[23] Alexander Culbertson, who afterwards was prominent as chief factor and partner of the American Fur Company, had, in this year (1833), entered its employ, upon recommendation of an uncle, John Culbertson, with whom he had been in Florida the preceding years. Born of Scotch-Irish stock in Pennsylvania (1809), he was a large man, of a mild temperament, and popular both with his subordinates and the Indians. He married a Blackfoot woman, and was for several years in charge of Fort Mc Kenzie; he also built Fort Sarpy, Fort Lewis, and Fort Benton. In 1861 he retired from the company, having made a considerable fortune, and went to live in Peoria, Illinois. He nevertheless was frequently in the Indian country thereafter, and in 1863 was present at a Sioux attack upon the upper river (see Larpenteur's Journal, ii, pp. 350, 351). He also served as official interpreter for the government, in 1869 and 1874. What is essentially the journal of Major Culbertson's life in the Indian country, is published by the Montana Historical Society under title, "Affairs at Fort Benton," in their Contributions, iii, pp. 201-287. He most entertainingly describes Prince Maximilian's visit (see preface to our volume xxii).—Ed.
[24] For a description of this disaster, which was occasioned by a severe windstorm, see Montana Historical Society Contributions, iii, pp. 204, 205; two employés and one Indian were drowned. Mitchell sent an express to Fort Union with news of the catastrophe, meanwhile fortifying within a small barricade. Aid was sent, and the party enabled to proceed.—Ed.
[25] See Plate 17, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.
[26] Milk River was named by Lewis and Clark from the peculiar color of its waters, "being about the color of a cup of tea with the admixture of a tablespoonful of milk"—Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, ii, p. 10. It is by far the largest of the northern tributaries of the Missouri, rising in the main range of the Rockies in north-west Montana, and flowing in a generally eastern course on both sides of the international boundary line—the 49th parallel. The stream drains the territory between the Saskatchewan and the Missouri, and its valley is for many miles followed by the Great Northern Railway.—Ed.
[27] Big Dry River, which retains the name assigned it by Lewis and Clark, is the largest southern tributary of the Missouri between the Yellowstone and the Musselshell. It is, as described by Maximilian, a vast coulée, stretching to the Yellowstone watershed. When Lewis and Clark passed (May 9, 1805), there was no running water within it, although the bed was as wide at this point as that of the Missouri.—Ed.
[28] This creek is on the larboard (south) bank of the river, and was charted by Lewis and Clark; but it has not been identified, for the reason that this region has not yet been topographically studied.—Ed.
[29] See Plate 68, figure 15, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.
[30] See Plate 68, figures 16, 18, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.
[31] The French-Canadian engagés applied the term "Bad Lands" to many parts of the West. Those districts now usually thus designated, are in the valley of the Little Missouri in North Dakota. The Montana stretch here mentioned is in Dawson and Valley counties, and an outlying spur of this peculiar formation.—Ed.
[32] See Plate 70, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.