[52] “The Spread Eagle is just along side of us and we are having a race, probably the first ever run on the upper Missouri. She passed us and then we passed her, when she ran into us, breaking our guard and doing some other damage. There was a good deal of angry talk.”—Harkness’ Journal. (This journal of the voyage of 1862 and of Harkness’ trip to the mines and his return to St. Louis is published in the Proceedings of the Montana Historical Society, vol. ii.)
[54] What is now the town of Deer Lodge, Mont., was first named La Barge City, and was so known for about two years. The name was given by two friends of Captain La Barge, John S. Pemberton of St. Louis and Leon Quesnelle, a descendant of the Quesnelle who seems to have been the first permanent settler at Bellevue, Neb. Quesnelle had been in the Deer Lodge Valley for some time, and had a ranch near where the town was afterward built. Two years later the town site was organized by James Stuart and others, surveyed and laid out by W. W. De Lacy, and rechristened Deer Lodge. The original town site plot of La Barge City is in possession of the Montana Historical Society.
[55] Letter from S. N. Latta, agent, to W. P. Dole, Commissioner Indian Affairs, dated Yankton, Dak., August 27, 1863. See report Com. Ind. Affs., 1863, p. 170.
[56] The two Indian agents profess in their reports not to have anticipated any trouble. Latta would hardly have ordered the yawl out if he had suspected what actually occurred. Reed, the Blackfoot agent, says that they “continued to hollow to us for some time, and showed great signs of friendship, and wanted us to come ashore.” The sum of it all is that the two men who were officially in charge of the trip entirely failed to understand the gravity of the situation, which was thoroughly appreciated by those, like Culbertson and La Barge, who had had long experience with the Indians. The sending of the yawl and the consequences which followed must ever remain charged to the account of Samuel N. Latta, Indian Agent.
[57] The account of what happened from the time the yawl left the Robert Campbell until it returned was given to the author in an interview with Andy Stinger, the steersman and rescuer of the party.
“Knob View, Crawford, co., Mo.
Sept. 2, 1896.
“My dear old Captain
“Joseph La Barge,
“My Dear Friend: I should like to hear from you whether you are still in the land of the living. Thank God for his mercies. Dear Captain I should be happy to be with you a few hours and have a good talk over the hardships of our past life steamboating, especially on the Robert Campbell in 1863 going to the mountains. It would give me great pleasure to see you and all your family once more. It is a great many years since I have heard anything from you. Please let me hear from you soon. My love and friendship to you and all your family. I remain your true friend untill death. From the Hero of the Tobacco Garden on Bob Campbell in 1863.