“I did not like Lyon. He was a Yankee, and his disposition seemed to be to crush everyone who did not think as he did. His language and bearing toward me were so insolent and exasperating that they left a lasting rancor in my mind.[46]
“This affair cost me about five thousand dollars, although I was partially reimbursed for the stores taken. I did not go up the river again that season, being too much vexed and disgusted with my late experience. I sent the boat up under charge of a man of the name of Nick Wall, who ran her until my government contracts were completed.”
In the year 1862 Captain La Barge was again impressed temporarily into the service of guerrillas. On October 16 of that year a body of Confederates was at Portland, Mo., when the steamboat Emilie came along. The Emilie stopped to put two men ashore, when a gang of Rebels concealed behind a woodpile took possession of the boat and compelled Captain La Barge to set them across the river. He was forced to unload his deck freight and take on 175 horses and as many men. Scarcely had they started across when a force of Union cavalry of the Missouri State Militia arrived, but not in time to arrest the operation.
These were the only occasions on which Captain La Barge had trouble on the river on account of the War. Like all other boatmen, he welcomed the close of this conflict and the tranquillity which it brought to the river business.
UNITED STATES VOLUNTEERS.
A NOTABLE CHARACTER.
There was an organization in the military establishment of the United States, growing out of the progress of the war, of which very little is known. It was called the United States Volunteers, and consisted of six regiments and one independent company. It was composed chiefly of deserters from the Confederate army and prisoners of war who had taken the oath of allegiance to the United States. These troops served continuously on the Western plains and in the Northwest, except the 1st and 4th regiments, which served mainly at Norfolk, Va. On the Missouri River, and perhaps elsewhere, they were commonly spoken of as “Galvanized Yankees.” In 1864, when Fort Rice was established near the mouth of the Cannon Ball River, it was garrisoned by the 1st Regiment of U. S. Volunteers under Colonel Charles A. R. Dimon. This officer was one of the remarkable characters of Missouri River history, and made a great impression along the valley, considering his brief service there. He was the particular bugbear of the traders, and the character which they have given him can be best expressed by spelling his name with an “e” in the first syllable. It was said that he ordered his men shot down on the least provocation, and that many of the regiment were slain in this way. Numbers of his men are said to have deserted through fear of his tyrannical and ungovernable temper. One of the traders has left a record of his own special grievance.
DRASTIC MEASURES.
In the winter of 1864–65, as already stated, the American Fur Company sold out to the Northwestern Fur Company, more commonly known as the firm of Hawley & Hubbell. In the following spring these two gentlemen went up the river with Mr. C. P. Chouteau on the American Fur Company boat, the Yellowstone, to make the transfer of the posts and property. There were many passengers of different political creeds on board, including a number of ex-Confederates. At a point about one hundred miles above Fort Sully news of Lincoln’s assassination was received, and the passengers of all shades of opinion expressed their horror of the event. When the boat arrived at Fort Rice, Colonel Dimon, according to this authority, came down to the boat with a large guard of soldiers and placed the whole party under arrest on the charge of jubilating over the assassination of the President. The traders thought the whole proceeding was a scheme of Colonel Dimon to advertise his intense loyalty. He told Chouteau, whose Southern proclivities were well understood along the river, that he would take him out on the bank and shoot him like a dog. Chouteau was thoroughly frightened and trembled like a leaf, for there was no knowing what the impetuous officer might take a notion to do.
Hubbell and Hawley determined to go down to Sioux City and report to General Sully the detention of their boat and the conduct of Colonel Dimon toward themselves and others. Chouteau gave them a yawl and wrote a letter to the General. Dimon ordered them not to go without first reporting to him. Although his authority to give such an order is doubtful, the men did not dare to disobey for fear of being shot. When they appeared they were required to submit all their letters to his inspection. The particular letter he was after was one he believed Chouteau had written, but Hubbell and Hawley had slipped it into the breech of a Henry rifle and left it in the boat. Finally they were permitted to go. They made a rapid trip, partly by river and partly by land, and immediately reported their grievances to General Sully. The General promptly gave them a written order to Colonel Dimon to release their boat. Armed with this they returned to Fort Rice by the steamer G. W. Graham, and in an incredibly short time, considering the distance and mode of travel, appeared before Colonel Dimon. General Sully’s order eased matters up somewhat, but still the traders had a good deal of trouble with the irate post commander.