Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-02-01
POPULAR HISTORY OF NORTH
DAKOTA
BY CLEMENT A. LoUbsBERRY.

pied, and his disappearance was a mys-
terry. The inquiry for Custer was loud,
and that generals courtmartial was free
ly speculated upon. The forenoon of the
9th brought Terry. There was a flood
of light. The reader knows it all. Gus
ter had been summoned to the courtmar-
tial not Of earth.
A Lightning Steamboat Ride
1.-THE steamer Far. West was moored
at the mouth Of the Little Big Horn.
She was the supply boat Of the expedi-
ton and had made her way up the Big
Horn farther than any other boat. She
had performed one. exploit unprecedented
in western river navigation in reaching
the mouth of the Little Big Horn, and
was ready to perform another %unequalled
in steamboating in the west. The wound
ed were carried on board of the steamer
and Dr. Porter was detailed to go d7wn.
with them. Terry's adjutant general,
Col. Ed. Smith, was sent along with the
official dispatches. and a hundred other
messages. He had a travelling bag full,
of kilograms for the Bismarck office.
Captain Grant Marsh of Yankton was in
command Of the Far West. He put ev-
crything in the completest order and
took IN a large amount Of fuel. He re-
ceived orders to reach Bismarck as soon
as possible. He understood his instruc-
tons literally inc never did a river man
obey more conscientiously. On the ev-
cning Of July 5 the steamer weighed an
nbo,. Inn %fouy D,in1tfoS Tho Far NVoct
so fittingly named. was under full head
of steam. 1t was a strange land and
an unknown river. What a cargo on that
steamer. What news for the country.
What a story to carry to the government,
to Fort Lincoln, 20 the widows.
TT was running from a field Of havoc
to u station of mourners. Thu Far West
never received the credit due her. Nei-
Their has the gallant Marsh. They prov
ed the men of emergency. The engineer,
whose tame is unknown to me, did his.
duty. Every one Of the crew is entitled
to the same acknowledgment. They felt
no sacrifice was too great upon that
journey, and in behalf Of the wounded
heroes.
"a very moderate imagination can
plSluIc lIc aSCCIAc Ol lIdt llOdllll6 lOSpl.
tai. There were wounds of every char
acter, and men more lead than alive.
The suffering was not terminated by the
removal from the field to the boiler deck.
1t continued and ended in death more
than once before Fort Lincoln was hail
ed. Here again the son of N. Y. Mills,
Of the Empire state, was tested. Porter
watched for the fifty-four hours. He
stood the test.
"Thc Horn is full of islands. and a sue
cessful passage, even on the bosom Of a.
unc rise, is not an Easy feat. The Far
West would take a shoot on this or that
side of an island as the quick judgment
Of the pilot would dictate. 1t is only a
creek. a steamboat moving as fast as
a railway train in a narrow, winding,
stream is not a pleasure. 1t was 10.
pleasant sensation to be dashing straight.
at a headland, and the pilot the only
power to Occasionally the bank.
would be touched and the men would
topple over like tenpins. 1t was q re-
minder Of what might be if a snag was
struck. Down the Big Horn the heroine
went, missing islands. snags and shore.
1t was a thrilling voyage. The rate Of
speed was unrivalled in the annals Of
boating. Into the Yellowstone the
staunch craft shot, and down that river,
sealed to pilots, she made over twenty
miles an hour. The bold; captain was
taking chances, but he scarcely thought
Of them. He was under flying orders.
Lives We're at stake. Ills engineer was
instructed to keep up steam at the high
I n,kI SNS<nI L- An~~- Ah~ E-A -, H...- IL .
ed a pressure that turned his cool head
and made every nerve in his powerful
frame CULVER. The crisis passed and the
Far West escaped q fate moro terrible
than Clusters. Once a stop was made
| and a shallow grave explained the rea-
son. Down the swift Yellowstone, like
shooting the Racine rapids, every mile
a repetition of the. former! From the
Yellowstone into the broad Missouri, and
then there was clear sailing. There was
q deeper channel and more confidence.
A few minutes was lost at Buford. Ev-
erybody at the fort was beside himself.
The boat was crowded with inquirers,
and their inquiries were not half an
swered when the steamer was away. At
Bertbold a wounded scout was put off,
and at Fort Stevenson a brief stop to
tell in a word what had happened. There
was, no difference in the speed from Ste
venson to Bismarck. The same desper-
ate gait was kept up to the nj They
were approaching home with something
of that feeling which always moves the
human heart. At eleven o'clock on the
night Of July 9Th they reached Bismarck
I and Fort Abraham Lincoln.
DIR. Porter and Col. Smith hurried
from the landing up town, calling UP the
editor Of the Tribune and the telegraph