The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1899-02-03
HOLDING UP A BOAT.
MAN WHO USED TO TRAVEL
TELLS THE STORY.
Bareback Riders Brayery-Llttle Old
:, Jim Fisher Was as Good rs His
word-Not Afraid of Any Number
of Robbers.

"Now, I don't suppose any Of you
ever heard of a steamboat being held
up, hey?" said an Anacostia man who
used to travel out west with a one
| night stand circus, according to the
Washington Star. you've heard of
trains, any number of 'em, being held
up, and stages, slews of 'em, being
held up, and burro pack trains, loaded
to the guards with virgin silver, being
held up, and men, individually and
collectively, being held up in such
places as Chicago, Hyena Gulch, Gem
etery Station and such places; but I'll
bet money that none of you ever heard
before of steamboat being held up.
Well, did. Not only did hear OF it,
but have told it. Not only have 1 told
it, but l was in the holdup, as a bullet
scar on the outside of my left ankle
would show if I had time to take off
my shoes. But it was a good, old
time, regular steamboat hold-up, all
the same, and the first and original
one"
well, here's how it happened:
Il was boss tentman with Bobin-
sons circus back in ~. We played
the middle western circuit all during
the summer and along toward the
wind-up of August we struck cross
country from middle Nebraska for the
Black hills. That was during the
Black hills excitement and we calcu-
lated to show up there in that region
for month or so charging 'em all the
way from So to SIS head to see the
show and then to sail down the Mis-
souri, and Mississippi on two or three
chartered stern wheelers for winter
quarters in Memphis. The program
went through all right. We did up
the Black hills for about six weeks,
money.
Then it commenced to chill up
some,and some of the animals that had
been born and reared down around
the equator began to sneeze and cough
a good lot, and so it was decided to
pack up and trek out of the Black hills
for winter quarters. Old man Bobin-
son was willing to leave after the six
weeks, for he hadn't done thing but
just make about hundred thousand
dollars out of his one-ringer during
that season, and he had been especial
ly prosperous at from So to IS head,
in the Black hills country. So we
moved down to Yankton, where old
man Robinson had a couple of the old
stern-wheelers-the two biggest that
ever navigated the Big Muddy-wait-
ing to take on the show.
The stern-wheelers were the Gen.
William Tecumseh Sherman and the
Gen. Phil H. Sheridan. Big as they
were we had some trouble in loading
all of our monster, mammoth, masto-
donic, miraculous show aboard of 'em,
but we finally did do it, and away we
started down the Big Muddy. We
got along all right, except that we
poked our noses occasionally into a
sand bar and when we got down as
far as Omaha we figured on beginning
to unload in Memphis about three
weeks later on, which would be maxi
ing corking good time, as time was
made in those days.
"Now, let me digress just bit right
here. was on the Gen. William Te-
cumseh Sherman, and our boat, be-
cause we had the better pilot, kept
about quarter of mile ahead of the
Gen. Phil H. Sheridan right along. One