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IV

AMERICAN EXPLORERS SERIES

Early Steamboating on Missouri River

VOL. II.

KENNETT MCKENZIE

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. II.

NEW YORK
FRANCIS P. HARPER
1903

Copyright, 1903,
BY
FRANCIS P. HARPER.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOL. II.

HISTORY OF
EARLY STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION
ON THE MISSOURI RIVER

CHAPTER XXI.
THE CIVIL WAR.

In a great many ways the War of the Rebellion affected the commerce of the Missouri River. Missouri was a slave State, and most of her citizens along the river were Southern sympathizers. It is stated that all the Missouri River pilots except two were in sympathy with the South, and that General Lyon had to go to the Illinois River for pilots when he wanted to move his troops up the river in June, 1861.

The steamboat business on the river felt the weight of the war almost immediately upon its breaking out. Most of the business was with the loyal people and was, of course, considered by the Confederates as a legitimate subject of confiscation. Guerrilla bands infested the country along the river, fired into the boats, and did all they could to break up the business. They succeeded in driving most of the traffic off the lower river; but at the same time the demands of the war stimulated the trade higher up. There was an increased movement of government troops and stores, and in the later years of the war many refugees from both armies passed up the river to the mountains. The discovery of gold in Montana added greatly to the river commerce during these years. The injurious effects of the war, therefore, were mainly confined to the river below Kansas City.

GUERRILLAS IN MISSOURI.

The peril to navigation due to the operations of the guerrillas was a formidable one. Wherever the channel ran close to the high wooded banks or other sheltered localities, ambush and attack could always be expected. The danger was mainly from the south bank. It became necessary to tie up at night away from this bank, and Captain La Barge followed the practice of anchoring in mid-stream. The pilot-houses were regularly equipped with shields of boiler iron, semi-cylindrical in form, inclosing the wheel, and capable of being moved so as to be adjusted to the changing course of the vessel. These shields were of great service on the upper river also, for the Indians at this time were as dangerous in that section as were the guerrillas farther down. Occasionally, when there was much government freight aboard, troops were sent up on the boat until Kansas City was passed.

The passions aroused by this internecine strife deadened human kindness, and made men as ferocious and brutal as wild beasts. This was particularly true of the lawless bands of guerrillas whose desultory operations have been in all wars the most cruel and most difficult to suppress or control. Brigadier General Loan, of the Missouri State Militia, in reporting the tragedy which we shall next relate, said: “The guerrillas and Rebel sympathizers are waging a relentless, cruel, and bloody war upon our unarmed and defenseless citizens, and are determined to continue it until the last loyal citizen is murdered, or driven from the State for fear of being murdered.” Such was the true situation along the south bank of the Missouri River, and it was only by the most vigilant precaution on the part of the steamboat men that they did not suffer more than they did. We shall relate one instance in which these precautions did not avail.

AFFAIR OF THE “SAM GATY.”

In the latter part of March, 1863, the steamboat Sam Gaty was on her way up the Missouri with a heavy load of freight and passengers, bound for the far upper river. There were on board several persons of wealth on their way to the newly discovered gold fields of Montana. There were besides quite a number of paroled Union soldiers and some forty contrabands, as the negroes freed by the war were called. While passing under a high wooded bank near Sibley, Mo., the boat was attacked by a band of guerrillas under the leadership of one Hicks, who had for some time been the terror of the surrounding country. The boat was ordered to come to the bank and promptly obeyed, whereupon the guerrillas immediately boarded her. The attack was unexpected, and the passengers were seated around the cabin engaged in games and conversation when the appalling fact of their situation dawned upon them. A rush was made to conceal valuable property, and the paroled soldiers made haste to get into citizens’ clothes. The poor negroes could do nothing. The guerrillas made quick and heartless work. They robbed the passengers of all the valuables to be found on their persons, and one man narrowly escaped summary death for attempting to slip his gold watch into his boot. All the property on board that seemed to be of any use to the government was thrown into the river. The safes were broken open and robbed. Some of the paroled soldiers were taken off the boat and shot. All of the contrabands were driven ashore, where they were shot down in cold blood. Their shrieks and cries were plainly heard on the boat. After this attack the boat was allowed to proceed.

AN ATROCIOUS CRIME.

Vengeance followed quickly in the wake of this atrocious crime. A body of Kansas troops under a Major Ransom pursued and overtook the guerrillas, attacked and destroyed their camp, took twenty-one horses, killed seventeen men in combat and hanged two, and completely dispersed the organization.[44]

A UNION MAN

Captain La Barge had his full share of troublesome experiences that followed the outbreak of the war. As a slave-owner in a small way, and as a man born and bred in the old ante-bellum atmosphere that surrounded the institution of slavery, his natural sympathies were with the South. But when it came to a decision he did not hesitate a moment. As between union and disunion he was for union. It required a degree of self-denial and patriotism which many Northerners have never fully appreciated to stand by the country when one’s training and natural sympathies would have led him to the other side. Captain La Barge remained a Union man, took the oath of allegiance, and throughout the war rendered constant service to the government. He soon came to see the wisdom of his decision, and before the war was over his sympathies had swung into full line with his action.

THE GALLOWS CHEATED.

In 1861 Captain La Barge was coming down the river on the Emilie from Omaha, and, as usual, stopped at St. Joseph for freight and passengers. A good many people got on board, most of them Southern sympathizers going south. When the boat rounded out into the stream the passengers went up on deck and cheered for Jefferson Davis. The news of this event was telegraphed to Colonel R. D. Anthony of Leavenworth[45]. This distinguished agitator and ardent Union man called a meeting of the citizens, and it was decided to hang La Barge the moment the boat arrived. The Captain had a stanch friend in Leavenworth of the name of Alexander Majors, of the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, overland freighters. He was waiting to take passage to his home in Lexington, Mo. When the boat approached there was a great crowd on the levee. The instant the prow touched the bank Majors leaped on board and told the Captain not to make fast, as the crowd proposed to hang him. The Captain asked the clerk what business they had for Leavenworth. He replied that there were only a few bills to collect. “Let them go for now,” said the Captain, and tapping the bell to depart, drew back into the stream. When the crowd saw that they were outwitted, they swung their rope into the air and yelled that they would get him at Wyandotte. “All right,” replied the Captain, “I expect to stop there,” but when he reached that place he kept right on.

SERVING UNDER DURESS.

AN UNPLEASANT DILEMMA.

On one of the down trips in the season of 1861 the Emilie arrived at Boonville just as the Confederates were evacuating that place upon the approach of the Federals under General Lyon. La Barge knew nothing of what was transpiring there, and his first intimation of any unusual state of things was a volley of cannon shot whistling over the boat. The Captain signaled that he would halt, and rounded to above the town. The Confederate General Marmaduke came on board and with him Captain Kelly and a company of troops. “I knew Marmaduke well,” said La Barge, “and asked him as soon as he got on board what the matter was. He replied, ‘I want you to turn around and take General Price up to Lexington. He is sick and cannot stand the overland ride.’ I replied that I could not think of such a thing; that I was in the service of the government. He then took possession of the boat, placed me in arrest, and forced me to take the boat back to Lexington. I protested again, saying that the crew would look to me for pay for this extra work, and the government would hold me responsible for failure to fulfill my contract. Marmaduke replied, ‘I will pay you every cent you have to disburse on account of this trip.’ After Price came on board Marmaduke left, and we then steamed up to Lexington, where the boat was turned over to me and I was told to shift for myself. I suppose they thought I ought to consider myself fortunate to get off at all. They never paid me anything, although they might easily have done so, for the first thing done upon landing at Lexington, as I was told, was to sack all the banks of that town. As to my getting away, that was far from being a matter of much satisfaction. It was, of course, known in the Federal lines that I had carried Price up the river. How should I answer for myself upon my return? I went to Price, told him the dilemma I was placed in, and asked him to help me. He gave me a very strong letter, stating that I had acted under duress, and had been forced to go back against my repeated protest.

GENERAL LYON.

LA BARGE RELEASED.

“It was with no slight misgivings that I turned the Emilie downstream and started in the direction of Boonville. I knew that there was trouble in store for me. When I approached the Federal lines a volley was fired at the boat, apparently with the definite purpose of hitting her. I promptly rounded to and the firing ceased. A young Lieutenant by the name of White came on board with a guard of a dozen men to arrest me. I had known White in St. Louis as a commission clerk, a young man of no account, but who, having now some authority, felt disposed, like all inferior men, to exercise it with a severity in inverse proportion to his ability. He doubtless thought it a great feather in his cap to have as prisoner a man who would scarcely have deigned to notice him in any other situation. He was insolent and arbitrary, and lunging his sword toward me, would order me to walk faster. I was taken to General Lyon’s quarters, and when in that officer’s presence, he said to me: ‘You are in a very bad scrape here, sir.’ I took Price’s letter from my pocket and handed it to him, saying, ‘General, please read that; it may help to straighten matters out.’ He read the letter, but pretended not to think much of it. After hemming and hawing over the matter for a while he said: ‘Do you know anyone here who can tell me who you are?’ He knew very well who I was, for he had been with Harney in the Sioux War of 1854–55 and we had met then. I asked him to name the members of his staff, and I could tell. He finally mentioned Frank Blair. I said with some irony, ‘I know Frank Blair very well, and I think he knows me.’ We then walked up to Blair’s quarters. He shook hands cordially and said, ‘I understand that you are in a bad fix here.’ ‘It looks like it,’ I replied. ‘Rather be at home than here, I presume,’ he continued jokingly. ‘Much rather,’ I replied. Lyon showed Blair Price’s letter. They consulted together for a little while and Lyon then said to me, ‘You can take possession of your steamboat and go home.’ I found the boat in Lyon’s fleet where it had been taken, and all of her provisions confiscated. I was not long in getting up steam, and left the inhospitable region with the utmost expedition.

“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.

FACT AND FICTION.

How much there was in the stories about Colonel Dimon is doubtful, but probably about an equal mixture of fact and fiction. Certainly the view of the traders concerning him was not shared by General Sully, if we judge from the following extracts from his own correspondence with General Pope. Writing from Sioux City under date of June 10, 1865, he says:

GENERAL SULLY’S VIEWS.

“I admire his energy and pluck, the determination with which he carries out orders; but he is too young—too rash—for his position, and it would be well if he could be removed. He is making a good deal of trouble for me, and eventually for you, in his over-zealous desire to do his duty.... His regiment was raised and organized by Ben. Butler, and he is too much like him in his actions for an Indian country, but he is just the sort of a man I would like to have under me in the field.” Upon his arrival at Fort Rice a month later he thus commented upon Colonel Dimon:

“I am much pleased with the appearance of this post and the way military duty is performed. Colonel Dimon is certainly an excellent officer. A few more years of experience to curb his impetuosity would make him one of the best officers in our volunteer service.”

Pope in the meanwhile authorized Sully to take such action in regard to Colonel Dimon as he saw fit. A board of officers was convened to investigate complaints against him, and on the strength of their report he was relieved July 21, 1865. He resumed command of the post, however, October 10, 1865, but was mustered out of the service on the 27th of the following month. He was subsequently brevetted Brigadier General of Volunteers for gallant and meritorious service during the war.

A FAIR PROBABILITY.

Colonel Dimon probably showed an excess of severity toward the traders where the average officer showed far too little. That explains their chief ground of dislike of him. Add to this the “impetuosity” of temperament referred to by General Sully, and we have a pretty close analysis of a situation which caused a great flurry on the Missouri River in its day. As a matter of fact a great many of the men in the 1st Volunteers died at Fort Rice, but from disease, and not by execution under Dimon’s order. A number of men did desert, and seventeen of them walked all the way to Fort Union. One of these men made a pen drawing of that post which is probably the most accurate now in existence.

CHAPTER XXII.
GOLD IN MONTANA.

FIRST GOLD IN MONTANA.

If the Civil War operated to drive commerce from the lower Missouri River, other forces were at work at the head waters of that stream to multiply it many fold. At the time when the attention of the nation and of the world was centered on the tempest that had burst over the eastern portion of the Republic, a few hardy miners were prospecting the country around the upper tributaries of the Missouri in their ever-restless search for gold. It is a singular fact that the gold-bearing regions of western Montana, the very first in the mountain country to be extensively frequented by white men, should have been the last to give up the secret of their hidden wealth. For nearly twenty years emigration had been pouring into the West. The Mormons had settled a few hundred miles to the south. Settlement had gained a permanent foothold on the Pacific Coast from Mexico to the British line. The Pike’s Peak gold discoveries were rapidly filling up Colorado. The reflex wave of emigration was rolling back from the Pacific Coast across the Sierras and the Cascades into Nevada, eastern Oregon, and Idaho. But as yet there were no settlers to speak of in the mountains of Montana, and that country was still practically unknown to the general public. It is a remarkable fact that a section of country in that neighborhood, which is now considered the most wonderful in the world, was the very last of all the national domain to be discovered and explored.

FIRST SALE OF GOLD DUST.

The wave of gold discovery in the Northwest moved from the west toward the east. In 1860–61 it made known the rich deposits in Idaho on the Salmon and Clearwater rivers. Next came the findings just west of the Continental Divide, and then the rich discoveries on the head waters of the Missouri. The existence of placer deposits within the limits of the present State of Montana had been asserted as early as 1852. A Canadian half-breed of the name of Beneetse is said to have found pay dirt in that year on a small tributary of Deer Lodge River, one of the sources of the Columbia. The stream has since been known as Gold Creek, and the place of discovery is about fifty miles northwest of the modern city of Butte. Four years later, 1856, the discovery was confirmed by a party who were traveling from Great Salt Lake to the Bitter Root Valley. In the same year a man turned up at Fort Benton with what he asserted was golddust. He came from the mountains in the Southwest, most likely from the Deer Lodge Valley. None of the people at the post were gold experts, and they hesitated about receiving the dust; but Culbertson finally took it on his own responsibility, giving for it a thousand dollars’ worth of merchandise. Next year he sent it down the river, and it was found to be pure gold, worth fifteen hundred dollars. This was the first exchange of golddust in Montana.

The next step in the progress of discovery must be credited to James and Granville Stuart, two of Montana’s most distinguished pioneers. They had been spending the winter of 1857–58, with a number of other people, in the valley of the Bighole River, a tributary of the Missouri, and in the spring of 1858 went over to the Deer Lodge Valley to investigate the reported findings on Gold Creek. They remained there for a time and found paying prospects, but were so harassed by the Blackfeet Indians that they were compelled to leave. They moved to a safer locality, but here James Stuart met with an accident which came near proving fatal, and the two brothers left the country and went to Fort Bridger. Although they had made no great discovery, their report was considered as confirming those already made of the existence of gold in the Deer Lodge Valley.

Before these prospects were any further developed attention was wholly diverted to the important discoveries in Idaho already referred to. A great stampede to the Salmon and Clearwater rivers began. Emigrants poured in both by way of Salt Lake and the Missouri River, and an even larger inflow came from the Pacific Coast. But before the rush from the East had gathered full force discoveries in Montana arrested its course and held it permanently in a new and greater Eldorado.

BEGINNING OF MINING IN MONTANA.

In the winter of 1861–62 a considerable floating population, among them the Stuart brothers, remained in the Deer Lodge Valley. The Stuarts commenced sluicing in a systematic way on Gold Creek, and their work was the beginning of the gold-mining industry in Montana. Although nothing particularly remarkable was found, it was enough to attract attention, and reports soon got abroad that the findings were very rich. The greater part of the emigration from the East in the year 1862 was bound for the Idaho mines, but did not get beyond the Deer Lodge Valley, or other points in western Montana. Among these parties was one from Colorado, including J. M. Bozeman, for whom the town of Bozeman, in the beautiful Gallatin Valley, is named. The newcomers made a rich discovery on a branch of Gold Creek, which was named, from the place whence the party came, Pike’s Peak Gulch.

BANNOCK CITY.

Another party from Colorado, bound for the Idaho mines, were deflected north by the difficulty of getting through the Lemhi Mountains and by favorable reports from the Deer Lodge Valley. Two of their number discovered gold on Grasshopper Creek, in the southwestern corner of the present State of Montana. They carried the news to the main party, who had gone on to the Deer Lodge, and all returned to investigate the discovery. The report of the two men was found to be true, and prospecting in that part of the country was carried on extensively. This work resulted in the finding of a very rich deposit by a party under one White, for whom the spot was named White’s Bar. Here the town of Bannock sprang up, and before the end of the year boasted a population of five hundred souls. Other rich discoveries were made in that vicinity, while far to the north the deposits on the Big Prickly Pear Creek were found. It was now apparent that the whole country on the head waters of the Missouri abounded in gold, and the work of prospecting assumed enormous proportions.

NORTHERN OVERLAND EXPEDITION.

Two other important expeditions came from the East this season, bound for the Idaho mines, but were stopped in their course, like that from Colorado, by the new discoveries in Montana. One of these was the firm of La Barge, Harkness & Co. of St. Louis, and the other was a body of emigrants who accompanied what was known in its day as the Northern Overland Expedition from St. Paul. This expedition was of a semi-official character, under a Federal appropriation of five thousand dollars, and its ostensible object was to open a wagon road from St. Paul to Fort Benton. It was under the command of Captain James L. Fisk, who, a private soldier in the 3d Minnesota Volunteers, was appointed Captain and Quartermaster and placed in charge. About 125 emigrants accompanied the expedition. The journey was made in safety, and was full of interesting happenings. It contributed one of the most important additions ever made to population of the rising State.[47]

The spring of 1863 was marked by one of the most noted gold discoveries ever made. During the previous winter a considerable party, under the leadership of James Stuart, was organized at Bannock City, to explore and prospect the country on the sources of the Yellowstone. A portion of this party, including William Fairweather and Henry Edgar, went by the way of Deer Lodge Valley to secure horses, having fixed on the mouth of the Beaverhead River as the place of joining the main party. Through some unavoidable delay the smaller party did not arrive on time and Stuart went on without them. The Fairweather party discovered Stuart’s trail and made forced marches to overtake him. The route lay up the Gallatin Valley and across the divide to the Yellowstone, and thence down the valley of that stream. Soon after reaching the Yellowstone the smaller party were plundered by a band of Crows of everything except their guns and mining tools. The Indians had the generosity to give them in exchange for their mounts old broken-down horses of their own.

ALDER GULCH.

The party gave up their pursuit of Stuart and started back for Bannock City. On the 26th of May they stopped for noon on Alder Creek, a little branch of one of the main tributaries of Jefferson Fork of the Missouri. Here, as a result of a chance examination of a bar by two men, Fairweather and Edgar, the famous Alder Gulch discovery was made, and the richest placer deposit in the history of gold mining came to the knowledge of the world. The news of this wonderful discovery drew to the spot a large part of the population of the Territory, and the town of Virginia City sprang up as if in a night. For several years it was the principal town in the Territory and became its first capital. In less than two years it had grown to a city of ten thousand souls.

LAST CHANCE GULCH.

The next important discovery was made in the fall of 1864, in what was named at the time Last Chance Gulch. The deposits were very rich, and the history of Alder Gulch was re-enacted here. The town which arose on the spot was named Helena, and soon outgrew its sister to the south. It became, and for many years remained, the principal town of the Territory. In 1874 it was made the Territorial capital, and after Montana was admitted to the Union, it was made the permanent capital of the State.

Other discoveries followed those here mentioned, many of them rich and of permanent value, but none equaling those of Alder and Last Chance gulches. The Territory at once took rank with California and Colorado as a gold-producing territory, and has held its high place ever since.

The mighty metamorphosis which, in the space of five years, came over the country at the headwaters of the Missouri, produced an equally marvelous change in the commercial business of that stream. The river gave a sure highway for travel to within one hundred to two hundred miles of the mines. There was no other route that could compete with it, for this could carry freight from St. Louis to Fort Benton, in cargoes of one to five hundred tons, without breaking bulk. The emigrants themselves went in large numbers by overland routes, but a great number also by the boats; while nearly all merchandise, including every necessary of life, and all mining machinery and heavy freight, came by the river.

HIGH WATER MARK.

AN EXTRA­ORDINARY SCENE.

The steamboat trade jumped suddenly to enormous proportions. Prior to 1864 there had been only six steamboat arrivals at the levee of Fort Benton. In 1866 and 1867 there were seventy arrivals. The trade touched high-water mark in 1867, and at this time presented one of the most extraordinary developments known to the history of commerce. There were times when thirty or forty steamboats were on the river between Fort Benton and the mouth of the Yellowstone,[48] where all the way the river flowed amid scenes of wildness that were in the strictest sense primeval. To one who could have been set down in the unbroken wilderness along the banks of the river, where nothing dwelt except wild animals and wilder men, where the fierce Indian made life a constant peril, where no civilized habitation greeted the eye, it would have seemed marvelous and wholly inexplicable to find this river filled with noble craft, as beautiful as any that ever rode the ocean, stored with all the necessaries of civilization, and crowded with passengers as cultured, refined, and well dressed as the cabin list of an ocean steamer. What could it all mean? Whence came this handful of civilization and what brought it here? Certainly a most extraordinary scene, flashed for a moment before the world and then withdrawn forever.

PERILOUS VOYAGE.

It was not the steamboat alone, however, that made up the romantic history of Missouri navigation in these exciting times. There were every year many men from the mines who wanted to return to the States because they were weary of the country or wished to carry down the crude wealth which they had secured. The steamboats came up only in the spring, and if passengers were not ready to go down it was necessary to seek other conveyance. The usual resource in such cases was the mackinaw boat. It was a perfectly comfortable and very cheap mode of traveling, with only one drawback—danger from the Indians, who, at this time, were intensely hostile all along the river. It was regarded as a sort of forlorn hope to go down in an open boat, and yet many tried it every year. Generally they got through all right, with their precious freight, but there were some terrible tragedies as the penalty of such reckless daring.

Some statistics have survived showing the magnitude of the steamboat business on the Missouri River during these years. In the year 1865, 1000 passengers, 6000 tons of merchandise, and 20 quartz mills went to Fort Benton. In the year 1867 forty steamboats had passed Sioux City before June 1 on their way up the river. They carried over 12,000 tons of freight, most of it for Fort Benton. There was not much downstream traffic, although all the boats carried golddust. In 1866 one boat, the Luella, had on board $1,250,000 worth of dust.

FABULOUS PROFITS.

The profits of a successful voyage were enormous. The reported profits for some of the trips of 1866 were as follows: The St. John, $17,000; the Tacony, $16,000; the W. J. Lewis, $40,000; the Peter Balen, $65,000. In 1867 Captain La Barge cleared over $40,000 on the trip of the Octavia.

Freight rates from St. Louis to Fort Benton in 1866 were 12 cents per pound. Insurance rates were 6 1-2 per cent. in the case of sidewheel boats and 8 per cent with sternwheel boats. The fare for cabin passengers was $300. It was not everyone, however, who had a share in the high prices of those times. The master of the boat received $200 per month; the clerk $150; the mate and engineer each $125. The pilot was the only member of the crew who could command what salary he pleased. So indispensable were his services that as high as $1200 per month was paid for the best talent.

CHAPTER XXIII.
INCIDENTS ON THE RIVER (1862–67).

In the summer of 1863 a party of twenty-one men and three women went down the Missouri in a mackinaw boat from Fort Benton. They reached the vicinity of the mouth of Apple Creek, near where Bismarck, N. D., now stands, just as the Sioux Indians, whom General Sibley was driving out of Minnesota and across the country to the Missouri, arrived on the banks of that stream. They had just been defeated in three engagements with General Sibley and were in a very angry temper. They attacked the boat and fought the little party an entire day, and finally killed them all and sunk the boat. It was reported that the whites killed ninety-one Indians in the fight, and that the captain of the boat, whose name is supposed to have been Baker, “made such a brave defense that the Indians were struck with admiration for him and wanted to save him.” The boat had a large amount of golddust on board, and some of it was recovered by the Mandan and Aricara Indians. An air of mystery has always hung over this affair, and the details will probably never be known. For some unexplained reason, certain individuals who were believed to have had some knowledge of it refused to disclose anything.

THE STOLEN MACKINAW.

In 1864, while Captain La Barge was at Fort Benton, a number of miners applied to him to purchase a mackinaw boat. He refused to sell because he felt sure that it meant death to them to try to run the gantlet of the Indians in that way. They replied that they were afraid to go overland on account of road agents. The Captain told them they had less to fear from road agents than from Indians. The road agents might take their gold, but the Indians would spare neither treasure nor life. They were unconvinced, however, and as the Captain would not sell the boat, they stole it and set out. While passing a high cut bank, about thirty miles below Fort Berthold, where the channel ran close to the shore, they were attacked by a war party of Sioux and all killed. Pierre Garreau, the well-known interpreter, went down from Berthold and recovered a part of the golddust. La Barge saw some of it among the Indians the following year.

In 1865 the steamer St. Johns, on her way down the river, was attacked by the Indians and the mate instantly killed. The boat was under full headway and out of reach before it was possible to return fire.

SOWING THE WIND.

In the same year the General Grant lost three men. They had been sent ashore at a wooding place to make fast a line, when they were pounced upon by the Indians and killed.

On April 23, 1865, a band of Blood Indians near Fort Benton stole about forty horses belonging to a party of beaver-trappers, of whom Charley Carson, a nephew of “Kit” Carson, was one. On the night of May 22 these men, having gotten on a drunken spree, attacked a small party of Blood Indians who happened to be near Fort Benton, but were not known to be the thieves, killed three, and threw their bodies into the Missouri. The survivors fled toward the south and met a large band of warriors near Sun River, on their way north. Exasperated at the outrage upon their brethren, they were ready for any measure of revenge, and accident soon threw the desired opportunity in their way.

REAPING THE WHIRLWIND.

At the mouth of the Marias River lay the steamboat Cutter. A town site had been laid off at this point and named Ophir, and some timber had been cut in the valley of the Marias for use in the erection of buildings. The principal proprietor of the nascent village was a passenger on the Cutter, and the business of that boat seems to have been connected with the building of the town. On the afternoon of May 25, about half-past two o’clock, eight men left the boat with a wagon and three yoke of oxen to bring down some of the timber, and an hour later two men went on horseback to join them, for it was felt that there might be trouble from the Indians, and that the party should be as strong as possible. These men were all well armed. Their route lay up the valley of the Marias along its right bank, which they ascended about three miles. At this point the valley, which was quite broad below, narrowed to a width of four hundred yards. There was a growth of timber quite dense close to the river, but open farther back. Just above this point the bluffs crowded close upon the river, seamed with ravines and gullies, like all the river bluffs along the Missouri. The roadway at the foot of these bluffs was very narrow.

Beyond this defile the valley opened out again, and there was another belt of timber. In the upper opening the Indians seem to have been in camp and to have been discovered by the wood-choppers just as the latter were passing the defile. It was probably the same band which we have noted as being near Sun River two days before. The wagons were instantly turned about, although in a most disadvantageous situation. The Indians saw the whites at about the same time. They were lying in wait for another party with a mule train, and were intending, after attacking it, to try to take the steamboat. As soon as they saw the wood-choppers they at once attacked them and killed every man and captured all the property. The bodies of the slain were found scattered along the river, fifty to one hundred yards apart, except one, that of N. W. Burroughs, which was found half a mile further downstream, where he was overtaken on his flight to the boat. Of the Indians the head chief and one other were killed and a third dangerously wounded. The Indians, to the number of about two hundred, immediately moved toward the British line.

ENTIRE PARTY SLAIN.

The attack occurred about four o’clock and the firing was distinctly heard on the boat. A party prepared to go out and investigate when a hunter came riding in from the bluffs, saying that the whites were being assailed by a large party of Indians. Three scouts set out immediately, and after proceeding about two miles and a half found the body of Mr. Burroughs. It being certain that all the rest had been killed, and not knowing where the Indians were, it was not thought best to go farther at the time. Next morning a party went out with wagons and brought in the bodies, all of which were found. They were buried in one grave, side by side, with a head board giving the names and date.[49]

YANKEE JACK AGAIN.

Captain La Barge arrived at the mouth of the Marias on the Effie Deans soon after this affair and saw the fresh graves. He remembered the circumstance particularly, because, among the guard, which had been stationed there after the massacre, was the identical “Yankee Jack” who had whipped the two Irishmen on the Robert Campbell in 1863.

About September, 1865, eight men left Fort Benton in a skiff for the States. They were attacked by some forty Indians near the mouth of Milk River and five of their number were killed. The fight lasted over five hours. One of the men who was killed, T. A. Kent by name, is said to have actually killed thirteen Indians before he himself fell.

In the year 1866 there were several noted open-boat voyages down the river. One of these was made by a party of ten miners, who purchased a mackinaw at Fort Benton in which to transport themselves and their golddust. When in camp on an island about sixty miles above Fort Randall, one of the men, of the name of Thompson, got up in the night, took an ax, killed one companion and wounded another. He was apparently bent on the destruction of the entire party. The rest of the men, suddenly awakened by the cries of their comrades, and believing that they were attacked by Indians, rushed to the boat with the wounded man and made off, leaving the murderer and his victim alone on the island. Whether robbery was the motive of the deed, or whether it was caused by insanity, was never known.

More fortunate was another mackinaw party that went down the same season. It consisted of seventeen men, and made the trip from Fort Benton to Sioux City in twenty-two days. They brought down over two hundred thousand dollars in golddust.

The third party of this season consisted of one man in a yawl and about twenty others in a mackinaw. They made the entire trip without loss, although they were attacked, some 225 miles below Benton, by about five hundred Blackfeet. The river was in flood stage, and thanks to its great width and swift current the boats were able to keep out of range of the Indians and to pass quickly beyond their reach.

HUBBELL’S MACKINAW.

The most important mackinaw trip ever made down the river was in 1866 under the leadership of J. B. Hubbell of the firm of Hawley & Hubbell. Hubbell had advertised that his steamboat would leave Fort Benton on her second trip about September 15, promising, if she did not get to Fort Benton, to take the passengers down in a mackinaw until they met her. As late as October 20 she had not appeared, and accordingly about thirty passengers started down in a mackinaw. The boat was a very elaborate one, built for this particular trip. It was eighty feet long, twelve feet beam, housed in on both sides by bulletproof walls for a distance of fifty feet, with sleeping bunks along the sides, and open spaces at bow and stern for managing the boat. Two masts rigged with square sails were provided.

A SUCCESSFUL VOYAGE.

The boat was run until after dark every night and was started before daylight in the morning. Wherever possible she was tied to a snag out in the stream for the night so as to make it impossible for the Indians to attack by surprise. When the party arrived at Fort Union they learned that the steamer had been up, but had gone back. After some deliberation it was decided to undertake the rest of the journey and trust to luck not to be caught by the ice. Everyone took a hand at the oars and rapid progress was made. Game was plentiful and the boat was full of golddust, and in spite of the fear of ice and Indians the party were in the best of spirits. They arrived at Sioux City November 22, with the river running full of ice. Two days later and they would have been frozen in. Mr. Hubbell received $175 per passenger.[50]

THE LOST NEGRO BOYS.

INCREDIBLE ENDURANCE.

A singular incident happened in the summer of 1867, growing out of the wreck of one of the river boats. In July of that year the steamer Trover was wrecked at a point 240 miles below Fort Benton. The Ida Stockdale happened along about the time, took her freight and passengers to Benton, and on the way back took off her machinery and carried it to St. Louis. When she left the wreck there were two colored boys asleep in the hold, and the boat went off without knowing they were there. On waking up and finding themselves alone, without a thing to eat or any means of defense, and surrounded by a wilderness wholly unknown to them, they were completely paralyzed with fright; but recovering their presence of mind they saw that they must find some relief immediately or they would die of starvation. They left the wreck and started down the river. In crossing a small tributary of the Missouri one of the boys was drowned. The other kept on night and day, most of the time back from the river, to avoid the bends and the swamps and underbrush. He had nothing to eat except a little bark and some flower blossoms and did not stop a moment for sleep. His keeping back from the river caused him to miss the boats and trading posts. Finally, almost famished and exhausted, he beat his way through a dense willow growth to the bank of the river in the hope that some boat would come along before he should die. Shortly afterward a steamer hove in sight—the Sunset—on her way up the river. She was a veritable sunrise to the poor boy, who began waving an old white hat, almost the only article of clothing he had left. The people on the boat saw the signal and sent the yawl out and brought the boy in. His face was almost raw from mosquito bites, and he was so weak that he could scarcely stand. He was found at a point twenty-five miles below Fort Rice, or 642 miles, by river channel, below where the Trover was wrecked. He traveled this distance in nine days. With all the cut-offs duly allowed for, he must have averaged seventy miles a day during this time, and all the while without food. Were it not that the facts seem well established, such an example of physical endurance would be incredible.[51] The name of this little hero was Frederick Good and his home was in St. Louis.

CHAPTER XXIV.
LA BARGE AGAIN IN OPPOSITION.

With a view to entering, upon a large scale, into the newly developing business at the head waters of the Missouri, the firm of La Barge, Harkness & Co. was formed in St. Louis in the winter of 1861–62. The members were Joseph La Barge, Eugene Jaccard, James Harkness, John B. La Barge, and Charles E. Galpin. Each partner put in ten thousand dollars. Two steamboats were purchased—Captain La Barge’s boat, the Emilie, and a light-draft boat, the Shreveport. In the division of duties and responsibilities among the partners Jaccard was to attend to the affairs of the firm in St. Louis, the La Barges were to manage the steamboat business, Galpin was to look after the trade along the river, and Harkness was to go to the mines with an outfit of merchandise, and was to remain there and develop a business with those rapidly growing communities.

VOYAGE OF 1862.

When it was known that Captain La Barge was to make a spring trip to Benton, he was overwhelmed with applications, not merely from those who wanted to go to the mines, but from business men and capitalists who wished to join the enterprise. He could easily have organized a capital of a million dollars, but he adhered to his first plan and pushed his preparations with vigor. The Shreveport was first gotten ready to sail and left port April 30, 1862. Captain John La Barge was master. The Emilie followed on the 14th of May.

As a performance in steamboating the voyage of the Emilie was a great success. She was loaded to the guards with some 350 tons of freight and 160 passengers. Captain La Barge himself had never been more than a hundred miles above Fort Union; yet he made the whole trip, 2300 miles, in a little less than thirty-two days, and would have finished it sooner but for the fact that he had to help the Shreveport the last hundred miles of the distance. The boats arrived at Fort Benton at noon June 17, and at 6 A. M., June 19, the Emilie started down the river, reaching St. Louis on the 3d of July. Her speed up averaged 71 miles per day; down, 152 miles.

A DESPERATE GAME.

An exciting incident of the trip was the passing of the American Fur Company’s boat, the Spread Eagle. The new opposition of La Barge, Harkness & Co. was a formidable one, and the Company bestirred itself with unusual vigor to be first on the ground with its annual outfit. The Spread Eagle left St. Louis with three days the start, but was overtaken by the Emilie near Fort Berthold. For the next two days the boats were near each other most of the time. The day after leaving Berthold the Emilie passed her rival for good. When the officers of the Spread Eagle saw that they were beaten they played a desperate game, which showed to what lengths the Company’s servants would go when it was a matter of rivalry in trade.

THE “SPREAD EAGLE” RACE.

At the point where the race took place there was a towhead (a newly formed island) which at the stage of the river then prevailing was covered with water. The main channel, and at ordinary stages the only channel, passed on the right-hand side going up, and this channel the Spread Eagle took. But the water was now high enough to give a good channel on the other side of the towhead. As the distance by this channel was somewhat shorter, and as the Emilie was the faster boat anyway, it was a good chance to get well ahead and out of the way. La Barge promptly seized the opportunity. The pilot of the Spread Eagle with quick eye realized that he had been out-maneuvered, and seeing no other way to prevent the Emilie’s passage, determined upon wrecking her. He accordingly left the main channel and made for the chute that the Emilie was entering. He steamed alongside of her for a moment, but found that he was losing ground.[52] The boats were scarcely fifty feet apart, when the pilot of the Spread Eagle, seeing that he could not make it, deliberately put his rudder to port, and plunged the bow of the boat into the Emilie immediately opposite her boilers. Several of the guards were broken and the danger of wreck was imminent. La Barge was in the pilot-house at the time and was not looking for such a move, for he did not believe that even the American Fur Company would play so desperate a game when human life was at stake. He instantly called out to Bailey, the pilot of the Spread Eagle, to stop his engines and drop his boat back or he would put a bullet through him. The passengers likewise became thoroughly aroused, and some of them got their arms and threatened to use them if the Spread Eagle did not withdraw. These threats were effective; the Spread Eagle fell to the rear and was seen no more on the voyage. She was four days behind at Benton, and a week on the whole trip. She lost four men on one of the rapids by the grossest carelessness. A crew had gone to the head of the rapids to plant a deadman,[53] and having finished this work dropped down to the boat in their yawl. Instead of passing alongside of the steamer they made directly for the bow, and on reaching the boat the swift current instantly rolled the yawl under and the crew were drowned.

LA BARGE’S GENEROSITY.

When the Spread Eagle returned to St. Louis charges were preferred against Bailey for having attempted to wreck the Emilie. He was brought to trial before the steamboat inspector and his license was canceled. It was a hard blow to him, for steamboating was his trade, and he had a large family to support. About a month afterward he went to La Barge saying that he had been trying to get the inspector to reinstate him, but that he would not do it except upon La Barge’s recommendation. Bailey admitted his guilt, but said that he had acted at the instigation of the Company’s agents, and he begged La Barge to reinstate him for the sake of his wife and children. The Captain was never good at resisting appeals of this sort, and he accordingly went to the inspector and got Bailey reinstated.

CHOUTEAU IN DOUBT.

When the Emilie was reported as back from her trip, the old gentleman Chouteau sent his carriage to bring La Barge to the office.

“At what point did you turn back?” he asked when La Barge arrived, for the phenomenally quick trip indicated that the Emilie did not reach Fort Benton.

“Fort Benton, sir,” replied La Barge.

“Tut, tut! I know you could not have done that. Tell me candidly where you left your trip.”

“Fort Benton, sir.”

“We’ll see about it. I don’t believe it, don’t believe it.”

“Sorry you doubt my word, but it is nevertheless true.”

“Where did you leave the Spread Eagle?”

“’Way below Benton; found her cordelling.”

“Well, if you got to Fort Benton you made a good trip; but I don’t believe it.”

As soon as Captain La Barge reached St. Louis he loaded his boat with merchandise for the new posts along the river, intending to go back until he should meet the Shreveport, a much lighter-draft vessel, and transfer the cargo to her for the rest of the trip. The Shreveport left Fort Benton July 6, and met the Emilie at Sioux City. The transfer of cargo and passengers was made, and the Emilie returned to St. Louis. The Shreveport went as high as the mouth of Milk River, the farthest of the new posts except that near Fort Benton. After the Emilie’s return from her second voyage she went to work for the government, carrying stores from St. Louis to Memphis, and remained in this service all winter.

The river portion of the season’s operations of the new firm had been a complete success. Three large cargoes had been sent up the river, two to Fort Benton and one to the lower posts. Of these posts there were four—La Framboise, near old Fort Pierre; another near Fort Berthold; Fort Stuart, near the mouth of Poplar River, and Fort Galpin, near the mouth of Milk River. It remains to notice what was done at Fort Benton and in the projected expedition to the mines.

FORT LA BARGE.

The operations at Fort Benton and beyond were placed in the hands of Mr. Harkness. The first step was to build a post at Fort Benton, where it was intended to locate the principal establishment of the firm. The site chosen was near the spot where the Grand Union Hotel later stood. The work was begun June 28, Mrs. La Barge driving the first stake. The inclosure was made three hundred feet long by two hundred feet wide, and the post was named Fort La Barge.

HARKNESS VISITS THE MINES.

Before the Shreveport set out to return to St. Louis, a considerable party made an excursion to the Great Falls of the Missouri. Among them were Father De Smet, Eugene Jaccard, member of the firm; Giles Filley of St. Louis, and his son, Frank; Mrs. John La Barge, Miss Harkness, W. G. Harkness, Tom La Barge, and Mrs. Culbertson, the Indian wife of the noted trader. Mrs. La Barge and Miss Harkness are supposed to be the first white women to have seen the Great Falls of the Missouri. Four days after their return the Shreveport left for St. Louis, taking with them all who had come up only for the trip.

LA BARGE CITY.

The Shreveport having gone, and affairs at Fort La Barge being well under way, Harkness set out July 9 with an ox train laden with assorted merchandise for the mines in the Deer Lodge Valley. When the boat left St. Louis it was expected to go to the Salmon River mines, but the recent discoveries in Montana gave a better prospect nearer home. In fact the demand for goods, even at Fort Benton, was brisk, and the firm had carried on a thriving trade ever since the arrival of the boats. Harkness followed the usual trail up the Missouri River and Little Prickly Pear Creek, through the broad valley on the border of which the city of Helena now stands, and thence to the valley of the Deer Lodge. Nothing of unusual note transpired on the trip. Harkness did not like the experience, except the trout fishing. His journal is full of complaints at the hardship he was compelled to undergo, and he plaintively asks if he “will ever live to reap the benefit.” He generally “nooned at 11 A. M.” in order to “catch trout for dinner.” He reached the Deer Lodge Valley July 23, near the point where the town of that name now stands.[54] Here he found a fellow passenger on the Emilie, Nicholas Wall of St. Louis, who had reached the mines some days before, and who was destined to figure prominently in the future affairs of La Barge, Harkness & Co.

After remaining in this section and prospecting around for eleven days, Harkness grew disgusted at the prospect, placed such of his goods as he did not sell in the hands of Nick Wall to be sold on commission, and set out for the Missouri “glad to be on the road home.” On the Sun River he met the Northern Overland Expedition from St. Paul. He visited the Great Falls on his way down, and arrived at Fort La Barge August 18. Harkness was now “tired and out of spirits,” and “adjusted his expense accounts and turned over everything to the store.” He had evidently had enough of this kind of life, and forthwith ordered “a boat built to go down the river.” The boat was launched August 26 and was christened the Maggie. Harkness lost no time in getting away, and left Fort La Barge at 4 A. M. on the 28th. No incidents occurred on this trip which are of much interest. The party reached Omaha September 30, where Harkness “sold the Maggie for five dollars,” and took passage on the Robert Campbell to St. Joseph. From that point he went by rail and the Mississippi River to St. Louis, where he arrived October 6.

INCOMPETENT HANDS.

The foregoing details, taken entirely from the diary of Harkness, show in what unfit hands the important business of the company in the upper country had been intrusted. From his arrival at Fort Benton until his departure was only two months and a half, including a trip of several hundred miles to the Montana mining regions. Only eleven days did he spend in establishing his trade in that section, the most important point of all, and then practically gave his goods away to Nick Wall, for the company never received a cent for anything left with that gentleman. Yet Harkness was the partner who was to remain in the upper country two years. “He was back in St. Louis almost as soon as I was,” said La Barge, with just indignation, in commenting on the affair.

FIRST SEASON’S OPERATIONS.

Such were the first season’s operations of the firm of La Barge, Harkness & Co. In most respects the firm had made a brilliant beginning. The prospects in the river portion of the business were all that could be asked. Only Harkness’ weak management of his part of the enterprise can be criticised. He was not the man for the place, and lacked the courage and hardihood for that kind of work, and he threw away an opportunity from which a more enterprising man would have made a fortune.

CHAPTER XXV.
VOYAGE OF 1863—THE TOBACCO GARDEN MASSACRE.

DISASTROUS DELAY.

Deferring for the present our narrative of the fortunes of La Barge, Harkness & Co., we shall recount one of those mournful tragedies and one of those instances of official corruption which marked the later history of the Indian tribes along the Missouri River. When Captain La Barge, in the spring of 1863, undertook to leave the government service on the Mississippi, to get ready for his trip to Fort Benton, he was told by the Quartermaster in St. Louis that he could not have the boat, for the government had further use for it. Not having time to go to Washington to see about it, he sold the boat for twenty thousand dollars to the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, and left to that company the task of securing its release. He then chartered the Robert Campbell, and, with the Shreveport, prepared for a voyage to Fort Benton. It proved to be a notable trip. The cargo and passenger lists of the Shreveport were made up almost exclusively for the mines and for the posts of La Barge, Harkness & Co. The Campbell was loaded with annuities for the Sioux, Crows, Blackfeet, and Assiniboines, together with some other freight, making a cargo of nearly five hundred tons. The Shreveport got away from port in the latter part of April, but the Campbell was subjected to annoying and even disastrous delay by the failure of the annuities to arrive on time. Captain La Barge, who had the contract to transport the annuities, had been ordered to have his boat in readiness on the 1st of April. The goods did not arrive, and he was held in St. Louis for forty-two days before he could start on the long journey. It was considered of the highest importance to start as soon as the ice disappeared in order that the trip, both coming and going, could be made during high water. As the year 1863 happened to be a low-water year, the delay which Captain La Barge suffered made it impossible to complete the voyage. Even on the 12th of May, the day of starting, only a portion of the goods had arrived, and the rest were taken on at St. Joseph, whither they were sent by rail.

LA BARGE ROCK

The boat proceeded on her way, determined to accomplish the trip if it were possible to do so. The water was unusually low for that time of year, and it took nearly a month to get to Sioux City, which ought to have been reached easily in a third of the time. Owing to the great danger from guerrillas below Kansas City, a force of thirty soldiers accompanied the boat as far as St. Joseph, Mo. This precaution was very timely. Every boat that was met in the lower river reported attacks with occasional loss of life. Owing to the presence of soldiers on the Robert Campbell, and Captain La Barge’s precaution to anchor midstream at night instead of lying at the bank, he got through all right. At Miami and at Cogswell’s Landing parties tried to board the boat, but without success.

INDIANS HOSTILE.

Among the passengers on the Campbell were two Indian agents, Henry W. Reed and Samuel M. Latta, the former for the Blackfeet tribes and the latter for the Sioux, Crows, Mandans, and other tribes in that region. Henry A. Boller, whose work, “Among the Indians,” achieved some notoriety in its time, was likewise on board, as were also Alexander Culbertson and his Blackfoot wife. In all there were some thirty passengers, and this number was considerably increased at the various landings as far up as Sioux City. The value of the annuity goods on board was upwards of seventy thousand dollars.

CHEATING THE INDIANS.

The Indians all along the Missouri above the Niobrara were at this time intensely hostile, but knowing that their annuity goods were about to arrive, they held aloof from any desperate measures until these were received. It would have been a wise thing to have sent a company of troops all the way on this important trip, but not a soldier was to be had. The boat reached Fort Pierre June 20, and here several of the Sioux bands were assembled to receive their annuities. It appears that the Two Kettles band were in a great state of exasperation over the recent killing of eight of their number by the soldiers near Fort Randall. After a considerable amount of parleying the distribution of the annuities commenced, but for some reason, which Captain La Barge never heard explained, only a portion (about two-thirds, as he estimated it) of the goods to which the Indians were entitled were put off. The Indians could not be deceived in the matter and were very angry. They went to the Captain and appealed to him to see justice done them. They had the fullest confidence in him, for they had known him for years, and he had always treated them honestly. He was now helpless, however, and could only tell them that he was under the orders of the agent and had no control whatever over the goods. They then assured him that they should follow the boat and cause it all the trouble they could, but they would not harm him if they could avoid it.

REVENGEFUL SPIRIT OF THE INDIANS.

They were as good as their word. All the way from Pierre to Union, six hundred miles, these Indians followed the boat. It is a remarkable fact, when we stop to think of it—this pursuit of a steamboat on its laborious voyage through the Western prairies, seeking at every turn to destroy it and kill its passengers and crew. There was some deep and far-reaching cause that could create and support so bitter and vindictive a spirit as this. The warning of the Indians to Captain La Barge was taken by him at its full value. The boat was thoroughly barricaded with the cargo by piling it so as to protect the vulnerable points, and all the firearms on board were made ready for use. These precautions proved to be of the highest importance. At every woodpile Indians appeared and attacked the crew. At every favorable point shots were fired into the boat. On one occasion a bullet passed through the pilot-house, barely missing the pilot, Atkins, who was at the wheel. We shall relate some incidents that occurred on the way to Union, one more comical than serious, but one tragic and deplorable as any in frontier history.

THE UPRIGHT HAT.

The Shreveport had gone up the river in advance of the Robert Campbell, but being unable, on account of low water, to get beyond Snake Point, or Cow Island, 130 miles below Fort Benton, had discharged her cargo on the bank and had returned down the river. She met the Robert Campbell at Apple Creek, thirteen miles below Bismarck, and was there stopped by Captain La Barge. A part of the cargo of the larger boat was transferred to the Shreveport, and the two then proceeded up the river, the Shreveport being sometimes ahead and sometimes in rear. The hunter on the Shreveport was Louis Dauphin, already referred to as one of the bravest men and most noted characters of the upper country. He now acted as hunter for both boats. It was his custom to go along ahead of the boat, beating up the country and securing whatever game was worth stopping the boat for. Whatever he killed, as an elk or deer, he would hang on a pole or tree near the bank where it could be seen from the boat, and would then continue his hunt. One day about noon Captain La Barge’s eye, which was constantly studying the river ahead, fell upon a curious object floating downstream. It looked like a hat, but, strange to say, was standing upright on the water, with no tendency to sink at all. It caused the Captain no little perplexity. In the windy country of the Missouri it was no uncommon thing for hats to be blown into the river, but he had never before seen one ride like that. He followed it with his glass until it was near the boat, when up it rose, securely perched on the head of a swimmer who proved to be no other than the hunter Dauphin. “I had to take to the water this time,” he said as he climbed on board. “They were too many for me. You are going to have trouble at the Tobacco Garden. The Indians are gathered there to the number of at least fifteen hundred and intend to capture the boat.” The general amusement which Dauphin’s subaqueous adventure had caused on the boat was quickly dispelled by the sad fulfillment of the predictions which he brought back.

A DISASTROUS SURPRISE.

Just above the mouth of Rising Water Creek the boats stopped to wood, and were hailed by some Grosventres (of the Missouri, Minnetarees) who offered some meat if a boat were sent out for it. These Indians, a friendly tribe, had been out hunting for two weeks and were just returning well laden with meat. The women had made some bullboats and were about to ferry it over the river. The men had meanwhile turned most of their horses out to graze, keeping only one each fastened by lariats. Some meat was exchanged for coffee and other articles and the Robert Campbell resumed her voyage. Just as she was starting one of the squaws uttered a piercing scream, and the people on the boat saw a Sioux Indian riding at full speed for the Grosventre herd, brandishing a red cloth, and followed by a large body of his tribe. The Grosventre squaws took to their boats and the men to the tied horses. The Campbell drew in to the bank and took men and horses on board and set them across the river. The poor Grosventres lost nearly their entire herd and all the fruits of their hunt.

THE TOBACCO GARDEN.

The name “Tobacco Garden” on the Missouri River designated the bottoms at the outlet of Tobacco Creek, on the left or north bank of the river, eighty-eight miles below the mouth of the Yellowstone. The origin of the name is uncertain, but the place has long been well known to river men. Near this point, but on the opposite shore, was a bottom, covered with large trees, but open and free of underbrush. The south bank of the river was a “caving bank,” or one that was being undermined by the river. At this time there was a very narrow beach at the water’s edge, above which the bank rose perpendicularly to a height of six or eight feet. The channel was close to the shore and a boat in passing had to come within thirty or forty yards of the bank. Even if anchored to the sandbar immediately opposite, it could not get more than sixty yards away. It was an ideal place to “hold up” a boat, and the Indians were shrewd enough to understand this perfectly.

LATTA NOT AFRAID.

It was toward noon of the 7th of July that the two boats hove in sight of the Tobacco Garden, and there, true to Dauphin’s prediction, they beheld on the south shore a large body of Indians assembled with the evident purpose of stopping them. There was no use in trying to run a gantlet like that, and accordingly the boats made fast to the opposite sandbar, the Shreveport about one hundred yards below the Robert Campbell. A parley ensued with the Indians, who were so near that it was perfectly practicable to talk back and forth. La Barge asked them what they wanted. They said they wanted the balance of their annuities; they wanted no trouble, but simply their just dues. The agent refused them the goods, but “requested the Captain to send his yawl and bring aboard some of the chiefs and head men that we could have a talk and ... make them a present of sugar, coffee, tobacco, etc., and by this means quiet them.” The Indians likewise wanted the yawl to be sent out, but wanted the agent to go with it. They would then send their principal chiefs back with him to the boat, where everything could be talked over. They were very shrewd, and the agent almost fell into the trap.[55] The Captain told him that he could not possibly think of ordering the yawl out, considering the disposition of the Indians and their evident purpose of mischief. Latta replied: “Why, I’ll go; I’m not afraid.” “All right,” answered the Captain, “if you can get volunteers; I will not order a crew out.” They then went to the mate, Miller by name, and a crew was made up to take Latta to the shore. When the yawl was ready the Captain sent word to the agent, who had disappeared upstairs. The latter sent back a reply that he was suddenly taken ill and could not possibly go, but to send the men and bring the chiefs on board.[56]

A BRAVE CREW.

The crew of the Robert Campbell were not lacking in physical courage, and the necessary force to man the yawl was easily made up. It was a little after noon when the yawl left the boat. There is no truth in the statements of Boller and Larpenteur that the men were forced to go and clung to the side of the steamer until the mate threatened to cut off their fingers if they did not let go. It was easy enough for them to get out of going if they chose to. The crew of the yawl consisted of seven men. The steersman, a gallant fellow of the name of Andy Stinger, sat in the stern. Two men of the names of O’Mally and Chris Sharky sat in the bow. There were four oarsmen, one of them a young man of the name of Martin, and the other, one of the Irishmen who had been whipped by “Yankee Jack,” as related elsewhere. The yawl put off, and as the distance was very short, it quickly reached the opposite shore. It struck the beach head on and then swung around under the force of the current, so that it lay alongside of the bank.[57]

ANDY STINGER’S PRESENCE OF MIND.

A chief and three Indians were under the cut bank on the beach when the yawl arrived. One of the Indians stood exactly opposite Stinger, with a gun in his hand covered with a leather case. The other two Indians were armed with spears. The chief was a fierce-looking man, and it seemed as if his eye would pierce one through and through. Stinger motioned him to get into the yawl. The men meanwhile were sitting quietly with their oars across their laps. The chief gave some quick directions and in an instant the two Indians with spears jumped into the boat and the one with the gun stripped the leather case off. Stinger knew what this meant, and with great presence of mind instantly threw himself into the water on the river side of the boat, where it was fortunately four or five feet deep. Slipping up along the boat he seized it by the gunwale amidships and dragged it from the bank. The movement, however, quick as it was, was not quick enough. The two young bucks who had leaped into the boat thrust their spears into the bodies of two of the oarsmen, killing them instantly. A third was killed by the Indian with the gun, who had missed his chance at Stinger, and a fourth was severely wounded by an arrow from the bank. The two men in the bow instantly threw themselves into the bottom of the yawl.

BOATS RETURN FIRE.

The Indians had no time to carry the attack further. The crews of both the steamboats were watching with breathless anxiety the progress of events. When they saw Stinger jump into the water they thought him killed. Someone exclaimed, “There goes Andy,” and instantly both boats responded with their entire armament. This included two howitzers on the hurricane deck of the Robert Campbell and one on the Shreveport, together with weapons of various sorts belonging to the passengers and crew. One rattle-brained Irishman was so upset that he brandished his revolver in the air, firing off into space without the slightest regard as to the whereabouts of the enemy. The fire, on the whole, was very effective. Numbers of the Indians were seen to fall, and Captain La Barge afterward learned through Pierre Garreau, the interpreter at Fort Berthold, that there were eighteen men and twenty horses killed and many wounded. The Indians soon withdrew, and in about an hour some were seen trying to get water for their wounded near a pile of driftwood half a mile below. It was an intensely sultry day. The howitzers were turned on them and they disappeared.

ANDY ANGRY.

Returning to the yawl, we find that Andy Stinger, protected behind the gunwale, was steadily pulling the boat into the stream and swimming toward the sandbar as the current drifted him down. When about halfway across he called to the men to get up, while he himself climbed into the yawl, which was then rowed to the bank. The people on the two boats were so absorbed with the battle that no one thought of going to the assistance of the yawl crew. The wounded man and the two who were unharmed got out and walked up the beach. Stinger was thus left alone to drag the yawl and its mournful cargo up alongside the boat. This apparent neglect fired him to a desperate pitch, and he let go some powerful language to the mate and others of the crew. Captain La Barge presently came aft and looked into the yawl. He said not a word, but turned away shaking his head in a manner that showed plainly enough what was passing in his mind.

HERO OF THE TOBACCO GARDEN.

Such was the celebrated “affair at the Tobacco Garden.” After the return to St. Louis Captain La Barge was talking to a friend about it when Andy Stinger happened to pass by. He said, loud enough for Andy to hear: “There goes the hero of the Tobacco Garden.” The brave steersman treasured up these words as his proudest title during the rest of his life. Long years passed away before Captain La Barge heard from him again. He did not even know whether his old boatman was still alive when, in the fall of 1896, thirty-three years after the massacre, he received a most cordial and affectionate letter from him,[58] and two years later had the pleasure of meeting him again.

LA BARGE’S CRITICISM.

Commenting upon the affair at the Tobacco Garden, Captain La Barge said:

“This event was one which could not have happened under ordinary circumstances. Master of both boat and cargo, I should never have permitted the yawl to go ashore. I was under orders of the agent in everything except the mere handling of the boat, and was bound to give him such opportunities to meet the Indians as he desired. I had gone to the extreme of my freedom of action when I refused to order a crew to go ashore for him, but could not well decline to let men volunteer. It was a lamentable affair, and one of the many crimes which must ever lie at the door of the Department of Indian Affairs in Washington. Here was an agent who gave every evidence of being corrupt and in collusion with the Fur Company, for he retained about a third of the annuities due the Indians and stored them in the Company’s warehouse, from which they never reached the Indians except in exchange for robes, as in the case of private merchandise. Moreover, the agent was utterly ignorant of Indian character, full of the self-assurance which goes with ignorance, and not knowing himself what to do became the passive tool of the crafty and trained agents of the company.”[59]

CHARLES LARPENTEUR.

About 3 P. M. the boats resumed their voyage, as the Indians had entirely disappeared. On the following morning the burial of the victims took place at a point about forty-seven miles above the Tobacco Garden. They were buried on an eminence on the south side of the river nearly opposite the mouth of Little Muddy Creek, and a cedar cross was planted at the head of their grave. The boat then pursued her way up the river and arrived at the mouth of the Yellowstone on the 8th of July. Here the Indians were seen again, and a few shots were fired by them at the boats, but no injury was done.

HEAVY RESPON­SI­BILITY.

The herculean labors of Captain La Barge on this memorable voyage won the plaudits of all who observed them. He seemed to be everywhere present, and the only man on whom reliance could be placed. “We got to the mouth of the Yellowstone,” says agent Reed, “after the most untiring efforts, especially on the part of Captain La Barge, who seemed to know the only channel to be found in the Missouri.” The Captain was constantly exposed to danger, and personally conducted all soundings of the river, going far from the boat with a few men in the yawl. The responsibility resting upon him was very great. The lives of the passengers, the safety of his valuable cargo, the danger from the Indians if their expected goods should be lost, and his own large pecuniary stake in the voyage, all rested upon his own shoulders.

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE BLACKFOOT ANNUITIES.

A BAD PREDICAMENT.

OFFICIAL REPORTS.

At the mouth of the Yellowstone the voyage of the Robert Campbell came abruptly to an end. There was only a depth of two feet over the Yellowstone bar, and it was a physical impossibility to proceed. The annuities had now been delivered to the lower tribes so far as Captain La Barge was concerned, but there still remained undelivered those going to the Crows, Assiniboines, and Blackfeet. The annuities for the first of these tribes were to be delivered wherever these Indians could be found, but those of the Blackfeet were to be delivered at Fort Benton. Fortunately, the Assiniboines came in while the boats were at the Yellowstone, and their annuities were delivered. Dr. Reed, the agent for the Blackfeet, then advised La Barge to abandon the idea of going further, and to store the goods at Fort Union until the following spring. This the Captain was very loath to do. He knew only too well the complications that might arise, particularly as such a course compelled him to place himself in any degree within the power of the American Fur Company. It seemed, however, the only thing to do. The Robert Campbell simply could not get any further. The Shreveport had not been able to get above Snake Point, and since that time the water had fallen materially. It was now the 8th of July, and no further rise could be expected; in fact no boats reached Benton that year. The only alternative to storing the goods was to haul them by wagon to their destination, and for this purpose the transportation could not be had. The Captain very reluctantly concluded to follow the agent’s advice, particularly as the bulk of annuities were for the Indians belonging to his own agency. An arrangement was made with William Hodgkiss,[60] agent of the American Fur Company, and five days were consumed in transferring the cargo to the warehouse. Full receipts were given by Agent Hodgkiss, and these were witnessed by Captain W. B. Greer, U. S. Army. In addition to the receipts the Captain secured from Agent Reed a written statement of the circumstances in order that his action might have the fullest explanation possible. In those days, when the government felt that it was being robbed right and left by dishonest contractors, and every claim was looked upon with suspicion, the adjustment of any matter of that sort was extremely difficult, and the innocent were made to suffer with the guilty.[61]

THE “SHREVEPORT” IMPRESSED.

AT WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT.

As soon as the business at Fort Union was cleared up the two boats turned their prows down the river and made the best of their way toward the lower country. When they arrived at Crow Creek, eighty-two miles below Pierre, they met General Sully, who was engaged in his expedition against the hostile Sioux. The General invited La Barge to his tent and told him he should have to impress one of the boats into his service for a time. As the Shreveport was much the lighter boat it was considered best to take her. Captain La Barge’s brother, however, absolutely refused to remain, and accordingly Captain La Barge had to. It was also necessary to use military authority to secure a crew. The Robert Campbell then went on her way to St. Louis, and Captain La Barge commenced hauling supplies for General Sully. He went up as far as the mouth of the Little Cheyenne, and there awaited the result of General Sully’s expedition, which was a victorious battle with the Indians. He then dropped down below old Fort Pierre, when he was ordered to proceed to Fort Leavenworth and report to General Easton. By that officer he was directed to take a cargo to Sioux City. Though late in the season, the trip was successfully accomplished. Captain La Barge then returned to St. Louis, where he arrived late in November, and reported to the commanding officer at that point. He had now been continuously at work for over six months, during one of the most trying seasons ever experienced upon the river. His nightly sleep scarcely averaged five hours, and he was constantly under the weight of a terrible responsibility. Nothing but an iron constitution could have withstood the incessant strain.

As soon as Captain La Barge could straighten matters up at home he set out for Washington to see the Indian Commissioner in regard to his past season’s contract. He received full payment for everything delivered, but nothing for the annuities still undelivered and nothing for his great loss caused by the delay of the Indian Department in delivering the goods to him on time. He was, however, given a new contract to transport the goods to their destination the following year.

In order to pursue this particular subject to its final outcome we shall step ahead of our narrative to the year 1864. Captain La Barge went up the river that year with the steamer Effie Deans, leaving space on the boat for the undelivered annuities. Arrived at Fort Union he first fell in with Captain Greer, who had witnessed the receipt of Agent Hodgkiss for the goods the previous summer. Captain La Barge told him that he had come to take the annuities to their destination. “I don’t believe that you will find much,” said Captain Greer. “The Company has traded it nearly all for robes.”

MANIFEST FRAUD.

THE GOODS UNDELIVERED.

Agent Hodgkiss had died during the winter, and Captain La Barge presented the receipts to the new agent, Rolette. The latter refused to deliver the goods except upon payment of the extortionate storage charge of two thousand dollars. He expected that this charge would cause Captain La Barge to refuse to take the goods. The sum, however, was tendered, whereupon the agent refused to deliver them except upon the prior surrender of Agent Hodgkiss’ receipts. Suspecting that a large part of the goods were missing, the Captain declined this condition, but offered to give a receipt for all goods he should take from the warehouse. Driven from every position, the agent openly avowed that he could not deliver all the goods, for he did not have them all. He stated that, under instructions from Commissioner Dole, transmitted through the Company, he had delivered a large portion of the goods to the Grosventres and many packages to other Indians. The delivery of the balance could, therefore, not be made except upon surrender of the receipts of the previous year. Captain La Barge asked to see the receipts of the Indians to whom the goods had been delivered. The agent had none, although it was an invariable rule to secure such receipts for all annuities delivered. The alleged order from Commissioner Dole was then called for, but that could not be produced, the agent stating that it came by messenger, who delivered it verbally.

“You acknowledge, then, that a large portion of these goods you have not got,” asked Captain La Barge.

“Yes,” replied the agent; “they have been delivered during the winter and have reached their proper destination.”

GOODS TRADED WITH THE INDIANS.

All these proceedings were witnessed by the officer, Captain Greer, whom Captain La Barge had taken the precaution to have present. From what Captain Greer had told him, and from the trader’s inability to account satisfactorily for the disposition of the goods, Captain La Barge became thoroughly convinced that they had been used in trade, and he very wisely declined to surrender his receipts. As the trader would not give up the rest of the goods except upon a surrender of the receipts for all, the Captain went on his way without them.

UNPAID DEBT.

In the meanwhile Dr. Reed, who had been relieved as Agent of the Blackfoot tribes, went up on the American Fur Company boat Yellowstone to turn over his charge to the new agent, Mr. Gad E. Upson. Mr. Chouteau had received the contract for taking up the annuities for the year 1864. He took them only to Cow Island, where, for some reason, possibly low water, they were put on the shore and the boat turned back. Mr. Upson, who had gone down from Benton to Union early in the spring, went back on the Yellowstone with Mr. Reed. The boat, after unloading, turned back, and a day later met the Effie Deans. La Barge reported to Dr. Reed the facts as to the goods at Fort Union. Mr. Chouteau, who was on the Yellowstone, was called in and professed to disapprove of Rolette’s course, but did nothing to rectify it. So far as Captain La Barge knew at the time or ever learned afterward, this large quantity of Indian goods was traded out to the Indians by the so-called American Fur Company and constituted an unqualified theft from the government. The final outcome of the affair, so far as Captain La Barge was concerned, was a loss of nearly twenty thousand dollars.[62] He died a poor man, with the government in his debt by a sum that would have given ample comfort to his declining years.

CHAPTER XXVII.
COLLAPSE OF THE LA BARGE-HARKNESS OPPOSITION.

The steamboat Shreveport, with the annual outfit of the new firm for the year 1863, did not get above Cow Island on account of the extremely low stage of the river. No other boat went as far as that within two hundred miles. Harkness and John La Barge put the cargo out upon the bank and hastened back to the assistance of the Robert Campbell. This event further illustrated the incapacity of Harkness. No arrangement was made for the transportation of the goods to Benton, although he knew that a considerable portion of the freight belonged to outside parties, and that the firm had contracted to take it through to that post. This precipitate action was due in part to danger from the Indians. In the year 1863 the tribes along the river were all in a state of unrest, and some of them actually on the warpath against the whites. Fort Union was practically in a state of siege all summer, and the danger to steamboats was a very formidable one. It was held by some parties that the sudden termination of the voyage was due to news received of the famous discovery of the Alder Gulch placers and the desire to go back and notify the firm; but of this there is not the slightest probability. Whatever the explanation, the act itself was disastrous upon the fortunes of the firm.

NICHOLAS WALL.

Among the number of outside parties who had freight on the Shreveport was the firm of John J. Roe and Nicholas Wall, both of St. Louis. Wall represented the firm in Montana and Roe remained in St. Louis. Some little account of Wall’s career and his previous relations with Captain La Barge will be of interest, to show how far a man may forfeit the sentiment of gratitude when his business interests are in any way involved. La Barge had previously been connected with Wall in a business way. In 1861 Wall joined the Confederate sympathizers, in St. Louis, and was captured by General Lyon in the affair of Camp Jackson, St. Louis, May 10, 1861. The prisoners taken there were all paroled, but were confined to the limits of the city. At Wall’s urgent appeal La Barge became bondsman for his good conduct and secured his freedom of action. He worked for La Barge during the rest of the season of 1861.

In the winter of 1862 Wall asked La Barge to assist him in getting to Montana. La Barge gave free transportation on the Emilie to Fort Benton for himself and his goods, and advanced him seven hundred dollars to get to the mines. Wall did a successful business in the Deer Lodge Valley in 1862, and in the fall of that year returned to St. Louis, where he entered into a partnership with John J. Roe. The outfit which this firm were to send to the mines was taken up on the Shreveport. It was through La Barge’s patronage that Nick Wall was extricated from a perilous situation and placed in a position to do a good business. His method of repaying his benefactor will presently appear.

LA BARGE, HARKNESS & CO. SUED.

When Wall heard that the Shreveport could not reach Benton and had discharged her cargo on the bank at Cow Island, he organized a wagon train and went down after his own freight and that of several others. In the spring of 1864 he returned to St. Louis, where he and Roe presented a claim to La Barge, Harkness & Co. for forty thousand dollars’ damages, on goods that were not worth at the outside ten thousand dollars in St. Louis. Captain La Barge agreed to pay the full price of the goods and charge no freight, but his offer was refused. He then told Roe and Wall that they could bring suit at once. Roe replied that he was too sharp to think of bringing suit in St. Louis; he would bring it in Montana, where he knew that the chances were much more in his favor. Robert Campbell and John S. McCune, two of St. Louis’ leading citizens, protested against this proceeding, and agreed to give bonds for the full payment of all damages. Roe refused all compromise and Wall returned to Montana and brought suit.

COLLAPSE OF AFFAIRS AT FORT LA BARGE.

In the meanwhile, affairs at Fort La Barge were showing the effect of absence from that post of any responsible member of the firm. Joseph Picotte, brother of Honoré Picotte, a distinguished trader of the American Fur Company, had been left in charge in 1862; but word having been received that he was not properly attending to his work, he was relieved by Robert H. Lemon, who had been highly recommended by Robert Campbell. Lemon proved to be of less account even than Picotte, and actually took the wholly unauthorized step of turning the firm’s property over for safe-keeping to the American Fur Company. The receipt for this transfer, signed by Andrew Dawson, agent American Fur Company, is still among the La Barge papers. The transaction took place August 31, 1863, and included not only the storage of all the firm’s property at Fort La Barge, but the payment of their employees’ wages, and the removal of the Shreveport freight from Cow Island to Fort Benton. The sum of one thousand dollars was to be paid for storage, and the goods were to be held as security for the payment of this sum and all other liabilities of the firm on account of wages, transportation, or other cause. Thus the entire business of the firm at Fort Benton was practically surrendered to their great rival, and the new “opposition” was crushed almost at its beginning.

OUTCOME OF THE SUIT.

As soon as Wall began legal proceedings the goods were seized and held, pending the outcome of the trial. This did not come off until 1865, when a verdict was rendered against La Barge, Harkness & Co. of twenty-four thousand dollars, which was paid in due course. All the firm’s property in Montana was absolutely lost, including a large quantity of furs ruined by the long detention. The total loss amounted to fully one hundred thousand dollars.

The lawsuit itself was an important one at the time. It involved the rights and obligations of carriers on the Missouri River. It was the first important legal case in the history of the Territory. It brought into distinguished notice one of the picturesque and leading characters in the pioneer history of Montana, Colonel Wilbur F. Sanders, who became one of Montana’s first representatives in the Senate of the United States. On the part of the defense the case was badly managed. None of the principals was present at the trial, which was held at a point nearly three thousand miles from their home. With a skillful defense it would probably not have resulted so disastrously as it did.

CAUSES OF FAILURE.

The immediate result of the trial was the dissolution of the firm of La Barge, Harkness & Co. It went out of business upon an honorable footing. Every liability was paid in full, but so much of it fell upon Captain La Barge that it seriously impaired his fortune. He cherished, not without reason, a very bitter feeling toward some of the parties who were instrumental in the downfall of his business, and particularly toward the American Fur Company. There is no doubt that that concern furthered the result in every possible way. It was a principle of their business to crush all opposition, and they made no exception in this case. But it is evident that the real cause lay in the reckless management of affairs at Fort Benton and at the mines, and for this Harkness was alone responsible.

THE DIAMOND R COMPANY.

The collapse of the La Barge, Harkness & Co. business marked the inception of a system of land transportation in Montana which grew to enormous proportions. It was known as the Diamond R <R> Company. Among the ill-gotten gains of John J. Roe, in his successful effort to break up a rival company, were a large number of oxen which La Barge, Harkness & Co. had brought up the river to transport freight between Fort Benton and the mines. Roe organized a transportation company, using these oxen as a nucleus for commencing the business. By various changes of ownership it passed into the hands of Montana men. It soon became a great company, with a complete organization of agents, issuing its bills of lading to all points, both in and out of the Territory. At one time it employed no less than twelve hundred oxen and four hundred mules, besides a large number of horses, and the sustenance of these animals was a source of no slight income to the small farmers of that section. It went out of business in 1883.

A STEAMBOAT AT THE BANK

CHAPTER XXVIII.
CAPTAIN LA BARGE IN MONTANA.

Captain La Barge sold the Emilie late in the winter of 1862–63. In the following winter he made an unexpected sale of the Shreveport. Henry Ames & Co., pork packers, sent their clerk one day to see if the Captain would sell the boat. He replied that he did not care to, but would if the price were satisfactory. Being invited to come to the office of the firm, he was told that the boat suited them and was asked to name a price.

“Twenty-five thousand dollars,” he said.

“Give the Captain a check for twenty-five thousand dollars,” said Ames, turning to his clerk.

“Don’t you want a bill of sale and the customary evidence that she is clear of debt?” asked the Captain, in some surprise.

“No,” was the reply; “you say she is so, and I will take your word.”

La Barge went down to the levee, transferred the boat, and then went to the bank and cashed the check. He recalled this last circumstance by the fact that the teller handed him the amount in twenty-five notes, each of one thousand dollars.

PURCHASE OF THE “EFFIE DEANS.”

This sale took place in the winter, and it behooved the Captain to cast about at once for a boat for the next annual voyage. A new boat was being built on the Ohio River by the Keokuk Packet Company, John S. McCune, President. Not proving satisfactory for their purposes, she was brought to St. Louis and offered for sale. La Barge found her well fitted for his work, and negotiated a purchase at forty thousand dollars. McCune retained a one-fourth interest. She was called the Effie Deans.

The boat was loaded with the usual assortment of freight, and left St. Louis March 22, 1864, with forty-nine passengers and a cargo of 160 tons. She succeeded in getting only to the Marias River, where the cargo was discharged. The boat was sent back in charge of John La Barge, and the Captain himself remained in the upper country. He hired wagons and took his property up the river, selling part of it in Benton and the rest in Virginia City. He remained in the mining regions upward of two months, although he finished his business in much less time. On account of the danger from outlaws, or road agents, it was necessary to await an exceptionally good opportunity for getting away. The Captain had decided to return via Salt Lake City, because to go by way of the Missouri in an open boat would have meant little less than suicide. The feeling of the Indians was so bitter at this time that no one could pass their country in safety unless well protected.

The Captain had almost a hundred thousand dollars in golddust to take with him, and he knew that this was not a secret with himself. He caused it to be given out that he expected to depart on a certain day, but actually stole away several days before, and was safely in Salt Lake City before the announced date of his departure. The coach he was to have taken was held up by the road agents and a passenger of the name of Hughes was killed.

COSTLY TRANS­POR­TA­TION.

In Salt Lake City Captain La Barge remained for some time arranging for the rest of his journey home. He could not hire a coach from Ben Holiday, proprietor of the overland line, for less than eighteen hundred dollars. The Wells-Fargo Express Company wanted twenty-five hundred dollars to send the dust by way of San Francisco, and would assume no responsibility. These conditions were not satisfactory, and the Captain purchased a team and wagon, with which he and three or four others undertook the journey alone. Their golddust was carried in bags of thick buckskin.

TEMPTING INDUCEMENTS.

While in Salt Lake City the Captain renewed his acquaintance with Brigham Young and other Mormons whom he had known on the Missouri. An old friend of his of the name of Hooper, who had turned Mormon, and later became a delegate from the Territory to Congress, called as soon as he heard that La Barge was in town. He also found there another friend, Hopkins by name, whom he had known from boyhood. Hopkins tried his best to induce La Barge to join the Mormons. He assured the Captain that if he would sell out in St. Louis and come to Utah it would be his fortune. As proof of this, he referred to himself and others, who, he said, had gone into Mormonism, not for any love of the doctrine, but as a simple business proposition. Hooper and Hopkins had both been unsuccessful in St. Louis. La Barge had taken them up on his boat to Fort Kearney, about 1852, and had always esteemed them good men. He asked the wife of one of them one day why her husband had never married again, since the doctrine of the Church and the sentiment of the community sanctioned it. “He doesn’t dare to; he knows I would leave him if he did,” she replied.

DIGNITARIES OF THE MORMON CHURCH.

The Captain called on Young several times. That dignitary received him very hospitably, took him to the Tabernacle and other places of interest, and presented him to several of his families. They went to the theater together, where they sat in a box with Young’s favorite wife, the other wives being ranged in seats below. Young never said anything intended to convert La Barge to his religion. Other members of the Church did, and particularly Orson Hyde, who was a man of education and a very persuasive talker. La Barge heard a sermon by Heber Kimball—a rough old fellow who took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and waded in. His language was coarse and vulgar, and would not bear repetition in refined ears.

The route of the Captain’s party, on leaving Salt Lake City, was through Weber Cañon to Fort Bridger. They stopped there a short time with Captain Carter, who, for many years, did business at that frontier post. From there they made their way east, and left the mountain country via the valley of the Cache à la Poudre River. In the valley of the South Platte they met an old man of the name of Geary, who told them that a band of hostile Indians was scouring the country between them and Denver, and that they had better conceal themselves for a few days on an island in the Platte River. They acted upon this advice, and when they judged the danger to be past they resumed their journey. They had gone but a little way when they came to a spot where a party of emigrants had been massacred only a day or two before. Their timely measure of precaution was therefore well taken.

A LONG VOYAGE.

The rest of the journey was made without noteworthy incident. The party reached the Missouri at Nebraska City just in time to catch the last boat to St. Louis. They arrived home about December 1. Captain La Barge found that the Effie Deans had returned and had been chartered by McCune’s company to go to Montgomery, Ala. She made this trip in safety, returning to St. Louis before ice closed in. Probably no other boat ever made so long a trip on inland waters in a single season, including also a sea voyage, as did the Effie Deans in 1864. The distance on the Missouri up and back was 4570 miles; that on the Mississippi to the Gulf and back was 2522 miles; that from Mobile to Montgomery and back was 676 miles; and that across the Gulf from the mouth of the Mississippi to Mobile and back not less than 600 miles. The whole distance traveled was about 8400 miles.

ANOTHER DILEMMA.

In April, 1865, Captain La Barge started up the river again on the Effie Deans. At Nebraska City came the news of Lee’s surrender, and at Decatur that of the assassination of Lincoln. There was great commotion among the passengers at the news of this terrible deed. There were many ex-Confederates on board, some of whom expressed their satisfaction at the event, and there might very easily have been trouble between them and the Union passengers; but Captain La Barge skillfully avoided all difficulty.

The voyage, though a tedious one, was completed without serious delay or accident. Captain La Barge sent the boat back in charge of the pilot, Captain Ray, and himself started with another outfit of goods for the mines. This time he went to Helena, which had sprung into existence since his last trip to Montana. He bought a small house in which to store his goods and he and his son acted as salesmen.

A TIMELY RESCUE.

In the meanwhile Captain La Barge’s brother had again involved St. Louis parties in serious difficulty on account of the non-delivery of freight. John S. McCune had shipped to Fort Benton a fine cargo of goods on the Kate Kearney, Captain John La Barge, master. The very hostile attitude of the Indians caused the Captain to abandon the trip a little above Fort Union. When the news reached the mines suits were brought against McCune aggregating some three hundred thousand dollars. As soon as word reached St. Louis, McCune saw the gravity of the situation, and instantly dispatched a message to La Barge in Montana via the overland route. It fortunately reached the Captain before he had finished his business in Helena, and he set out forthwith for Fort Benton, leaving his son in charge of the store. He felt certain that Captain Ray, the pilot of the Effie Deans, would not abandon the cargo, and he was not mistaken. When Ray met the Kate Kearney, on his return trip, he transferred the cargo to the Effie Deans, and brought it back to Fort Galpin, a little above the mouth of Milk River, but could get no further on account of low water. He then sent an express to Fort Benton for teams. Captain La Barge was there at the time, and at once procured thirty ox teams of five yoke each, with the necessary wagons, and started for Fort Galpin. There he took all the freight and delivered it safely at its destination. It was a prodigious task, but its timely completion saved McCune from a disastrous loss. The suits were all withdrawn, and the cost of transportation by wagon was the sum of the extra expense.

La Barge left the Territory late in the season with fifty thousand dollars in golddust. He went by way of Salt Lake City, where he and two others chartered a coach to take them through to Nebraska City. When within about fifty miles of Denver the stage driver refused to go farther on account of the Indians, and the party were compelled to hire a wagon and go the rest of the way alone. At Nebraska City they found the steamboat Denver, on which they went to St. Joseph, and thence by the railroad to St. Louis.

AN UNEXPECTED DELIVERANCE.

Captain La Barge had not been heard from in two months. He at once went to McCune’s office to relieve the fears under which that gentleman had so long been laboring. McCune came up to him, looked the travel-worn Captain in the face, and said: “I don’t dare to ask you any questions. I am afraid to know the worst.”

“Don’t be alarmed,” said La Barge; “I think I have straightened everything out all right.”

“Are there no suits pending?” asked McCune.

“No; they are all settled, and here are the receipts.”

“How much has the misadventure cost me?”

“Not to exceed ten thousand dollars all told.”

McCune was overjoyed at the news, for he feared that he was ruined. As it was, in spite of the extra expense, he would reap a handsome profit. He threw his arms around La Barge and embraced him for joy at the unexpected deliverance, and could never thereafter do enough for him.

CHAPTER XXIX.
CAPTAIN LA BARGE IN WASHINGTON.

In connection with his work for the government it became necessary for Captain La Barge to make several visits to Washington. Considering the interesting period through which the national Capital was then passing, it was to be expected that these visits should present some features of note. The Captain went to Washington in all three times, once in each of the winters of 1862–65.

INTERVIEW WITH LINCOLN.

On the occasion of his first visit he was a member of a party who called upon the President to present him with a fine robe of fur. Three years before this Captain La Barge had promised Lincoln to procure for him a good buffalo robe; but the rapid march of events and the great matters that weighed upon the public mind had so far kept him from fulfilling his promise. On the present occasion it was proposed to give the President an elegant robe composed of ten beaver skins, the whole richly lined and embroidered.

The members of the party were Dr. Walter A. Burleigh of Yankton, Dak.; Captain La Barge, Charles E. Galpin,[63] and several others. Dr. Burleigh acted as spokesman. The delegation were shown to a room apart from the general reception room, and Lincoln, after a little while, came in, saying that he had sent them in there so that he might have some uninterrupted talk with them about the West. He remembered at once the old steamboat Captain with whom he had ridden on the Missouri, and he greeted La Barge with great cordiality. After some general conversation Dr. Burleigh arose, took the robe, asked the President to stand up, and then threw it over his shoulders. Lincoln folded it around him like a blanket and danced about for an instant in Indian fashion. He seemed greatly delighted with the gift. He then asked the party many questions about the West, for the Indian troubles were at that time causing the administration a great deal of annoyance.

LINCOLN AND THE INDIAN.

In the winter of 1863–64 La Barge saw the President again. The only subject of importance which was touched upon on that occasion was the Indian, in whose welfare he always displayed the deepest interest. As it was a subject which had often aroused the Captain’s indignation and pity, he made the most of his opportunity to acquaint the President with the facts. He told him of the gross frauds practiced on the Indians, and how their annuities, under present conditions, had to pass through the hands of some of the worst rascals on the face of the earth, who deliberately cheated the Indians right and left. Lincoln replied that he knew it; that, under the stress of war, he was not able to send just the men he would like to into that country as Indian agents, and that too many of them were importunate place-seekers of worthless character whom members of Congress were anxious to get rid of somewhere. “But wait,” said he, “until I get this Rebellion off my hands, and I will take up this question and see that justice is done the Indian.”

The Captain made his third visit to Washington in the winter of 1864–65. His particular business was to secure payment on his government contracts, which had been approved by the Department of War and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but disallowed by the Treasury. He went to Secretary Chase, but was told by that gentleman that all Missourians were prima facie Rebels, and that that was why his account was being held up. La Barge did not relish this very much, as he had been doing business for the government all through the war, and had even gone so far as to take the oath of allegiance. He went to Lincoln and laid the matter before him. The President smiled at Chase’s remark, gave La Barge a card with his autograph on it to hand to Chase, and said he presumed that would fix matters all right. La Barge went back, and the account was paid without further delay. La Barge, with his usual distrust of the American Fur Company, suspected that some of its members had been giving him a bad character in Washington in order further to cripple his opposition.

THE BLACKFOOT’S ANNUITIES.

FINAL EVIDENCE.

On the occasion of his interview with the President he brought up the matter of the Blackfoot annuities, explicitly charging that these goods had been wrongfully disposed of and had not reached their proper destination. Lincoln sent for the proper officer of the Indian Department to hear La Barge’s accusation. This officer stated that he had receipts signed by the Indian chiefs saying that they had received their annuities. The signatures of the Indians were witnessed by agents of the American Fur Company. La Barge declared that the receipts were false; that he had himself carried these goods and knew that the Indians had not received them, but that they had been appropriated by the American Fur Company and sold. “Well,” said the official, “there are the receipts; we cannot go back of them; they have been considered final evidence in such cases since the foundation of the government.” And there the matter rested.

While in Washington on this visit La Barge was summoned before the Senate Committee on Pacific railroads and questioned by B. Gratz Brown upon his knowledge of the Western country and his opinion upon the availability of certain routes for a transcontinental line.

LOOK AT YOUR MAP.

Before he left Washington the Captain was the central figure in an amusing little incident that occurred at Ford’s Theater. Harper’s Weekly had published a story of La Barge’s steamboating experiences which ran something like this: On one of his trips up the river in the earlier part of his career there were several Englishmen aboard. They had a map and applied themselves industriously for the first day or two in trying to identify the various places upon it with those along their route. They were in the pilot-house a good deal, and one of them questioned La Barge rather officiously about the geography of the country.

“What place is this that we are approaching, Mr. Pilot?” he asked.

“St. Charles, sir,” La Barge replied.

“You are mistaken, sir; according to the map it is ——”

La Barge made no reply. He stopped as usual at St. Charles and then went on his way. Presently they came to another village.

“What place, Captain?” inquired the Englishman.

“Washington, Mo., sir.”

“Wrong again. The map gives this place as ——.”

This experience was gone through several times, the Captain’s temper becoming more ruffled with each repetition, though no one would have suspected it from his unruffled exterior. Presently a flock of wild geese passed over the river and drew the attention of the passengers and crew. The Englishmen were standing on the hurricane roof immediately in front of the pilot-house.

“What kind of birds are those, Captain?” asked one of them in eager haste.

The Captain, whose language still smacked somewhat of the French idiom, replied:

“Look at your map; he tell you.”

The printed programme of the evening at the theater happened to have this story under the heading of “Old Joe La Barge.” The Captain and some friends occupied a box, and as there were several persons in the audience who knew him, the fact that the hero of the story was in the box soon spread itself about. At one of the pauses in the performance someone called out for La Barge to stand up, and cries of “La Barge” soon came from all parts of the house. The modest steamboat pilot was panic-stricken at the occurrence and clung desperately to his seat, whereupon the audience called for him the more; but nothing would induce him to stir.

AN EXTEN­SIVE AC­QUAINT­ANCE.