The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-05-19


 we traveled along he kept us enlivened
 and entertained with his amusing remi-
 niscences of the globe-encirclng locali-
 ties where fortune had cast him while being transported from his native land
 to the penal colony, in his escape to California, and his subsequent life in the United States.
 We selected the route leading up the Missouri river as affording more ex- tensive view, as we'll as more pictur- esque mountain scenery. The first night
 we sought refuge from terrific blizzard
 in the ranch of Colonel A. J. Vaughn on Indian Creek, the colonel being an old 1 acquaintance of mine, who had been a
 resident of the territory for ten years l first as the agent of the Blackfeet Indi-
 ans, the agency being on the Sun river | forty miles above Fort Benton. He had | also been agent of the Sioux and other
 tribes living between Fort Benton and l Fort Pierre during President Pierce's s
 administration. He had lived constant
 ly with the Indians for many years, ac-
 commodating himself to many of their
 manners and customs of living He
 was singular man, although unique in | Nilf1i dCtCl, WilO lidu iOllpWtu tllt Sletl OL
 empire westward from old Petersburg, | Va, his native town. In early life he l had been a member of the house of burgesses of his native state. Migrat- i ing to Missouri he took up his residence at St. Joseph, and afterward represent | ed that district in the state senate. He was subsequently, appointed agent for
 the Sioux, and his long service in that capacity gave him thorough acquaint- ance with the Indian character. It was his custom to spend the winters with the Indians, making a trip to St. Louis
 or Washington during the spring months to obtain instructions from the department of Indian affairs.
 l In 1858 Colonel Vaughn established an agency for the Blackfeet on the Sun
 river, forty miles above Fort Benton. and undertook the troublesome task of
 teaching them how to farm, taking along good supply of farming imple- ments and work animals for the pur- pose. At this time Colonel Vaughn was eighty, but he had the cheerful and live ly spirits of man of forty and head as clear and lucid as the mountain at- mosphere surrounding him. He had ac- cumulated a vast fund of anecdotes and adventures, in his narration of which General Meagher seemed greatly anus ed and entertained, Keeping it's up until midnight.
 The Yellowstone park had not then been discovered by white men, but Colo nel Vaughn had been informed of it for many years by the Indians, who told him all about the wonderful geysers af- terward discovered. As he was a resi- dent of the territory when goldtwas first discovered he knew everybody and everybody knew him. His son. prom inent citizen of Mississippi, insisted that his father give up his residence in the mountains to spend his declining years with him. When it became known that Colonel Vaughn was about leaving there was great surprise among his friends, the wonder being that a man so popu- lar and who seemed to enjoy life so much in the mountains should wish to change, Well" said the colonel to in- quiring friends T want to die at re- spectable age, and if I stay here in Mon tana l shall never die. so I have resolv- ed to move to Mississippi"
 General Meagher enjoyed the grand mountains that lowered above us on our way up the Valley of the Missouri, com pletely shrouded as they were with snow. One night we found shelter at ranch near the roadside. The rancher was engaged in repairing his house, so he invited us into room dug out of the hillside, but connected by a passage with the building. We found this un- derground apartment snug and com fortable. The general was delighted and amused at this curious room, saying that it reminded him of the grottos he had often seen in the old country where whiskey was made to escape the excise men.
 General Meaghers life was an event full one from beginning to end. A na- tive of Waterford, Ireland, in 1SiS, soon after graduating, he launched out on the stormy sea of politics in his native country, advocating national independ- ence and home rule in cooperation with | O'Connell, O'Brien and Mitchell He was soon arrested on the charge of treason, tried, found guilty and sentenced to the punishment of death, which was, how ever, commuted to transportation for life to Tasmania. He made his escape from the island, put to sea in an open boat, was rescued by passing ship and | made his way to San Francisco, landing | there in 1852. At the outbreak of the | civil war he was practicing Jaw in New York city. He at once raised a compa- ny of zouaves and was attached to the Sixty ninth New York, the regiment of | Colonel Michael Corcoran. He served | the war and was in nearly | every one of the great battles fought by the Army of the Potomac, having reach- ed at the close of the war the rank of | brigadier general.
 While governor of Montana, Meagher | became the most popular and influential man in the territory Had he lived he would doubtless have been the first senator of the state. He was the au- thor of a series of articles, published under the title of Horseback Rides in in Harper's Magazine. In these he disclosed rare literary talent and culture. About the first of July, S67, he had occasion to visit Fort Ben ion on official business. He had been engaged durinf the day at the old fort built by the American Fur company, years before, of adobe bricks.