Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-02-16
OBITUARY --LapIante

LaPlant Sr. was held at the Ayen
cy Sunday conducted BY Rev FER.
Harrington of Pierre. who paid
tribute to the hloh .,aractcr and
religious attributes of the deceased.
the remains being buried in the
Catholic cemetery. A choir COM
posed of Miss Hingsbureer, Miss
Elder (organisU. Messrs Robertson
and Cox led the singing.
The pail bearers were Supt. T.
G. Campbell, w. G. Grant, Geo.
Vanderyeer, E. B. Congdon, HE.
Gates and j. Charlow.
Following will be found brief
biography of the deceased taken
from the Pierre Dakotan:
After long illness with bladder
trouble, Louis LaPlant, or La
Plante, Sr., passed away at st.
Marys hospital on Sunday morning
February 4th, 1917, and one of the
earliest settlers Of this region is
gone.
Five of his six sons were here.
but were not present when their
father died, having felt perfectly
safe in leaving him to 90 to break
fast. Mr.. LaPlant was born inthe
province of Quebec. Canada, No.
vember IL, 1888 His parents
were also born and reared in that
province, his father and grandfa-
ther both having been seafaring
men. From the age of ten to sew
enteen he was at sea as a sailor,
visiting principal seaports in many
foreign lands. He came to New
Orleans in 1852 and took to steam
boating ON the Misisiri river for
two years, after which he took up
coal mining in Ohio. Being taken
down with the ague, he went to St.
Louis and shipt on the steamer st.
Mary, then plying the upper Mis-
souri,. He came up a. far as the
mouth of White rive which was
tnen the head OF nasyTAsatian, the
supplies for points above being
freighted up from there. Mr.. La
Plantc came on to old Fort Pierre,
reaching there on his 22nd birth
day.
He spent that winter at Camp
Pierre, on this side of the river,
Major Galpin being in charge OF
the camp, and intbe spring started
down the river with a train of
mule teams with supplies. Bccom-
ing dissatiied with the leader of
the train, he and some of the men
left it at the mouth of White river
and made their way back to Ft
Pierre where they were courtmar-
tiald and orderd out of the coun-
try. Following this in 1856 Mr..
LaPlante went up to TT. Clark and
went into the employ of the Amer
ican Fur Company and remained
with it until it disposed of It's bust
ness in 1859. He then joined the
firm of trappers succeeding it and
later went into trapping on his
own account. He spent the sum
mer of 1863 in the employ of the
government at Ft Randall carry
ing dispatches between that point
and Ft Sully. The following sum
mer he did scouting for the gov
ernment, being by that time thor
oily familiar with the country and
the habits of the Indians. He was
exceedingly courageous and took
many risks in the discharge of his
duties.
Mr.. LaPlante then went into
trading and ranching on his own
account and had a ranch in Bon
Homme county until 1875 when he
moved to 1T Pierre and finally de.
veloped his ranch on the Cheyenne
river, of 1900 acres, 65 miles west
of Pierre. He was engaged in
freighting from Pierre to Dead
, wood for a good many years, up to
1883. and had many experiences
we'll worth relating in his life in
the west.
He had married three times
twice to Indian women anc
, once to Miss Julia Abbott, {
daughter of Mr.. Abbott of FtPierr.
of the firm of Abbott & Cottor
who at that time had a fur trading
post at the mouth of the yellow