Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1879-08-06
UP nIvEa SKETCHES,

: Oor special Correspondent's Description
OF Fort Randall, Fort Bennett and For
Pierre, and their Inhabitants.
Fort sully, August I'd, 1879 at 8 o'clocl
a. m.-Leh Pierre on Wednesday, the SOD
and took the stage on the east side of tn
Missouri. Mr.. Chas. Stafford, the driver
is a man of sixty years of age, and ha'
passed forty years of his life driving etageI
. on the frontier. Old Charles, the name by
which he is we'll known in this upper coun
try, says that out of fifty men murdered o.
drowned in this upper country every yea,
one murderer is caught and punished, and
forty-nine murdered or drowned men arr
known to have met their sad fate.
We rode through hillY and broken
country for ten miles and then travelled over
a level country for about eight or more
miles, and We could see the prairie for a
distance of about fifty miles. We passed
through an cid Indian village which was
formerly occupied by the Cheyennes
Reached Dupius' ranch at 10 O clock
p. IA. From that place to sully there is
about seven or eight miles, and the road
passes through magnificent hay prairies.
| Reached
FoRT sULLY.
at 2 o'clock p. m. and took quarters at the
Frandy hotel, kept by a discharged soldier.
TT. Sully is built on an elevated plateau
and is surrounded IN the south and west by
the Missouri river, and on the east and north
at a distance of 1900 yards by high bluffs.
As a military post to protect itself against
the attack Of Indians, Fl. Sully is the best
situated fort on the Missouri river.
The buildings are in the shape of a quad
rangle, the officers quarters to the west, the
hospital, bakery and laundry to the south,
the soldiers quarters to the east, and the
Offices, post library and Odd Fellows
hall to the north. There is a mag
nihcent square inside of the buildings, Gov
cred with grass, in the centre of which is
an immense cistern containing 100000 gal
Ions of water. Surrounding the buildings
inside there is a gravel sidewalk planted
with trees and outside of the sidewalk a
road, also made of gravel. The road and
sidewalk are free of weeds, and the place
looks so clean that one would think himself
transported inside Of a public square in the
city Of Philadelphia or Washington.
At the officers club room,I hal the pleas.
ure OF meeting the officers of the post and
was kindly entertainment by them during
my stay at the fort. The officers present a.
sully now are Col. Chas. G. Bartlett, Cap.
tains Choisey, Tolmanand Callinan; Lieuta.
F. Cumbert, McKlin, Moss and Petit. Asst.
Surgeon Kane, and Post Chaplain, Crocker.
There are here three companies, two from
the First regiment. and one from the
Eleventh.
Nj. N. H. Young, post trader, is having
built a new frame store, two stories high.
The east part Of the building will be occu-
pied as a club room for the officers. Two
rooms up stairs will be fitted to receive and
entertain guests.
In the morning, Mr.. Gage, Mr.. Young's
chief clerk, drove me to the ferry crossing
oft. Bennett, distance of aboutseven miles
from sully. We..left our team in charge of
Sergeant McCran, stationed on this side of
the river as a signal agent. We reached
FORT BENNETT.
about 10 o'clock a. m. The fort does not
a beautiful appearance. The officers
headquarters, numbering seven, face the
Missouri and back of them, at a distance of
fifty feet, is a long building, which looks
Ike a large barn occupied by the companies
the back Of the fort is a chain of bluffs,
which if occupied by the Indians, would
i've them a splendid chance to pick off
troops one by one with their rifles.
There are at present five companies at the
tort.
Mr.. james G. Robb is post trader at Fort
Bennett, and is doing an immense business.
dis store is larger than any in Yankton.
INV PASScut ~ Luo lOfL are |
Colonel Wood, Captains Jackson, Beach
md Sage; Lieutenants Hoffman, Roe, Ma.
lie, Meyers and Hoyt; Assistant Surgeon
The officers here have a very nice club
Dom in the south part of Mr.. Robb's store,
nd the men in the west part of the build.
ng.
CHEYENNE AGENCY.
8 built north of Fl. Bennett, and only a
part picket fence separates the two places.
The buildings of the agency are distributed
N the plac ewithout any symmetry, but they
re new and commodious.
Capt. schwan is very much pleased with
he progress of the C%heyennes, and thinks
hat they are advancing in civilization as
asst as it could be expected. They are (the
ndians) kind and polite to the whites, and
re now fast getting industrious. Few of
hem are farming. as the largest part are en-
aged in raising stock. They are taking