The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1913-02-01

As will be remembered by our readers
Curator H. c. Fish of the State Histori-
cal Society was in New England about
two weeks ago to attend mass meet
ing of the teachers of Hettinger county
and ask their cooperation in locating
the old corral or intrenchment made by
Capt. James L. Fisk. where. with an
immigrant train, he was surrounded by
the Indians for several days. A. S.
jackson, an old time Dickinson resident
and ranger in this part of the country,
writes from Texas, where he is owner
of a hardware store. as follows:
Dickens, Texas. Jan. "a, 1913.
Editor PRESS:
notice in your issue Of January 18th
that Curator Fish of the State Historical
Society is desirous of locating the old
fort, or corrals out southwest of New
England.
Any one of the old OK or TIT boys
can direct him to this place. J. r.
Sebrell (Bones) living near Gladstone at
present, or j. J. Tomamichel of Sidney,
Mont. know exactly where this old fort
or sod corral is located.
1t is on the Little Missouri river
slope, between Bacon and Coyote creeks
about seven or eight miles from the
Little Missouri river, and about the
same distance from Marmarth, l think,
as have been informed that Marmarth
is located at the mouth of Bacon creek
on the Little Missouri river.
have often visited these corrals OF
rifle pits as we used to call them, alone
and with other cowpunchers, and we
always wondered when and by whom
they could have been built.
am confident that this is the Place
that Mr.. Fish is looking for, as put
in over ten years on that particular part
of the range and am sure if any one
had driven horseshoe nail into the
ground anywhere in that part of the
country. would have found it,
first visited this place in the fall Of
'S9 with Fred Lebreche. an old time
buffalo hunter, who said that he hat
known of them for years, but had never
met any one who could give him infor-
nation as to their origin.
Hoping this letter may serve to pu
Mr.. Fish on the right trail, to finding
this long lost fort
am yours truly,
A. S. JACKSON
A little history of Capt Fisk's en-
counters with the Indians in Nortf
Dakota has been cleaned from collec
tions by the State Historical Societ!
and will be interesting reading in con-
nection with the probable location b!
A. S. Jackson of this old corral in th'
country southwest Of Dickinson.
At that time the government had fiv
established forts in North Dakota ant
were sending out troops of cavalry witt
an effort to subdue the Indians ant
open the country to settlement. 1t wa
then unsafe for immigrants on thei
way to the gold fields west to travers
the country or for steamers to use tn
Missouri river above Fort Pierre in wha
is now South Dakota. In this summe
of 1864 was fought the battle of the Kill
deer mountains. the greatest lndia
battle ever fought in Dakota Territory
Gen. Sully was at the head of the whit
forces and succeeded. after hard strug
gle in defeating the red men and driv
ing them back into the Bad Lands.
About this time Capt. Fisk and fft
soldiers from Fort Rice, (18 miles be
low the present site of Mandan). wa
acting as body guard for an immi
grant train from Crookston, Mimi, t
Idaho. The train was composed of owe
80 wagons and about $50 men beside
the women and children along. 1t wa
a great venture and Capt. Fisk is criti
cized only that he attempted the triI
without more soldiers. He should hav'
had, at least, 800 lnen to insure the SAT-
journey through the country which wal
then the land of the most hostile of al
North American Indians and part of i
hitherto untraveled by white man.
/ For about 80 miles from Fort Rice
Capt. Fisk followed the trail of Gen
Sully and then turned little soutbwes
across the country. headed for the BIZ
Horn. and Yellowstone rivers. Their
was no trail and they had no guides al
there were no white men who knew
more about that country than did Capt
Fisk, but according to diaries of thos'
in the party they were getting aloni
nicely until they came within sight o