The river press., 1884-02-13
An Old Time Reminiscence.

rho carly days of Fort Benton are re-
80 ,,,itb Interesting "reminiscences A
polume might be written in which every
abantar would abound in thrilling scenes
~ incidents. Going back to the DAYS
Of the American fur company up 10
1878. enough wild, and not intrequen.-
Iv tragic adventures c0uld be gwen ~
satisfy the most morbid curiosity oi 10Y
ors of Indian literature. Inc loilo"lns
event will serve to show somewhat 1he
trials and trbulations OF the oid-tiheis
In those days human lie was neia
very cheap, and it was dangerous; ~ ~
out on the prairie even OH lesi @ l.',
business. and man, no malIeI no"
Iii arnoad was never secure against
tho dpviltry of some lurking zoe, TOT III
dams of whatever tribe were the hatuf"i
enemies of the paleface. Many a 'ed
man has paid the penalty OF his crimes
without the aid Of judge or Jury, OUT IN
e,,nh cases however, the Indian Was
Usually rep0rted lost, as indeed ne was,
In the fail Of 1874 Al Hutchinson ana
his nartner were hunting near the square
hntia on Arrow creek, and one night
after going into camp seVefal lhdlans
annroached and began at once to beg for
s5mnthinp to eat. They were supplled
1ron the scanty store belonging TO the
man hut the quantity being insufflcitn'
to Snpply (heir demands, they grew
abusive and with Indian perslstency ce
tprnined to have more at all ilaharaS'
drawing their guns TO enforce thelf ae
mands. In the melee when ehsueo
Hutchinson was shot IN tne leg, iiulil
tbe effects of which he su11efs to ,iiis
day. The Indians, seeing the fnlschle'
they had done, ran away ana Al. was
t,xy his
he Law in the hospital at the OLD 1ort TOT
aaynral months. The matter had APP
nar4ntlv died out, but the following
snrinG word was brought into town that
Two Indians, the aggressors IN the scrlm-
,,,agn were in the Gros Ventre camp at
nr near the Coal Banks Acting upon
his information sheriff's posse OF tour
men was hastily summoned ana depart
ed to make the arrest. rms was uan
oprous undertaking, as it would probablN
narassitate going into the camp ana
tolinU the Indians out, but the poaSt
were fully armed and determined 70
hsvA the men. On reaching the camp
thnv called for the chief and told hlm
what they wanted. After some delay
ha consented to give them up. The
nossa returned to Benton jubllant ana
The nrisoners were lodged in jail. lh
following day the, were given pf.ll,n
mary examination before Judge H. IL
Mills. ]. A. Kanouse being assigned ~
the court for the defense. IL was lihaii
determined to seek for some new eNi
dence and the Indians were SEM oach
to iai! During the evening paftleS
might have been seen whispering hlsS
terously together, and some tlLne ai'e,.
midnight all the saloons were deser.e"
xxynY
nm town. Not long after NUMBER OF
shots were heard. and very soon the men
returned and dropped into the saloons
as if nothing had happened, ana ousi
ness proceeded as usual. The neXf
morning a report was brought IN that
The two Indians, with their handouts
ON. were found in the river close 10 the
bank, near where the upper ferry no"
is. One of them had nine bullet hoie~
in his BODY. The matter was kept quie'
and il has never been generally known
who were in the party. Some of the
participants are dead, others removed
but Tom Hardwick, who was ieadlng
snirit in all dare devil adventures, l.
still living. Sheriff Hale was very
much blamed by the order loving por-
tion of the community for allowing the
KEYS of the Jail to be taken from nm.
1t is but fair even at this late Gay 10 SO sdy
that he had no hand in the affair. Th,
keys of the Jail were in his room ana
were taken while he was absent ana
new key made, so that be was IN n"
manner compromised.
The affair created considerable excite
ment at the time, but it has almost oeen
forgotten, except by few oid-tlmefs
who love to recall the days OF their con
fiict and the rough, yet exciting, prairie
experiences.