The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-11-19

Borne as the eddying currents might
dictate, propelled at times by hand, vain
~ endeayoTed to avoid the shifting sand
bars the drifting snags, and the wire
ferries which span the upper rivers, the
Sargassa has been nearly six months
doing her 1000 miles from Billings. Mont
to st. Louis Altogether. more than 3,ee0
miles will be covered
Capt Henry c. Sharpless. the owner OF
the Sargassa. has many strange things
10 tell of that long, but to him never
tiresone journey. For days the little
boat plunged down the swiftly flowing
Yellowstone. upon which no steamboat
plies, and where for week at a time
no human being was 10 be seen.
Drifting onto Sanbars III the Big Mud
dy. where al times the captain was COM
PEELED 10 discharge tons OF freight in or
der to release the boat, then TO lay by
for days to regain his cargo, the Sar-
gassa's vrew had plenty to occupy them
all the time.
'Of course. we had to lay UP every
night It was hard enough to get along
in daytime" said Capt. SharpIess yes
terday. We meyer grew weary. how
ever We would 80 out and chase rab-
bits, and some times lay off for 4 day
or two along the Yellowstone to hunt big
ger game. There was plenty OF elk and
game OF all sorts, rainbow trout and rip
ening nuts. SO we never suffered for
good food.
The Yellowstone Is a magnificent coun-
try for scenery, and the current swept US
along at q -fve-mile-an-hour gait past the
white capped Crazy Mountains and Big
Horns. We enjoyed even the loneliness
of the region When We would come to
some little trading place or post office
settlement the people would come out as
though we were an entire circus outfit.
They were glad to trade and glad 10 talk
When We struck the Big Muddy at
Fort Bufford, y. D., things began TO get
more ragged. We thought we had passea
all the wire ferries on the Yellowstone,
and from the temporary tents we had
used till then we moved into q newly
constructed 'shanty,' built at the stern
of the boat, which was cain and galley
in one. We were fooled about the wire
ferries, however. and one day without
ten minutes notice We saw one Of the
things stretching z at ahead Of US with
a strong current caring us down upon
it. There was some scrambling among
the crew. We finally got one Of our big
cars under the wire and got it on deck.
Then the current gave Us a twist and the
wire and the crew got ina tangle. and the
first thing I knew l was lying in a heap
in the scrap pile. We got past it at last,
but there was some river talk on board
that boat that would not look well in
print.
Up at spot they calal De Gray on
the Upper Missouri we got on the worst
bar of the trip, and it was not until we
had thrown about seventy-hve tons Of
stuff overheard that we got ahoat We
managed ~ get some skiffs and fish
about sixty tons of it back. That took
about 4 week
Capt. Sharpless makes Eat boating pay
He disposed Of about 100 tons of material
at Kansas City for 81 a ton. and viii
have no trouble in getting equally good
prices for what he has left
AS soon as he unloads here he Will
start out Tor Memphis and will have
picked up another boatioad of junk TO
sell there. He viii then have third
cargo 10 pick UP for sale in New Orleans.
Oapt. Sharpless is from a Philadelphia
Quaker family and has been on the west
ern rivers nearly ali his lfe.-St. LOUIS
epublic