The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1877-07-05
Ks FROM FORI' BJIFORD.

FROM FORT BIFOl2D. .sa - j.
LETTER FROM GEORGE ROHVE-T77E
!; TRIP TO THE YFLLOWSTONE-FU
IN THE MUD. 49,. t..
On BOARD STEAMER J. E. RANKIN, !
Fort BUFoHD, D. T., June Il, 1877.
EDITOR ADVANCE: Arrived here
yesterday. To-day is our: eighteenth
day. from st. Paul. Have over 200
miles yet to go before reaching our des-
tination and at the rate we have been,
coming up the Missouri, it will take us
1T least Is days to get up the Yellow
stone to the mouth of Tongue river.
We have had a very tedious and disa-
greeable trip this far, boat crowded,
stormy, cold and. windy weather, high
water and rapid current to contend a.
gainst. Have hauled the boat over
rapids nearly every day. Just below
TT. Stephenson all hands, lover 200
men, ent;ashore and hauled on line
over Bluffs $50 to 200 feet high. Broke
a q inch new line twice and men slipped
down the steep banks in sitting posi-
ton through soft clay almost into the
river. Others would get in mire and
cry out IS #. 81 and it. large" and
some would shout mo bottom.'' It
was fun for US who were fortunate e.
nough to keep our feet on dry ground.
You can perhaps imagine, II cannot
descrlDe) our appearance. We would
have made 4 first class picture for
Frank Leslies or some comic paper.
Still with all our mislIaps we have had
our fun. At many places the boats
crew and as many Of us as would vol
uhteer have had to stop and cut dry
wood and you may be assured that it
takes 200 men but Il very short time to
wood a boat. Every man will 30 and
pick up al armful of drift wood and
march on the boat in all sorts of fam
tastic styles. One day when the boat
could not run on account Of wind, the
boys went hunting Buffalo, they saw
six and shot one, but when it was
brought in, it was found to have brass
nlbS on its horns. need not say that
it was a good fat OK and we had fresh
meat for the next two days. Tie man
who Shot it now goes by the name of
Buffalo. One man killed Beaver and
we nave seen several swimming in the
water along the shore. We are now
getting in a country where the Capt.
III command will not allow shooting
from the boat or on shore, consequent
Iy Buffalo and other game are safe.
The country through which we have
passed since leaving Bismari may we'll
be called bad Lands" Alkali water,
clay bluffs, almost totally destitute of
vegetation. Even the river bottoms
are not good soil. Muddy clay and
mlre from the wash of the bluffs, and
| am told these bluffs and the same
kind OF land extends back from the
river for many miles and woe to the
man who loses his money in such Il
country.
There are but few Indians to be seen
and us yet have not troubled the boats
any. At Ft. Berthold there are about
500. At this place and TT. Union,
some 500 hundred, perhaps more. The
Indians here ut TT. Is ford are friendly
and are mostly of the Mandan and AS
sineboines tribes and they furnish near
~ all the government scouts. There
are also Half Breeds, French and From
tlersmen, scouts here who live mostly
among the Indians. This morning I
was through the ccmetay. l find the
i'ttAilIo ~ wv ClIiCIS, icOl tlfitlt, u MALI
dan, and Cut Thumb, an Asslncboine
Both died in 1860. Also three scouts
who were killed, viz: ''lIac-to'' or Blue
Horn, ''Toka-key-te - or He that kills
MS Enemy, and Bakeaa, OF Roulette.
The Ind ans who are buried are in
! graves about 2 #. deep and the Cayotes
have been digging into the most OF
them and in one the skull was all that
was left. The boys took it ont and put
! it on Il stick, but [ see this morning it
had been replaced. Out Of Is soldiers
removed from TT. Union, IS are mark
ed unknown.
There are companies of soldiers
here numbering about $50 men in all.
or about from % to 81 men in a company,
but they have their full CO Complement of
officers and camp followers. Que SOL
der told me that his company had on
ly priVates to answer to their names
at roll call. / hear from scouts that
there is quite a town at Tongue river,
some 800 inhabitants. We are to build
10 houses for government use besides
| necessary warehouses, etc. We are
just starting and must close in haste.
Direct to Yellowstone, Post No. l.
| Lon. and Merrill and all are well.
Left one sick man at Stephenson. We
thought; he had the measles, but hear
ut this place that it was small pox and
they have him III 4 Tent miles from
camp. We were fortunate in getting
him off boat before it was contagious.
G. NJ. Il.