The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1920-04-09

one of her deck hands stole a pack
age, and the Vigilantes learned OF
the theft. The thief was tried by one
of their mysterious tribunals and the
next night was seized and borne away
to secluded spot, where he was
whipped till he was nearly dead. Cap
tain Marsh was afterward informed
that the Vigilance committee had
come within three votes of hanging
the culprit.
Fort Union DismantIed
No sooner had the Luella been I'M
loaded than there appeared at Fort
Benton a representative of the firm
of Smith, Hubbell & Hawley, which,
in the previous year, had bought out
all the interests of the long-estab-
lished American Fur Company, and
which now had determined to aban-
don the famous old post of Fort
Union, at the mouth of the Yellow
stone. Their representative was look
ing for a steamer to convey the goods
from Fort Union to Fort Benton, and
he drove bargain with Captain
Marsh. The Luella thereupon drop
ped down the river to the old post,
loaded everything on board and car
ried the cargo to Fort Benton.
Probably no one thought of it at
the time, but when the Luella drop
ped away from the bank that day,
leaving the stout walls of the desert
ed Fort Union, which had withstood
the storms of nearly 40 years, she
had turned the last leaf on the clos
ing chapter of an epoch which for |
thrilling romance has seldom been |
equalled in the history of North |
America-the era of fur trading in |
the northwest. Fort Union had been
the greatest Indian trading post, bar
ring Bent's Fort in Colorado, within |
the boundaries of the United States. |
For years the most powerful tribes
of the northwest had congregated
there for trade; there had come the
factors of the company's other posts
from all over the vast watershed of |,
The Upper Missouri; there had as
'embled bold voyageurs of the wild
erness from the Great Slave Lake,
he Platte river of the south and the
Red river; there had visited some
If the worlds most famous explorers
ind scientists, including such nota-
'les as George Catlin, Prince Maxi Is
milan and Audubon, greatest of nat
lralists. When Fort Union was dis
nantled that day by Captain Marsh |
here passed with it the last vestige
# the fur trade as an independent
commercial institution. II
Captain Marsh, after unloading the 6
Fort Union cargo at Fort Benton, /
vas called upon at once to drop down s
he river again with the Luella for i
0 miles to rescue the passengers and a
rev of the steamer Marion, which
ad gone to pieces in shallow water I
Famous Return Trip v
1t was now late in August and the t
,uella was the only remaining boat t
t Fort Benton, for never before had a
ne dared to stay so late in the sea- h
on. But the captain was confident O
f his ability to get out of the upper u
lver safely, and he advertised in the t
Ielena papers that the Luella would O
cave for st. Louis the first week in Fl
eptember. lie
There was a rush for applications a
)r passage, due to the fact that this n
ffered the last opportunity of the 0
ear for leaving the country. When e.
lo uIoppSu away lIOH Inc DdnK at "
ort Benton September 2, 1866, she fl
ad on board 230 miners and $1,-lst
$4,000 In gold dust, the most valu- e,
Die cargo of treasure ever carried P
own the Missouri. Having lost his tt
ERIK on the way up, and being him al
If unfamiliar with bookkeeping,
aptain Marsh was sorely puzzled for W
time as to how he should collect ri
Id keep account of his numerous cl
lssengers' fares and the freight ia