The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1920-07-16

| hHdHt ls mnHcuVerIn& on tnt
Indian and it was abandoned.
fraction of the cost, and it ma
tura1 college, which is one way
|greatly some years ago. The Bea
yer creek, as the source of waite
supply, has not been found reliable
For miles along its lower channe
it often sinks or goes entirely DIR,
and at low stage the water is un
healthful. Several years after tn,
Ipost was established large dan
was put in eight miles up stream
and vast amount of labor was ex
Ipended in the effort to store tn,
life-giving element. The worl
stood through one season but wen
out with the first heavy rain anc
has never been rebuilt.
A six-inch we'll was bored al
the southern extremity of the posi-
during 1928 to depth of 1,5O(
feet when the drill pierced a cav
ern more than 800 feet deep from
ceiling to floor and of unknown
lateral extent, and the work was
abandoned.
The original recommendation OF
Colonel Brooke, concerning the
material of which enclosures
should be constructed, makes men,
ton of adobe as suitable for that
purpose. He based the suggestion
upon the fact that Fort Benton, a
mammoth stockade built by the
American Fur company in 1916,
was constructed of adobe and had
been proof against the elements for
nearly half century.
Built by Colonel Lee
Subsequent appropriations by
congress increased the available
building fund of the new post to
$28O,705. To this large sum other
amounts were added as required
until the post now represents an
outlay in excess of $4,000. Brick
was finally decided upon as the
better material for walls, and kilns
were burned not far from the site.
Other material, aside from brick
and stone, was shipped up the Mis-
souri, river and freighted to the post
by OK and mule teams. Colonel Lee
was in charge of construction work
and so vigorously were matters
carried on that the Indians, watch
ng the progress of the same, de-
,lared that Fort Assinnibo7ne rose
out of the ground.
The lamented Colonel Broadwa-
er was then in his prime as an act
We, energetic man of affairs, and
lie opened up and operated stage
Inc between the post and Fort
Benton. He also became post
raider, the lucrative business being
onducted under the firm name of |
'roadwater, McCulloh & Co. The I
asst amount of business transact
d by this establishment during the
eriod of II years was annually en-
rmous. The traffic in furs and
obes, alone, for time was an i'm
ortant feature. But the post trade
hip came to an end in 1892 when
he exchange system was substi-
tied.
The postoffice, which was an
nportant factor in the daily life
the people stationed at the post
nearly contemporaneous with the |
<istence of the post itself. The :
fairs of the postoffice have been |
ON the first intelligently and
ltisfactorily administered by Cap
in D. w. Buck, R. 1. McCulloh,
K. Devlin, w. c.. Broadwater c
I'd w. B. Ferguson. r
During the first summer at the t
,st there was considerable sick v
SIS incident to bad water, insult t
sient food of proper kind and ex- il
'sure. Much discomfort was ex- Il
rienced from the swarms of "a
osquitoes which spared neither "
e, sex nor condition. 1t is as t.
rted by Will Broadwater, whose Il
putation for veracity is good, b
at such robust choirs of sweet ST
iced vocalists, such throngs of al
ina donnas, with veins filled ly
tn the best blood in northern!ta