Omaha daily bee., 1910-05-16
TALES Of GRANT AND CROOK
John S. Collins Tells Of These Two in
His Book of the Plains.
KNEW U. S. GRANT VERY WELL
Father of ,. :. Collins Responsible
for Grant Being Pressed Into
service for the CiVII
Wnr.

RAINS IN d. ne presents two fascinating
sketches OF two distinguished characters
who illumine the pages Of American his
tory.
One of these is General George Crook,
the Indian fighter, and the other Is Gen
eral Ulysses S. Grant. In fact. had is not
been for the elder Collins, the father of
the author, it is a grave question whether
Grant would ever have been known to the
world at large, despite the destiny which
shapes the end of all mankind. 1t is a
fact that the warm friendship which ex-
listed between the Collins and the Grant
families was responsible for bringing into
the light of public notice the retiring and
modest Grant, who was known to few
people in Galena, while in the wild
scramble for fat commissions in the serv-
ice by the politicians at the outbreak of
the war, Grant remained i'm the back
ground overlooked and forgotten by even
the few friends who knew him. excepting
Collins.
In referring to General crook In his book
Mr.. Collins recalls the personal friendship
which existed between him and Crook and
he recounts the names of three scouts who
played a prominent part in the campaign
directed by General Crook against the In
dams. one of the scouts is Buffalo Bill.
The other two although not so widely
known were men whose daring and knowl-
edge Of the plains and the Indians made
their services equally valuable. These
men were Baptiste GARNER better known
at Little Bat and Frank Grouard. Lit
| tie Bat who took prominent part in the
| battle of Wounded Knee was killed by a
saloon keeper at Crawford. Grouard was
until recently recently, a scout at Pine
Ridge. Little Bat had a record of hav-
ing killed eighty-three bears His ability
in following a trail is described by the
author as simply marvellous. He would
trail an animal over the hardest country
! with sometimes only a turned pebble to
guide him.
Two Fathers Partners.
! In 1S41, Eli A. Collins, father of the
author. and Jesse II. Grant, father OF Cen
eral Grant, opened at Galena, ILL.,. the first
leather and saddlery store west Of Buffalo
Jesse r. Grant operated u small tannery
at Bethel, o., and tanned the hides bought
at Galena. They were shipped from one
point to the other by stern wheel steam
ers. Chicago was then a settlement com
prlsed of old Fort Dearborn, a fur trading
point, and a few buildings Galena. by
comparison, was a metropolis, and the sup
e.
The only rival of the busting place was
Dubuque. Hides and pig lead were the art
icles of trade in the river commerce be-
tween Galena and st. Louis Each pig"
was branded at the end with a letter indi-
eating the ownership, and it was, with the
hides, one of the principal commodities
dealt in by Collins & Co Grant withdrew
from the firm In 1858 and opened an opposi-
ton store, placing his brother. Simpson s.
Grant, in charge. In 1850 L. S. Grant went
| to work In the store.
Travel between Galena and Buffalo in
those days was by stage and it was a
courageous man who would attempt the
tedious trip for the purpose of replenishing
stock. When the purchaser started out he
usually carried a carpet bag full of coin
for other mechants and looked after their
trading for them. The trip from Buffalo
to New York was by the cars
So important an event as the arrival of
the stage twice week caused the stores
to suspend business for the time being
stage robbers were unknown in those days
and the valuable baggage of the tourist
was thrown carelessly in one of the for
ward boots of the stage. Postage was %
cents for each letter and an eastern news
paper several weeks old sold for the same
price 1t was no uncommon thing in those
days TO see shot bags of silver coin lean
ing against the store outside. Robberes
and holdups were unknown. The water
system of Galena was 'Swansey," a negro
slave, owned in Missouri who drove a two
wheeled dray carrying three water barrels
from which he supplied the stores with a
bucket OF river water for Is cents per week
and earned from 81 to Sc per day.
Lively ON Pay Day.
The event of importance was when the
losgels were paid off at the end of a trim
up the river with logs for the sawmlu
| Each one received his years wages, from
$500 to siOO in a lump. The mayor. the
: author says, did not turn the keys OF the
; town over to the men, But this made no
difference. They took ii just the same
The first thing WAS to "tog OUT in a new
felt hat, flannel shirt, trousers belt and
red-topped boots After square meal. the
town began to move. There was no wan
tax on whisky and 50 cents a gallon was
. the price. As soon as the men got filled
up and the fighting began the merchants
, began to put up their shutters to save the
window glass. Stones flew as thick as hail
and the aim OF the booty catapult gave No
indication of where the missiles were going
to strike
r Tom OLeary, the town marshal, would
press his cOnstables into service and swear
in every idle man on the street to heir
arrest the ringleaders. They were rounded
up and put in the calaboose which was
, often filled to OVERLOOKING.
owners of the packet lines which piled
! the river the author says lived all the
p way between st. Louis and St Paul A
a steamboat captain was king and the pilot
, was prince. The pilots pay was from $50,
to 500 per month and when one of These
. richly bedccked men with ruffled shirt
walked down the gangplank and stepped
on shore, the earth trembled. When riyaI
steamboat lines, in the scramble for pas.
sengers, began to cut rates it was cheape,
to travel than to stay al home Such are
[ a few OF the sdelghts winch added lgsteI
to Galena's metropolitan life when I'm 1866
o General Grant began his business career
there. Today it is. surrounded by railroad.
on every side. Galena's glory ended as q
steamboat power with the arrival of In,
n Illinois Central, the first railroad into in,
town.
one OF General Grants staff Officers dur
/ ing the civil war, Eli $. Parker. was a
70 full-blooded Seneca Indian and then chic