The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1867-11-07
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- ss0ckAfap Ath l0R71

- S:Ucsooor I'll, l6S7. Il.
ED1ron JouRxAL--l have delayed
writing to you till I got settled, and
could got some ot1dsas Of what
Montana is but before 1ayipg anything
about the country, I will occupy . few
lines in:isketching our journey: across
the plains, to the. famous country Of
Rxst. =. ....:.i 49,. -;
From Fort Ramssm W took IN en-
tirely new road: 70 Fort Stevenson. .
new fort sixteen miles. below old Eest
Berthold -having - halfbrsed guide,
Who understood the country perfectly.
We arrived At that point August 9Th,
At Fort Buford on: the 23d, aud Fort
Benton on the. 18th Of : September.
Between the last two named fosts "
had tue aaest hunting L ever ssw.
There was IN abundance Of buffalo,
deer, elk, antelope TO-, 70 that 10 had
plenty Of fre:h meat, more particularly
80, while On Milk River. We passed
through number Of Indian camps al
seemed friendly except one Of the
Yankton.is. They stopped the tain
and virtually forced Us to give them
some presents; we prefering that 70 .
fight.
We arrived at Helena about the 25th
Of September, in good condition, having
had no serious accidents, OF bad luck.
This has been 4 fine season for crossing
the plains, a. there was but little hot
weather. The grass was good most Of
the way, but the stock was rather thin
after 80 long . journey.
Capt. Davy filled the expectations Of
his friends after We left Fort Ransom.
I think be is we'll qualified to bring {.
train over tho plains. He certainly
had 4 great deal to contsud With. Min
nesota was not anxious 70 loss any Of
her Inhabitants, aud consequently gave
him no material assistance. The Ia.
dian reports were 70 unfavor,bls that
hundreds gave up going after they had
made preparations for the journey. He
had expended . large sum Of money in
getting up the expedition, and when
the time arrived for ito departure there
were only hundreds whore he had been
assured there would be Thousands, and
consequently very. small amount OF
money coming to him, beeidss,1 men.
who bad pledged him assistance aI.a-
doned him, Therefore >he W. without
sufficient transportation o. provisions
foE his ,pa,.engezs. This h.a iea.sed =
good deal Of trouble, and his ability to,
command . train i i, very muck doubted
bJ ,sqme, but only BY those 1 :hiak,
who are not aware Of tho disadvantage,
be has been laboring undsr,, or; who
have not appreciated the same. One
thing is certain he brought the train
safely through hostile Indian country,
and he surely managed tho hostile In
dians We encountered, splendidly. Had
it not been for his good judgement and
l think We might have been
robbed, if not mastered: .., "sHonor 70
whom honor is DUE. j. my motto I
opposed him strongly whom 1 thought,
him wrong, and upheld him whom I
thought him right. H. ii :.<..v.
We'll l must pas to the subject,
Montana. / should not have occupied
70 much space With the above, had il
not been for reports that have been
published which injure Capt. Davy aud
do him injustice. .*i j.
Many Of the men in tho train who
had no families, hired out At Benton
and Fort Sbaw-a new tort on Sun
river-for wages Ringing from go 10
dust 70 >125 in ,greeabseks, pr month,
aud board. The former wages for team
sters, and tho latter for briekmasons
Carpenten got 800 in currency from
the Government. One hired q . bekss
and cook for >85 ia dust. Helena il
rather dull at this season Of tho year.
Some Of our party have gone int
ranches, some 70 ehoppiug wood, and
some 70 prospestiog.. Wood pays about
L. p