The Wolf Point herald., September 30, 1920, Image 3

About The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
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Some of the most thrilling stories
of pioneer days in Montana had to
do with steamboat traffic on the
Missouri river, and one of these W'as
related at the recent convention of
Montana pioneers at Great Falls by
Colonel Gilman R. Norris of Lew
isow'n, a former army scout under
General Custer and for many years
a well known trader at Fort Clag
get, at the mouth of the Judith river,
and later a stock grower and gen
eral merchant.
In 1869, says Colonel Norris, ow
water on the Missouri wms experi
enced somewhat early, and a steam
er, the Tacony, bound for Fort Ben
ton from St. Louis was forced to
stop at Fort Peck, an early-day trad
ing post on the north bank of the
Missouri, opposite the mouth of the
Big Dry. This Fort Peck should not
be confused with the Indian agency
established at the mouth of the Pop
lar river, also known later as Fort
Peck.
It happened that Colonel Norris
was in Helena in the fall of 1869',
w'hen word was received by United
States Marshal William F. Wheeler
that the Tacony had been seized by
its crew in payment for their wages,
and subsequent action by the own
ers required the boat to be taken in
to the possession of the federal mar
shal. Colonel Norris was deputized
for this work. He bought a black
saddle mare at Helena to make the
trip with, and with his warrant and
the necessary attachment papers, set
out on his long ride of several hun
dred miles.
By the time he reached Fort Ben
ton the going was extremely bad on
account of a surface of ice along the
trail, caused by thawing and freez
ing after early snows, but he kept
on going until he reached a point
opposite the mouth of the Mussel
shell, where he left his mare and de
cided to finish his journey in a light
skiff. The river was running slush
ice, making progress dangerous and
difficult, but he managed to keep
going until he ran onto a big up
stream snag, against which his craft
stuck fast.
Colonel Norris was in a precarious
condition. He had little or no food
and would soon freeze to death if he
remained on the river, while he found
that he could not get his boat loose
and push it around the
against which a lot of ice had drift
ed. After many efforts he was
forced to climb onto the snag, hold
ing to the boat's rope, and at length
managed to pull the boat back into
an eddy behind the snag. The cur
rent, however, had pushed the boat
up on one side until water had half
filled it.
into the partly submerged boat and
try to get ashore, and this he suc
ceeded in doing, although not until
a box containing his depty marshal's
warrant, his other papers and his
matches had gone overboard and
were swept down stream. He man
aged to save his rifle and a pack
age of tobacco and his pipe which he
had in his coat pocket.
In Desperate Situation.
On reaching shore? he found him
self in a desperate situation. With
out food or fire, wet to the skin and
with his clothes frozen, he had the
better part of 100 miles to travel
through a hostile Indian country be
fore reaching Fort Peck. His imme
diate need was a fire, for unless he
snag,
His only hope was to get
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Old Fort Owen, from a sketch by Pax son.
With the transfer of the deed to
the property composing famous old
,
Society of Montana, probably the old
est historical building in the state
passed into the hands of the early
settlers. Mr. McCormick, who was
president of the Sons and Daughters
of Montana Pioneers, presented the}
property to the society in honor of his j
mother, Mrs. K. H. McCormick. It 1
is proposed that the property be used |
as a monument to the pioneers and |
probably as a historical museum.
Foi t Owen marks the site of prob- ;
ably the earliest permanent settle-1
ment in Montana. There Father De |
Smet of the Jesuits, in 1840-41, es- j
tablished St. Mary's mission. Major
Owen, about 10 years later, built the j
fort as a refuge from which to trade !
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Fort Owen from Washingon J. Mc
Cormick of Missoula to the Pioneers
with the Indians.
Oldest Structure in State.
Fort Owen, believed to be the old- (
est historical structure in the state, ;
just north of Stevensville, was es-(
tablished in 1850 by Major
Owen, himself a native of Philadel- i
phia. Major Owen originally was a ;
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Colonel G. B. Norris
he reached the trading post,
could dry his clothing—and partic
ularly his moccasins—he could not
hope to get far. He figured that he
had one chance, and that lay in be
ing able to find a good sized log that
had rotted inside and was dry enough
to make good tinder. By good luck
he discovered just such a log, and
poking the barrel of his rifle into it
he shot three times in rapid succes
sion. The flame from the black pow
der set fire to the rotten wood, and
on scraping it out he found embers
that he was able to blow into a flame.
He spent the night beside a roaring
fire, drying his garments and his
moccasins, and then set out for Fort
Peek as fast as he could travel, his
hunger appeased only with smoking. |
At nightfall he calculated that he
j
finding a convenient coulee and an
other rotten log, repeated his experi
ment of the day before and again
slept beside a fire. At daybreak he
started out again and before night j
j
An old man, Farwell, was in charge j
of the post, and to him Colonel Nor
ris explained his predicament; he |
had made half of the distance, and
[sutler in the United States army, and
while traveling with the "Mounted
Rifles" from Missouri o Oregon, de
cided to remain in the northwest and
take part in the Indian trade.
settled near Steyensville, then called
St. Mary's Mission, founded by the
Jesuit fathers, and built Fort Owen.
Major Owen later remodeled the fort
with adobe, or sun dried bricks, mak
ing several substantial structures in
the form of an open quadrangle, only
one of which structures now is stand
ing.
It was used principally as a trad-1
ing post, but also was the necleus
around which the early settlers gath
ered, obtained supplies and sought
protection in the hour of danger. It
was known far and wide for rhe hos- i
pitality it offered to the early set
tiers and adventurers in wnat then j
was an almost unknown wilderness,
In 1860 Fort Benton in the east, and
Fort Owen in the west, were 1 he !
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around the old fort, but in the au- j
chief settlements in Montana,
Whiskey Bill's Necktie Party.
No Indian battles took place
tumn of 1852 one John F. Dodson
was killed and scalped by the Black-j
had been commissioned to take
charge of the steamboat, but had lost
his papers. What was he to do?
Farwell's advice coincided with his
own judgment, which was to go to
the man in charge of the boat and by
force, if necessary, take possession.
He learned that the captain had gone
down the river leaving a watchman
in charge of the vessel. This watch
man, it appeared, had been under in
structions to set fire to the craft
with a view to the owners getting the
insurance. Some of the crew, how
ever, caught the fireman in the act
and shot him, inflicting a slight
wound. The boats' engineer had then
taken possession in behalf of the
crew, the members of which had not
1)6611 I )ai d of-
Indians Killed Mate,
The captain had gone on down the
r iver in a mackinaw boat with some
of the crew, and had taken the sil
verware from the steward's pantry
and such other valuables as they
cauld conveniently carry. The mate
had been killed by the Sioux while
hunting near the fort,
Norris went down to the boat, which
The following morning Colonel
son.
: feet in plain view of the occupants,
In January, 1864, "Whiskey Bill"
j Graves, one of Plummer's band of
| road agents, was captured and hang
Hcjed just outside the old fort by Cap
tain Williams and fellow vigilantes
who had followed Graves across the
| mountains from Virginia City,
j toric fort with other improvements
and a section of land to Major Wash
ington J. McCormick, one of Mon
tana's early pioneers, and a short
time later Major Owen returned to
Philadelphia, where he died shortly
[ afterward. During a terrific wind
^ storm which visited the Bitter Rcof
I valley in February, 1889, tne west
! half of the old fort was demolished,
i causing the death of Major McCor
mick, who, with his family, was re
j siding temporarily at the fort. The
property passed to the McCormick
estate and subsequently became the
! property of Kate Higgins McCor
mick, and a sister of Capt. C. P.
Higgins, one of the founders of Mis
Due to its adobe structure,
the w'est half of the fort never was
In 1869 John Owen sold the his
jsoula.
rebuilt, but the east half of it re
mains in good condition.
was tied up to the "hitching post''
the bank, and explained his mission
to the engineer. The latter studied
over the matter for a few minutes
and then gave possession of the boat
to the colonel. The later went aboard
j the almost deserted craft and fixed
up a sleeping room for himself which
opened out on to the after deck.
There he was destined to remain for
the next five or six months, but, as
it turned out, his visit was not to be
a peaceful one.
It happened that when the Tacony
was forced to stop at Fort Peck be
cause of the low water in the Mis
souri, the passengers bound for Fort
Benton and other points in Montana
were obliged to remain there for
couple of weeks until the freight
teams from Benton arrived to take
them up the river. Among the ten
derfeet from the east was a husky
young Missouri lad, who was much in
love with a girl among the passen
gers, who
parents to Montana. This boy, whose
name Colonel Norris has forgotten,
determined to go out and kill a buf
falo, notwithstanding that he was
warned of the danger from Sioux
war parties who were constantly
hanging around the trading post and
occasionally attacking it. Finally he
was loaned a muzzle-loading Spring
field, of a type that had just come out
and he started off on foot down the
river toward Gilpin flat, some three
miles below', to kill his buffalo.
Tenderfoot Gets a Sioux.
He saw a number of old bulls
hanging around the chokecherry
patches along the river, and spent all
of his ammunition blazing away at
them, but killing none, as he did not
know where to shoot them. At last,
with only one bullet left, he threw
his gun over his shoulder and started
back to the fort, his mind on his girl
and the life they would lead together
in the new' country if he could wdn
her. Suddenly he heard the beating
of horses' hoofs on the grass and
looked around just in time to see
three painted Sioux braves charging
was accompanying her
down on him at top speed.
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Steamboat wreck on the upper Mis souri when Fort Benton was head of navigation and scores of boats tried
to make that port from St. Louis e very year.
One of the Sioux fired at him and
grazed his face and ear, making a
slight wound, the boy shot at this In-1
dian and hit him in the body, blow-|
a hole through him that a man could
stick his arm through. The other two
Indians had dashed on a hundred feet
before they could pull up their horses
The Missourian raised his gun, as
though to take aim again at them and
they rode off. The exhibition of
they crafty expose
- poslte bank in the mud.
W. O. Dexter of Fort Benton, fid
dled his way from St. Cloud, Minne
sota, to Helena in 1866.
Mr. Dexter was a member of the
famous Fisk expedition to Montana
which was turned back by govern
ment scouts when it attempted to
make a trip to the west in 1864 be
cause of the Indian uprisings west
of the Red River, now the boundary
line betwen North Dakota and Min
nesota.
Coming from New York at the age
of 23, Mr. Dexter joined the Fisk ex
pedition af St. Cloud, then an out
post. Most of the party rode in
wagons, but Dexter, with Stackpole,
another easterner, and one other rode
their own horses. The expedition
was outfitted by Captain Fisk, who
furnished provisions and transpor
tation for any person who wished to
make the trip at $100 each.
"All the traveling had been done
on the south side of the Missouri
river, and many of the trains across
the plains at that time were attack
ed by the Indians, who lay in wait
for them along the regular route,"
says Mr. Dexter. "We traveled or
the north side of the river, and had
no trouble at all.
Surrounded by Buffalo.
I killed the first antelope for the i
p , ar near the Red river, and killed j
the first buffalo on the James river
on July 3, 1866. We had left St.
Cloud on June 6, 1866. On July 4 j
our train was so completely surround
ed by buffalo that we were delayed |
there for some time.
"I had the only musical instrument I
in the party, an old violin, and every |
night the rest of the crowd of about |
at
as
be
a
j gunny sacking, so that at night
1 ray of light could shine through. He
j instructed the cook never to open the
, door of the cabin at night when
there was a light inside, and to be
particularly careful not to do this if!
he heard the dog barking.
One night the dog started to bark
furiously, and Henry, forgetting his
instructions, opened the door. There
was a flash from behind an old cot
tonwood tree on the bank, and a
marksmanship he had given was
enough to convince them that
youngster's-medicine was good.
The plains Indian frequently used
to ride his horse with a short raw
hide rope half-hitched on the ani
mal's lower jaw for a bridle, and
the other end of the rope to his own
belt. Then, if thrown from the pony
or shot off, the animal did not get
away and leave its rider afoot. The
dead Sioux had done this, and as
lay on the ground dead, his pony
stood beside him, unable to move off
without dragging his late master. The
young Missourian unfastened the
pony, mounted him, and taking the
dead brave's pistol, knife and other
belongings he rode into Fort Peck,
the proudest youth west of the Mis
sissippi. It is easy to believe that
the young man was a hero in the
eyes of the damsel that he loved, and
that they were married after they
reached the Gallatin, vs hither they
were bound.
Boat Attacked by Sioux.
The Sioux, who infested the sur
rounding country in force, knew that
some one on the boat had killed one
of their number, and they began to
pay a lot of attention to the ves
sel, especially at nights. When Col
onel Norris arrived, the man who
had done the killing had gone with
the rest of the passengers, so the col
onel found that he had inherited the
feud with the hostile Sioux.
The boat's cook was a little Eng
lishman named Henry, who was a
tenderfoot in every sense of the word,
Colonel Norris, when he took pos
session of the after deck cabin, care
fully sealed up the windows with
bullet crashed through the cabin and
passed through seven staterooms, but
not before skinning the top of Col
onel Norris' head and taking a
j tie of his h.alr. The colonel put the
light out, and taking his rifle, step-I
j ped out on to the deck. He shotj
several times at the edges of the
tree, but did no more harm than to
skin the bark. The Sioux were too
crafty to expose themselves.
300 would gather about while I play
ed. It was the only amusement
had and served to relieve the tension
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Wheeler <>. Dexter of Fort Ben
ton, who fiddled his way acrossf
plains xvitIt one of the Fisk
expeditions
-
under which we traveled through the
Indian country.
"The three of us on horses left the
party near the Flathead lake on Sep
tember 2, 1866 and went on to Last
Chance Gulch, now Helena, together.
no,and wms in this manner wrecked. A
buyer for the owmers came down
krom Helena to bid as high as $25,000
for the boat if it was In good shape
but as a result of the condition of
the vessel he did not offer anything,
! and the wreck sold for $260.
The fees of the United States mar
i shal and district federal attorney
came before Colonel Norris' claim
; for his services as deputy, and he
therefore did not get a cent for his
and soon were constantly circling the
fort on the bluffs overhead, flash
ing their signal mirrors in the sun
and shooting down into the stockade.
Colonel Norris managed to stop this
to some extent by using a 12-pound
howitzer that he found on the boat.
One shot fell short of a party of
Indians, but killed a horse and fright
ened them off.
As the winteF passed, provisions
got lower and low'er. The colonel
w'ent out and killed a buffalo, and
this was the last good meat they had.
It then got down to a diet of beaver
meat, and for several weeks they liv
ed on this fare, trapping one or two
animals along the river bank every
day.
The Sioux got bolder and bolder,
Toward spring United States Mar
shal William F. Wheeler arrived from
Helena in a mackinaw boat with one
or two other officials for the pur
pose of selling the steamboat to sat
isfy the claims against it. On the
way down the marshal had shot him
self in the arm accidentally with his
shotgun, and there was nothing to
dress the wound with at the fort, and
not even good soap to wash it with,
Wheeler suffered greatly and the in
jury was a long time healing. The
invalid had to share the beaver soup
diet with the rest.
W'hen Colonel Norris took posses
sion of the boat he took every pos
sible precaution to protect it against
the spring flow of ice, and built a
bulkhead around the bow to pre
j vent it being crushed. However, in
the spring, when the thaw' came, one
side of the boat caught on the bank
and it slid down partly under water
; winter's work, and was out two or
j three hundred dollars in cash be
sides. He waited at Fort Peck till
the first boat came up from St. Louis
j in the spring, and went on up to
Fort Benton.
The Tacony the last time Colonel
! Norris saw it, had gradually worked
! its way across the river and was ly
j ing, half submerged along the
op
- poslte bank in the mud.
we
There was quite a setlement there at
that time, several dance halls,
loons and a few trading posts,
store house had been erected there
by the firm of Batch & Cory, who la
ter built the Montana Power
pany's building at the corner of Cen
tral avenue and First street in Great
Falls.
I my board and room in the hotel at
Helena, and then the owner j
a job in his sawmill there at $40
month.
sa
One
com
For three days I worked for
gave me
a
Railroad Knocks Business.
In the spring of '67 I went to Cow
j island on the Missouri and opened
■rood yard to supply river steamers
i with fuel. I did fine there until the
(Northern Pacific railway was built
jin Montana and then the river traf
j fic stopped suddenly and left
with hundreds of cords of wood on
hand.
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Eleven Cents for Club Steers.
George Lyman of the Helena Meat
company was the oply bidders for
the steers entered In the sales ring
! at the Montana State fair this year by
; members of the boys' and girls' clubs,
j He bought all seven head entered and
paid 11 cents a pound for the stuff.
The price was considered a fair
one by stockmen. Last year there
was some spirited bidding in this de
partment and the prices were excep
tional for some of the stuff offer
ed.
Stockmen are taking great interest
in these sales as they are held to
courage young people throughout the
state to study the care and feeding
of beef cattle and principally young
stuff.
en-