St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1866-07-05
FROM THE MONTANA EXPEDITION

FROM THE MONTANA EXPEDITION.
From, Our Regular Correspondent.
Fonr ABERcRoMB1E, D. T.,
IL June 23d. 1866.
ED1ron DEMocsAr.-The people Of St.
Cloud and vicinity, perhaps, feel deeper
interest in opening and establishing the
Northern route to Montana, than those Of
any other place in the Northwest; conse-
quently they feel like interest IN the sue
cess Of Capt. Fisk's expedition, and not
only n words have they manifested that
interest, but by coming forward and con-
tributlng literally to the enterprise, there
by furnishing material aid to the COM
manding officer, by means of which he has
been enabled TO put his train into such a
condition rs to suggest to the mind of any
man. perfect success. Too much credit
cannot be accorded to some of the inflnen-
tial citizens Of St. Cloud for the present ap-
pearance of the expedition. Your readers
will, no doubt, be pleased to learn that
everything pertaining to the expedition ap
pears to be perfectly satisfactory to all
concerned they are well pleased with the
conduct of Capt. Fisk, who has, since his
arrival here, manifested the greatest solici-
tude for the welfare of all. and is ever
ready to advise and direct in the arranging
of thousand little things that require his
immediate attention There are a great
many persons in the expedition who have
never been on the plains, and almost every
one of them require some advice, or think
they do; consequently, Capt. Fisk is al
ways surroun led by a number Of eager
questioners, all Of whom must be answered,
and it is always done in such n manner as
to give perfect satisfaction to all. The on
ly thing that has transpired to mar the
perfect harmony of the expedition, was a
spirit of secession that seemed to pervade
that part of it which reached here few
days previous to Capt. Fisk, instigated by
H. B. Steele, who, having had his vanity
fattered b. few of his warm admirers
until he looked upon himself as the only
man competent to lead an expedition to
Montana, and in fact, the one ordained es-
pecially for that purpose, Immediately made
known his intentions to organize an expe-
dition, Offering his services to all persons
desiring to 60 for the sum of .t,co dollar.
and ffty cents each. and those who had al
ready paid Capt Fisk ten dollars, were to
be taken free of charge this philanthropic
individual fattered himself that by making
this generous, offer he would secure more
than half OF Ffsk'e expedition, and openly
expressed himself to that effect, and added
that he sswas not working for his own in
terest, but for the benefit of all persons de-
string to 60, to Montana :" accordingly he
raised his standard, and in his imagination
he had pictured the glorious sight Of Fisk 8
expedition moving en- .aasse to rally beneath
his banner, swelled by ambitious hopes
equal to any that ever existed in the breast
of Napoleon, he watched the result; he was
working for glory, and already he saw him
self hero. ~: ,st.r-. .ss.;o.:.t-s55,ssss.>..
Those who were acquainted with the
dangers likely to be encountered on the
way, refused to risk their property and
perhaps their lives, for the purpose of saw
ing seven dollars and half, and only q
few scattering teams moved into his corral.
chagrined aud disappointed he turned to
his faithful few and gave the order to
''march." stopl ing long enough to ask one
of Fisk's teamsters whether he should turn
to the right or left after crossing the Wild
Rice, this modern Napoleon pushed boldly
forward with thirty nine teams, and eighty
men, and is now camped on the banks Of
the above mentioned stream. We regret
the occurrence, because, pecuniarily it is q
loss to Capt. Fisk but. on no other account
do we regret it.. The ienominlous conduct
of some of Steele's enthusiastic supporters
was such rs to render them very disagreea-
bic TO the majority of our party. As they
moved off, each one looking very much
like he was marching. out to be executed
| noticed that only a stubborn adherence
to step hastily and inconsiderately taken,
kept them from falling into the larger
train. We wish them we'll, and if they
were under the direction of a competent
guide, We; have no doubt but what their
journey would be safe and prosperous, bu:
as it is. We have our fears. ss.'s.. -7s7
The expedition is now fully organized, )!
and divided into. eight sections Of twenty.
wagons each, comprising in all onv hun-i
dred and sixty wagons and three hundred
and twenty-five men : about one hundred
men have taken subsistence tickets with
Capt. Fisk; of whom fifty are mounted
Capt. Fisk has sixteen wagons G.. g. E. W.
Sims twenty W. H. Watson ten, Of which
eight are loaded with freight belonging to
Capt. Fisk; G. w Tubbs and R.. Leitch
have each six. wagons; quite . number of
others have from two to four teams, and
the balance Of the expedition is composed
Of parties going through with one team
We notice quite a number of families in the
train, the most Of them supplied with every
convenience that could be expected on such
a journey, and ali Of them appear to be
cheerful and well satisfied. The expedi-
tion will leave here Monday morning, June
25th, and will move in three columns. We
expect to pass Fort Union about the 25th
0f Ellu and fnns,n fho,. !, a, ~ ;, hoo