St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-02-23
SAVED BY A PREMONITION.

SAVED BY A PREMONITION.
II am not believer in manifesto
tons, spiritualism, or dreams; but
whenever Christmas Day comes
around l always call to mind and
am thankful for premonition that
once saved me from horrible
DEATH" said Thomas Doris. 1T
happened in the year 1865. At that
time my father had extensive bust
ness interests in the far West, prin-
cipally in Montana, and | made
frequent trips out there. 1t was in
the fall of '65 that made one trip
OF this kind for my father, and also
to look after some business of some
other St. Louisans who were en-
gagged in the fur trade. Among
them were Thomas E. Tut, presi-
dent of the Third National Bank of
this city, and Charles P. Chouteau,
who was, | believe, at that time
president of the American Fur Com
pany, with headquarters at Fort
Benton, Mont. There were no rail-
roads out there then, and from
Atchison, Kan, | had to stage it for
thirty-one days. The country was
full of outlaws, road agents, and
hostile Indians; any sort of travel
ling was dangerous. We went
heavily armed and carried our lives
in our hands.
"As we neared Fort Benton we
learned that the Mountain Crow In
dams were on the war path and
committing fearful depredations.
On the trip from Atchison to Fort
Benton l had for companion an
Iowan named John Burris, and we
became quite friendly on the road.
| found that he was town builder
and speculator. He, with about
twenty others, had laid off a town
at the confluence of the Marias and
Missouri rivers, about six miles from
Fort Benton, and had cleared off the
ground and built some log houses.
He said it was fine location for a
city, and offered to let me in on the
ground floor. We arrived at Fort
Benton a few days before Christmas.
| found that the river was too low
for navigation, and that in all
probability our boats would not
arrive for a month or two. So |
decided to accept Burris' invitation
to 60 over to Marias City, as he call
ed the new town, and spend week
or two and pick out few good lots.
ut was the morning of the Oath
that looked carefully to my arms,
and, mounting Comanche pony,
left Fort Benton for new town. l
arrived in a couple of hours and
was warmly greeted by Burris, and
was introduced to his companions.
After a lunch, we rode up the river
some distance to visit a logging
camp where material for the new
city was being gotten out, and it
was there that the peculiar part of
my story came in. Unaccountably
! became seized with a strange
fright; in tenderfoot it would have
been called buck ague. l experienced
vague dread, and at times shook like
leaf. My companions thought
that | was i'll, and so / was, but could
explain neither the cause nor the ef-
feet. | had a dread of something
terrible, and so strong did this take
possession of me that / determined
to go back to Fort Benton that
night, though l had come prepared
to stay week at least. 1t was late
when we got back to the town and l
announced my determination. They
tried to persuade me out of it, and
declared that it would be dangerous
to ride after night. They stated by
way of persuasion that they had a
young bear and would have a royal
Christmas dinner the next day, but
my fear kept me steadfast, and l put
spurs to my pony aud rode to Fort
Benton as fast as / could. Those
bows never ate their Christmas
dinner. Early the following morn
ing a friendly Crow brought word
to the Fort that during the night a
large band of Indians had attacked
the camp at Marias City and had
murdered and scalped every man in
the place and had burned the huild-
ings. The report proved true. There
had been terrible struggle, but the
party had been vastly out-numbered,
and not one was left to tell the
tale."-[St. Louis Globe-Democrat.