The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-12-10
DRUGGED A HUNDRED SIOUX
BRAVES TO NO PURPOSE.
Gscoped Perfls Innumerable While
Boating Down the Missouri to
Sioux City, Only to Be Robbed ON
n steamer for st. Louis-IrOn Sub
stituted for Thier Gold-Brisk Re-
minder of Wild Times in the
| West of Over Thirty Years Ago.

| West of Over Thirty Years Ago.
Says Helena (Montl letter. in the New.
tork Sun: ut was an even ton of gOld,"
SAID Bob HARDWOOD, that Long Williams,
a Il. Dingee and Clute Mullen took out of
Confederate gulch in '64. And when I
recall their experience in gettin' it East
where they expected to live happy ever
afterward, I'm reminded OF the sprinter
who ran hard but stumbled at the tape,
/ and thereby lost his money and the race
"Of course they knowed they had a
Job before em, for the Sioux was bad,
and so the Blackfeet Moreover,
there was the long ride down the Mis-
souri,, and in boat Of their own maxim.
And besides that, their ton o. gold
weighed 1000 pounds-for they wasn't
cheatin' themselves--and ton O. most
anything, honest weight. is a pretty big
handicap for one to make speed with in
goin' through hostile country. How
ever, a party similarly burdened had got
through all right, and KNOWN this fact
they didn't hesitate a minute about fol-
lowin. Long Williams seen to gettin' the
grub, B. Dingee hired the escort and
Clute Mullen made it 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 "a. yr
"Now it looked like easy \sailin'. Long
Williams, ridin' in front, fell to singin'
at the top Of his voice, and this, too,
despite the fact that his face was swelled
the size Of a punkin because Of ragin'
toothache. The only time he quit, aside
from meal time when ba 1o1 is
teeth with ,laudanum from the big bot
tie he'd bought in Helena. And B. Din
gee, feelin' musical himself, tried to ac-
company Longs singin' on an accordion
which belonged to one of the escort. AS
d for Clute Mullen, havin' seen that the
bolts and axles had grease to spare, he
just got as far back in the rear wagon
as he possibly could, and good naturally
went to sleep. And yet, they'd hardly
got as far as the twenty-eight-mie
Piegan bullet in one of his pulled cheeks,
while E.. Dihgee's accordion begin to play
false notes from the same cause. The
aggravatin' part of it was that the
Piegans then got out O. range before
even the escort could shoot. But it all
singin' and B. Dingee's Accompanying
him, and incidentally made Clute Mullen
sit UP and keep his eyes open for the bal
ance of the journey. After that, barrin'
a low aLCeLnpCS TO stampede Lnelr horses,
the Piegans let 'em alone, and they drove
into Benton, as the sayin' is, with colors
flynn.
Here the escort turned back Long
Williams hated to see 'em go. It was like
partin' with old friends, he said, and
that. too, at a time when him and Clute
and B. Dingee most needed 'em. But aft
er the three had talked it over they come
to the conclusion that so many men In
the party would be sure to bring the In
dams 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 Mis-
souri,. g. 80 -
Now says Clute, we can say with
out lyin that our troubles is about to be-
GIN To which Long Williams and B.
Dingee agreed.
1.-THE Missouri was low, and in conse-
quence the current not strong. Still with
a little stirrin' at the paddles they man
aged to go down stream at a rate OF
about ten mile an hour. Then, when
night come, they consulted about who
should turn in first for 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. Dingee
mornings and Clute O. afternoons, plan
LndC WOulO keep TWO men at the oars all
the time while one was restin'. So Long
turned in. At midnight Clute's oar struck
a snag in the river and the boat got to
spinnin' around Then somethin' big and
broad and blacker than a burnt biscuit
suddenly doomed up in front and stopped
their goin' further 1t was Cow island,
the head of navigation for steamboats,
that year. and they had struck it at the
rocky end. And there they wasted an
e h0y hnf0 {pore 20 1l,,J
again. Then B. Dingee said:
!. This is through boat, and I'll bel
hanged If we stop again till we reach St.
Louee'
T. Nevertheless, they stopped twice more
before daylight; once at Birds Rapids;
where they like tove upset, and once
near Painted Woods, where they did up
set. For at the latter point the boat run
sideways agin sandbar that was just
barely under water, and over 1t went,
spillin' everything out, includin Long
and the gold dust. And when they got
things to rights again they was two sacks
shy. However, they was all too mad to
care.
eff you'd look out less for the Black
feet and more as to where you're goin','
says Long, as he stood up and squeezed
the water out of his hair, 'mebbe it would
result in our travelin' faster. AS it is,
were touchin' at too many points to
make the schedule And by followin' this
advice they saw daylight come without
their meetin' with lCrther accident. But
it was poor advice after all For at Quar-
rel Creek, few mile below the junction
O. the Musselshell and while Long and
Clute was watchin' out for snags, a small
band O. Blackfeet give 'em volley from
the nearest bank. The conscience was
that Clute dropped a couple O. fingers
overheard that had been shot off at the
knuckle, while Long lost the row o. teeth
that had been achin ever since he'd first
pulled out O. Confederate. And B. Din
gee, happenin' to look up just as the
shootin' begin, caught a pair O. bullets on
the top O. his head that has left him bald
ever since. All the same, the boys pep
pered back. Then they caught up the
oars and headed straight for the remain
in Blackfeet. At this exhibition o. nerve
the Indians took to the woods seein
which the boys grinned knowingly at one
another and steered way out into the
river again. Then B. Dingee, winkin' at
Clute, says:
".Mebbe you'd better switch the sys-
tenn, Long, and pay less attention to the
snags. For if recollect right we started
out for st. Louee and not for Paradise
so we did, says Long, and If I'd as
many eyes as I've got missin' teeth I
could promise you'd see st. Louee first
though they're both good towns And so
they joshed back and forth until the yawl
took 'em past Milk river, at which point
Ii from the Blackfeet than the Sioux. How
ever. the Blackfeet did give 'em one more
brush a little lower down. But aside from
splinterfn' hole in the boat they done
80 damage- the. shno.ia, ra-lEa hahn f,s,