The Ronan pioneer., 1917-07-20

territory and was going to clean out
Fort Standoff.
Now it was remembered by the
Fort Benton people that not many
years before this, the Hudson Bay
company, through it's Fort Edmon-
ton factor, man of the name of
Hardesty, had melted the Blackfeet
of the north to capture and destroy
Fort Benton and all it's inmates, and
the Black feet would have succeeded
in doing this had they not told some
OF the Piegan women living at Ben
ton what was to happen, and warned
them to leave the white men with
whom they were living.
Frustrated by Women.
The women, of course, frustrated
the plan by telling their white men,
to whom most of them were devoted
ly attached
Bearing this incident in mind.
llealy formed a partnership with A.
b. Hamilton and together they built
post at the junction of the St.
Marys and Belly rivers that was
large enough to withstand any sort
Of assault that could be made upon
il. The place was built upon the
plan of Fort Benton, and real cannon
were mounted on the bastions, with
plenty Of grape and canister shot be-
side them in the shape of 25-pound
sacks of trade balls. The total cost
of the place was $20,0O0. Most ap-
propriately it was named Fort
Whoop-Up. in accordance with the
owners intentions of "whooping up
things in the north country.
Kipp and Thomas, in the mean
time bought a bull train of many
wagons, and abandoning Fort Stand
off, built Fort Kipp at the junction
OF the Belly and Old Mans rivers 1t
was not a pretentious place--merely
some rough log cabins put up to
form three sides of a square, and
there was no stockade across the
fourth. or south, side, facing the riv-
er Differing from the belief of
Healy and Hamilton, they rightly
had concluded that no fortified post
was necessary.
A Profitable Winter.
During the summer and fall great
quantities of legitimate trade goods
were hauled with bull trains to the
two forts from Benton, and plenty of
alcohol was brought out by fast four
horse teams, despite the watchful-
ness of the marshall. The three
tribes of the Blackteet, besides the
Surcees and Gros Ventres, brought
in large numbers of robes, and trade
was good. The success of the two
firms and so marked that during the
ensuing summer other Fort Benton
people came north to get a share of
the trade, notably j. ID. Weatherwax,
who built a post just below Fort
kipp. The following winter. 1873
IA, all of the posts did fine trade,
something like 5000 tanned robes
going to Benton the following spring.
Meanwhile, the Hudson Bay COM
pany had been urging the Dominion
government to come to it's aid and
suppress the American traders, and
it's plea was finally granted A large
detachment of mounted police was
sent west from Winnipeg in the sum-
mer of 1874. Luckily for the traders,
the Indians out hunting discovered
their approach and gave the alarm
in time for them to cache their con-
traband goods. Weatherwax, how
ever, refused to believe the news,
with the result that the police confis-
Gated his whole outfit.
So ended the contraband trade in
the north. Kipp's invasion had been
the cause of the westward movement
of the northwest mounted police. The
all-powerful Hudson Bay company
had urged their coming, thereby los
ing their monopoly of the vast fur
trading business in the northern
country, which had been interrupted
by the Americans. The police made
known to the world the riches of the
country. Railroads were built into
it and the plains were overrun with
settlers. In 1878 the last of the buff
falo herds on the Saskatchewan
plains migrated south of the line,
never to return.
Luckily for Kipp and Thomas, the
Red Coats arrived on the scene be-
fore they had stocked up for the win
ter trade. They forthwith aban-
doned Fort Kipp and returned to
Montana, where they took up ranch
at the place that is now the town of
Dupuyer. There they raised cattle
for several years and did some
between Fort Benton and
the mountain towns with their bull
train. In 1877 they sold their place
Kipp Buying Fort Conrad
from l. G. Baker & Co., but doing lit
tie business there. Instead he trad
ed with the Blackfeet at various
points until the last of the bison had
vanished.
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