The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-04-20

full of whisky were given out as the price of
robe, and sometimes cheap blanket was
thrown in. if the robe was fine one.
Three to four gallons was the
buffalo horse, that is a horse that could lun
down and overtake a herd of buffalo. could
be readily purchased for four or tive gallons
of the vile stuff called whisky. But these
animals were reserved to the last. An lndl-
an priced good buffalo horse above every
thing. They were seldom used for anything
except on the hunt, and were 80 trained
that the rider could easily pick out and kill
the choicest buffalo while on the run.
Desperate chances were taken in hopes OF
lost their lives while peddling whiskey in
the camps of the Indians. They are natu-
rally treacherous and filed with whlskey
have no fear of consequences. The method
usually adopted in prairie trading was to
locate band of Indians and drive in and
| trade off the whiskey as quickly as possible
| and then skip.
There were some very curious names to
the stockades, such rs Slideout, Stand On,
Whoop-Up, Fl. Kipp, Medicine Tree Fort.
These were all located near some stream
either Belly river, Old Mans river, High
wood. St. Mary's river, or Elbow creek.
| They derived their names from natural
happenings. Slide-Out was so named from
the fact that the Indians had determined to
raid tho traders. They discovered the fact
|
Stand OFF is where the Indians made an at
tack, but got left. Whoop-Up is where the
Indians did some good fighting and gave a
local name to that section of the country.
Every effort was made by the United States
officials to put a stop to the moonsnlnlne
were no regular roads. moonshlner
could start from Benton and when once on
the prairie it was almost impossible to md
him. There were no settlements and no
way to find him except by following the
wagon tracks, and when once started ne
was not apt to let 'the grass grow under
his feet"
The marshal was once outwitted in 9
clever way at Sun river. A wagon loaded
with alcohol stood in the street ready tc
start, but the officer was on the alert tc
overhaul the outfit as soon as the reserva.
ton was reached. But no sign of an IN
tended move was made during the after
noon. At night dance was given and the
marshal invited to attend. He accepted
but ever and anon would saunter ont to
see if the wagon was still there. 1t was
there and remained there all night. Next
morning the officer looked into it, but 10
and behold the barrels of alcohol had dis
appeared. 1t became known atterward that
while the gallant marshal was lndulglng IN
| a waltz at the ball the moonshlners ran an
other wagon of exactly the same appear
auce as the first alongside of it. -Four good
horses were Immediately hitched on to the
wagon containing the precious cargo. and
stole carefully away in the night. relay
of horses had been placed at intervals OF
fifteen miles to the British line, and
, although the government official gave chase
he was never able to overtake the moon,
sinners.
On another occasion wagon was over
hauled on the prairie. 1t was stopped ane
J the contents examined. 1t was found K
be loaded with syrup in cans. The loac
was permitted to pass The wagon wa.
then taken straight to Whoop-up. and whel
, unloaded was found to contain about on
can of syrup to ten of alcohol.
, The officials became desperate. At on
time an invoice of all the liquor IN Bentol
| was taken and a close watch kept to Sc
! that none of it was shipped north. Ih
1 situation became desperate for the moon
!. sinners. The supply was running short a
5 Whoop-Up and the Indians were ciamor
n GUS for more Finally 4 big load of alcoho
o WAS shipped by mule teams to Helena. !
e was unloaded on Main street with othe
e attention to it. In the eyenin
il it was reloaded and taken dur
! ing the night down to the Missouri rivel
4 where it was put aboard a raft III waltln
e and taken down below Sun river. Here
J. swift team WAS in waiting on the bank an
h as the sun sunk behind the hills the QUIT
a leisurelv pulled out toward the border.
J. Another instance where the officers WEI
re successfully eluded was on the Marlas.
man left Benton with a wo-horse wagon cor
lie tanning a single barrel of alcohal. He ha
A. no suspicion the officers were after him, 9.
s, was driving leisurely along over the hi
10 near the Marias river. Looking back I
% saw two men on horseback coming rapid