The Bozeman courier., December 11, 1925, Page PAGE ELEVEN, Image 11

About The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
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PIEGAN INDIAN WOMAN AT BROWNING NOW 105 YEARS OLD
CLAIMS SHE BECAME A CHRISTIAN IN JUDITH BASIN IN 1832
SCRAP PILE GETS
BOAT 'KLONDYKE*
FLATHEAD LAKE STEAMER HAS
BEEN SALVAGED AT
POLSON
Closes Interesting Chapter in History
of Navigation in Northwestern
Montana; Business Unprofitable
Because of the Automibile.
The scrapping of the old steamer
Klondyke, which plied f«»r more
than 20 years in Flathead waters
closes a chapter in the history of
tniii' poitation in this valley. The
mournful whistle of the flat old
end-wheeler will no longer echo
through the wooded hills around
Flathead lake, and though many
hen* <*xpect that beautiful body <»f
water to Ik* dotted with scores of
pleasure yachts and power boats at
distant day, it is believed un
likely that the lake will ever again
se<* any business traffic aside from
faithful tug boats towing booms
for the lumber companies.
In the late nineties Eugene Hodge
built a steamer to replace the smaller
one he had had on the run from
Demersville, Flathead river, to the
foot of the lake. It was the time of
no
the gold rush in the Klondyke, and
when the new boat was ready to
launch, Klondyke was the name that
appeared on the pilot house. After
she had been used on the river and
lake for a few years, however, Mr.
Hodge decided he wanted a larger
vessel, and accordingly he dismantled)
the old boat, and built a larger one—j
the same that has been lifted from
the rocks at Poison.
Second Klondyke Built
Much of the material used on the
new boat was from a shipbuilding
yard at Seattle. The new steamer was
also called "Klondyke", and was kept
in service on the old route until the
railroad to Somers had been built,
when the service from Demersville
down the river was discontinued, and
the daily runs were made between
Somers and Poison.
With the announcement that the
Flathead reservation was to be
thrown open there was an increase
in the traffic on the lake, and by the
time of the opening in 1910 it had
grown to such an extent that a num
ber of other steamers and gasoline
boats appeared on the lake to share
in the business. The Klondyke was
kept on the Somers-Poison run, mak
ing no stops on the way; the Mon
tana. the Flier, the Wasco and
number of others made the west
a
shore landings, often overflowing on
Saturday and Sunday afternoons
with Kalispell people going to and
returning from their summer homes
along that shore.
Autos Cut Into Business
The Klondyke usually had a good
number of passengers and plenty of
freight each trip and, taking every
thing into consideration, the Somers
dock was pretty well crowded at boat
time. The prospect looked bright in
deed and it was believed that the
lake fleet would probably see a con
siderable increase in numbers.
Then came the automobile, and
gradually the boat passenger traffic
along the west shore diminished. The
building of a branch railroad to Poi
son cut off much of the lake freight
business, and when finally trucks be
gan to ply up and down the west
shore road, the end of the lake traf
fic was in sight. One after another
the boats were pulled off the runs
and tied up to the docks for good.
The Klondyke was still operated for
some time, despite the declining busi
ness, but hers was a losing game and
when this year the boat sank off the
Poison dock no attempt was made to
raise her.
\
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The Cuticura Toilet Trio
Having cleared your skin keep it clear
by making Cuticura your every-day
toilet preparations. The soap to cleanse
and purify, the Ointment to soothe and
heal, the Talcum to powder and per
fume.
without them. 25e everywhere,—Adv.
No toilet table is complete
DO YOU LIVE WITHIN THE CIRCLE ?
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If yon live within the approximate boundaries of the circle
drawn on the Map of Montana above, and you run a tracer, we can
save you considerable money on your fuel.
Write your name and address on linen below and send to us for
prices and further Information on our thoroughly refined POWER
IZED' Tractor Fuel. A handy Road Map of Montana In pocket size
folder will be sent for the asking.
i
Sunburst Refining Company
Great Falls, Montana
f
Yonr Name_
Address _
(By W. W. MOSES) • '
UITE feeble but with a mind
that is still active and a mem
ory which enables her to re
count many happenings in the Indian
country in the very early part of the
nineteenth century, Margaret Des
champs, of Piegan and French-Cana
dian blood, is still on the census of
the Blackfeet Indian reservation, re
siding at Browning amongst a nu
Q
merous progeny.
Mrs. Deschamps, who does not
speak the English tongue, but who
talks French fluently, claims to be
105 years of age but unfortunately
has no written records to attest the
date of her birth. She is the oldest of
five generations, having one living
child, 13 grandchildren, 36 great
grandchildren and seven great-great
grandchildren.
j sl , e wag tj le daughter of a Piegan
WO man, the first of the Indian wives
j 0 f Augustin Hamel, or Augustus Ar
mell as he was generally known
among the whites, who was one of
the earliest of the French-Canadian
fur traders of the northwest and
whose name was given to a stream
! arising in the Judith mountains in
j p e r KUg county and flowing north
i easterly, discharging into the Mis-,
1 souri river about half-way between
mout hs of the Judith river and
■ thc Musselshell river and which is
indicated upon the maps of today as
Armell's creek.
At Browning the aged woman
at t ^ e ft ome 0 f h er only living child,
Mrg L OU i se Paul, 68 . She has also a
i stepson ^ Charles Revis, who was
j born in * 377 , a nd who also resides
j ^ Browning,
j
j
Records Missing
Although apparently possessed of a
i very good ipemory, Mrs. Deschamps
makes two statements which cannot
be substantiated by historical rec
ords. She says that she was baptized
along with a number of other Indians
in 1823, when she was 12 years o£
age by a priést who came to the fort
on the Judith river where her family
was located at that time.
Could this statement be substan
tiated, it would prove of great in
terest to the historians of the north
west as no records now available
show that the Judith country was
visited by a priest before 1846, when
Father DeSmet passed through that
country.
However, there is a possibility
that a priest may have been in this
country in advance of Father De
Smet, for which the writings of Fa
ther DeSmet are the only available
authority.
In "Life, Letters and Travels of
Father Pierre-Jean DeSmet," by
Chittenden and Richardson, is a let
ter written September 17, 1846 by
.
country. This letter, in the form of
journal, contains for the day above
mentioned the following:
"September 17—Nothing very
noteworthy happened. After dinner, a
visit from two Blackfeet of those
who pass for the worst of all. They
inform us that their people will be
enchanted to see us; that we need
not have a shadow of a fear for our
persons; that already some 60 chil
dren, who have been baptized by a
Black-robe who came from Red
river, are wearing crosses at their
necks.
Four days later Father DeSmet
wrote:
"September 21—Return of a war
party of the Blood family of Black
feet from a Crow camp, from which
they took 27 horses. The leaders,
one of whom is a son and the other
brother of the head chief, are par
ticularly friendly toward the Black
robes. The second long ago forsook
the worship that the others still ren
der to the sun and moon. He assures
us that we will be welcome in his
tribe, in which there arc already a
great number of baptized children."
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Married Y'oung
The other statement is that she
was married when she was 12 years
of age and gave birth to her first
child when she was 14. This state
ment is questioned by her daughter,
who says that she could not have
been married before 1834, in which
year the man she married, Louis
Rivet, came to Fort Benton.
According to historical records,
DDE
however, Rivet's arrival in the sec
tion now called Fort Benton, is fixed
at an earlier date. Rivet left St. Louis
in the spring of 1831 with a party
of men under command of James
Kipp, bringing up the Missouri the
first keel boats, which were sent up
by the American Fur company, and
he arrived at the mouth of the
Marias river early in the fall of that
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MARGARET DESCHAMPS, French Canadian woman.
105 years of
age, as she appeared at her home in Browning last summer when visited
by Major General Hugh L. Scott.
year. It was at this place and time |
that Kipp built Fort Piegan, where
they remained over winter and Rivet
went down the next spring to Fort
Union with a load of furs.
Rivet then spent about three years
ith a party of trappers and hunters
i on g the Cheyenne, the North Fork
of the Platte, the Snake river, the
upper tributaries of the Missouri and
the Deer Lodge river and then show
ed up at Fort McKenzie, eight miles
above the mouth of the Marias river,
where he remained for about 10
years. Fort Benton was not built un
til 1846, when it succeeded those
trading posts further down the river.
So it is possible that Mrs. Des
champs may have married Rivet dur
ing the fall or winter of 1831, when
he first located at Fort Piegan.
During her early childhood, Mrs.
Deschamps, with other members of
her family, spent a number of years
at various trading posts along the
Missouri river. For five years she
lived at the Arikari village at James
Kipp's fort at the mouth of the Knife
river in the Dakotas; she lived for a
time at Fort Union; at the trading
post at the mouth of the Marias riv
er, and at Fort Benton.
Visited by General Scott
While Gen. Hugh L. Scott, U. S.
A., retired, an authority on the
American Indians, was recently in
Montana, he. called on Mrs. Des
champs in company with the writer.
Replying to questions propounded by
General Scott, the old lady said she;
had known a ma» by the name of
Chardon (a fur trader, associated
with Harvey in the days of Fort
Kenzie, and that he was a great]
man.) She said the name of Char
bonneau (husband of Sacajawea and
member of the Lewis and Clark ex
pedition) was familiar to her, but
she could not remember much of him.
She said she knew Charbonneau's
Snake wife and that she did not die
Grandmother Knew
There W as Nothing So Good for
Congestion and Colds as Mustard
But the old-fashioned mustard
plaster burned and blistered. Get the
relief and help that mustard plasters
gave, without the plaster and without
the blister.
Musterole does it. It is a clean,
white ointment, made with' oil of
mustard. Gently rub it in. See how
quickly the palh disappears.
Try Musterole for sore
bronchitis, tonsilitis, croup, _
neck, asthma, neuralgia, headache,
congestion, pleurisy, rheumatism,
lumbago, pains and aches of the back
or joints, sprains, sore • muscles
bruises, chilblains, frosted feet, colds
of the chest (It may prevent pneu
monia).
throat,
stiff
Jars and Tubes
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Setter than a mustard plaster
on the Missouri river, but that she
went away from the river.
Asked as to her knowledge of Ken
neth McKenzie, who built Fort Union
in 1829, Mrs. Deschamps said she
knew him, that he was a very good
man and was married to an Assinni
boine woman who had one child and
who died. McKenzie then, said Mrs.
Deschamps, married Mrs. Tatsy, an
Indian woman, the mother of Joe
Tatsy. She said McKenzie used to go
hunting with the Indians and that he
had no children living when he died.
Mrs. Deschamps termed the Man
dans the Mud Dwellers and said she
had seen them build mud or dirt
houses (adobe forts) the first being
built by Harvey and after that two
more by men working for Choteau.
Asked by General Scott if she had
been thinking of any particular hap
penings among the Indians of those
early days, she replied:
"I have been thinking of a battle
on Flatwillow creek (in what are
now Fergus and Petroleum counties)
between the Piegans and the River
Crows, in which the Crows were
nearly wiped out. We had been in the
Musselshell country but could find
no water so we moved out. The Pie
gan men had gone out hunting when
the Crows attacked the camp from
the rear and captured all of thi
women. This was when I was about
10 years old. I succeeded in hiding
and was not taken. When the hunters
returned, they went in pursuit of the
Crows and in a four-day battle they
killed most of the Crows and retook
the women.
• I
Daughter Tells of Life
According to Mrs. Paul, daughter
of Mrs. Doschamps, the latter was
married first to Louis Rivet, a
Frenchman, who went generally by
the name of Revis. Rivet was born in
st. Louis and came up the river in
1831, and was employed by the
American Fur company in traveling.
buying and trading for furs and ob
Mc-jtaining meat for the trading forts.
««i n 1861," said Mrs. Paul, "there
being no schools out here, he took
xne and two other daughters to Win
nipeg. He moved the entire family to
Portage la Prairie, about 60 miles
out of Winnipeg. There he engaged
in trading liquor for furs and horses.
Along about 1864 or 1865 he
again came out here to trade with
the Indians and finally accumulated
77 head of horses, 300 robes and
many saddles. With nine men hired
to help drive, he started back east
with the stuff.
"On the way back he was discov
ered by the Sioux. Father knew he
was being followed, as he had caught
the flash from a mirror which one of
the Sioux was wearing. Informing tho
others of the party that they were
being followed, he gave orders that
they must travel all night, relaying
the horses they were riding, and pos
sibly they might get so far ahead of
their pursurers that they could not
be overtaken.
. «
They traveled part of that night
until the others became tired ard
mutinous. Overhearing a plan to
shoot him, he finally consented to
stop and make camp. Camp was es
tablished at one spot and the homes
were hobbled some distance away.
The Sioux attacked the horse
camp and drove the animals away,
while father escaped into the brush.
Early in the morning, he saw the
Sioux return and seize the goods in
the camp. For a time they fought
amongst themselves fer possession of
the robes and the saddles until fin
ally the chief took from them all
the robes and saddle*, placed them
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in a pile and then parceled them out. I
Spare White Men
"The Indians later rode to the top
of a nearby hill where they all stood
up and fired their guns into the air,
thus conveying to the men hidden
in the brush that their lives were
spared. This happened some place
around Willow Bunch, across the
Canadian line from where Scobey
now is.
"Deserted by the others of his
party, father walked for seven days
to Fort Peet, nearly dying of starva
tion on the journey, and finally be
ing compelled to use his rifle for a
crutch.
"Father talked seven languages
and he obtained employment at Fort
Peet. He never came back to Portage
la Prairie, and mother finally came
west and joined him at Fort Benton
in 1872, but they had been apart for
so long that they never lived to
gether again.
"Along in 1876 or 1877 mother
married another Frenchman, Phillip
Deschamps, who, with another
Frenchman, Bourassa, ran a saloon
at Fort Benton. Deschamps died
about four years later, leaving no
children. In 1895 mother went to
live with an elder daughter, and then
stayed with my own daugbters for a
time until 1910, when she came to
live with me."
Louis Rivet, the first husband of
the aged Piegan woman, died at the
home of his daughter, Mrs. Paul,
who was then living on Milk river,
December 31, 1902. He was then 99
years and six months old. He was
buried at the Family Mission. Rivet,
with his wife, was present at the
treaty council of 1855, at which time
he acted as interpreter for the Gros
Ventres.
Mrs. Paul, the only child of Mrs.
Deschamps now living, was married
at White Horse Plains in 1874. She
later came out to the mines at Bar
ker, where her husband was em
ployed for a couple of years. They
then removed to near Lewistown,
where Paul took up a homestead on
which they resided for 12 years, until
1897, when they removed to the
Blackfeet reservation. She is the
mother of nine living children.
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THIS BUTTE MAN
EXPLAINS IT
WELL KNOWN MONTANA DRUG
GIST MAKES A STUDY OP
LIVER AILMENTS
Filter Becomes Clogged; Many Ig
norant of Cause of Illness Until the
Symptoms are Traced to their
Real Source.
Poisoned ! Made sick by shear
neglect! This is what happens to
countless numbers of men and
women, here, perhaps in your own
family, explains A. E. «lensen of
Butte, pharmacist of state-wide
reputation. Every drop of water
used in large cities runs through
a gigantic filter where poisonous
waste matter is eliminated and the
w'ater made pure. People would
soon protest if city officials allow
ed this filter to become clogge»!.
Water could no longer be purified,
impurities xvould seep through,
and your family would be made
sick by the very water that flows
into your home.
Upsets Whole System.
Yet, this is exactly what happens
to you every time you allows your
body's filter to become sluggish and
clogged. This is wjiy you wake up
feeling dull and tired—tongue coat
de, bad taste in the mouth, and of
fensive breath! Why do many suffer
from such afflictions as poor diges
tion, sour stomach, and formation of
gas, improper > movement of the
bowels, sick headaches and nerv
ous, upset and over-taxed condition
of the system?
Why You Feel Badly.
Your body's filter is your liver! It was
put there by nature with uefinite work to
do. About every fifteen minutes all of
the blood in your body passes through
your liver to be purified. But how can it
be purified when your liver has become
sluggish and your intestines clogged up
with waste? How can it secrete the juices
that are esseutial to digestion? How can
it supply the secretions Nature uses to
oil your intestines so that your bowels
can move gently, thoroughly and naturally
every day? Quite naturally you suffer
from these ailments until your liver has
been properly cleansed and toned, your
stomach put hack in condition and your]
whole system has been braced up and made
well and strong?
Keep This Filter Clean.
Great numbers have gained quick relief
from these complaints through the use of
Jeu-Sen pills. This preparation of Mr.
Jensen's helps nature to cleanse and tone
the liver, wake up your appetite, improve
digestion and nourishment, tone the tired
and overtaxed nerves, and send purer,
healthier blood coursing through your
velus.
Treatment
Mr. Jensen is so certain that hia dis
covery will prove his theory that he gives
<XV e
Weiller xWeiller
UV£ STOCK COMMISSION
SO. ST. PAUL—MINNESOTA
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L.
THINKS MONTANA
ONCE IN TROPICS
CULBERTSON MAN MAKES IN
TERESTING DISCOVERY
IN SANDSTONE
Finds Full Imprint of Tropical Leaf,
Clearly Formed from Petiole to
Tip; Specimen Believed to be at
Least 20,000 Years Old.
Although Mayor Lyman E.
Moor»", "Dinty" as he is known in
Culbertson, is an Irishman ami
does not believe in superstition.
In* received a message here a few
days ago that will date back furth
er than tin* grave of King Tut
Ankh-Ainen and further than
darkest of all ages of the past.
At least 20,000 years old is this
message from the graves of the
ages and its story is as complete as
a story could be of the time before
man trod up this great American
desert.
Down 50 feet from the surface of
the ground, in the center of about
four feet of sandstone, perfectly em
balmed by the master of all embalm
ers, was a semi-tropical leaf in full
imprint from the petiole at the base
through the main artery of the blade
to the tip with every vein shown.
No man living can glean from his
ancestors, nor even the Indians of
this section, the remotest indication
that the great rolling prairies of
Montana cover a land that was once
rich as the richest of verdure,
abounding in tropical growth, and
jungled with plants that grew rank
under a tropical sun.
There, in the sandstone in an old
mine, this perfect specimen was un
covered by Major Moore. The leaf
was a thick tropical one, evidently
from a tropical tree. When uncovered
it lies in a coffin shape of hard sand
stone about three inches thick. This
was split to reveal every line of the
leaf.
Scientists have long held theories
as to the past of the northwest. Here
is a positive indication that once in
this section grew tropical plants.
Mayor Moore is holding this mes
sage from the eons past until some
scientist or scientific laboratory calls
for it.
away thousands of pills to convince onr
readers of his sincerity. He wants every
household in the state to try at his ex
pense tl»e virtues of .Ten-Sen Liver pills.
You may have a full month's treatment
free. Send In this ad ami your name and
address. No postage—all is free. Try them.
-o
LOTS IN DAYTON
ARE IN DEMAND
It is reported in Kallispell that
the Somers Lumber company has
purchased a number of town lots
at Dayton in Lake county, and
that persons who are believed to
be in position to know of coming
movements, have also been buying.
The reason for the purchase, it Is
stated, is that the lumber com
pany is preparing to build a log
holdings up Dayton creek and
around Lake Ronan, and engage in
logging in an extensive way.
The company purchased, a year
ago, the A. C. M.'s lands on the lake
drainage area, giving itself posses
sion of a large amount of pine acre
age in the district northwest of Proc
or. This, according to the report, is
to be logged and used in connection
with the larch and fir coming from
the Stillwater district
The company itself has not given
out an official confirmation of the
report, but it is believed that it is
substantially correct, and that work
on the road will be under way as
soon as the necessary preliminaries
can be disposed of.
o
Among the books with unhappy
endings are check books.
o
Unfortunately, afterthoughts come
last.
MOTHER!
Clean Child's Bowels with
California Fig Syrup
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Even if cross, feverish, bilious,
constipated or full of cold, children
love the pleasant taste of "California
Pig Syrup,
fails to clean the liver and bowels.
Ask your druggist for genuine
California Pig Syrup" which has
directions for babies and children
of all ages printed on hottle.
Mother! You must say "California"
or you may get an
syrup.
5 »
A teaspoonful never
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