New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-16
PIRATES OF THE MISSOURI.
A NARRATIVE OF THE EARLY DAYS OF
THE FUR TRADE.

Frank w. caikins In The Midland Monthly.
The Backfeet Sioux and Pawnees were "E n the the
s early SSy. e .Ss FUR
As in every region, tn nsce occa
sionay ready to turn their hands asans, OF
lows And once at Least within rsrr tnS on series OF
successful boat robberies covering peru" "
than two years rs when small
blockhouses and trading stations were There com.
along the river at isolated pci rnde;rsthe latter
mostly had their head9u al snd
sppes Srosh from ser
Mississippi The small atb9 SI.0 or mem be-
Gase wages 9,s were high and profits must be made
peril Of these S Th eSer SINCE
the days JesIIis and the Pilgrims OF the
These boats had always TO run tne s,,h exciting
and perous adventures and not lnfreauehsy, mi,
disaster But the Indians armed d a a.Ss wee cal,
tious and hushwhackng n the, he aoverts OF the
though boamsn were not ,r %ae sne the craft might
usually be relied upon to reach its destiny an" '''
us when gang Of river pirates assailed one Of
these boats the outcome was usually the a do
It's cargo and the loss OF some II not all Oh "' W.
'e"'' A DESPERATE GANG.
It was about the year 1919 or 1920 that the noto-
s sSHT MI %u Sa admitted n in
and who had lived for some years vaerah,; LII,
gade fe among the Sioux. gathered band OF wnlte
and half-breed despersdoes and began TO prey upon
the boats Of the traders. ,,.,, ,,,ss
from a dozen to eighteen or twenty OF as Van ,, ,ns
cutthroats were gathered upon our .ror' d
covered but that they harbored by the dill
feren tribes of the SiouX scattered along 'ne ,nped
with Indian canoes they bounced upon the up ,S Se
down going boat in the deaa S II resstance
was made the men were shot down merciIessy
eved Of It's freight and It's men left to free them them
selves of their bonds as best they could Ihe es
Of he river from the mouth Of the
Platte to the Yeowstone In these atasks ns,n me
them was never established Several Of them were
Markn or Two Fingers as the Sioux called him
through the reports of Indians friendly at dnerent
This gang Of river pirates or most Of them h at
least met terrible and rchy SSorgh the leader
ship and strategy of Sim BATHS, blew them 10
Kingdom come" as Yankees have H.
SIM BATHS THE BOATMAN
A company of trappers had built for their head
ffoase with the usual SAT- barrcades at the mouth
Of the river TIL: 5a9 ssy Ssc qSs
Twice in each season Of water their sa fa.
he cr h @'b BY 'Se or M OF her
Der who with the exception of Simon, BATHS, an
IN making the trp Batts reared on the extreme
frontier. the son Of a trader; trained to the river
the safest and most wary boamen OF the Mis-
souri,.
He usually made his runs through dangerous ter
rtory In the daytime. putting his boat into the
cover OF a secluded and easily defended rock upoE
some island selected in advance. where his men
spA;I: the night in alternate watch and relief He
had never lost bale OF fur.
Up to the time OF the incident here related. his
gongs ana cominss had apparently escaped the
c...'look of Bill Harke's marauders 1t was just
er the going of the ice, and after a winter
of successful trapping In tho vicinity OF the station
that one morning a white man and number OF
Indians Hunk-pa-pa Sioux-came to the block
house with furs, beaver and otter. to exchange for
ammunition and blankets
BATHS with two or three Of the men who were
going down the river with him. was busy at the
time overhauline. caulking and putting the bate3u
in repair No suspicion would have been aroused
against tho trading party perhaps. but while the
Indians baterng with the blockhouse trader
the white man sauntered down to the boat and
hung around the workmen. lie talked careessiy.
giving information freely of himself and his COM