History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 100

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198

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Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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greenback currency. They sold their boats for the value of the lumber they contained, and chartered a large number of teams and various patterns of vehicles from lumber wagons to stage coaches to take them to the railway points east and south, estimated then to be 300 miles away.

THE NAME YELLOWSTONE

West of the Missouri, in the northern portion of the Dakota, were a number of rivers, the principal one and the only navigable stream being the Yellowstone, one of the famous rivers of the world, its headwaters and the mountainouts coun- tries environing them, being at one time a veritable garden of the fur industry nearly a century before Dakota was organized, a fairy land of natural wonders and majestic scenery, sustaining many tribes of Indians whose representatives seldom came in contact with the white man except in his capacity of Indian trader. Lewis & Clark met these wild tribes, and Bonneville, a quarter of a century later spent three years among them, and the majestic topography of their country, the most attractive scenic portion of America's broad realmn.

The boundaries of the Territory of Dakota at the time of its organization em- braced the entire Yellowstone country, including its headwaters and it was not de- prived entirely of it when Montana was carved from its western boundaries. The capacious mouth and a few miles of the noble rugged stream remained to add renown to the County of Mckenzie in the northwest portion of the territory.

Capt. H. M. Chittenden, of the Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., an author emi- nent among the historians as well as explorers of the Northwest, furnishes much information regarding the country. Chittenden says :

"This river ( Yellowstone)." say Lewis and Clark in their journal for the day of their arrival at the mouth of the now noted stream, "had been known to the French as Roche Jaune or as we have called it, the Yellowstone." The French name was, in fact, already firmly established among the traders and trappers of the Northwest Fur Company when Lewis and Clark met them among the Mandans. Even by the members of the expedition (Lewis and Clark's) it seems to have been more generally used than the new English form; and the spellings "Rejone," "Rejhone," "Rochejone," "Rochejohn." and "Rochejhone" are among their various attempts to render orthographically the French pronunciation. * * *

By whom the name "Roche Jaune," or its equivalent form, "Pierre Jaune," was first used it would be extremely interesting to know, but it is impossible to determine at this late day. Like their successor, "Yellowstone." these names were not originals but only trans- lations. The Indian tribes along the Yellowstone and Upper Missouri rivers had names for the tributary stream signifying "yellow rock," and the French had doubtless adopted them long before they saw the stream itself.

It thus appears that the name, which has now become so celebrated, descends to us, through two translations, from those native races whose immemorial dwelling place had been along the stream which it describes. What it was that led them to use the name is easily discoverable. Seventy-five miles below the ultimate source of the river lies the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, distinguished among the notable canyons of the globe by the marvelous coloring of its walls. Conspicuous among its numerous tints is yellow. Every shade, from the brilliant plumage of the yellow bird to the rich saffron of the orange, greets the eye in bewildering profusion. There is indeed other color. unparalleled in varicty and abundance, but the ever-present background of all is the beautiful fifth color of the spectrumi. So prominent is this feature that it never fails to attract attention, and all descriptions of the canyon abound in references to it. Lieutenant Doane ( 1870) notes the "brilliant yellow color" of the rocks. Captain Barlow and Doctor Hayden ( 1871) refer in almost the same words to "the yellow, nearly vertical walls." Raymond ( 1871) speaks of the "bright yellow of the sulphury clay." Captain Jones ( 1873) says that "about and in the Grand Canyon the rocks are nearly all tinged a brilliant yellow."

That a characteristic which so deeply moves the modern beholder should have made a profound impression on the mind of the Indian need hardly be premised. This region was by no means unknown to him, and from the remote, although uncertain, period of his first acquaintance with it the name of the river has undoubtedly descended. Going back, then, to this obscure fountain head, the original designation is found to have been, in the Minne- tarec, one of the Sioux family of languages, "Mi-tsi-a-da-zi," or Rock Yellow River: and this. in the French tongue, became "Roche Jaune" and "Pierre Jaune"; and in English, "Yellow Rock" and "Yellow Stone."

In the spring of 1864 the first steamboat to reach Dakota Territory was the Benton, and the date of its arrival at Yankton was April 22d. It had come from

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and brought quite a quantity of stoves and glass for the merchants of Yankton. At the time it was considered a remarkably early arrival-in fact, the earliest that any one could remember since the first steam- boats began running up to any Dakota point. The boat was named in memory of the distinguished Missouri senator, Hon. Thomas H. Benton, who was then looked upon as the representative of all western interests from the Missouri to the Pacific, and almost the only prominent statesman of the country who was ac- customed to express confidence in the material resources of the trans-Missouri and trans-Rocky Mountain region.

Fort Benton, at the head of steamboat navigation on the Missouri and the last of the American fur companies posts was named to commemorate his services, and a city has been built adjoining the site of the old post. Benton's public career, unsullied by any act that would discredit his patriotism and personal honor, rec- ommends his name and memory to the people of this Upper Missouri region as one they can with honor to themselves, perpetuate upon their maps, and in sculptured marble.

Fort Benton was lost to Dakota politically at the time Montana was organized as a territory. It had early become an important depot of supplies not only for the American Fur Company but also for the thousands who had found their way to the newly discovered gold fields on the headwaters of the Missouri and Columbia rivers. In 1865 thirteen steamboats reached that port from St. Louis, carrying in the aggregate 1,000 tons of freight upon which the freight charges were 18 cents a pound; in 1866 the number of boats increased to thirty-seven carrying 4,000 tons of freight at II cents a pound, and in 1867 there were fifty- three steamboats that deposited 7,300 tons of freight there at a cost of 9 cents a pound, showing a reduction in the carrying charges of just 100 per cent in three years.

A very destructive conflagration at the docks in St. Louis, on the 29th of March, 1869, consumed a number of Missouri River Montana steamboats that were receiving cargoes for the Dakota country and the mountains. Among the burned vessels that were bound for Dakota and Montana points were the Ben Johnson, Carrie B. Kountze, Henry Atkins, G. B. Allen, and Jennie Lewis. Hun- dreds of passengers were aboard the doomed boats, but all were gotten out alive, though their baggage and personal effects were largely destroyed. The total money value of boats and cargoes was about a half million dollars. The Ben Johnson and G. B. Allen had finished loading and were ready to depart that even- ing. The St. Louis levee was thickly lined with boats at the time, and those that were burned were hemmed in by other craft that had to be extricated to save them, leaving the Missouri vessels to be devoured by the flames that rapidly spread from boat to boat.

During a cold snap in November, 1868, five steamboats were caught in a freeze up in the Upper Missouri, remote from any landing, and were obliged to remain in their icy harbor all the succeeding winter. These were the Ida Stockdale, forty miles above new Fort Sully ; Urilda, ten miles below old Fort Sully (Pierre) ; Nile, near the mouth of American Creek; Benton, and Hiram Wood, just above Fort Randall. The passengers were obliged to land and walk to the nearest point where conveyances could be had to take them to their desti- nation. A large force of practical steamboat men came up in March, 1869, for the purpose of securing these vessels when the ice broke up, and this they were enabled to do without damage to any of the vessels. The entire list came down the river safely in the spring of 1869, and went on to St. Louis to secure their cargoes for up river.

TORNADO ON THE YELLOWSTONE

Gen. Mark D. Flower, of St. Patil, owner and captain of the Missouri River steamboat, the Osceola, held a contract with the Government, in 1877, for trans-

UPPER MISSOURI RIVER SCENE AT "DROWNED MAN'S RAPIDS" Steamer Rosebud homeward bound

MISSOURI RIVER STEAMBOAT LOADING AT YANKTON IN IS

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porting freight to different points on the Yellowstone River, and while engaged in this work encountered a tornado, on June 22d, when near the mouth of Powder River, 225 miles from Bismarck. Of the particulars of the storm, which was the only one ever reported of a similar character in which a steamboat was destroyed while under way, General Flower gave out a statement, in substance as follows :

The tornado struck us at six o'clock in the evening of June 22, and in the twinkling of an eye reduced the staunch little steamer to a helpless wreck, threw us into the river, and damaged or destroyed a great part of our cargo. The boat was proceeding up the Yellow- stone at a point 225 miles above Bismarck. We were near the mouth of Powder River, and not very far from the scene of the Custer massacre last year. The banks of the river are low at this point. We had no timber for shelter or even to tie the boat to. In all iny experi- ence I never witnessed anything so terrible. The tremendous wind, accompanied by hail and rain, came down on us with only a moment's warning, catching us on our starboard quarter and careening us over to an angle of about forty-five degrees, when our entire upper works-cabin, smokestacks, steam pipes and all-were swept into the boiling, surging current of the Yellowstone. Relieved of the upper works, the boat righted up, and by this means our lives were saved. Many were blown overboard, but saved themselves with the assistance of the floating wreckage, and others who were lucky enough to hold to the floating hull. The cabin and upper works were split into kindling wood and floated away. After the storm had somewhat abated, by strenuous efforts the hull, or what may more property be termed the remains of the wreck, was fastened to the shore, and we proceeded to save what we could of the Government freight, amounting to some sixty thousand dollars, which was considerably damaged. Much of the cargo went into the river and floated away.

I was blown sixty feet from the hurricane roof and fell in the river, striking a spar and injuring my side and back seriously. Mrs. Flower, who was the only lady on the boat, went overboard with the cabin, but was rescued. She lost her entire wardrobe, however, excepting the clothing she wore. Captain llaycock and his son, Abner Haycock, of St. Louis, were my pilots, and both stood to the wheel until blown with the pilot house into the river. The entire force of officers, crew and carpenters did their duty faithfully. J. Jones, fireman, and Bob Small, second cook, both of Memphis, Tennessee, were drowned. My safe, con- taining books and papers and several hundred dollars in money, went to the bottom, irre- trievably lost. We remained near the wreck until we saved all we could of the freight, and until passing boats took it away and rescued us. I had no insurance, as companies refused to insure against the unknown dangers of the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone.

NAVIGABILITY OF THE MISSOURI RIVER

In later days an impression has gained lodgment in the public mind that the open season for navigation in the Upper Missouri closed early in the fall owing to low water. This impression was erroneous. A world of testimony exists contra- dicting it, and if the logs of the steamboats navigating the upper river between 1860 and 1890-which were the active prosperous years of the business-are properly consulted, they will furnish the best of evidence that the close of naviga- tion and the freezing over of the surface of the stream, were simultaneous oc- currences. In nearly every season adventurous masters found their craft locked in the ice away from harbor, when winter set in. These events usually occurred in November. Here is produced the log of the steamer Peninah, one of the Coulson line of steamers, relating the incidents of a trip from Yankton to Fort Buford (above the 48th parallel), and return, which occupied twenty-five days ; leaving Yankton October 11th and returning November 6th. The boat carried one cargo to numerous points below Bismarck : reloaded at that port and went on to Buford. Every delay and obstacle of the voyage, hearing upon the navigation of the river is noted, which must render it an accurate and reliable record to be studied by those who would know the facts concerning the prac- ticability of navigating this wonderful river, whose value to the nation has vet to be properly appreciated. Its improvement, in a manner that will be durable and permanent, awaits the dawning of that appreciation in the minds not only of the people at large, but more particularly in the comprehension of our na- Tional congressmen. Vol. 1 -37

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There was nothing exceptionable, one way or the other in this voyage of the Peninah ; the season was an average one; and the hindrances due to low water are explicitly noted. The Peninah was a good substantial craft, fitted for passengers as well as freight; stern wheel as all the Missouri boats were; built for the Mis- souri traffic, and ably commanded. Here follows the log :

Left Yankton at 8 o'clock a. m., Oct. 11th, '77. 170 tons aboard for Sully, Cheyenne, Stand- ing Rock and Bismarck, and laid up for the night at the mouth of the Niobrarah. Oct. 12, met the Dugan ten miles below Yankton Agency, and the Tiger at the Agency. Reached Randall at 4:20 p. m., and tied for the night opposite Whetstone Agency. Oct. 13, off at daylight. Met the C. K. Peck seven miles below American Creek at 2:45 p. m. Laid up just below Bijou llills. Oet. 14, sparred over 26 inches in two places below Brule under high bluffs on east side of river. Tied up opposite Brule Agency. Oct. 15, sounded below Yellow Medicine and arrived at Red Cloud at II p. m. Oct. 16, wooded at Big Cedar at 9:30 a. m. Got to Pierre at 6:20 and laid up at Peoria bottom at I a. m. Oct. 17, arrived at Sully at 9:30 a. m., put off freight and left at 10:10 a. m. Got to Cheyenne at 12:30 p. m. Put off freight and left at 2:30 p. m. Wooded at Mckenzie's Point at 6:30 p. m. 18th, landed at the head of Devil Island at u a. m. and wooded. 19th, wooded at Fox Island at 4 a. m. Laid there until daylight. Off again at 4:40 a. m. and wooded at Manning's bottom. 20th, arrived at Standing Rock at I a. m. Discharged 90 tons of freight and left at 9:20 a. m. Unloaded freight at Fort Rice at 3:30 p. m. and left at 4:15 p. m. 21st, landed at Bismarck at 3 a. m. and commenced loading for Buford. Nellie Peck left for Buford at 9 a. m. this morning.

Oct. 22, left Bismarck at 4:30 p. m. with 183 tons, with Nellie Peck 3112 hours ahead. 23d, landed at Fort Stevenson at 3:30 p. m., 23 hours from Bismarck. Left Stevenson at 4 p. m. and passed Berthold at 8 p. m. 24th, wooded at Little Missouri at 4:30 a. m. Met the Rosebud there at 12 m. Met the Silver City ten miles above the slide. Met the Fontenaelle at Upper Knife River at 3 p. m. 25th, passed the steamer Custer at Tobacco Garden, and wooded at Joe Lanning's at 7 a. m. Nellie Peck was, at this point, five hours ahead. Wooded at Scott's at 6:30 p. m., and laid there until 7:45 p. m. Oct. 26th, arrived at Fort Buford at 2:30 p. m., 3 days, 101/2 hours out from Bismarck. Discharged 183 tons of freight. Nellie Feck unloading on our arrival. She left at 8 a. m.

27th, left at daylight and wooded at Lanning's. Laid up ten miles below Knife River 28th, under way at 2:30 a. m. Wooded at Mandan Village at 5 a. m. Met Rosebud 20 miles above Berthold 10:35 a. m. and passed Berthold at 12:30 p. m. Passed steamer Sherman aground above Stevenson at 4 p. m. Laid up at Knife River. 29th, off at break of day. Sparred at Painted Woods; wind terrible. Arrived at Bismarck at 5 p. m., making the round trip from Bismarck to Buford and return in 7 days and 30 minutes. Nellie Peck in five hours ahead of us. Laid at Bismarck all night.

Oct. 30th, left Bismarck at daylight for Yankton. Laid up at Beaver Creek. Oct. 31st, sparred three hours above Standing Rock; had to lay a line before we got off. Left Stand- ing Rock at 12 m., and laid up at Spring Brook woodyard. November I, took on 15 cords of wood at Wanita bottom at 7 a. m. Aground again and had to spar from I p. m. until 4 p. m. Laid up opposite the Moreau. Nov. 2d, under way at daybreak. Tied up opposite Chey- enne at 6:15 p. m. Nov. 3d, left at daylight and passed the Silver City at 8:30 a. m. Met the Black Hills at Farm Island at 2:50 p. m. Laid up at Red Cloud. Nov. 4th, met the Josephine at Dry Point at 1:30 p. m. Laid up at Gray Island. Nov. 5th, met the Big Horn at Joe La Roche's at 9 a. m. Wooded, 37 cords, at Mulehead, at II a. m. Met the Silver Lake at 1:30 p. m. below Mulehead. Met the Key West below the Yankton Agency. Laid up at Yankton bluffs. Nov. 6th, passed the Fontenelle at the foot of Bon Homme Island. Broke our camrod here and laid up to repair it. Off again at 1:30 p. m. Landed at Yank- ton, making the round trip from Yankton to Buford in 27 days, 81/2 hours. Receiving and discharging, with our way freight down, 400 tons. Dave Campbell, Ben. Jewell, pilots ; Jno. W. Rowe, and A. W. McLean, engineers.

The Peninah finished her season's work by another short trip to Red Cloud agency, Lower Brule, carrying 193 tons, returning to Yankton on the 11th of November.

LOG OF THE FANCHON

For the purpose mainly of showing the importance of the Yellowstone River as channels for the transportation of freight and passengers during the earlier days before railroads came in and monopolized the carrying business, the fol- lowing paragraph taken from the "River News" column of the Bismarck Tribune of August 3, 1877, furnishes abundant evidence :

The steamer Fanchon, Captain Sweeney, made the best time this season to the mouth of Tongue River, two days and seven hours, carrying 160 tons of freight. She left Tongue

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River at 5 P. M., July 29th, with seventy-five Crow Indians and 100 ponies. The steamers General Meade and Fanchon arrived from Tongue River and report the river falling fast ; boats are experiencing trouble in reaching Tongue River. The Rankin is high and dry at a point below Powder River. Captain Hemingway came down on the Fanchon and will procure jackscrews and material and try to launch her. The Victory has her barge aground at Peninah shute. The Western is filling up for Tongue River and will depart on the arrival of tomorrow's train. She will be followed by the Far West Tuesday. The Key West, Big Horn, Peninah and Rosebud are employed carrying supplies from Tongue River to Big Ilorn post. The steamer Benton got away with a fair trip. By telegram from Fort Benton to Captain Marratta, superintendent Coulson line, the steamer Durfee left Benton for this place the Ist inst., and will arrive here Sunday. The river at this point is falling fast. The following steamers are now at the landing: Fanchon, Florence Myer, Western, Far West, General Meade, R. W. Dugan, and Fontenelle. The Fanchon will go to St. Louis and will get away some time tomorrow. The General Meade, R. C. Mason, master, left Cantonment post, Tongue River No. I, Tongue River, Montana, at 3 o'clock P. M., July 30th; wind very strong ; 6.10 P. M., met steamer Fletcher; 6.35 P. M. met steamer Tiger; 8 P. M. passed steamer Rankin high and dry. July 31st, 6.55 A. M., met steamer Alex Kendall; laid up on account of wind from 8.35 A. M. to 5 P. M .: met steamer Savannah above Glendive woodyard. August Ist, 4.15 A. M., met steamer General Custer; 5 A. Al., met steamer Victory near cutoff ; 3 P. M. met steamer Kate Kinney at Big Muddy; 4.20 P. M. met steamer Josephine. August 20. 5.45 A. M., met steamer Silver City at Knife River ; 7.15 P. M .. met steamer Benton : 8 P. M., laid up at Painted Woods on account of heavy storm. August 3d, landed at Bismarck at 9.15 A. M. We have Captain Hemingway and crew, who are going home to build a boat suitable for the Little Horn River.

GRANDEUR OF A TRIP ON THE MISSOURI

The steamer Helena was a new boat in 1878, and as she was about starting otit from St. Louis on her first long voyage of nearly three thousand miles to Fort Benton, her captain and part owner, James McGarry grew reflective:

If 1 were to tell a foreigner of the trip I am going to take on the Helena tonight he might not say anything, but he would mentally set me down as a most consummate falsifier. An Englishman, with his ideas of space and distance formed by contemplation of the size of his own country, would simply and firmly decline to believe in the existence of a river upwards of three thousand miles in length, and as for telling him that it was navigable for upwards of two thousand seven hundred miles, and that a craft like the Helena would make the trip, it would only increase his admiration for your powers of fabrication. 1 doubt if one man in five hundred could draw a rough charter of the northwestern states and terri- tories and get them in a proper position let alone the matter of outline. A little study of a map of the United States would give them a few ideas about the extent of a voyage impossible in any other country in the world. Just think what an institution the Missouri River is. We pull out of St. Louis, run north twenty miles and turn into the Missouri River. and then we are booked for a voyage through six states and through a country richer in all that makes wealth than any other portion of the land. The river, running west. passes by Jefferson City, reaches Kansas City, forms the boundary line between Kansas and Missouri, and in its course kisses the feet of Fort Leavenworth, Atchison and St. Joseph, forms the boundary between Nebraska and lowa, and touches Omaha, Council Bluffs and Sioux City, and then makes a western detour and elevates to the dignity of a port, Yankton, in Dakota Territory. a town which the influx of strangers to the Black Hills has made a thriving city. The river then strikes northward through the center of Dakota Territory, striking. when 600 miles north, Bismarck, a thriving little city known to the world as the present western terminus of Jay Cooke's Northern Pacific Railroad. Civilization is here left substantially behind, and for 1,400 miles the Missouri describes a semicircle through some of the grandest scenery on the globe, military stations, mining camps and natural landmarks, fantastically named by man alone, serving to give notice of distance passed until the end of the wild and wonderful journey is reached, with the head of navigation at Fort Benton, a United States military station, with a prosperous and growing town springing up under its protection. with its inhabitants enriching themselves by trade with the miners who throng the auriferons regions of the space remaining between here and the golden shore of the Pacific. The river at this point is wide and deep. but thirty miles further up the Missouri pours down in a glorious cascade over a rocky ledge ninety feet high, making a sight rivaling in grandenr and excelling in the beauty of its surroundings the fearinl and glorious Falls of Niagara.

During the boating season of 1869 there were 143 landings made by steam- boats at the Yankton levee. A large proportion of the Government annuity goods for the Indians and supplies for the military posts, came to Sioux City by rail, thence by river to the fort and Indian agencies above. In view of the prejudice which existed in certain quarters against the navigation of the Upper Missouri,

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growing out of rival interests or misinformation, the foregoing should be considered a sufficient refutation of any statement that the upper portion of the Missouri River is not a practicable navigable stream. Only during the low water season in the fall did steamboat men find difficulty in ascending the river ; then the sandbars and snags were troublesome. Snags were much more numer- ous at that time than of later years ; they having been removed by Government boats expressly rigged for the purpose. It may be claimed that all the most dangerous haunts of the snag have been explored and this enemy to navigation destroyed. This work was for many years in charge of Capt. W. H. Gould, a veteran steamboat man and a very intelligent and observing gentleman. He is authority for the statement that there can be no increase in the number of snags in the river, and has not been since the settlement of the country. This is because the settlers have removed the trees from the river banks. During the ordinary boating season, which usually begins from the middle of March to the first of April and continues until the last of October and frequently well into November. the navigation of the Missouri River was not seriously hampered except by sand bars during low water in the late fall, and was free from accidents other than those common to navigable streams everywhere. Steamboats did not cease to navi- gate the Missouri because of any hindrance or obstacle to navigation.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 100

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198