -could identify with the specimen. He grew nervous under the scrutiny -of the on-lookers that had gathered around him. Taking his book, -he searched back and forth, but to no purpose. It was indeed a new -species, and he finally acknowledged himself beaten. Provost then, with -provoking gravity, pulled away the dirt around the roots and finally -disclosed to the astonished scientist--a kernel of _corn_. - -Above Omaha the boat made its way with more than usual speed and good -luck to its destination. It reached Fort Pierre May 31 and Fort Union -at sundown June 12. It left Fort Union June 14, reached Pierre June 21, -and St. Louis June 29. The time consumed was forty-nine days from St. -Louis to Fort Union and seventeen days returning. Mr. Audubon and party -remained at Fort Union until autumn, returning in a mackinaw boat. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -VOYAGE OF 1844. - - -[Sidenote: A POPULAR FALLACY.] - -In the winter of 1843–44 the American Fur Company built a new boat, -the _Nimrod_, designed to correct certain defects in the _Omega_, and -in this boat the voyage of 1844 was made. As in the previous year, -Captains Sire and La Barge were master and pilot. It was in the spring -and summer of this year that occurred the great flood of 1844. This -appears to have been the greatest flood in the lower Missouri and -central Mississippi ever known before or since. The entire bottoms -in the vicinity of St. Louis were covered with water to a width of -several miles. The flood had the curious effect of completely filling -up the old bed of the river, so that, when it subsided, the river had -to cut out a new channel, and it was many years before the channel was -restored to its condition before the flood. The high water lasted far -into the summer. When Captain La Barge returned from his trip to Fort -Union he ran his boat up Washington Avenue to Commercial Alley, where -he made her fast through a window in J. E. Walsh’s warehouse at the -corner of those streets. This great flood was mostly from the lower -country, and scarcely at all from the mountains. When the _Nimrod_ -reached the Omaha villages, a short distance below the modern site of -Sioux City, Ia., she found the water so low that she was compelled to -wait several days for a rise. This fact is a noteworthy one, as another -refutation of the popular idea that floods in the Mississippi have -their origin in the melting snows of the Rocky Mountains. As a matter -of fact they always come from the heavy rains of the lower country. - -The _Nimrod_ passenger list, like that of the _Omega_ the year before, -included some notable names. Among these were the Comte d’Otrante, son -of the famous Fouché of France, and another Frenchman, the Comte de -Peindry. D’Otrante was much liked by the crew. He was an accomplished -gentleman, very wealthy, and had with him a retinue of servants who had -been reared with him upon the ancestral domain in France. He was making -the present journey solely for the purpose of pleasure. De Peindry was -a different sort of man. He and d’Otrante met by accident on this trip -and had little to do with each other. It was noted that de Peindry -treated his compatriot with great deference and respect as being his -superior. He was silent and impenetrable, and spent much of his time -hunting. When leaving the boat on these hunts he would give directions -not to wait for him if he did not return. He was repeatedly cautioned -that the boat could not wait for him, but his invariable reply was: -“Do not wait; I will turn up; if I do not, it is no matter.” He caused -a great deal of uneasiness on several occasions by not getting back -in time, and Captain Sire in his journal comments severely upon his -conduct. He was said to be a noted duelist, who, for some unknown -cause, had been compelled to leave Paris. He was very much of an enigma -to the passengers of the _Nimrod_. In 1845 he went to California, -whence the report came a few years later that he had been assassinated. - -[Sidenote: MORE SHARP PRACTICE.] - -In passing the Indian agency at Bellevue this year it was necessary to -indulge in some more sharp practice to get the annual cargo of alcohol -past that point. The new Indian agent at Bellevue was an ex-Methodist -minister of the name of Joseph Miller--as zealous in his new role of -liquor inspector as he had ever been in the regular practice of his -profession. It was his boast that no liquor could pass his agency. -He rummaged every boat from stem to stern, broke open the packages, -overturned the piles of merchandise, and with a long, slender, pointed -rod pierced the bales of blankets and clothing, lest kegs of alcohol -might be rolled up within. The persistent clergyman put the experienced -agents of the company to their wit’s ends, and it was with great -difficulty that they succeeded in eluding his scrutiny. - -[Sidenote: NECESSITY THE MOTHER OF INVENTION.] - -The urgency of the problem, however, produced its own solution. Captain -Sire had the alcohol all packed in barrels of flour. But he knew that -even this device would not alone be enough, for the energetic agent -would very likely have the barrels burst open. The Captain therefore -had them all marked as if consigned to Peter A. Sarpy, the Company’s -agent at Bellevue, and they were labeled in large letters “P. A. S.” -The moment the nose of the boat touched the landing at Bellevue, the -Captain, as was his custom, ordered the freight for that point placed -on shore, and the barrels were promptly bowled out upon the bank and -carried into the warehouse. The agent, never suspecting this freight, -went on board, and after a most rigid search, found nothing wrong. The -boat was permitted to proceed, but, contrary to its usual haste in -getting away as soon as the loading and unloading were complete, it -remained the rest of the day, and gave out that it would not sail until -the following morning. The extraordinarily good character of the boat -on this occasion, and the unusually long delay in departing, roused the -suspicions of the agent, who stationed a man to watch the boat and to -whistle if he saw anything wrong. - -Everything remained quiet until some time after midnight, except that -a full head of steam was kept up in the boilers. Presently there was -great activity on the boat, although with an ominous silence about it -all. The pilot, Captain La Barge, was quietly engineering the reloading -of the barrels. He had spread tarpaulins on the deck and gang plank -to deaden the noise, and the full crew of the boat were hurrying the -barrels back in a most lively fashion. “What does this mean?” one of -the deckhands asked of another. “We unloaded these barrels yesterday.” -“Why, don’t you see?” was the brilliant reply of another, “they’re -marked ‘P. A. S.’; they’ve got to pass.” - -[Sidenote: THE PARTED LINE.] - -The work was quickly over and every barrel was on board, when the -agent’s sleepy guard awoke to the fact that something was going on. He -uttered his signal, and the agent made haste to turn out and see what -was the matter. La Barge and Captain Sire, who knew full well what the -whistle meant, did not linger to make explanations. Captain La Barge -seized an ax and cut the line. “Get aboard, men!” he shouted; “the line -has parted!” The boat instantly dropped back into the current and then -stood out into the river under her own steam. She was already out of -reach of the bank when the reverend inspector appeared and wanted to -know why they were off so early. It was about 3 A. M. “Oh, the line -parted,” replied Captain La Barge, “and it was so near time to start -that it was not worth while to tie up again.”[23] - -[Sidenote: TOO MUCH FOR CREDULITY.] - -This was a little too much for the agent, who could not understand -how it happened that the boat was so thoroughly prepared for such an -accident, with steam up, pilot at the wheel, crew at their places, and -all at so early an hour. Next day he found that the barrels consigned -to Sarpy were gone, and saw how completely he had been duped. Mortified -and indignant, he reported the company to the authorities, and a long -train of difficulties ensued, with ineffectual threats of canceling -the company’s license.[24] Meanwhile the alcohol found its intended -destination in the stomachs of the Indians, and the company reaped the -enormous profit which traffic in that article always yielded. - -[Sidenote: CAPTURED BY THE PAWNEES.] - -As already noted, when the _Nimrod_ arrived at the site of the Omaha -villages, the river was so low that she could not proceed for several -days. A crew was kept constantly busy with the yawl, sounding the -channel to detect any favorable changes in its shifting bed. On one -of these sounding excursions, when about five miles from the boat, -and under a high cut bank, La Barge was surprised and captured by a -Pawnee war party on their way to steal horses from the Yanktonais. When -the Captain heard them speak Pawnee he felt safe, and at once opened -conversation with them in their own tongue. Although he knew none of -the Indians personally, he succeeded in inducing them to come to the -boat and partake of a feast. Thus the Captain’s knowledge of the Pawnee -language, acquired in the villages of that tribe ten years before, -stood him in excellent stead. These Indians might not have killed him, -belonging as they did to a friendly tribe; but war parties, even of -friendly Indians, were lawless and desperate, and they would no doubt -have handled the little boat crew pretty roughly. - -[Sidenote: THE LOST SAILORS.] - -[Sidenote: A TIMELY RESCUE.] - -Among the crew of the _Nimrod_ there were two ocean sailors, good men, -but with no river experience, who had engaged for the trip to see the -interior of the country. They were employed principally in handling the -rigging. One Sunday morning, May 19, while the boat was still at the -Omaha villages, they set off together with a single gun to try their -luck hunting. They failed to return that day and likewise the next, -when general uneasiness began to be felt about them. Parties were sent -after them in all directions, guns were fired, and everything done to -find them, but to no purpose; and the boat proceeded on her way without -them. The general opinion was that they had been killed by some vagrant -war party of Indians. Some two weeks later, as the boat was setting -out one morning, a trader by the name of Kensler was seen coming down -the river with a small boatload of furs. La Barge ran his boat to -shore and hailed the trader, who promptly hove to and came on board. -La Barge explained the circumstance of these two men having been lost, -gave Kensler some provisions for them, and asked him to stop at the -woodpile,[25] where the boat had laid up so long, and see if he could -find any traces of the men. He did so, and actually found them there. -They had converted the woodpile into a rude fortress, with one opening -on the river just large enough to enable them to get out for water. -They were almost starved to death, being reduced to mere skeletons, -scarcely able to crawl back and forth to the river. Kensler took them -to P. A. Sarpy’s trading post at Bellevue, where the _Nimrod_ found -them on her way back and took them to St. Louis. They gave La Barge the -following story: On the first day of their hunt they became confused -and lost, and after much wandering came to the bank of the river. But -they were utterly unable to conjecture whether they were above or -below the steamboat, and in this dilemma resolved to build a raft and -float down the river. If above the boat they would, of course, come to -where it was; if below, they would land after having proven the fact, -and return on foot. As a matter of fact they were below the boat, and -after drifting some thirty miles concluded to start back. They were -considering the question of landing when their raft ran upon a snag, -broke to pieces, precipitated them into the water, and lost them their -gun. They swam ashore and walked up the river bank until they reached -the place where the boat had been. They resolved to stay there and wait -for someone to come along. They disposed the woodpile so as to make -a rough fort, and gathered into their fortress all remnants of camp -refuse left by the _Nimrod_ which could sustain life. Here they waited -for several weeks, and had about given themselves up as lost when they -were rescued in the manner already related. - -[Sidenote: NOT “UP TO” BUFFALO.] - -The fare provided by the company for its steamboat crew was exceedingly -plain and scanty. The men got very tired of it, and as they were much -delayed by low water in getting into the buffalo country, La Barge told -them that the first buffalo they came in sight of they should have, -even if he had to lie to half a day to get it. La Barge had as first -mate an excellent man, John Durack, who had served in the English navy, -and had made his way to New Orleans and thence to St. Louis. He had -been on the river before, but had never been engaged in a buffalo hunt, -and the Captain thought this a good opportunity to initiate him. When -the boat reached the vicinity of Handy’s post four buffalo bulls were -seen swimming the river. “Man the yawl, John,” said La Barge. “I will -go with you and we will have a buffalo before we get back.” The Captain -gave orders to the men on the boat to shoot the buffaloes, and he would -then lasso one of the wounded ones and drag it to the boat. He put -Durack in the bow with a line while he took the rudder. The men on the -steamboat fired and wounded two of the buffaloes. To get to the wounded -ones the boat had to pass close to the two uninjured ones. The Captain -supposed that Durack fully understood the programme, but the mate was -not “up to buffalo,” and to La Barge’s consternation slipped the noose -over the head of one of the uninjured animals. Too late Captain La -Barge shouted to him not to do this--that he did not want to anchor -to a live buffalo. “Oh,” replied Durack, “he’s as good as any.” The -buffalo kept straight on his course. The men backed their oars, but to -no purpose; they could not stop him. Finally his feet touched bottom -and up the bank he went with the boat and its helpless crew after him. -They might indeed have taken a boat ride over the bare prairie had not -the stem of the yawl given way, being wrenched entirely out of the boat -and carried off by the terrified animal. There stood the sorry crew, -shipwrecked on a sandbar across the river from the steamboat--and with -no buffalo. A whole day was consumed in getting back to the boat and in -repairing the broken yawl. Meanwhile the crew kept on eating salt pork -and navy bread. - -[Sidenote: A TERRIBLE STORM.] - -On the 23d of June, when the _Nimrod_ was a little below the site of -the Aricara villages, near the mouth of Grand River, there arose one of -those frightful tempests of wind, hail, and rain which were so frequent -on the central prairies. For a little while the safety of the boat was -despaired of. All the glass on the windward side was broken and the -interior of the boat deluged with rain and hail. The hail accumulated -in the cabin to the depth of a foot, and some of the hailstones were as -large as turkey eggs. Captain La Barge made clay impressions of some -of them and sent them to the St. Louis _Republican_ as curiosities -deserving public notice. Besides the damage to the cabins the wind -carried away the pilot-house, which had to be replaced with a skin roof. - -On another of Captain La Barge’s voyages he encountered a storm which -carried away the smokestacks. He extemporized some skin chimneys, -which enabled him to complete the trip. The Captain was once summoned -as an expert witness in a trial which grew out of a similar accident -to another steamboat, whose owners had been sued for damages for not -delivering freight. The defense was that a storm had so wrecked the -boat that she could not proceed. The particular damage alleged was the -blowing down of the smokestacks. La Barge explained how he had managed -in a similar case, and the court instructed the jury against the -defendant. - -[Sidenote: EXPERT WITNESS.] - -[Sidenote: ACCIDENT TO BE AVOIDED.] - -In another case La Barge’s evidence, as an expert steamboat man, was -decisive. It was a case of collision in which the pilot of the boat -that was lost had not followed strictly the recognized signals and -rules in passing the other boat. The owners had sued for damages. The -defense was that the defendant’s pilot had followed the strict rules -of steamboating, and the other pilot had not. The main question was -whether the defendant’s pilot, when he saw the danger, should not -have given way if possible, even if the other pilot was violating the -rules, whether through willfulness or ignorance. La Barge was asked -what course he would have pursued in the premises. He replied that, -under any circumstances, it was a pilot’s duty to avoid accident, if -possible. The court agreed with this view. - -The rest of the voyage of the _Nimrod_ passed off without noteworthy -incident. The boat reached Fort Union on June 22, started back June 24, -and reached St. Louis July 9, after an absence of seventy-one days. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -CHANGED CONDITIONS. - - -Down to the date to which our narrative has now arrived, the steamboat -business of the Missouri was mainly that of the fur trade. A small -traffic was carried on with the settlements along the lower river -and with the government establishment at Fort Leavenworth. In 1829 a -regular packet was put on between St. Louis and Leavenworth, and this -was kept up at intervals during the next fifteen years. But still the -main business was the trade with the Indians or with Santa Fe and the -parties of white hunters who roved all over the Western country. Its -single noteworthy feature, as late as 1845, was the annual voyage of -the Fur Company’s boat to the mouth of the Yellowstone. - -[Sidenote: FROM PILLAR TO POST.] - -At about the date last mentioned a profound change came over the -business--a change inseparably connected with the foundation of -civilization in the Far West. The emigration of the Mormons to Great -Salt Lake was one feature of this new development. That singular sect, -whose origin and doctrines have excited the contempt of the civilized -world, as its marvelous growth and material achievement have commanded -its admiration, was at this time about fifteen years old. Its founder -was Joseph Smith, its birthplace Fayette, in New York State, and -the year of its birth 1830. For causes which are differently stated -by the friends and enemies of the church, Smith and his followers -found it expedient to emigrate from New York. They went to Kirtland, -O., where they laid the foundations of their New Jerusalem, and -where they flourished with varying fortune for several years. In the -meantime another location was also chosen, possibly as a refuge in -case of expulsion from Kirtland--a situation on the very frontier -of civilization, twelve miles west of Independence, Mo. Here the -corner-stone of Zion was laid, under the sanction of divine revelation, -and here the church began to erect its earthly temple. Hither in a -few years came the faithful from Kirtland, having been expelled by -the community, to whom their doctrine and practices had rendered them -obnoxious. - -[Sidenote: JOSEPH SMITH.] - -In western Missouri their experience was even more discouraging than in -Ohio. The neighboring communities would have none of them. The State -authorities were appealed to by both sides, and finally entered the -contest; the militia was ordered out, and things assumed the aspect -of civil war. Blood was shed, and the Mormons were finally compelled -to flee from the country, leaving Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon -prisoners in the hands of their enemies. These worthies, however, soon -escaped and joined the refugees near Commerce, Hancock Co., Ill. - -Their first reception in Illinois was one of welcome, for the people -of that State believed that they had been persecuted with uncalled-for -severity by the citizens and State of Missouri. Under the impulse of -this friendly feeling Smith secured a charter from the State, and -forthwith began building the city of Nauvoo, on a site which has been -universally admired for its great natural beauty. The powers conferred -by this charter were very broad, and Smith became virtually emperor -of an _imperium in imperio_. He was mayor of the city, _Lieutenant -General_ of the newly created Nauvoo legion, and President of the -church. He acquired wide notoriety throughout the country, and became a -political factor of no little importance in the State of Illinois. The -colony flourished under the impulse of missionary effort, which sent -proselytes hither from America and Europe alike. On the 6th of April, -1841, the corner-stone of still another temple was laid. - -But the same causes which proved disastrous to the settlements in -Ohio and Missouri soon began to operate in Illinois. The people were -outraged at the immoral doctrines of the new sect, and alarmed at the -arrogant defiance of civil authority by its spiritual and temporal -head. Finally an act of violence under Smith’s authority led to his -arrest and that of his brother Hyrum, and their confinement in the -Carthage jail, under guarantee of safety by the Governor of the State. -But a mob was organized which overbore the civil authority, broke into -the jail, and slew the brothers in cold blood. - -For the future development of the sect, this was the most fortunate -event in its history. It set the seal of martyrdom upon the founder of -the church; it healed internal dissensions; it intensified the high -purpose to succeed; and finally it opened up the career of the one man -who above all others was qualified to carry the movement to success. -This was that astute and gifted leader of men, prophet Brigham Young. - -[Sidenote: NO ABIDING PLACE.] - -[Sidenote: A FINAL HOME.] - -It was now apparent that there was no abiding place for the church upon -the soil of the United States, and it was necessary to look beyond. -From the narratives of those who had visited the regions west of the -Rocky Mountains, Young determined to lead his people to the valley of -the Great Salt Lake, at this time a possession of the Mexican Republic. -In that remote and benighted wilderness his people could at least have -freedom from persecution, for the civil authority of Mexico could -scarcely reach so far. The movement was decided upon. Smith had been -killed in June, 1844, and the general exodus began in the spring of -1846. In July, 1847, Young laid the foundation of the final home of his -people on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. - -In the course of this movement large bodies of Mormons remained -encamped for long periods on both shores of the Missouri near Council -Bluffs and Omaha. This situation became the great rendezvous for the -expeditions before starting across the plains, and it was here that the -Mormons came into relation with the steamboat traffic of the Missouri. -Large quantities of freight and great numbers of passengers were -brought up and disembarked here. The _Saluda_, whose tragic fate we -have elsewhere described, was loaded with Mormons. In 1851 the steamer -_St. Ange_ carried up two hundred of these people, and the _Sacramento_ -four hundred. Many other boats, for fully a decade after 1846, brought -up passengers and freight destined to the distant colony in the heart -of the Rocky Mountains. - -[Sidenote: WAR WITH MEXICO.] - -Another of the great movements of the time, which gave a marked -impetus to Missouri River navigation, was the War with Mexico. This -great event--great not so much in its battles as in its far-reaching -results--had been gathering force for years. The influx of American -settlers into the province of Texas caused the Mexican Government -to adopt repressive measures toward them. This led to successful -revolution on the part of Texas, and her independence was finally won -by force of arms in 1836. For the next ten years Texas was practically -an independent republic seeking annexation to the United States. The -question of annexation was the determining issue in the national -election of 1844, and the pro-annexationists prevailed. Texas was -annexed in the spring of 1845, and in the following December was -admitted as a State, against the protest of the Mexican Government. -The administration ordered American troops to occupy certain disputed -territory claimed by both Mexico and Texas. Collision with the Mexican -troops followed: blood was shed, and the United States declared war. - -Among the minor operations of the war from a military point of view, -but of transcendent importance in their results, were the conquests -of New Mexico and California under Harney, Doniphan, and Fremont. All -the country so won became a part of the United States. It lay in the -pathway of emigration to the West, and must sooner or later have given -rise to grave complications. The inevitable issue was precipitated -sooner than was expected, but the result must ultimately have been the -same. The importance of this acquisition in the history of the nation -cannot be overestimated. - -The invasion of New Mexico naturally followed the line of the Santa -Fe trail. The expeditions were organized on the frontier, mostly at -Fort Leavenworth, but also at other points, such as Fort Kearney and -St. Joseph. The transportation of troops and supplies to Westport, -Leavenworth, and Kearney gave a great deal of work to the Missouri -River boats, which thus became an important factor in one of our -national wars. - -[Sidenote: DISCOVERY OF GOLD.] - -Scarcely had the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, which closed the war, -been signed, when an event took place in the newly acquired territory -which completely revolutionized the situation of things in the West. -This was the discovery of gold in California in 1848. Emigration had -been moving to the coast, principally into Oregon, for the previous -six years. The first large movement took place in 1843. In 1845 and -1846 several parties crossed the Sierras into California, and there was -a strong nucleus of American settlers there when the conquest came. -The discovery of gold swelled this incipient stream into a mighty -river. From every part of the world, by land and by sea, the rush to -California began. The overland movement was one of the greatest and -most wonderful migrations of a people which history records. It ran in -full strength for several years, beginning in 1849, and by 1854 a vast -but unknown number had crossed the plains. - -There were various starting points from the Missouri River in this -migration, although the different routes united before Fort Laramie was -reached. Westport, Leavenworth, Fort Kearney, and Omaha became initial -rendezvous, and a great deal of traffic for the emigrants was done by -the river boats from St. Louis to these points. - -Following the three great movements just described came the period of -government exploration of the entire Western country, and the search -for practical railroad routes across the mountains. Large exploring -parties were sent into the field, and bodies of troops were dispatched -to the Pacific Coast and to distant points in the interior. - -[Sidenote: LARGE RIVER BUSINESS.] - -The aggregate amount of business brought to the lower Missouri -from these various causes was large. Viewed from the standpoint of -transportation, the Western country in that day can be likened in shape -to a fan. The handle was that portion which extended from St. Louis to -the mouth of the Kansas River. Thence the various routes to all parts -of the country diverged along the arms of the fan, which were outspread -from Santa Fe on the south to Fort Union on the north. Most of the -business below the point of divergence was done by steamboat. Vessels -in large numbers plied the river over this first four hundred miles, -and the amount of freight and passenger traffic carried by them was -very great. Boats departed daily from St. Louis, carrying an almost -inconceivable variety of articles for use of the emigrants, and nearly -as large a variety of emigrants themselves. To one who witnessed this -business in the noontide of its activity, it would have seemed scarcely -possible that another generation should witness its total extinction. - -[Sidenote: LA BARGE AND THE MORMONS.] - -Of the river business which grew out of the several movements just -described, Captain La Barge had his full share. He knew the Mormons -well. He had already seen much of them during their sojourn in western -Missouri, and came into business relations with them on a considerable -scale during their emigration of 1846 and subsequent years. He always -liked them, and had several warm friends among them. He was introduced -to Brigham Young by Peter A. Sarpy at Bellevue, where the American Fur -Company post for that section was situated. The Mormons were encamped -in this vicinity so long that they brought to Sarpy’s post a large -amount of business. La Barge himself became well acquainted with Young -and with others of the principal men. Young impressed him from the -first as a man of great ability. Apparently deficient in education -and refinement, he was fair and honest in his dealings, and seemed -extremely liberal in conversation upon religious subjects. He impressed -La Barge as anything but a religious fanatic or even enthusiast; -but he knew how to make use of the fanaticism of others and direct -it to great ends. He was kind and considerate, but a firm and strict -disciplinarian. In the Mormon movement he had found his niche. He saw -in it his opportunity to achieve power and fame, to amass a fortune, -and to become a great leader. - -The freight business which came to the steamboats as a result of the -gold rush was not of a desirable character. Many of the emigrants were -so poor that it was difficult to collect from them, and once out of -reach there was scarcely a chance of ever hearing from them again. This -condition improved in later years, and the emigrant trade on the whole -was one of great magnitude and importance. - -[Sidenote: THE GOLD CRAZE.] - -Referring to the gold craze, Captain La Barge said: - -“I was never seized with the craze. My wife wanted me to go, but I was -too busy and was already making money. Had I been idle, or unsuccessful -in business, I should undoubtedly have gone. I saw enough of the -movement to show me how many chances of failure there were to one of -success; and as I saw the thousands of disheartened adventurers who -turned back without ever reaching the desired region, I never repented -not going.” - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -INCIDENTS ON THE RIVER (1845–50). - - -The annual voyages of 1845–46 were made on the steamer _General -Brooks_. In the fall of the latter year Captain La Barge bought this -boat for twelve thousand dollars, but sold her again at the close of -the season. This was the first boat he had ever owned. He then went to -Cincinnati, where he supervised the building of a new boat. She was -named the _Martha_, and in her the voyage of 1847 was made. Captain -Sire, who for several years had gone up as master, now decided to leave -the river, and Captain La Barge accordingly made the trip alone in full -charge of the Company’s business. - -Besides the regular freight for the company trading posts, the boat -carried up a large quantity of annuities for the several Indian tribes. -A more extended reference to this annuity business and the abuses to -which it led will be made further on. It is enough here to say that -the agents were sent into the country without any protection; that the -Company traders adroitly worked on their fears until they were fain -to place themselves under the shelter of the trading posts; and that -the Company was thus enabled to manage the government business to its -own great profit. On this particular trip there was a new agent by the -name of Matlock, and a good deal of time had to be spent at the various -agencies to permit him to confer with the Indians. - -At Crow Creek there was a band of Yankton Sioux near a trading -establishment under charge of Colin Campbell. Here agent Matlock -gave the Indians a feast and left part of their annuities, but not -all, being induced by the Company’s agent to deposit the balance at -Fort Pierre. The Indians were sharp enough to see that they had not -received all they were entitled to and naturally could not understand -why. Campbell assured them that they would receive the balance at Fort -Pierre. “Why not here?” asked the Indians. “Why make this long journey -for what we can just as well get right here?” Campbell turned them off -by saying that the Indian agent could attend to the matter there better. - -[Sidenote: SULLEN ACQUIESCENCE.] - -[Sidenote: BADLY SCARED.] - -The Indians sullenly acquiesced, evidently much dissatisfied. Campbell -had cut ten or twelve cords of wood at this place for use of the boat, -but it was not needed till the down trip. Captain La Barge feared, -however, that, if it was left, the Indians, in their present temper, -would burn it, and he therefore concluded to take it along. The Indians -refused to let the wood be taken without pay, and seated themselves on -the pile so that the men could not get at it. The captain was compelled -to pay for the wood, although it had been cut by Company men. But the -matter did not end here. Etienne Provost, who, as elsewhere stated, -was employed on these trips to take charge of the rough and turbulent -mountain men, was asked to attend to the loading of the wood, as it -was feared there might be trouble. Provost came up on the boiler deck -and sat down by La Barge, saying: “We are going to have some fun -before that wood is on board.” He then shouted “Woodpile! Woodpile!” -and enough men rushed out to the bank, to take the whole woodpile at -once. Provost ordered them to pick up all they could carry and then to -move on to the boat one after another, so as to have no crowding or -confusion on the gang plank. Meanwhile a dozen or more Indians were -standing by, looking on. When the men were loaded up and were jammed -close together in single file on their way to the boat, the Indians -jumped upon them and began to belabor them with the rawhide horsewhips -which they always had fastened to their waists. The men were frightened -almost out of their wits, and dropping their wood, scrambled on board -the best way they could. Provost lay back and roared with laughter, -saying, “I told you we should see some fun.” - -[Sidenote: AFRAID OF PROVOST.] - -He then went out himself onto the bank where the Indians were, and -said, “Now, men, come out here and get this wood.” They came and loaded -up. “Now go on board,” he said, and they went entirely unmolested. -Provost went last, and before descending the bank, turned toward the -Indians and asked them: “Why don’t you stop them? Are you afraid of -_me_?” The truth is they were afraid of him. They knew him well and -respected him, and understood that he would stand no foolishness. - -[Sidenote: PROMPT MEASURES.] - -La Barge thought nothing further of the affair, for the Indians soon -disappeared, as he supposed, for good. The wind was too high to -proceed, and the boat remained at the bank nearly all the afternoon -waiting for it to subside. “Everything quieted down,” said the captain, -in describing what followed, “and I was sitting in the cabin reading -a paper, when all of a sudden there was a heavy volley of firearms -and the sound of splintered wood and broken glass. This was instantly -followed by an Indian yell and a rush for the boat, and in the uproar -someone cried out that a man had been killed. The Indians got full -possession of the forward part of the boat and flooded the boiler -grates with water, putting out the fires. They had learned something of -steam in the fifteen years that boats had been going up the river. My -first act was to rush to my wife’s stateroom, where I found Mrs. La -Barge unharmed. I told John B. Sarpy, who with his son was making the -trip, to barricade her door with mattresses and to stay there until the -trouble was over. I then hastened to the front of the cabin, but was -met at the door by the Indians. Retreating, I met Colin Campbell, and -asked him what the Indians wanted. Campbell replied that they wanted me -to give up the boat; that if I would do so they would let the crew go, -but if I resisted they would spare no one. - -[Sidenote: EFFECT INSTANTANEOUS.] - -“After the first rush the Indians seemed timorous and uncertain, -evidently fearing some unpleasant surprise in the unknown labyrinths -of the boat. This gave me time for effective measures. I had on board -a light cannon of about 2½ inches caliber, mounted on four wheels. -Unluckily it was at this time down in the engine room undergoing some -repairs to the carriage. I had in my employ a man on whom I could -absolutely rely--a brave and noble fellow, Nathan Grismore, the first -engineer. Grismore had just finished the work on the cannon, and told -me he thought he could get it up the back way, since the fore part of -the boat was in possession of the Indians. He got some men and lines -and soon hoisted the gun on deck and hauled it into the after part of -the cabin. I always kept in the cabin some powder and shot for use in -hunting. I got the powder, but the supply of shot was gone. Grismore -promptly made up the loss with boiler rivets and the gun was heavily -loaded and primed, ready for action. By this time the forward part of -the cabin was crowded with Indians who were evidently afraid something -was going to happen. I lost no time in verifying their fears. As soon -as the gun was loaded I lighted a cigar, and holding the smoking stump -in sight of the Indians, told Campbell to tell them to get off the boat -or I would blow them all to the devil. At the same time I started for -the gun with the lighted cigar in my hand. The effect was complete and -instantaneous. The Indians turned and fled and fairly fell over each -other in their panic to get off the boat. In less time than it takes to -tell it, not an Indian was in sight. I had the cannon brought onto the -roof, where it remained for an hour or more. - -“As soon as the Indians were off the boat I began to look up the crew -who had ingloriously fled at the first assault, leaving the boat -practically defenseless. They had hidden, some here and some there, but -most of them on the wheels (it was a sidewheel boat) where I found them -packed thick as sardines all over the paddles. These were the brave -mountaineers who were never slow in vaunting their courage and valorous -performances! I was so disgusted that I was disposed to set the wheels -in motion and give them all a ducking; but the fires had been put out -by the Indians. - -“The wind having subsided, we resumed our journey, and about a mile -further on attempted to cross to the other shore. Failing in this -we encamped for the night. On the following morning we buried the -deckhand, Charles Smith, who had been killed when the attack began.” - -Captain La Barge said that this was the only time that he was ever -caught napping by the Indians, and it taught him a lesson that he did -not forget.[26] - -[Sidenote: FIRST WHITE WOMAN AT FORT UNION.] - -As already mentioned, Captain La Barge’s wife was on board. It was -always understood on the upper river that she was the first white woman -to ascend the river from old Fort Lisa near the modern site of Omaha, -Neb., to Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone. Her presence -created great curiosity among the Indians. They would come on board -and examine her with the liveliest interest, measuring her waist and -the length of her hair, and wondering at the tastefulness and beauty -of her dress. The leading squaws in great numbers visited her, and -several adopted her as their sister. A good deal of time was lost -in satisfying their importunities to see her. Years afterward they -would inquire of La Barge after their white sister, and would send her -presents. She never failed to send them something in return. As late -as 1885, when La Barge was in the government service on the survey of -the Missouri River in the vicinity of the ancient Aricara villages, an -aged half-breed squaw, old Garreau’s daughter, told La Barge that she -remembered seeing his wife on this early trip. - -In the year 1848 Captain La Barge again went up the river with his -boat _Martha_, on business for the Company. There were no noteworthy -incidents on the trip except that the captain brought back quite a -menagerie of the native animals from the upper country. There were -buffalo, bear, beaver, antelope, elk, and deer. A large tank was made -for the use of the beaver. All of the animals were for Kenneth McKenzie -except the buffalo, which were for Pierre Chouteau, Jr. - -[Sidenote: LEAVES COMPANY’S SERVICE.] - -On this trip La Barge had some difficulty with the Company, which -induced him to sell his boat to them at the close of the season. He -immediately contracted for a new boat which, when completed, he named -the _St. Ange_, in memory of St. Ange de Bellerive, the first military -governor of upper Louisiana. It was a fine boat, and probably the only -one ever built entirely complete upon the ways, and launched with -steam up ready to start the moment she struck the water.[27] - -[Sidenote: BLOODY ISLAND.] - -As soon as the boat was done, La Barge, being no longer in the -Company’s service, went to work for the Quartermaster Department of -the Army, hauling supplies up the river. He had made two trips to Fort -Leavenworth, and on his way back on the second trip encountered a -severe storm, which delayed him several hours. This delay, vexatious -enough at the time, was a blessing in disguise. Instead of getting -into port at St. Louis before dark, it was nearly an hour after -midnight before he reached there. As he was nearing the mouth of the -Missouri a broad gleam of light overspread the sky in the direction of -the city. Its extent and brilliancy clearly enough indicated a great -conflagration. When La Barge reached port it was to find the river -front wrapped in flames. He steamed the whole length of the levee, -seeking a safe place to land, but finding none, turned back, crossed -the river, and tied up for the night at Bloody Island, on the east -shore.[28] - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT FIRE OF ST. LOUIS.] - -[Sidenote: A FLAMING FLEET.] - -This conflagration, which is the historic “Great Fire” of St. Louis, -commenced at about 10 P. M. on the night of May 17, 1849, and continued -until 7 A. M. next day. Fire alarms had been heard several times early -in the evening, but nothing had come of them, until about the hour -above mentioned, when it was found that fire had broken out in earnest -on the steamer _White Cloud_, which lay at the wharf between Wash -and Cherry streets. The _Endors_ lay just above her and the _Edward -Bates_ below. Both caught fire. At this time a well-intended, but -ill-considered, effort to stop the progress of the fire was made by -some parties, who cut the _Edward Bates’_ moorings and turned her into -the stream. The boat was soon caught by the current and carried down -the river; but a strong northeast wind bore it constantly in shore, -and every time it touched it ignited another boat. An effort was now -made to turn other boats loose before the _Bates_ could reach them, -but a fatality seemed to attend every effort. The burning boat outsped -them all, and by frequent contacts set fire to many more. These in -turn ignited the rest, until in a short time the river presented the -spectacle of a vast fleet of burning vessels drifting slowly along -the shore. The fire next spread to the buildings, and before it could -be arrested had destroyed the main business portion of the city. It -was the most appalling calamity that had ever visited St. Louis, and -followed as it was by the great cholera scourge of 1849, it was a -terrible disaster. At the levee there were destroyed twenty-three -steamboats, three barges, and one small boat. The total valuation of -boats and cargo was estimated at about $440,000, and the insurance -thereon was $225,000; but this was not all paid, for the fire broke up -several of the insurance companies.[29] - -Among the boats destroyed was the _Martha_, which La Barge had sold -to the Company. She was loaded with a full cargo for the mountains. -The day after the fire La Barge received a note from Captain Sire, -requesting him to call at the Company’s office. He complied, and was -met with an urgent appeal to go to the mountains with the Company’s -annual outfit. He was at that time engaged for a government trip to -Leavenworth, but offered to go as far as Fort Pierre upon his return, -if it were possible to do so. Sire replied that that was all they could -expect. The trip to Leavenworth was completed in June, and La Barge -immediately started for Pierre. He made a quick and successful voyage, -and returned early in August. - -[Sidenote: CHOLERA EPIDEMIC.] - -The year 1849 was one of the terrible cholera years in the West. -Thousands died in St. Louis, and there were many deaths on every boat -that went up the Missouri. - -In the following year, 1850, Captain La Barge went to the mouth of the -Yellowstone for the American Fur Company. It was the quickest trip on -record, being made in the extraordinarily short time of twenty-eight -days up and back, doing all the Company’s business at the various -posts. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -INCIDENTS ON THE RIVER (1851–53). - - -The _St. Ange_ left St. Louis on her voyage to Fort Union for the -American Fur Company, June 7, 1851. She had on board about one hundred -passengers, mostly employees of the Company. The cabin list included -two distinguished Jesuit missionaries, Father Christian Hoecken and -Father De Smet, bound for the Rocky Mountains. - -[Sidenote: CHOLERA BREAKS OUT.] - -The spring had been particularly backward and wet, and the Missouri -was in one of its most dangerous floods. The whole bottom country -was overflowed, and the river looked like a floating mass of débris -of every description. Navigation, though relieved of the danger from -snags, was much impeded by these floating obstructions, and the -gathering of fuel was unusually difficult. The overflowed condition -of the country made it malarial and unhealthy--as bad as possible for -a year when the cholera was abroad in the land. Sickness in one form -or another soon appeared among the passengers. In a little while the -vessel, according to Father De Smet, resembled a floating hospital, -and a feeling of gloom fell over the passengers. Father De Smet himself -was seized with a bilious fever which completely prostrated him, and -for a time his recovery was doubtful. When about five hundred miles up -the river the cholera broke out. A clerk of the American Fur Company -was the first victim, and from that time on for the next few days there -were several deaths every day. The situation was a terrible one, and -oppressed passengers and crew alike with the most dismal forebodings. - -There was a physician on board of the name of Dr. Evans, a -distinguished scientist who was making the voyage in the interests of -the Smithsonian Institution. He did everything in his power to allay -the plague. Father De Smet was too ill to do anything, but Father -Hoecken worked incessantly, caring for the sick and watching over their -spiritual needs. This heroic priest won the hearts of the passengers -by his untiring labors in their behalf; but he so completely exhausted -himself that he had no reserve strength to combat the disease if it -should attack himself. He seemed everywhere at once, like a ministering -angel, and Father De Smet earnestly besought him to spare himself -somewhat or he would not hold out. Father De Smet’s condition was so -serious that he had asked Father Hoecken to receive his confession; -but the latter did not think his brother in immediate danger, and -hastened to the bedsides of those who were in a more precarious -condition. In the midst of his unselfish labors the zealous missionary -was himself stricken. Father De Smet thus records the sad story of his -death: - -[Sidenote: DEATH OF FATHER HOECKEN.] - - “Between one and two o’clock at night, when all on board was - calm and silent, and the sick in their wakefulness heard naught - but the sighs and moans of their fellow-sufferers, the voice - of Father Hoecken was suddenly heard. He was calling me to his - assistance. Awaking from a deep sleep, I recognized his voice, - and dragged myself to his pillow. Ah, me! I found him ill and - even in extremity. He asked me to hear his confession: I at - once acquiesced in his desire. Dr. Evans, a physician of great - experience and remarkable charity, endeavored to relieve him, - and watched by him, but his care and remedies proved fruitless. - I administered extreme unction; he responded to all the prayers - with a recollection and piety which increased the esteem that - all on board had conceived for him. I could see him sinking. - As I was myself in so alarming a state, and fearing that I - might be taken away at any moment, and thus share his last - abode in this land of pilgrimage and exile, I besought him to - hear my confession, if he were yet capable of listening to - me. I knelt, bathed in tears, by the dying couch of my brother - in Christ--of my faithful friend--of my sole companion in the - lonely desert. To him in his agony, I, sick and almost dying, - made my confession! Strength forsook him; soon, also, he lost - the power of speech, although he remained sensible to what was - passing around him. Resigning myself to God’s holy will, I - recited the prayers of the agonizing with the formula of the - plenary indulgence, which Christ grants at the hour of death. - Father Hoecken, ripe for heaven, surrendered his pure soul into - the hands of his Divine Redeemer on the 19th of June, 1851, - twelve days after our departure from St. Louis. - -[Sidenote: BURIAL OF FATHER HOECKEN.] - - “The passengers were deeply moved at the sight of the lifeless - body of him who had so lately been ‘all to all,’ according to - the language of the apostle. Their kind father quitted them - at the moment in which his services seemed to be the most - necessary. I shall remember with deep gratitude the solicitude - evinced by the passengers to the reverend father in his dying - moments. My resolution not to leave the body of the pious - missionary in the desert was unanimously approved. A decent - coffin, very thick, and tarred within, was prepared to receive - his mortal remains: a temporary grave was dug in a beautiful - forest, in the vicinity of the mouth of the Little Sioux, and - the burial was performed with all the ceremonies of the Church, - in the evening of the 19th of June, all on board assisting.” - -On the return trip from Fort Union, Captain La Barge, despite the -protests of the passengers, took Father Hoecken’s remains on board and -delivered them to the Jesuits at St. Louis, and they were buried in the -Novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Florissant, whither Father De Smet -was to follow twenty-two years later. - -[Sidenote: ABATEMENT OF THE PLAGUE.] - -After the burial of Father Hoecken near the mouth of the Little Sioux -River, Captain La Barge put everyone ashore, made the passengers roam -around the neighborhood, unloaded and aired all the baggage, and -completely renovated the boat. These measures, with the increasing -healthfulness of the country as the boat entered the more arid -sections, brought complete relief from the plague. Only one more death -occurred, and in a short time everything assumed a normal aspect. The -boat reached Fort Union on the 14th of July, and here Father De Smet -left it to make a journey overland, southward to Fort John, on the -Laramie River, where a great council of plains Indians was to assemble. -Captain La Barge went on a hundred miles further, to the mouth of -Poplar River, it being, as he then understood, the highest point -reached by any steamboat; but it was not much, if any, farther than the -_Assiniboine_ went in 1834. - -[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF FATHER DE SMET.] - -This may be a proper place to record some incidents in the career of -Father De Smet which fell under Captain La Barge’s observation. De -Smet, as is well known, traveled a great deal in nearly all parts -of the far northwest. Sometimes he went around by sea, and then -came overland to the headwaters of the Missouri; sometimes he went -by the Oregon trail; and at others by the Missouri River. La Barge, -who saw much of him, found him always a pure and excellent man, very -companionable, full of anecdotes, and fearless and brave in all -situations. He was liked by everyone who knew him. The Mormons were -well acquainted with him and thought much of him. The Indians had the -very highest regard for his character, and he seemed always to be safe -in their hands. The Government of the United States likewise held him -in high esteem, and on several occasions called on him for responsible -and delicate work among the Indians. - -Father De Smet entertained the most affectionate regard for Captain La -Barge. He presented him with autograph copies of all his works, and -always referred to him in terms of deepest affection. The incidents -which follow were witnessed by La Barge himself. - -[Sidenote: DE SMET AND THE BLACKFEET.] - -On one occasion near Poplar River a band of Blackfeet came down to the -bank near where the boat was. In addition to the well-known traditional -hostility of these Indians to the whites, there were other reasons for -believing that they were at this time in an ugly temper and meditated -trouble. Father De Smet, grasping the situation, said, “It looks as -if those Indians mean mischief. I will go out and meet them.” La -Barge remonstrated, saying that De Smet was not acquainted with these -particular Indians, and that they might kill him, when, if they knew -who he was, they might spare him. But De Smet knew that his reputation -had traveled where he himself had not been, and he believed that they -would recognize and protect the Black Robe, as they called him. He -accordingly donned his cassock, and with the crucifix before him, went -ashore and walked boldly to where the Indians were. As he had expected, -they received him well, made him sit down on a buffalo robe, and then -lifted him up and carried him on the boat. La Barge gave them a feast -and presented the chief with a suit of clothes, which greatly pleased -his vanity. After a time the Indians withdrew without attempting any -harm. - -[Sidenote: MAKING IT RAIN.] - -Although the spring of 1851 had been very backward and wet in the lower -country, it was not so higher up, and when the _St. Ange_ arrived at -the Aricara villages the corn crop of those Indians was found to be -actually suffering from drouth. The Aricara chief, White Shield, came -on board and said to La Barge, who understood his language well:[30] - -“I am glad to see you, and I hear the Black Robe is on board.” - -La Barge replied that that was so. The chief then continued: - -“I want to ask him a favor. It is very late in the season and no rain. -Corn ought to be up now. We want the Black Robe to send us rain.” - -La Barge took the Indian back to De Smet’s room and said to the priest, -“Father, here is the White Shield, who wants you to make it rain, for -the corn is not up yet.” - -De Smet, who knew the White Shield well, laughed heartily, and said he -would do all he could. He then asked La Barge if the boat was going to -remain there all day, and being informed that it was, he said to the -White Shield: “Go to your village and put your lodge in order, and call -in some of the chiefs. I will come and offer prayer to the Almighty -and ask him to be merciful and grant your requests; and I am satisfied -that, if you deserve it, the Great Spirit will look down and favor you.” - -[Sidenote: A COPIOUS SHOWER.] - -Captain La Barge and several of the passengers went along with the -father, and the interpreter translated the prayer to the Indians. -They left the Indians satisfied, and at noon had them on the boat for -a feast, after which they returned to their village. As good fortune -would have it, along about three or four o’clock in the afternoon, -there came up a heavy thunder shower which fairly deluged the place. -Father De Smet laughed and said: - -“They will think I did it. They will give me all the credit for it.” - -Some time after the shower Pierre Garreau, a French Canadian, who had -spent all his life among the Indians, and had become almost an Indian -himself, came to the boat and said to La Barge: - -“I want you to help me. I want to find out how Father De Smet did that.” - -“Did what?” asked La Barge. - -“Made it rain. I will pay a good price if he will tell me. I will give -him ten horses.” - -La Barge took him back to De Smet, where he presented his request -himself. De Smet told him to be a good Christian, and pray when he -wanted it to rain, and if he deserved it, it would come. Garreau went -away disappointed, for he fully believed that the father had some -secret art by which he produced so signal a result. After he had gone, -De Smet laughed and said: “Did I not tell you they would say I did it?” - -[Sidenote: ATTEMPTED RETIREMENT.] - -After La Barge returned from this trip he laid the boat up for repairs, -and soon after sold her. He had now about made up his mind to quit the -river and retire from active business. He had already accumulated a -snug fortune for those days, and concluded to enjoy it. He made the -best financial move of his life in the purchase of a large tract of -land in what is now Cabanné Place in St. Louis. Had he held on to this -purchase, the mere growth of the city would have made him immensely -wealthy.[31] But retirement from business is one of the hardest things -for a man to do, even in old age. For a man in the prime of life, as -La Barge was at this time, being only thirty-six, it was not to be -expected; and fate soon threw in his way a temptation that brought him -back to the river. - -[Sidenote: PURCHASES THE “SONORA.”] - -In the spring of 1852 he met in town one day Captain Edward Salt-Marsh, -who had just arrived from Ohio with a handsome new boat. She was called -the _Sonora_, as almost everything in those days was given a California -name. “Nothing would do but that I should go and inspect his boat,” -said La Barge. “I found her an excellent craft, and soon learned that -Salt-Marsh was disposed to sell her. A desire to purchase at once took -possession of me and led to a lengthy negotiation, which ended in my -buying the boat for thirty thousand dollars. Next day I went into town -and raised the entire amount.” - -The Captain this year made a contract with the Company to take their -annual outfit up the river. He went to Union and back, but there were -no especial incidents on the trip. After the return of the _Sonora_ he -ran in the New Orleans trade for the rest of the season. This was a -yellow-fever year in that section, and so many boats had left the river -that Captain La Barge found plenty of business. - -There were some untoward incidents on the Fort Union trip this season -which decided La Barge not to go up for the Company the following year. -He sold the _Sonora_ in the fall of 1852, purchased a small boat, the -_Highland Mary_, with which he ran in the lower river the entire season -of 1853. He sold his boat in the fall of that year. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -ICE BREAK-UP OF 1856. - - -During the season of 1854 Captain La Barge was in the employ of the -government most of the time. In the previous winter Colonel Crossman, -of the army, Quartermaster at St. Louis, contracted with a company of -boat-builders on the Osage River for a steamboat for government use. -When the hull was nearly completed Captain La Barge went up and brought -the boat down by the use of sweeps. He supervised her completion and -remained on her as pilot during the entire season. This boat was called -the _Mink_, from the color selected in painting her. - -The American Fur Company chartered a boat to take up the outfit of -1854, but the crew mutinied, and the voyage proved a failure. Mr. -Chouteau then asked La Barge to recommend him a boat for the next -year’s trade and join with him in purchasing her. It so happened that -two St. Louisans, Sam Gaty and a man named Baldwin, had recently won a -prize of forty thousand dollars in the Havana lottery, and were using -it in building a boat. They sold the boat in her unfinished state, the -Company purchasing a half interest and La Barge and John J. Roe each -one-fourth. La Barge supervised her completion and named her the _St. -Mary_, after a new town which P. A. Sarpy had just laid out a few miles -below the modern Council Bluffs, Ia., and which has been long since -entirely washed into the river. - -[Sidenote: TRANSFER OF FORT PIERRE.] - -Captain La Barge made the annual voyage of 1855 in this new boat. Mr. -Charles P. Chouteau, son of Pierre Chouteau, Jr., accompanied the trip. -The only incident of particular moment on this voyage was the transfer -of Fort Pierre to the United States Government in accordance with the -terms of a sale which had been consummated the previous spring. This -important event, which will again be referred to more at length, marked -the beginning of the conquest of the upper Missouri country by the army -of the United States. The _St. Mary_ was used in making the transfer of -the post to the War Department and in moving the Fur Company’s property -to a new situation some distance above the old site, near the mouth of -Chantier Creek. - -General Harney was in command of the troops sent to the upper Missouri -in 1855, and La Barge saw him at Fort Pierre. The Captain always liked -him, and considered him one of the best friends of the Indians that the -army ever produced--a terrible fighter when fight was unavoidable, but -always desirous of accomplishing his purposes by peaceful means. The -Captain recalled an incident of Harney’s intercourse with the Sioux -which created a great deal of mirth on the frontier at the time. - -[Sidenote: THE POWER OF THE WHITE MAN.] - -[Sidenote: MEDICINE TOO STRONG.] - -While holding a council at Pierre with about three thousand Sioux, the -General told them of the great power of the American people and the -uselessness of their trying to resist them. He was anxious to exhibit -some proof that would appeal to the native imagination. Finally a -thought struck him. Chloroform was just coming into use in surgery, -and the hospital equipment with the expedition had some of it along. -“I will show you the great power of the white man,” said the General -with impressive gravity. “I will show you how he can even kill and -bring to life again.” He called the surgeon, explained what he wanted, -and then, through the interpreter, commanded that a dog be killed and -afterward restored to life. He cautioned the surgeon to be extremely -careful not to overdo the matter. The surgeon proceeded to chloroform -the dog, while the Indians looked on in mute astonishment, if not with -superstitious awe. After the dog was insensible the General called -the chiefs and told them to satisfy themselves that he was actually -dead. The surgeon was then ordered to resurrect the dog. He applied -the usual restoratives, but the dog slept on. He nipped his tail with -a pair of pincers, but still no sign of life. The surgeon finally -gave it up, and the white man’s marvelous power did not materialize. -The Indians looked on, and putting their hands to their mouths said: -“Medicine too strong, too strong.”[32] - -[Sidenote: ICE BREAK-UP OF 1856.] - -After the return of the _St. Mary_ to St. Louis, Captain La Barge, as -was his wont, ran in the lower river trade the rest of the season. In -the following winter, February 27, occurred the famous ice “break-up” -of 1856 on the Mississippi River at St. Louis. The winter had been very -cold and the ice was three or four feet thick and the water low. The -break-up was not caused in the usual way by the thawing of the ice, but -by a rise in the river from above, which caused the ice to move before -it had become much disintegrated. It was an appalling and terrible -example of the power of a great river when restrained in its course. -The following account is from the pen of an eyewitness: - -[Sidenote: TERRIBLE DISPLAY OF POWER.] - - “The ice at first moved very slowly and without any perceptible - shock. The boats lying above Chestnut Street were merely shoved - ashore. Messrs. Eads & Nelson’s Submarine No. 4, which had - just finished work at the wreck of the _Parthenia_, was almost - immediately capsized and became herself a hopeless wreck. - Here the destruction commenced. The _Federal Arch_ parted her - fastenings and became at once a total wreck. Lying below were - the steamers _Australia_, _Adriatic_, _Brunette_, _Paul Jones_, - _Falls City_, _Altona_, _A. B. Chambers_, and _Challenge_, all - of which were torn away from the shore as easily as if they - were mere skiffs, and floated down with the immense fields of - ice. The shock and the crashing of these boats can better - be imagined than described. All their ample fastenings were - as nothing against the enormous flood of ice, and they were - carried down apparently fastened and wedged together. The first - obstacles with which they came in contact were a large fleet of - wood-boats, flats, and canal-boats. These small fry were either - broken to pieces or were forced out on the levee in a very - damaged condition. There must have been at least fifty of these - smaller water craft which were destroyed, pierced by the ice or - crushed by the pressure of each against the other. - -[Sidenote: A DESOLATE SCENE.] - - “In the meantime some of the boats lying above Chestnut Street - fared badly. The _F. X. Aubrey_ was forced into the bank and - was considerably damaged, the noble _Nebraska_, which was - thought to be in a most perilous position, escaped with the - loss of her larboard wheel and some other small injuries. A - number of the upper-river boats, lying above Chestnut Street, - were more or less damaged. Both the Alton wharf-boats were sunk - and broken in pieces. The old _Shenandoah_ and the _Sam Cloon_ - were forced away from the shore and floated down together, - lodging against the steamer _Clara_, where they were soon torn - to pieces and sunk by a collision with one of the ferryboats - floating down. The Keokuk wharf-boat maintained its position - against the flood and saved three boats below, viz., the - _Polar Star_, _Pringle_, and _Forest Rose_, none of which was - injured. - - “After running about an hour the character of the ice changed, - and it came down in a frothy, crumbled condition, with an - occasional heavy piece. At the end of two hours it ran very - slowly, and finally stopped about 5 1-2 o’clock P. M. Just - before the ice stopped and commenced to gorge, huge piles, - twenty and thirty feet in height, were forced up by the current - on every hand, both on the shore and at the lower dike, where - so many boats had come to a halt. In fact these boats seemed to - be literally buried in ice. - - * * * * * - - “The levee on the morning after the day of the disaster - presented a dreary and desolate spectacle, looking more like a - scene in the polar regions than in the fertile and beautiful - Mississippi Valley. The Mississippi, awakened from her long - sleep, was pitching along at a wild and rapid rate of speed, - as if to make up for lost time. The ice coat of mail was torn - into shreds, which lay strewn along the levee, and was in some - places heaped up to a height of twenty feet above the level of - the water. Where the boats had lain in dense crowds only a few - hours before, nothing was to be seen save this high bulwark of - ice, which seemed as if it had been left there purposely to - complete the picture of bleak desolation. The whole business - portion of the levee was clear of boats, except the two wrecked - Alton wharf-boats, which were almost shattered to pieces, and - cast like toys upon the shore in the midst of the ridge of ice. - There was not a single boat at the levee which entirely escaped - injury by the memorable breaking up of the ice on February 27, - 1856.” - -[Sidenote: LA BARGE RESCUES HIS BOAT.] - -Captain La Barge retained a vivid recollection of this great -catastrophe, for he was the only steamboat man who succeeded in -extricating his boat from the wreck. The sight was something terrible -to him, and a marvelous exhibition of power. The ice piled up in -enormous masses as easily as a child would heap up sand, and then -it collapsed and gave way. There were three of these pilings-up, or -gorges. The noise of the crushing ice was terrific. Some of the boats -were smashed to splinters; some were sunk, and others were pushed far -up onto the bank. - -The _St. Mary_ was lying at the wharf when the movement began. La Barge -at once got up steam and prepared to do what he could to save her. -Sarpy came down to see him, and said to him, “Do just what you think -best with the boat. If anyone can save her you can. Draw on me for -anything you want.” It was a very risky thing to trust one’s life in -a chaos of wreckage like that. Hooper, the mate, came and said that he -should go too if the Captain was going to risk the river. He thought -he could get five or six men to venture. The final give-way came about -dark, and La Barge backed the boat away from the shore, let her drift -in the ice, and thus escaped the crush which came along the shore. He -drifted some twenty miles downstream before he could extricate himself -from the ice. - -[Sidenote: GOUVENEUR K. WARREN.] - -La Barge went to Fort Union for the Company again in 1856. On this trip -Lieutenant Gouveneur K. Warren, afterward general and corps commander -in the Civil War, took passage on the boat nearly all the way from St. -Louis. He had with him a corps of scientific assistants, among them -the eminent geologist Dr. F. V. Hayden, who was then just beginning -his explorations of the West. Lieutenant Warren sketched the course of -the river from the pilot-house as the boat proceeded, taking compass -bearings and estimating the distances. He speaks in his report of the -uniform courtesy extended him by Captain La Barge in facilitating -his operations. The Captain remembered him well, as he was in the -pilot-house nearly all the time. He was very active, and kept his men -vigorously employed gathering information. At night he went on shore -and took observations. La Barge became very much interested in his -work, and assisted him in every possible way, often stopping the boat -to allow him to do some particular work. He seemed so interested and -pleased with everything, and so intelligent and well posted, that -he quite won the Captain’s admiration. He was, as Captain La Barge -remembered him, a handsome man, with a fine head and clear eye, at that -time rather slender, but well built and erect. He was always pleasant, -and was liked by his men, but was nevertheless a strict disciplinarian. -We can easily discover in the Captain’s recollections the youthful -portrait of the future hero of Little Round Top at Gettysburg, and the -accomplished leader of the Fifth Corps. - -[Sidenote: DR. F. V. HAYDEN.] - -[Sidenote: DANGEROUS BUSINESS.] - -The Captain also distinctly remembered Dr. Hayden, and related a -certain incident which came very near proving disastrous to that -enthusiastic explorer. Hayden was a man of rather small stature, -talkative and companionable, well informed, and very energetic and -eager in his work. On one occasion his devotion to his scientific -pursuits came very near getting him into danger. The incident in -question occurred at the site of old Fort Clark, which stood upon a -high cut bank. “We laid up here for an entire day,” said the Captain in -narrating this event. “The bank was full of fossils, some of them very -rare. I had told Hayden of this on a former trip, and he was anxious -to investigate the place. He went down under the bank, pick in hand and -his rifle over his shoulder. An Aricara village was on the top, and -while he was absorbed in his investigations some young bucks took it -into their heads to have a little fun at his expense. They commenced -pelting him with small pebbles, corncobs, etc., from the top of the -bank, at the same time keeping themselves concealed from his view. For -some time Hayden could not see where the missiles came from, but at -length caught sight of the Indians, and instantly leveled his rifle at -them. I had been a quiet spectator from the boiler deck of the boat, -and quick as thought called to him to desist or he was a dead man. He -lowered his gun and came on board and hunted no more fossils under that -bank. If he had fired he would certainly have been killed, and as it -was, the Indians were greatly incensed that he should have leveled his -gun at them.” - -[Sidenote: A DISAGREEABLE INCIDENT.] - -Upon this trip a disagreeable incident happened which led Captain La -Barge to leave the Company’s service for good. He had as clerk of -the boat a son of one of the partners. The young man’s wife was also -on board, going up for the pleasure of the voyage. La Barge had been -particularly requested by the clerk’s father to use his best offices -for her protection, comfort, and pleasure in the wild and lawless -country to which she was going, and he promised to do so. Everything -passed off pleasantly until Fort Clark was reached, when one of the -partners of the Upper Missouri Outfit, the bourgeois of the post at -Fort Clark, came on board to accompany the boat to Fort Union. He was -naturally a rough, arrogant, blustering character, disposed to override -everyone, and on two previous occasions La Barge had been compelled to -deal pretty severely with him. He was, nevertheless, a man of great -energy, well versed in the business of the fur trade, and a good man -for the Company. He was therefore tolerated where a less capable man -with his faults would have been gotten rid of. - -[Sidenote: INSULTING INSINUATIONS.] - -“When he came on board,” said Captain La Barge, “he went to the office -and told the clerk to assign him a stateroom so that he could have -his baggage sent to it. The clerk promised to attend to it and the -bourgeois withdrew. The clerk and myself then looked over the register -to see what we could do for him. There was only one room that could be -made available except by causing passengers who had secured and paid -for their rooms to vacate them. This room was occupied by two clerks, -who were compelled to give it up and sleep on cots outside. It was a -forward stateroom, and hence not so desirable as those further aft, but -still a good room, and the only one that was available. I directed -the clerk to have the bourgeois’ baggage put in, and to show him the -room when he should request it. About 9 P. M., when the boat was tied -up for the night, and I was in the office writing up the journal, the -bourgeois came in and asked the clerk for his room. The clerk took him -out and showed him his room and told him that two of the clerks had -given it up for him. The bourgeois turned up his nose and exclaimed, -‘What! that room for ----, a member of the firm? Can’t I have a room in -the after cabin, where the bourgeois are usually assigned?’ He was told -that it was impossible without ousting others who could not reasonably -be disturbed. He did not ask me, for he knew I would not grant it. -Then drawing himself up in a pompous fashion, he said to the clerk, -calling him by name: ‘I will occupy your room to-night and you may -occupy this,’ and added other suggestions not calculated to mollify the -feelings of the young husband. - -[Sidenote: SEVERE DISCIPLINE.] - -“The clerk came into the room deathly pale, but made no response to the -bourgeois’ insulting insinuations. I overheard the whole conversation, -and determined to remain up and see the affair out. After a while -the bourgeois came to the door of the office and said to the clerk: -‘Good-night, Mr. ----.’ ‘Good night, Mr. ----,’ replied the clerk, -and the bourgeois withdrew and started for the ladies’ cabin. I -immediately stepped out and followed him. He walked directly back to -the clerk’s stateroom and was about to take hold of the door knob, when -I seized him by the collar, jerked him around, gave him a smart kick -in the direction of the forward cabin, followed it up by two or three -others, and in short order landed him in front of the boat yelling -‘Murder!’ and calling for help. Culbertson and others came out, but -I told them not to interfere, as I was simply protecting a lady from -insult. The bourgeois would not be quiet, and I ordered my mate Hooper -to put him on the bank. This was promptly done, the boat was held off -shore by a spar, the gang plank drawn in, and the bourgeois could not -get back on board. The weather was so warm that he would not suffer -from the cold, and the pestering mosquitoes, which swarmed in the -willows, kept him active all night. - -“When I returned to St. Louis I made no report of this affair, leaving -it to the clerk, whose wife’s honor had been protected, to lay the -matter before his father. Instead of reporting the facts he represented -that I had treated the bourgeois with uncalled-for severity, and that -such things ought not to be allowed to go on. He said nothing of the -real cause of the trouble, although his wife, a refined, cultured, and -beautiful woman, drove to my house as soon as she returned, and told my -wife how thankful she was for what I had done. - -“A few days after my return from Union I was summoned to the office, -and was there informed that the men in the upper country thought me -altogether too hard on them, and that, to avoid future difficulty, it -was best to terminate our relations. I replied that I felt so fully -justified in my action that I should retire from their service with the -utmost willingness if such was their view of the affair. This was in -the fall of 1856, and was the last time that I worked for the Company. - -[Sidenote: THE TRUTH DISCLOSED.] - -“Three years later I was again called to the office and thus addressed -by the father of my ungrateful clerk: - -“‘I have called you in to scold you for your conduct.’ - -“‘Why so, Mr. ----?’ - -“‘You remember the cause of the trouble in 1856 that led to our -separation?’ - -“‘Very distinctly.’ - -“‘Why did you not defend yourself? Why did you not make me a full -report?’ - -“‘I thought, sir, it was your son’s place to lay the matter before -you, as the whole trouble had been on his and his wife’s account. -I had promised you that I would protect her, and all I did was in -fulfillment of that promise. I am glad that you now know the truth of -the matter.’ - -“‘Perhaps you are right; it was my son’s place to tell me; but he was -influenced by others and never mentioned it.’ - -“The old gentleman was very indignant over the affair, and ever after -treated me with the greatest consideration.” - -[Sidenote: LEAVES AMERICAN FUR CO.’S SERVICE.] - -As has been stated already, this was the last service of Captain La -Barge for the American Fur Company. Many years of the most active part -of his life had been spent in their interest. They never had a pilot on -whom they could more confidently rely, and his careful management of -their expeditions was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to them. -But their hard and exacting ways, often sullied with open injustice, -gave rise to misunderstandings, which on several occasions virtually -compelled him to quit their service and finally led to permanent -separation. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -THE HEAD OF NAVIGATION REACHED. - - -The decade from 1850 to 1860 saw a very rapid growth in the steamboat -business of the Missouri River. The stream of emigration across the -plains continued practically unchecked. Settlement was rapidly filling -up the lower valley of the river, and by 1856 had reached as far as -Sioux City, and all the modern towns below that point had commenced -their existence. Government exploration was being pushed with vigor -in all directions into the country beyond. The Indians were becoming -restive under the pressure of settlement; their annuities were -increasing, and the presence of troops in all parts of their country -was becoming more imperative. The long Indian wars of the Missouri -Valley were beginning. - -[Sidenote: STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.] - -All these developments had their effect upon the steamboat traffic of -the Missouri River, for that stream was the one great transportation -route into the heart of the West. Some idea of the magnitude of the -business may be gleaned from the records of the times as published -in the newspapers along the river. In the year 1858 there were 59 -steamboats on the lower river and 306 steamboat arrivals at the port -of Leavenworth, Kan. The freight charges paid at that point during the -season amounted to $166,941.35. In 1859 the steamboat advertisements -in the St. Louis papers showed that more vessels left that port for -the Missouri River than for both the upper and lower Mississippi. In -1857 there were 28 steamboat arrivals at the new village of Sioux City -before July 1. There were 23 regular boats on that part of the river, -and their freight tonnage for the season was valued at $1,250,000. -The period from 1855 to 1860 was the golden era of steamboating on -the Missouri River. It was the period just before the advent of the -railroads. No other period before or after approached it in the -splendor of the boats. All the boats were sidewheelers, had full-length -cabins, and were fitted up more for passengers than for freight. It -was an era of fast boats and of racing. It was the heyday of that most -important personage, the Missouri River pilot.[33] - -[Sidenote: PROGRESS UP THE RIVER.] - -While this rapid development of traffic on the lower river was -going on, the American Fur Company was laying its plans to carry -steamboat navigation to Fort Benton. We have elsewhere told how the -_Assiniboine_ in 1834 reached a point near the mouth of Poplar River, -a hundred miles above the Yellowstone, and being caught by low water, -was compelled to stay there all winter. For the next nineteen years -this remained the farthest point reached by steamboats. In 1853 the _El -Paso_ went about 125 miles further, to a point five miles above the -mouth of Milk River. El Paso point, as this place came to be called, -marked the limit of steamboat progress up the river for the next six -years. - -In 1859 the final step, or very nearly so, was taken in reaching the -real head of navigation. The record of this event is quite as definite -as are those of the entrance of steamboats into the mouth of the -Missouri in 1819 and the voyage of the _Yellowstone_ to Fort Union -in 1832. In the spring of 1859 the American Fur Company sent up two -boats with its annual outfit, its own boat, the _Spread Eagle_, and a -chartered boat, the _Chippewa_. The _Chippewa_ was a light boat, and -her owner, Captain Crabtree, contracted to take her to Fort Benton, -or as far as it was possible to go. At Fort Union he defaulted in his -contract and sold the boat to the Company for just about the charter -price for the voyage. Such freight as the _Spread Eagle_ carried for -Fort Benton was then transferred to the _Chippewa_, making a total -cargo of 160 tons. Captain John La Barge,[34] brother of Joseph La -Barge, and pilot of the _Spread Eagle_, was assigned to charge of the -_Chippewa_ on her adventurous undertaking. Mr. Charles P. Chouteau went -along as the Company’s representative. - -The boat made her way successfully, and without any notable incident, -to within fifteen miles of Fort Benton, and discharged her freight at -Brulé bottom, where Fort McKenzie stood in former years. Her arrival at -this point was on July 17, 1859, forty years and two months after the -_Independence_ entered the mouth of the river.[35] - -This noteworthy event must be classed as one of the celebrated feats -in steamboat navigation. The _Chippewa_ had reached a point further -from the sea by a continuous water course than any other boat had ever -been. She was now 3560 miles from, and 2565 feet above, the ocean, and -the whole distance had been made by steam on a river unimproved by -artificial works. - -[Sidenote: HEAD OF NAVIGATION REACHED.] - -In 1860 the _Chippewa_ and the _Key West_ completed the short remaining -distance to Fort Benton, and made fast to the bank in front of the old -post July 2 of that year. On June 16, 1866, the steamer _Peter Balen_ -ascended the river to the mouth of Belt Creek, six miles from the Great -Falls, and thirty-one miles above Fort Benton. This is believed to be -the farthest point reached by steam on the Missouri River.[36] The feat -was accomplished during the June flood and would have been impossible -at ordinary stages. Fort Benton has always been considered the head of -navigation on the Missouri River. - -[Sidenote: LOSS OF THE “CHIPPEWA.”] - -[Sidenote: ALCOHOL AND CANDLES.] - -In 1861 the heroic _Chippewa_ made her last trip up the river. Again -bound for Fort Benton, she reached the end of her voyage and of her -career at a point a little below the mouth of Poplar River, Mont., -since known, from this connection, as Disaster Bend. She was loaded -with American Fur Company goods and Blackfeet annuities, and had a -goodly quantity of alcohol on board. One Sunday evening in the month of -May, while supper was being served, the boat was discovered to be on -fire. She was immediately run ashore, the passengers were put off, and -she was set adrift to avoid the danger from an expected explosion of -gunpowder that was in the hold. The boat floated across the river and -about a mile downstream, when she blew up, just as the upper works were -fairly consumed to the water’s edge. The explosion was terrific, and -packages of merchandise were found at a great distance from the place. -No lives were lost, and the personal effects of the passengers were -saved. The fire was caused by some deckhands, who went into the hold -with a lighted candle to steal some liquor. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -FORT BENTON. - - -Few, if any, towns in the Far West country possess so unique and varied -a history as Fort Benton. With the exception of some of the old Spanish -villages in the southwest it is the oldest settlement in the mountain -country, for the traders made their first establishment there in 1831. -The true historic career of Fort Benton did not embrace more than half -a century, yet in that brief space it saw more of romance, tragedy, -and vigorous life than many a city of a hundred times its size and ten -times its age. - -[Sidenote: OPENING TRADE WITH THE BLACKFEET.] - -The commercial importance of Fort Benton arose, of course, from its -situation at the head of navigation on the Missouri River; but this was -not the cause of its first location there. The surrounding country was -the home of the Blackfeet Indians--great fur producers, but in early -times inveterate enemies of the whites. From the time when the traders -began to penetrate those distant regions it was their ambition to open -up trade relations with this fierce and refractory tribe. Attempts were -made in the years 1807–10 and again in 1822–23, but wholly without -success. The Indians always evinced a deadly hostility, attacked the -trappers, killed a great many, drove them out of the country, and gave -them no opportunity to explain their pacific purposes. - -In 1831 Kenneth McKenzie, ablest of the American Fur Company traders -on the upper Missouri, resolved to make another attempt. He had -already securely established himself at Fort Union, near the mouth of -the Yellowstone. Fortune threw into his hands at this time the very -instrument required for his purposes--an old trapper who had long -served under the Hudson Bay Company in the Blackfoot country north of -the boundary. His name was Jacob Berger. He understood perfectly the -language of these Indians and knew many of them personally. McKenzie -prevailed upon him to go to their country with overtures of peace and -the promise of a trading post. The real origin of the enmity of the -Blackfeet had been the apparent favoritism of the whites, in years -gone by, toward their hereditary enemies, the Crows; and McKenzie felt -confident that, if he could once get their ear and explain the true -purpose of the traders toward them, he would secure their friendship -and custom. - -Berger set out with a small party in the fall of 1830, carrying -unfurled an American flag, and traveled upward of four weeks before he -saw an Indian. Finally he came upon a large village in the valley of -the Marias River. The sight so terrified the little band that they were -for instant flight before they should be discovered. Berger, however, -persisted in his mission, and the party moved forward, scarcely -expecting to be alive another hour. They were quickly discovered, -whereupon a number of mounted warriors started at full gallop to meet -them. The whites halted and Berger advanced with his flag. The Indians -paused and Berger made signs of peace, and called out his own name. -As he was well known to the tribe, they recognized him at once. There -was a rush to shake hands and Berger and his party were taken to the -village, where, to their infinite relief, they were received with every -demonstration of good will. - -[Sidenote: A FAIR PROPOSITION.] - -Berger remained at the village for some time, and made the Indians -fully acquainted with the purpose of his mission. He finally induced -about forty of the leading men to return with him to Fort Union, where -they could confer with McKenzie direct. The journey was long, and -the fickle nature of the Indians showed signs of weakening before it -was nearly completed. They began to fear treachery, and it took all -of Berger’s ingenuity to keep them from turning back. Finally, as a -last resort, when almost at their journey’s end, he pledged them his -scalp and his horses if they did not reach the fort in one day more. -They agreed to this eminently fair proposition, and before the day -had passed they saw, from the top of a hill, in the plain below them, -the imposing palisades and bastions of Fort Union. This was about the -beginning of the year 1831. - -[Sidenote: SUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATIONS.] - -McKenzie did all in his power to impress the delegation favorably. He -made them liberal presents, and sent a trader with an outfit of goods -to remain in their village during the winter. Finally he promised them -a permanent trading post the following year. Before the year had passed -he induced the Blackfeet and Assiniboines to make a treaty with each -other, and he thus established peace all along the northern border. -In the fall of 1831 he sent a complete outfit under James Kipp to the -Blackfoot country for the purpose of establishing the promised post. -After a long and tedious voyage Kipp reached the mouth of the Marias -River and selected the point of land between the two streams for the -proposed establishment. It was begun about the middle of October. -The Indians appeared soon after his arrival, but Kipp requested them -to withdraw for seventy-five days, until he could finish the work. -They went away and returned punctually on the day fixed. To their -astonishment they found the fort entirely finished and everything ready -for the trade. This post was very properly named, from the sub-tribe -of the Blackfeet in whose country it was located, Fort Piegan.[37] - -[Sidenote: THE BLACKFEET NATION.] - -Thus was the white man’s first foothold established in the land of the -Blackfeet, near where the great post of Fort Benton stood in later -years. Kipp drove a thriving trade during the winter, and in the spring -went down to Union with the returns and with all his men, for they -refused to remain if he went. It is said that the Indians burned the -post after Kipp withdrew. Whether from this cause or from some other, -it was not rebuilt upon the original site. D. D. Mitchell, one of the -Company’s most capable servants, was sent up in 1832 to reopen trade -with the Blackfeet. On his way up he lost his boat in a storm, with all -the property, worth some thirty thousand dollars, and two men, one of -them a Piegan Indian. The Indians who were with him suspected foul play -and Mitchell had all he could do to maintain himself while sending back -to Union for another outfit. He succeeded, however, and in due time -reached the mouth of the Marias. - -[Sidenote: FOUNDING OF FORT MCKENZIE.] - -Not liking the situation selected by Kipp, he went up the river some -seven miles farther, and chose a spot on the left bank in a fine bottom -with abundant growths of timber near by. The erection of the new post -was one of the dramatic incidents of the early fur trade. There were -several thousand Indians present, suspicious of the whites and ready -for trouble upon any pretext. The men worked like beavers in getting up -the pickets, and during this time slept on the keelboat. It required -the utmost tact and firmness on the part of Mitchell to prevent an -outbreak, and several times it seemed as if all were lost. The work was -finally completed, and once within the fort the little party felt safe. -The new post was named Fort McKenzie, a merited tribute to the man -who had accomplished a feat which the traders had hitherto considered -impossible. - -In the summer of 1833 Alexander Culbertson, next to McKenzie the -greatest of the American Fur Company traders, went up with Mitchell -from Fort Union, and began his long and eventful career on the upper -river. Prince Maximilian was a guest of the party, and remained at Fort -McKenzie nearly all summer. While there he was treated to a genuine -Indian battle. The Assiniboines, becoming weary of peace, broke the -treaty of two years before, and fell upon a band of Piegans who were -encamped around the fort. They killed several Indians in the first -onset, but were quickly repulsed by aid of the inmates of the post, and -were finally driven back beyond the Marias. Mitchell and Culbertson -took part in the fight, and the venerable Prince became its historian. - -[Illustration: ALEXANDER CULBERTSON] - -[Sidenote: BLACKFEET AND CROWS.] - -The history of Fort McKenzie had more of excitement and incident about -it than any of the other early trading posts. The Blackfeet and the -Crows were deadly enemies of each other, and many were the bloody -encounters between them. The Crows often came to seek their enemy in -his own country, and the Blackfeet went to the Crow country on the -Yellowstone, where the inmates of Fort Cass witnessed the counterpart -of scenes which fell under the eyes of the traders at Fort McKenzie. -It is said, but upon uncertain authority, that the Crows once actually -laid siege to Fort McKenzie, but as they were a friendly tribe to the -whites, this may be taken with some allowance. It is certain, however, -that for many years the warfare between these two tribes raged with -great fury, though not with much loss to the traders, for the booty -captured from one party found its way directly to the trading post in -the country of the other. - -[Sidenote: SMALLPOX AMONG THE BLACKFEET.] - -The thrilling incidents with which the annals of Fort McKenzie abounded -in these early years would fill a volume; but we can note only the -more important. The year 1837 was the year of the terrible smallpox -scourge among the tribes of the Missouri Valley. Great care was taken -at Fort Union to dispatch the annual outfit for Fort McKenzie without -carrying the smallpox along with it. The expedition was in charge of -Alexander Harvey, one of the most noted and desperate characters which -the fur trade produced. Harvey took every possible precaution, but in -spite of his efforts the disease broke out in his party. He therefore -thought it prudent to stop before he reached Fort McKenzie and send -word to Culbertson, who had been in charge of the fort since 1834, when -Mitchell left. Culbertson wisely decided to leave the cargo at the -mouth of the Judith until the disease had run its course. There were -large numbers of Indians encamped near the fort awaiting the arrival -of the boat, and when they learned of the proposed delay they became -suspicious and insisted that the boat should be brought up. Culbertson -expostulated with them, but all in vain, and to avoid the capture and -destruction of the boat and its crew, he yielded to their demands. - -[Sidenote: TERRIBLE MORTALITY.] - -The result was exactly what had been foreseen. The disease was -communicated to the inmates of the post and to the Indians as well. -The latter completed their trade and left the fort before the pest -actually broke out among them, and the garrison remained for some time -in ignorance of what their fate had been. For upwards of two months -not an Indian was seen, and Culbertson, fearing the dreadful truth, -resolved to go in search of them. With a single companion he set out -for the Three Forks of the Missouri, where the Piegans usually spent -their autumns hunting beaver. They finally came upon a village of about -sixty lodges, only to find it absolutely deserted, with dead bodies -strewn in every direction, and carrion birds of prey the only sign of -life anywhere around. The smallpox had done its work well, and the -few survivors of the village had fled in scattered groups among the -surrounding mountains. The mortality among the Bloods and Blackfeet had -been as great as among the Piegans, and Culbertson estimated the total -loss among the three bands at six thousand souls. The Grosventres, for -some cause, escaped with small loss. - -The annals of Fort McKenzie during the next six years find their chief -sensational interest in the exploits of Alexander Harvey. Many were the -desperate deeds committed by him, and it required all the steadying -authority of Culbertson to offset his sinister influence among the -Indians. Harvey was, however, an excellent trader, and rendered the -company good service. He was left in charge of the post during the -occasional temporary absences of Culbertson at Fort Union, and in spite -of his many outrages upon the Indians, and even upon the whites, was -considered too valuable a man to lose. - -[Sidenote: CULBERTSON TRANSFERRED.] - -Under Culbertson’s prudent management Fort McKenzie had become, next to -Union, the most paying establishment on the river. The Company were so -pleased with his record that they decided to send him to Fort John, on -the Laramie River, to build up the trade of that post, which was doing -a losing business on account of bad management. Culbertson protested -that it would be a mistake to take him away from McKenzie, but the -Company overruled him, and Francis A. Chardon, one of their most -experienced clerks, was sent to relieve him. - -[Sidenote: REVOLTING CRIME.] - -Chardon was the same manner of man as was Alexander Harvey, and it -goes without saying that such a pair traveled rapidly the highway -to commercial ruin. Chardon, being new to his duties and new to the -post, relied a great deal upon Harvey, who became the real head of the -establishment. The natural consequences of this arrangement quickly -followed. Some little offenses committed by the Indians, which a -prudent trader would have passed by without trouble, were made the -excuse for one of the most atrocious crimes ever committed by either -white man or Indian upon the other. The plan was to fall upon the -unsuspecting Indians the next time they should come in to trade, and -to kill all they could and confiscate their property. It only partly -succeeded, owing to the failure of the actors to co-operate exactly; -but it went far enough to arouse the hatred of the Indians to the -highest pitch. They began a war of vengeance, and soon rendered the -situation at Fort McKenzie untenable. Chardon accordingly moved down -to the Judith River, and erected a new post on the left bank of the -Missouri, opposite the mouth of the smaller stream. He named the post -Fort Chardon. Fort McKenzie was burned, some say by Chardon himself -and some by the Indians. The fort lost its old name and became known -as Fort Brulé, or burned fort, a name which still survives in Brulé -bottom, where Fort McKenzie stood. The massacre took place early in the -winter of 1842–43.[38] - -[Sidenote: RETURN OF CULBERTSON.] - -As a result of their reckless management, Chardon and Harvey had by -this time ruined the trade with the Blackfeet tribes. In this emergency -the Company turned to Culbertson, acknowledged their error in removing -him from Fort McKenzie, and besought him to return and restore things -to their old-time condition. Culbertson went back in the summer of -1844, abandoned and burned Fort Chardon, and established a new post -twelve miles above the modern Fort Benton. The fort was built on the -right bank of the Missouri, and was named Fort Lewis, in honor of the -great explorer, Captain Meriwether Lewis. - -On his way up from Fort Union this season Culbertson was accompanied -by Jacob Berger, James Lee, and Malcolm Clark. Clark had served at -Fort McKenzie five years before. He was a noted frontier character of -good family connections, an unsuccessful student at the West Point -Military Academy, a man of fine physical presence, and possessed of -a bold and desperate character, which brought to his name the stigma -of more than one crime.[39] Clark and his companions seem to have -plotted the murder or severe punishment of Alexander Harvey; for when -Harvey came down from Fort Chardon to meet the boat, he was attacked by -Clark and Lee and barely escaped with his life. He fled to the post, -barricaded himself, induced the inmates to stand by him, and would not -admit even Culbertson without a guarantee of personal safety. He then -closed up his affairs at the post, left the Company’s service, went -down the river, and soon after became senior member in the opposition -firm of Harvey, Primeau & Co. He returned to the upper river, built a -small post near the mouth of Shonkin Creek, and did a fair business for -several years, when he sold out to his old employers. - -[Sidenote: BLACKFEET TRADE RESTORED.] - -With Chardon and Harvey away, Culbertson soon won back the trade of -the Blackfeet. The site of Fort Lewis, however, proved unsatisfactory. -The valley of the Teton River, a tributary of the Marias, which flowed -parallel with the Missouri for many miles, was a favorite camping -ground of the Indians. Fort Lewis was a long way off, and across the -Missouri from this valley. Accordingly, in the spring of 1846 the -post was dismantled, moved down the river, and set up in the fine open -bottom where the village of Fort Benton now stands. - -[Sidenote: FORT BENTON FOUNDED.] - -The post was thus finally settled in its future permanent location, -although the name, Fort Lewis, was still retained for several years. -Business flourished under Culbertson’s management, and he at one -time had three outlying posts in the country round about. In 1850 he -determined to rebuild the post of adobe, after the manner of Fort John, -on the Laramie. The soil was well adapted to the purpose, and although -the work was begun late in the season, it was completed, thanks to -an open fall, before winter set in. On Christmas night, 1850, it was -dedicated with a grand ball, and was rechristened Fort Benton, in honor -of Senator Thomas H. Benton, who had so often rescued the Company from -the peril of its own malefactions. The name Fort Benton, as applied -to the post of the Blackfeet, and to the head of navigation on the -Missouri River, thus dates from the year 1850, nineteen years after the -first trading post was established in that vicinity. - -[Sidenote: THE STEVENS EXPLORATION.] - -No events of other than a routine nature transpired at Fort Benton -until the year 1853, when the extensive exploring expedition of -Governor I. I. Stevens took the field to find a northern railroad -route to the Pacific Ocean. These explorations brought a great deal -of business to Fort Benton, and added a new feature to the life of -that hitherto almost unknown post. Growing out of this work came the -effort to negotiate treaties with the Blackfeet similar to those which -had been formed at Fort Laramie three years before with most of the -plains tribes. Congress made a large appropriation to cover the expense -of the negotiations, and Governor Stevens and Alfred Cummings were -appointed treaty commissioners. The necessary gifts for the Indians -were purchased, the American Fur Company was awarded the contract for -their transportation, and in due time Commissioner Cummings and party -left St. Louis on the Company’s steamboat _St. Mary_. - -There were on board, besides Commissioner Cummings, Major Culbertson, -Indian agents Vaughn and Hatch, and a friend of Captain La Barge, an -army officer, who later became paymaster in the army. At Fort Union -the goods were transshipped in keelboats for Fort Benton, while -the passengers took wagons for the same destination. Arrived at -Milk River crossing, the party met Governor Stevens just returning -from the Pacific Coast, and here the details of organization of the -Commission were decided upon. There was much dispute over the question -of precedence, and although Governor Stevens finally yielded to his -colleague, the relations of the two men were so embittered that their -subsequent work lacked harmony and effectiveness. - -[Sidenote: CHANGE OF CONDITIONS.] - -From Milk River the party went on to Fort Benton, but the boats were -not able to get up that far except with very great delay, and it -was decided to hold the expected council at the mouth of the Judith -River. The goods were stopped at that point and hither repaired the -Commissioners and the various Blackfeet bands to the number of about -two thousand. The work was completed and in about ten days the Indians -departed with their lavish presents. The era of the fur trader had -ended and that of the Indian agent had come. In this case, as in all -that had preceded it, the change, so far as the Indians were concerned, -was a change for the worse. - -[Sidenote: GREATNESS OF FORT BENTON.] - -These events bring our sketch of the history of Fort Benton down to -the point already reached in our regular narrative. The arrival of the -first steamboat in 1859 was an epoch in her history. Followed, as it -was, almost immediately by the discovery of gold in Montana, and the -consequent rush of emigration, it changed the whole order of things -at the post. Stores and other buildings began to appear, and in 1865 -a town site was laid off.[40] The young city grew with astonishing -rapidity and became a place of very great importance. Strange -indeed must it have seemed to the Indians and to the old trappers to -behold upon this spot, where for so many years there had been only -a single palisade--sole habitation of white men within five hundred -miles--buildings of metropolitan style and quality, trains of wagons -coming and going, and lines of noble steamboats lying at the bank along -the entire front of the town.[41] It was a wonderful metamorphosis, -scarcely paralleled in any other city of the country. Mushroom towns -have sprung up all over the West, but no permanent city from causes -like those which built up Fort Benton. Her rise and greatness were due -solely to her position as a strategic point in the commerce of the far -Northwest, not from any great mineral discovery in her neighborhood. -Her supremacy she maintained until other commercial routes had rendered -useless the great natural highway which found its terminus at her -door.[42] - -[Illustration: FORT BENTON LEVEE] - -[Sidenote: AMERICAN FUR CO. LEAVES THE RIVER.] - -The American Fur Company, founders of Fort Benton, continued to do -business on the upper river until 1864, when they sold out to the firm -of Hawley, Hubbell & Co., under the style of the Northwestern Fur -Company. The negotiations were concluded in the winter of 1864–65, and -the actual transfer accomplished in the following season. In 1869 the -Northwestern Fur Company sold out all its interests below Fort Union to -Durfee & Peck, and in 1870 abandoned all the trade above Fort Union. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -LINCOLN ON THE MISSOURI. - - -Having permanently left the service of the American Fur Company, -Captain La Barge spent the three years, 1857–59, mainly on the lower -river, not generally going above Council Bluffs. In the summer of -1859 he built a fine new boat, one of the best that ever went up the -river. Pierre Chouteau, Jr., having heard of his undertaking, sent to -him and offered any assistance that might be needed. The Company still -cherished a high appreciation of Captain La Barge’s services and would -gladly have taken him back into their employ. The captain thanked Mr. -Chouteau, but never took advantage of his offer. When he had finished -his boat he named her the _Emilie_, for one of his daughters. Soon -after this he received a polite note from Mr. Chouteau, telling him -to order a complete stand of colors for the boat and he would pay the -bill. The captain was much embarrassed, for he knew that Mr. Chouteau -had made the offer under the impression that the boat had been named -in honor of his wife. When La Barge declined his generous offer and -explained why, Mr. Chouteau said: “That’s all right. I am glad you have -told me so frankly. You did well to name the boat for your daughter.” - -[Sidenote: THE “EMILIE.”] - -The _Emilie_ was one of the famous boats of the Missouri River. She was -225 feet long, 32 feet beam, with a hold 6 feet deep, and could easily -carry 500 tons. She was a sidewheel boat, built on the most approved -lines, and an exceedingly beautiful craft. Captain La Barge was -designer, builder, owner, and master, and set out on his first voyage -with her October 1, 1859, his forty-fourth birthday. - -Before the boat was completed he entered into a contract with the -Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, which had just reached the Missouri -River at St. Joseph, to run from that point up and down the river in -connection with the road. The _Emilie_ was accordingly taken at once up -the river, and remained all the fall in that section, going up as far -as Fort Randall once or twice. - -[Sidenote: LINCOLN AT COUNCIL BLUFFS.] - -[Sidenote: LINCOLN’S SPEECH.] - -It was during the boating season of 1859 that Captain La Barge first -saw Abraham Lincoln. Among the more obscure incidents in that great -man’s career were his visits to the Missouri River in the summer -and fall of this year. In August he visited Council Bluffs, and in -December several towns in Kansas. The purpose of his first visit was -not political, although during his stay at the Bluffs he was induced -to make a political speech.[43] He had evidently come out to take a -look at the great West, and possibly also to make some investments in -real estate. At any rate, in November following he purchased from N. -B. Judd lot 3, block 1, of Riddle’s Subdivision of Council Bluffs. In -1867 this property was conveyed back to Mr. Judd by the Lincoln heirs. -It is a very singular fact that the adjoining lot 4 of this subdivision -was owned by Clement L. Vallandigham, Mr. Lincoln’s greatest political -enemy. - -[Sidenote: UNION PACIFIC.] - -General Grenville M. Dodge, who later became a distinguished officer in -the Civil War, was at this time engaged in surveys for the proposed -Union Pacific railroad. He had just come in from the plains, and -Lincoln, hearing of the fact, sought him out and had a long talk with -him in regard to his surveys. His great interest in the matter and -his skill in drawing out information soon gave him all that the young -surveyor knew. The latter thought no more of this at the time than that -possibly he had been giving away secrets that belonged to his employers -only. In 1863, while in command of the district of Corinth, Miss., he -received a dispatch from General Grant directing him to proceed to -Washington and report to the President. He was a good deal perturbed -over the matter, for he feared it might be something pertaining to his -military work that had not given satisfaction. When he appeared before -Mr. Lincoln he found that the President wanted to consult with him -in regard to the eastern terminus of the proposed Pacific railroad, -which would soon have to be determined. Mr. Lincoln had remembered the -conversation in Council Bluffs, and now sought assistance from the same -source from which he drew so freely on the former occasion. The result -was that Council Bluffs instead of Omaha was fixed as the terminus, and -that is why the Union Pacific railroad begins just across the river in -Iowa, and not, as would have seemed natural, on the west shore of the -river. - -[Sidenote: LINCOLN IN KANSAS.] - -Late in the fall of 1859 Mr. Lincoln visited Kansas. He arrived at St. -Joseph December 1, _via_ the new Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad. He -was met at the station by D. D. Wilder and M. W. Delahay, who escorted -him at once to the ferry. Mr. Wilder was a member of the reception -committee, and had spent several days in the office of Lincoln & -Herndon the previous summer. While waiting for the boat they sat down -on the bank, and Lincoln talked freely of the recent exciting political -events in Illinois. The party then crossed to Kansas, the first stop -being at Elwood, where Lincoln spoke on the night of December 1. The -next day he went to Troy, Kan., where he gave an address, and in the -evening he made a speech at Doniphan. The following day he went to -Atchison and spoke in the Methodist church. Lincoln’s speeches on these -occasions were essentially the same as that delivered at a later date -at Cooper Union, New York. Lincoln seems to have gone to Leavenworth on -the 4th of December. He remained there two or three days, delivering -two speeches at Stockton’s Hall and holding a public reception. His -long stay at this place was probably due to his having to wait for the -steamboat to take him back to St. Joseph. He left Leavenworth on the -7th of December, accompanied by Mr. Parrott, the Kansas delegate to -Congress. - -[Sidenote: LINCOLN ON LA BARGE’S BOAT.] - -It was on the occasion of one of these visits to the Missouri River -that Captain La Barge met Mr. Lincoln. It is understood that Mr. -Lincoln made his journey to Council Bluffs by boat, either from St. -Louis or St. Joseph, and returned home across the State; and that on -his Kansas visit he went back by boat from Leavenworth to St. Joseph in -December. On one of these trips he traveled on Captain La Barge’s boat. -The Captain retained with great distinctness his impressions of the -appearance and personal peculiarities of the distinguished passenger. -The tall and relatively slender build of Mr. Lincoln, his high hat, -sallow complexion, and not very elegant costume, gave him a somewhat -comical appearance at first sight. He seemed to La Barge rather quick -in his movements, and apparently a good walker. The captain noticed -that he was scarcely ever alone, there being always someone listening -to him. Although he made no speeches on his way up, he had an audience -all the time, and his agreeable address, and interesting way of putting -things, made him a constant center of attraction. - -[Sidenote: LINCOLN’S ELECTION.] - -La Barge remembered that he frequently came into the pilot-house, and -asked many questions, particularly about the fur trade and the Indians. -He expressed his desire to make a visit to the upper country. Before -he left the boat he asked La Barge if he would not procure for him a -fine buffalo robe and send it to him, giving him to understand that he -should of course expect to pay him well for all expense he might be -put to. La Barge promised to do so. Lincoln was not at this time much -talked of for the Presidency, and in Missouri was unpopular on account -of his attitude toward slavery. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: THE NEGROES FREED.] - -Captain La Barge did not take his boat down the river in the fall of -1859, because the ice cut him off. She was laid up a little below -Atchison. He himself went to St. Louis, and in February returned with -his family. In the spring of 1860, when the ice was about to break up, -the citizens of Atchison offered to furnish fuel for the boat if La -Barge would attempt to cut through the ice to St. Joseph. He undertook -it, running his boat up on the ice until her weight broke it in, and -in that way succeeded in getting through. The captain remained in the -service of the railroad all summer, running to Kansas City and Omaha -and intermediate points. In the fall he started for St. Louis, but was -caught by the ice at Liberty, Mo., and compelled to lay up his boat -there. It was at this point that he first heard of Lincoln’s election. -When John Baxter, keeper of Liberty Landing, came on board with the -news, La Barge said to him: “Up go all your niggers.” “Oh, you don’t -think that’ll make any difference, do you?” “Up go all your niggers,” -replied La Barge; “they will all be set free.” “And they were all set -free,” remarked the captain in narrating this dialogue, “and mine with -the rest, for I had some.” - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] There is in the possession of the La Barge family in St. Louis a -large pocketbook, still in a state of excellent preservation, which was -brought from Canada by Captain La Barge’s father. In this book is a -slip of paper, worn and mutilated with age, which contains the record -of the elder La Barge’s birth. - -[2] “I can safely recommend him to any traveler, as the best person -in his line I have ever met--intelligent, sober, obliging, and never -afraid to encounter any difficulty that may occur.”--_Three Years in -North America_, by James Stuart, who traveled in the United States, -1828–30, and employed La Barge to convey him on his journeys in the -vicinity of St. Louis and as far east as Vincennes, Ind. He was very -anxious to adopt the young child, Joseph La Barge, and take him to -England and educate him, but the parents would not consent. - -[3] For a history of this exciting affair see “The American Fur Trade -of the Far West,” p. 267. - -[4] The expeditions of General W. H. Ashley to the Rocky Mountains in -quest of beaver fur were very celebrated in those days. They occurred -in the years 1822–26. - -[5] The data for the sketch here given of the ancestry of the La Barge -family are mainly derived from letters by Dr. Philemon Laberge, Sheriff -of the district of Beauharnois, Quebec, to Captain La Barge. Dr. -Laberge had chanced to come across a copy of the St. Louis _Republic_ -of January 9, 1898, in which there were a biographical sketch and -photograph of Captain La Barge. Knowing that there was but one family -of the name in America, he set about to trace the relationship, and -presently sent to Captain La Barge a complete genealogical table of the -family from Robert Laberge down. - -The data relating to the maternal line are gleaned from Scharff’s -“History of St. Louis.” - -[6] The following tradition concerning the Lafayette visit is taken -from the obituary sketch of Captain La Barge in one of the St. Louis -papers: - -“When General Lafayette visited the city in 1825 the populace turned -out to greet him. He was a French nobleman and an American patriot--two -distinctions that entitled him to the greatest courtesy. The children -of the town had gathered to welcome his coming. When he was driven -away hundreds paid homage by following the route of his carriage. To -follow was not enough for Joe La Barge. He broke from the crowd and -ran to the carriage in which Lafayette rode. Jumping upon the rear -axle, he remained there a considerable time. The crowd was horrified, -but Lafayette was too great a man to be thus wounded. Gently stroking -the lad on the head, he asked his name. The boy responded: ‘La Barge.’ -‘Ah,’ said the General, ‘then we are both Frenchmen, and the only -difference is in the ending of our names.’” - -[7] The term _engagé_ was applied to the common hands who did the -ordinary work of the fur trade. The term _bourgeois_ was used to -designate the person in charge of a trading post. - -[8] “Captain Pratt of the _Assiniboine_ reports that he met the -_Yellowstone_ at the mouth of the Kansas River, having lost her -best pilot from the cholera, and four or five men in the space of -twenty-four hours. I fear that, in this situation, she will not be able -to continue her voyage.”--_Pierre Chouteau, Jr., to John Jacob Astor, -July 12, 1833._ - -[9] See account of American and Rocky Mountain Fur Companies, in -“American Fur Trade of the Far West.” - -[10] This man had a long and honorable career in the West. As late as -1859–60 he was in the service of the government as interpreter on the -expedition of Captain W. F. Reynolds, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. - -[11] A curious illustration of the great changes which have taken place -along the Missouri Valley occurred a few years ago. In 1896 a farmer -was digging a well near the mouth of Grand River, Mo., several miles -from the present channel of the Missouri. A Bible was found in the -excavation, and on its cover was the name _Naomi_. The book was sent -to Captain La Barge to see if he could suggest any explanation of its -presence where it was found. The Captain recalled perfectly the fact -that the steamer _Naomi_ was wrecked at that precise spot fifty-six -years before. In those days the missionaries always left Bibles on -board the various boats, attached by chains to the tables or other -parts of the cabin, and lettered with the names of the boats to which -they belonged. - -[12] The first _Yellowstone_, built in the winter of 1830–31, is a good -example of the original river boat. It was 130 feet long, 19 feet beam, -6 feet hold: beautiful model; side wheels; single engine; flywheel; -cabin aft of shaft; ladies’ cabin in stern hold; boiler decks open; -no hurricane roof; pilot-house elevated; two smokestacks; one rudder; -6-foot wheel bucket; 18-foot wheel; stages aft; draft, light, 4½ feet; -loaded to 75 tons, 5½ feet. - -In the river boats the main or forecastle deck was the first above -the water, and the one covering the hold; the boiler deck was the -second one, just over the boilers, covered by the hurricane roof; the -hurricane deck was the third deck. Upon this were situated the texas -and the pilot-house. - -[13] A noted steamboat that ran on the lower river during a portion -of the fifties was the _Felix X. Aubrey_. Between the smokestacks was -the figure of a man riding at full speed on horseback. The reference -was to a horseback ride, very celebrated in its day, from Santa Fe -to Westport, where Kansas City now stands. In the year 1853 Felix X. -Aubrey made this ride in five days and thirteen hours. The distance was -775 miles. - -[14] “Of all the variable things in creation the most uncertain are the -action of a jury, the state of woman’s mind, and the condition of the -Missouri River.”--_Sioux City Register_, March 28, 1868. - -[15] As an example of primitive lighthouse or fog-signal work, the -story is told of a steamboat captain who always made a certain crossing -on the lower river, if at night, by the aid of the bark of a dog -belonging to a farmhouse directly in line with the course of the boat. -The dog came out on the bank whenever boats were approaching, and -saluted them vigorously until they had passed. The captain ran by this -bark with the most implicit confidence. But unhappily the dog _did_ -change his position--once--and the captain ran by its bark no more, for -the next morning his own bark was a hopeless wreck upon a neighboring -sandbar. - -[16] About 1856 this matter was made the subject of military -investigation under General Harney. - -[17] The practicability of commercial steamboating on the Missouri -River had begun to be recognized about 1829. In the summer of that year -the _W. D. Duncan_ commenced a regular packet trade to Fort Leavenworth. - -[18] Kenneth McKenzie, the ablest trader the American Fur Company -produced, was at this time in charge of Fort Union, at the mouth of -the Yellowstone, and of all the company’s operations in the tributary -country along the upper rivers. - -[19] This affords a glimpse at the crafty and oppressive methods of -the company, which bore with intolerable hardship upon its employees. -To pay wages in merchandise at an advance of three or four hundred -per cent. upon their cost was a great saving to the company, but an -unqualified fraud upon its servants. - -[20] Fort McKenzie was six miles above the mouth of the Marias River; -Fort Union was three miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone: and Fort -Clark was about fifty-six miles above the modern Bismarck, N. D. - -[21] Log of steamboat _Omega_, May 10, 1843: “Nous venons très bien -jusqu’aux cotes à Hart où, à sept heures, nous sommes sommés par un -officier de dragoons de mettre à terre. Je reçois une note polie du -Capitaine Burgwin m’informant que son devoir l’oblige de faire visiter -le bâteau. Aussitôt nous nous mettons à l’ouvrage, et pendant ce temps -M. Audubon va faire une visite au Capitaine. Ils reviennent ensemble -deux heures après. Je force en quelque sorte l’officier à faire un -recherche aussi stricte que possible, mais à la condition qu’il en sera -de même avec les autres traiteurs.” - -[22] The above description of this inspection is from “The American Fur -Trade of the Far West,” by the present author. - -[23] Captain Sire, in the logbook of the _Nimrod_, Friday, May 10, -1844, says: “Il s’est passé encore longtemps avant que Messieurs les -agents faisaient leur visite. Tout se trouvait satisfaisante. J’ai -décidé de ne partir que demain matin, et pour cause.--May 11. Nous nous -mettons en route avant le jour.” - -[24] It appears that the company’s bond was to have been put in suit; -but the United States Attorney would not bring the case to trial unless -he could get La Barge as a witness. When La Barge got back to St. Louis -Sarpy came on board and told him to make himself scarce immediately. -The Captain hastened to St. Charles and took service on the _Iatan_, -where he remained until the storm had blown over. The case was finally -compromised through the influence of Thomas H. Benton. - -[25] While detained at the Omaha villages the crew had cut and piled -about fifty cords of wood. - -[26] The original journal is silent about this affair, but the facts -were suppressed, says Captain La Barge, by clerk Finch, of the American -Fur Company, in order not to expose the questionable conduct of -Campbell and Matlock in regard to the annuities. La Barge himself wrote -the following marginal note opposite the entry for June 9: “The Indians -fired on the boat while we were lying there and killed Charles Smith, -deckhand.” - -[27] _The Republican_, March 19, 1849, in an editorial notice of the -event, thus referred to Captain La Barge: “There is no Captain on the -Western waters more highly esteemed than Captain La Barge. He is a St. -Louisan born, and has been familiar with the river from early life.” - -[28] This island took its name from the fact that it was a famous -dueling ground. Its history in this connection dates from the past -century, but its fame rests upon a few celebrated contests, among which -the following may be noted: Thomas H. Benton and Charles Lucas fought -here twice, on August 12 and September 27, 1817. In the last encounter -Benton killed his antagonist. Joshua Barton, brother of the first U. -S. Senator from Missouri, and Thomas C. Rector fought here June 30, -1823, and Barton was killed. The most celebrated duel of all took place -August 27, 1831, between Major Thomas Biddle, Paymaster U. S. A., and -Congressman Spencer Pettis of St. Louis. Both principals were killed. -Another duel occurred in which one of the principals, B. Gratz Brown, -editor of the _Democrat_, received a wound in the knee. When dueling -fell into disuse the island became a noted resort for prize-fighters. -Overlooking the island stood a large cottonwood tree, near which these -duels were fought. It was certainly more than two hundred years old, -and it fell from old age, July 18, 1897. - -[29] The City of St. Louis passed an ordinance at this time that -vessels should be moored with iron cables, and it placed permanent -rings in the levee for that purpose, so that boats could not be cut -loose in case of fire. - -[30] The Aricara language is related to that of the Pawnees, which La -Barge, as we have seen, had learned in his first years in the Indian -country. - -[31] La Barge Avenue, St. Louis, extending from Union Avenue west to -the city limits, was in part given by Captain La Barge and recorded in -his name. A later generation, with an amazing indifference to the work -of one of the most noted characters in the history of the city, has -changed the name to “Maple Avenue.” - -[32] One of the medical officers accompanying the troops, and possibly -the surgeon in this case, was Dr. George L. Miller of Omaha, Neb., -who had early established himself in the West to seek his fortune -there, and afterward became one of Nebraska’s most eminent citizens -and well known throughout the country. He had gone up with the troops -for temporary service because they had no regular surgeon. Dr. Miller -returned to Omaha on the _St. Mary_, and many years later prepared -an account of his personal experiences on the trip. His reference to -Captain La Barge is interesting in this connection. He described him as -“a short, stout, alert, and energetic man, with the eye of an eagle, -which had been trained by twenty years’ service as a student of the -mysterious and muddy waters of the Missouri.” A few years before these -reminiscences were written by Dr. Miller, Captain La Barge’s brother -John died, and Dr. Miller had mistakenly understood it to be his old -river friend of 1855. The event called forth this further reference to -the Captain: “The death of Joe La Barge, the brown-faced and black-eyed -pilot, two or three years ago, caused a pang of regret in the hearts of -tens of thousands who dwell along the valley of the great river, and -who knew and admired him both in character and calling.” - -[33] For a vivid picture of those early steamboat days, see -_Everybody’s Magazine_, October, 1892. - -[34] “Captain John La Barge, one of the oldest and best steam boat men -on the river, takes command of the _Chippewa_, and if the trip to Fort -Benton can be made, he will make it!”--_Sioux City Eagle_, July 23, -1859. - -[35] For a complete record of this event, see letter from Alfred -Vaughn, Indian Agent for the Blackfeet--Report Commissioner of Indian -Affairs for 1859. - -[36] The _Tom Stevens_ is said to have gone to the mouth of Portage -creek, within five miles of the Great Falls the same year, and one -authority states that the _Gallatin_, either in 1866 or 1867, went -nearer to the Falls than any other boat before or since. The exact -point is not stated. - -[37] The Blackfeet nation, as understood by the early traders and -trappers, comprised four bands--the Piegans, the Bloods, the Blackfeet, -and the Grosventres of the Prairies. Only the first three were really -Blackfeet. The tribal affinity of the Grosventres was with the -Arapahoes. In some way these two tribes had become widely separated, -the Arapahoes going far to the south, and the Grosventres to the -country of the Blackfeet. So far did the Grosventres adopt the language -and customs of the Blackfeet that they were ordinarily considered in -early times as a part of that tribe and were commonly referred to as -Blackfeet. They were relentlessly hostile to the whites during the -first twenty-five years after Lewis and Clark passed through their -country. Next to them in point of hostility came the Blood Indians. The -Piegans were the most favorably disposed of any of the Blackfeet tribes -and were also the best beaver hunters, and it was with this band that -trade relations were first opened. - -[38] There has been a good deal of confusion about this date, and it -cannot yet be considered as definitely settled. The weight of authority -is as given above. Chardon had other difficulties with the Indians -which may have been confused with this affair. Thus the journal of one -of the inmates of the Blackfoot post (whether Fort McKenzie or Fort -Chardon is uncertain) says: “February 19, 1844. Fight with the north -Blackfeet, in which we killed six and wounded several others; took -two children prisoners. The fruits of our victory were four scalps, -twenty-two horses, 350 robes, and guns, bows, and arrows, etc.” This -answers very closely to the description of the “Blackfoot Massacre” at -Fort McKenzie. If it is the same, the founding of Fort Chardon was in -1844 instead of 1843. - -[39] In 1864 Malcolm Clark shot and instantly killed Owen McKenzie, -son of Kenneth McKenzie. The affair took place on the _Nellie Rogers_, -American Fur Company boat, near the mouth of Milk River. McKenzie and -Clark had some standing cause of dispute between them, and Clark shot -his opponent while the latter was in a state of intoxication. The -family of Clark have tried to screen his name from any blame in this -affair, and have claimed that the deed was done in self-defense. On the -river it was everywhere considered at the time a cold-blooded murder. - -[40] By W. W. DeLacy, a civil engineer of high reputation, and closely -identified with the early history of Montana. - -[41] June 11, 1866, there were seven steamboats at one time at the -levee of Fort Benton. - -[42] In this sketch of Fort Benton I have drawn somewhat, for the -period after 1843, from the notes of Lieutenant James H. Bradley, as -published in vol. iii. Proceedings Mont. Hist. Soc. The notes were -taken by dictation from Alexander Culbertson. Unfortunately, as in -most cases of personal narrative, this one abounds in errors, and is -controlled throughout by the desire of the narrator to magnify his own -importance in the events he describes. The notes possess, however, -great intrinsic value, and are an important contribution to the history -of the West. Their preservation is due to the zealous forethought of -an army officer who recognized the importance of collecting original -data on the history of the West before its principal actors should have -passed away. He did not live to prepare these notes for publication -himself. They found their way to the Montana Historical Society, which, -with the intelligent zeal that has always characterized that body, has -given them to the public in a well-gotten-up volume of the society’s -proceedings. - -Lieutenant James H. Bradley was born in Sandusky, O., May 25, 1844; -enlisted as a private in the 14th Ohio Volunteers, April, 1861; -re-enlisted in the 45th Ohio Volunteers, June, 1862; mustered out as -Sergeant, July, 1865; appointed Second Lieutenant 18th U. S. Infantry, -February 23, 1866; promoted to First Lieutenant, July 9, 1866, -transferred to 7th Infantry, November 28, 1871; killed in the Battle of -the Big Hole by the Nez Percé Indians, August 9, 1877. - -[43] “Hon. Abe Lincoln, and the Secretary of State for Illinois, Hon. -O. M. Hatch, arrived in our city last evening, and are stopping at the -Pacific House. The distinguished ‘sucker’ has yielded to the earnest -importunities of our citizens,--without distinction of party,--and -will speak upon the political issues of the day, at Concert Hall, this -evening. The celebrity of the speaker will most certainly insure him a -full house. Go and hear ‘Old Abe.’”--_From the Council Bluffs “Weekly -Nonpareil,” Saturday Morning, August 13, 1859._ - -The reports upon this speech in the Republican and Democratic papers of -the town were as follows: - -From the _Nonpareil_, August 20, 1859: - - “ABE LINCOLN. - - “This distinguished gentleman addressed a very large audience - of ladies and gentlemen at Concert Hall in this city, Saturday - evening. The clear and lucid manner in which he set forth - the true principles of the Republican party--the dexterity - with which he applied the political scalpel to the Democratic - carcass--beggars all description at our hands. Suffice it, that - the speaker fully and fairly sustained the great reputation he - acquired in the memorable Illinois campaign as a man of great - intellectual power--a close and sound reasoner.” - -From the _Weekly Bugle_, August 17, 1859: - - “ABE LINCOLN ON THE SLOPE. - - “The people of this city were edified last Saturday evening - by a speech from Honorable Abe Lincoln. He apologized very - handsomely for appearing before an Iowa audience during a - campaign in which he was not interested. He then, with many - excuses and a lengthy explanation, as if conscious of the - nauseous nature of the black Republican nostrum, announced his - intention to speak about the ‘eternal negro,’ to use his own - language, and entered into a lengthy and ingenious analysis - of the nigger question, impressing upon his hearers that it - was the only question to be agitated until finally settled. He - carefully avoided going directly to the extreme ground occupied - by him in his canvass against Douglas, yet the doctrines - which he preached, carried out to their legitimate results, - amount to precisely the same thing. He was decidedly opposed - to any fusion or coalition of the Republican party with the - opposition of the South, and clearly proved the correctness - of his ground, in point of policy. They must retain their - sectional organization and sectional character, and continue - to wage their sectional warfare by slavery agitation; but if - the opposition South would accede to their view and adopt - their doctrines, he was willing to run for President in 1860, - a Southern man with Northern principles, or in other words, - with abolition proclivities. His speech was of the character - of an exhortation to the Republican party, but was in reality - as good a speech as could have been made for the interest of - the Democracy. He was listened to with much attention, for his - Waterloo defeat by Douglas has magnified him into quite a lion - here.” - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Old English lettering on the pages preceding the Table of Contents -is represented here within =equals signs=. - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they -were not changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation -marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left -unbalanced. - -Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs -and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support -hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to -the corresponding illustrations. - -Running page headers are shown here as Sidenotes, usually positioned -just above the paragraph they summarize. 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