Cut Bank pioneer press. [volume] (Cut Bank, Mont.) 1909-current, 1916-12-22

/ M q RtAASS "a
Wied-Neuwied in Rhenish Prussia.
Macmillan was born in 1862,
served as a young man in the Prus-
sian army and at an early age, de-
yeloped a liking and talent for ex-
p~loration.
After the close of the Napoleonic
wars. from which he emerged as a
major-general, with a distinguished
record, the prince, in 1915, set out
for Brazil. After two years in South
America, during which he made sew
eral notable contributions to science,
he decided to come to North Ameri-
ca. But as affairs of state delayed
him, it was not until 1882 that he
was able to resume exploration and
he landed in Boston in July of that
year.
Among his companions was
Charles Bodmer, a young Swiss
painter, who was one of the first real
artists to visit this section, and whose
views of Indian life are classics.
Ascends Missouri ON Steamboat
Macmillan j~ourneyed westward
slowly and reached st. Louis in the
spring of 1888. Here he met Cen
eral William Clark, and through him
was introduced to officials of the
American Fur Trading company.
/ 1Q6y, III TURN, dONlSSu Alm y CA
plore with their posts on the Mis-
, souri, as a base and the prince and his
party embarked ON April 10, on the
, steamboat Yellowstone, for the up
. per Missouri. Kenneth Mckenzie be-
) ing a passenger.
! At Fort Pierre the passengers
, were transferred to the steamer AS
sinniboine. They made slow progress
and it was not until June that b
! party reached Fort Clark, near a
: Mandan village occupying the site of
> Bismarck, South Dakota. Proceed
ing up the Missouri to the Yellow
; stone confluence, they arrived at
8 Fort Union June "a. From here,
: after a stay of two weeks, during
which Bodmer seems to have made
. a number of sketches, they went on
to the central village of the Black
8 feet confederation on Marias river,
b at Fort Mckenzie.
Caught in Midst of Indian War.
= The prince decided that here he
had found the base of his explora-
tions, but after he had spent two
g months wandering about the vicinity
l engaged in hunting n in scientific
: observations, war famed between
the Blackfeet and the Assinniboines,
and the Prussian, who had been one
of the heroes of Jena, decided the
country was too hot FOR a peaceful
scientist.
He unwittingly witnessed a bloody
battle between the aboriginals and
thought it very spirited, indeed. 1t
was in the latter part of August, at
Fort Mckenzie, when a score or more
of Piegans who had camped with
their families under the walls of the
fort, were charged, at dawn, by a
thousand or more Assinniboine, who
seemed to rise from the ground.
Prince Worsted in Bout With Rifle.
h garrison, presuming the invad-
ers aimed to capture the fort, flew
to arms. They numbered only 70
white soldiers, but they manned the
works v~aliantly and the prince, who
was hen on old man, seized a rifle
and began firing with the rest. In
the excitement he overloaded the
crude Weapon and it Kicked" the
poor old princeling entirely across a
bastion. He fell with a thud upon
the seat of his b~reeches, much shaken
in spirit and utterly Disguised with
American guns. The garrison by
this time had learned that the ASSN
niboine had come to attack, not the
Tort but h Piegans; and the whites
ceased firing. The Piegans had TAX
en- refuge within the fort but a score
OF their women and children were
killed by the enemy In the excite
ment, the mishap to the prince had
gone ~unnoticed, but he was in realty
seriously shaken up and his dignity
scarcely survived the shock. Need
less to say, the frontiersman admired
the grit of the white-naired old Prus-
ar sian, as valiant in age as in youth,
and a dnnQhtU warrior cfill For al
his ignorance of just how many
:. ounces of power o could stuff into
he a muzzle-loader with safety.
10. Attacked by Scurvy.
Lss The prince soon after returned to
south Dakota, and, after suffering a
h severe spell of illness there, due to
ne scurvy, made his way back to New
York and thence home.
- Ills journey constituted a real SER
vice to science, as his contributions
to e~thnology and p%hilology, as the
result of his observations, are still
standard. His Travels in North
r. America" were widely translated and
gave many Americans their first real
picture of this section of the country
n prince was a man of the highest
attainments and it is pleasing to
:. know that ne did not share thai
/ naughty contempt with which Euro.
peans, untitled as we'll as titled
=. were wont to speak of the American
= people, at that time. 'There are two
distlnct points of view," he wrote, il
MS travels" Sin which that remark
aDie country may be considered
l some travellers are interested by the
rude. primitive character of the ma
5 turai face of North America and it.
aboriginal population; while the ma
Jorlty are more inclined to contem
!, Plate the immigrant population ant
the gigantic strides of civilization in
= troduced by it,"
Tha priunab. o.n - :-F,.a..