, 1890-04-03
THE PHANTOM STEAMBOAT.
It Wa Seen by Thirteen Men PUTIN
Aor,s. DeViIs Lake I'm Dakota

H Was Seen by Thirteen Men Pufhnk
Aorbss DEVILS Lake In DakotA.
There are some modern stories of
Devils lake which vie in superstitious
fancies with those of the aboriginal
age. The phantom steamboat is a crea-
ton in which a number of people have
implicit faith. Some weird tales are
told of how this airy creation goes
putting up and down the silent lake in
the darkness of summer nights, its
special fires cleaning on the black
water and the beat of its screw keep
ing rhy thmic motion that becomes
suddenly silent on the approach of a
mortal.
The first appearance of the phantom
steamboat was early in the eighties.
AT hat time the government had a
small steamboat plying on the lake
between the fort and the settlement of
Devils Lake on the opposite shore.
Leave of absence was often given to
the soldiers 10 go over to the town
and spend a day and night. For this
purpose a small schooner was employ
ed, it having been built by the men
before the government constructed a
steam vessel. Then il was a common
thing for the civilians around the fort
settlement to cross this lake and take
up land and buy town lots in the new
city, for the North Dakota boom was
then getting under way. Frank Pal
err, the Indian trader at the reserva
lion. tells the story:
There had been quite a lot of us
yer at the settlement, and on a Sun
day evening we started to return in
the sailboat. II | remember rightly
there were thirteen in the party, near
l~ Ill G41lfaro fpnv, tho fart w. L.l
just got rightly started when one of
those high winds which suddenly
spring up on the lake came down on
us, and it was no time until our sail
ing gear got out of order and useless.
When the storm subsidized we were
dismautlcd and drifting. Nearly all
the soldiers who were in the boat were
ON absence leave, which expired on
Sunday night, and consequently they
were in a great state of anxiety over
our helpless condition. 1t grew dark.
AS we had no oars we were com
PEELED to sit helpless, There wasn't q
drop of anything stronger than the
water around us. While we were w
ing becalmed somebody heard, or i'm
agined they heard, the putting of the
steamboat. We listened, and what
seemed to be the noise of escaping
steam was heard distinctly. Instantly
the conclusion was reached that some
body at the fort had witnessed our pre-
dicament before sunset and had started
the steamboat out 10 our relief. |
strained my eyes in the direction from
which the sound came, and, sure
enough, the shadowy outline of a
steamboat seemed visible in the dark
ness.
Everybody was on the alert. The
throb of the engines became more dis.
tinct; some of the men saw the lights
and detected the glow of the furnace
fires. So powerful was this impress
sion that several of our party hailed
the boat, but the cry was unanswered.
We watched it go by in the distance
till suddenly it disappeared. We man
aged to get to the fort landing that
night after considerable trouble. The
little government steamer lay there
with no sign of life about her, and her
fNrnaces AS cold u a January morn
ing 1t was evident that she had not
been out on the lake within twenty
four hours, The people at the fort yer
flied this.
The story OF our experience seemed
incredible, butthere were plenty of wit
neSses, and so the phantom steamboat
from that hour became one of the mys-
terics of Devils lake. Other people
have since claimed to have seen it &c
pulling up and down the lake in the
darkness of moonleSs nights, the fires
making trails Of light on the water,
while the throb of the ghostly engines
was distinctly heard Dakota Cor.
Philadelphia Press.