The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-13
LOST THEIR TON OF GOLD.
DREGeED 4 MENDRED sfOux BRATRs
no NO PURP0sE


lrsaspsd Perlls Innnmerahls while Beats,
Dpwn the Missouri to Sioux city, Oul,
70 Ne Robbed en- . steamer for 81
Louis-Tron aubstituted for Their Gold
HnLExA. Mon. Nov. tn was an sven tor
- gold" said Bob HarHood, that 4 ouR VII
llama. b. Dingee. and Cute Mullen tCok out o
Ooafederate Gulch In 90. And wheE / recall
their experience In Gettin' II East. where thei
expected to live happy ever afterwhrd. I'm re-
minded OF the sprinter who ran hard but stun,
bisd at the tape, and thereby lost his money
and the race.
" OF courne they kncwsd they had a Job be.
fore 'ehn. for the Sioux was bad. and % was the
Blaekfeet, Moreover. there waa the long ride
down the Missouri, and In . boat Of their own
niakin'. And besides that, their ton o. gold
weighed 1000 ~pounds--for they want chestin'
themseives-and a ton o. most anything. honest
weight. Is n pretty big handicap for one TO make
ppsed with In goln' through . hostile country,
However. a party similarly burdened had got
through all right. and knoWln' this fact they
didn't hesitate a minute about followin'. Long
Williams seen 10 gettin' the grub. B. Dlngse
hired the escort and Oute Mullen made II his
chief worry to rent the teams and wagons,
And thus equipped they struck out for Benton.
At the head OF the Missouri, in the late fall
Of Ds.
NNN tOVhcd iiho caby bAhln Z. houk WIZ
liatns, tidin' In front. fell to sinRin' at the top
Of bis voice, and this. too, despite the fact that
bis face was swelled the size OF a punkin be-
cause OF q rngin' toothache. The only time he
quit aside from meal time. was when he filed
his teeth with laudanum from the big bottle
he'd bought In Helena. And d. Dinges. feelin'
musical himself. tried to accompany Longs
pingin' on an accordion which belonged to one
OF the escort. As for Clute Mullen. hnvin' seen
ALAa - IA - n - A.
Just got az far back In the rear wagon
~ he possibly could. and good natured-
ly went 70 sleep, And yet, they'd hardly got
as far rs the twenty eieht-mile springs before
Long Williams got a Piegan bullet in one OF his
pulled cheeks, while b. Dingee's accordion
begin 10 play false notes from the same cause.
The aggrayatin' part Of It was that the Piegans
then GOt out o. range before even the escort
could shoot, But 1t all had one good effect. 1t
stopped Longs sin gin and b. Dingee'R accom-
panyin' him, and incidentally made Clute Null
lin cit up and keep his eyes open for the bal
auce o. the journey. After that, barrin' q few
attempts to stampede their horses. the Piegans
let 'em alone. and they drove into Benton. as
the anyin' is, with colors fyin:.
Here the escort turned back. Long Will
liams hated to sec EN- &c. 1t was like partin'
with old friends, he said, and that. too. at a
time whom him and Clute and B. Dingee most
needed 'em. But Rftor the three had talked it
over they come to the eonclusion that so many
mea In the party would be sure to bring the
Indians down upon 'em. and so they reluc-
family drank 'em a deep farewell. Then. havin'
at last got their big yawl built. they give Fort
Benton the go-by and pushed out into the
middle o. the Missouri.
Now says Clute. we can say without
lynn that our troubles 10 about to begin To
which Long Williams and B. Dingee agreed.
Tho Missouri was low. and In consequence
the current not strong. Still with o little stirrin'
at tho paddles they managed to 20 dow stream
ut a ratio Of about ten mile an hour. Then, |
when night come, they consulted about who
Should turn In frst for q bit o. sleep. All could
feel their eyeballs ache from their constant
peekin' round, and yet nobody wanted to quit
lookin' and lie down. Finally. however. It was
agreed that Long should sleep nights. b. Din
gee mornings and Clute o. afternoons. q plan
that would keep two men at the oars all the |
time while one was restin'. So Long turned
In. At midnight Clute's oar struck q snag ID
the river and the boat got to ~spinnin' around.
Then somethin' biz and broad and blackerthan |
. burnt biscuit suddenly doomed up In front
and stopped their Goin' further. It was Cow
Island, the head of navigation for steamboats,
that year. and they had struck 1t at the rocky
end. And there they wasted an hour before
they got things to goin' again. Then B. Dingee
said:
"'This Is q through boat. and Ill be hanged
II we stop again till we reach st, LoueeP
Nevertheless they stopped twice moro be-
fore daylight; once at Birds Rapids. whore
they like to'ye upset. and once near Painted
Woods. whore they did upset. For at the latter
point the boat run sideways agin q sandbar
that was just barely under water, and over 1t
went. spillin' everything out, includin' Long
and fha cold anok Arl rvhnN kLn, - kIIu--
TO rights again they was two sacks shy. How
ever, they was all too mat to care.
IF you'd look out less for the Blaekfeet and
more as to where you're goin'.' says Long, as
he stood up and squeezed the water out of his
hair. 'mebbe 1t would result In our trayellin'
faster. As It Is, we're touchin' at too many
points to make the schedule And by foilowin'
this advice they saw daylight, come with out
few mile below the junction oSthe Musselsheli.
s saS sa y s aSaf f Band fi q B SSa iEst's give oe en- do Z
yolley from the nearest bank. The consequence
S yss ssss cl sSst dEES sS Ses 4 eS sReet q 4 a a IS
s aSSok had Wbb sen L0 ssi iSst s the row ,S O. tsst6
arst pulled out a o. confederate eSsr SINCE And he 4
PlnEee. happenin' ,ol9qE up Just as the sdhoso,inn
sssd tS SsaE sss i 9 Rfhlf IS o b sSlle ese Sn s the top & he Ris
same. the boys peppered back. Then thsss
ssught up ths oars and beaded straight Tor the
nerve the Indians took 10 the woods; seein'
which the boys grinned knowingly at one an
other aud steered way out into the river again.
They, U; Dingee, winkin' at Clute, says:
:, 'Mebbe you'd better switch the system,
Long. and pay less attention TO the snags, For
II recollect right we started out for st. Louee
$50 we did, says. Long. and IL I'd as many
Syos as Eye got missin' teeth ! could promise
you'd see 81. Louee 0rst-thopGh they're both
good towns,' And SO they joshed back and
forth till the yawl took EN- past MIX River, at
which point. and from thence on. they had less
% fear from tina, Blackfeet than the Sioux.
However. the Blackfect did give Fem one more
hrn1h g little lower down.. But aside from
damags. the shootin, range bein' too long, SO
haytn, shade or two the best OF II.
AZ the Yellowstone they made another draw
with some Crows. who was standin' on the
bank. The Grove notioned to Fem to
aociabie. But Long Williams, bein' just about
a. elsvef as they was, eontented himself
A Ayr no eoat, they 9poldn,t-s and the boys con.
with the, crows. Then, at the Little Mis-
'Heen and MnndanA fQNUad nnE n nd atnpnaH IAun