Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1878-07-11

A $500 Miles Trip I'm n Small Sail
Boat



IT the foot Of North Market street. the
is ing a queer kind of river craft.
possesses the several characteristics of
sloop and a s"ow. From its one mast fiji,
4 small flag. Rough. patched-up. and di
ty-looking. it would not strike the eye ;
anything peculiar. except as a bark
which a landsman would shrink from avail
ing himself of to take Il few miles sail II
the river in. and yet the "Specklcd Trout
for that's her namn-lnay be set down
history as 4 boat which has maGe one
the longest continuous river trips on re,
ord. and probably the longest by "A sailn
vessel in inland waters The "SDccklc
Trout" comes all the way from pretty nna
the hcadwatcrS Of tie Yellowstone. Il rive
the locality Of which is made famous b
the late Indian massacres and the struggle
of settlers and gold hunters.
4 visit was paid TO the craft yesterday
Crowds OF men ard boys were LnZzin!
around to see what they called the Rock,
Mountain boat" Their curiosity. howev
or. did not center so much on the boat Il
on man who was sitting on the top 0
the miniature cabin. lie was most Elnt:,s
tically dressed in Indian style-buckSkil
pants and 'le-2ings.'' with . lun,n.
knife peeping out OF an Ornamcnted p0uci
1T lis side. flannel shirt and fur cap. Iii:
hair was coal black and his face a dark cop
per color.
Stepping onto tie boat. the reporter pre-
pared himself to communicate with hi,
strange individual in sign language. but he
was lgrceahly surprised to find that poor
To- saluted him with, Good day, SIR ii
very good English.
Ibid you come down with this boat:'
'.Poor LO' gave a nod.
"\re you the Captain:''
NO, sir; the Cap'n ii be here in mo-
mcnt."
You are an Indian. are you not:'
NO. sir: I'm MeXican.''
The truth of the matter is, as was after
wards learned. thar the man was a half
breed a Mexican Indian. His name is
Frank Romeo.
The "Cap'n' at iliiS point came up. He
was aS unprctcntous as his boat. but was
nevertheless exceedingly courteous and
''hail fellow, well met His name is 2. C..
Sovereign.
"ics. sir replied lie to the reporter.
and he had 4 quick, positive way of speak
ing, like a man who had Travelled consider
ably-'.thiS here boat can be said to be the
pioneer OF tie Upper Yellowstone. There
be lots Of steamers which have gone part
ly up the Yellowstone, but none have been
where ! come from. As you say. its
somewhat Ola long way, some $500 miles.
more nor less. reckon. p'r'aps my start
ing was 400 miles further than is Ft. Ben
ton. on the Missouri"
The Captain sal his craft WAS forty-four
feet long and twelve feet beam. drawing
two feet when laden, but now only thirteen
inches.
IL had the doggondcst trouble out in
building this here boat he said. Il had
to 60 seventy or eighty miles to get the
sawn lumber from mill; the few planed
boards used got from the Government
agency. The chief trouble was with the
iron, and there is very little iron in the
boat. We have no regular blacksmith up
there, and had to stand over man to tell
him how wanted things fixed. Leaving
the ironwork, built the entire concern
myself. my only tools being a cross-cut
saw, a jack-plane, and a hatchet. Ever
since | WAS Il young man I've travelled.
Old dad is eighty-three years of age, and
| 90 to the Old farm now and again.
"Where does your father live:"
'.At Bronte, between Toronto and Ham,
iIton, Canada West"
The reporter happened to have been
there, and the Captain was very much
pleased to hear this.
'.Ive been all over Californy: have been
in Arizona. New Mexico and Mexico, and
have number of times been along the
Upper Missouri and the Yellowstone. Up
there seemed a good place to locate, and
there ! mean to make my home. Lots of
people say Horace Greeley's advice, go
West, young man. is played out, but it's
not so. The country is a magnificent one
for such fellows as ]. at least, who can
hunt. trap, trade: who understands In
dians and tie Indian lingo, and who are
not afraid Of roughing it, and fighting, if
necessary. immigration, OF very fine
class of men. is pouring in. TO be sure.
truth, is most serious objection. Con-
venient TO where come from are the Crow
Indians. They're peaceable, and we have
no trouble with them. But weeks before
| left took the river on the 10Th of May
there was talk amongst the Indians of
Sitting Bull recrOssing the line with big
force. He's good fighter. and as crafty
as the devil. General Miles, saw him at
Fort keo%h. on the Tongue riyer-will
have all he can do. | know what Indians
are. and generally / wouldn't trust 'enl
any farther than could see 'em, although
Frank there is as true as gold, his only
falling being & little too much love of the
.benZine.' But most Of the Indians are
doggoned sight better than half of the
agents the Government sent out. And the
is So picayunish. If there is
to be "A clearing-out of the Indians, let
there be one. Instead of putting its foot
right down, and showing what it can do,
the Government acts rs if it had no more
power than the Indians. One hundred
soldiers are sent out where there ought TO
be thousand Ii the settlers, hunters,
and mountain men had it their own way,
there would be very little Of Indian Tou-
bles. But the officers do not want them
to interfere; they tell them that the United