The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-05-19
NORRIS ONE OF FEW SURVIVORS OF STAMLEY'S EXPEDITION ON
ElL0wST0NE I'M 1873; FIVE WAGON LOADS OF BOOZE POURED OUT

There are not many men living to
day who were active in the India1
fighting days of SO years ago. o
the band of frontiersmen who coulC
say, II was a scout for Terry, o.
Custer, or Miles," few remain. Here
and there in Montana are a few
veterans who saw active service
against the Sioux or held positions
under the military in the Nez Perces
campaign, and one of these is Colone'
G. R. Norris, who later was asso-
ciated with T C. Power & Brother in
the trading post at the mouth of The
Judith. Colonel Norris came to Mou-
tana in 1856 and was a we'll known
figure in the Indian trade on The
Missouri river for many years. He
makes his home at Lewistown today.
One of the most interesting ex-
periences that Colonel Norris had
was in connection with the Stanley
expedition on the Yellowstone in
1878, when a large military force
was sent out under Colonel David
S. Stanley, of the Twenty-second
Infantry, and General George A.
Custer, of the Inflated Seventh cal
airy, as an escort for the engineers
who we're detailed to make the pre-
liminary survey of the Northern
Pacific from Bismark, N. D., to the
Rocky mountains There was plenty
of excitement at times on this ex-
petition, for General Custer nearly
met a fate at the hands of the hostile
Sioux similar to that which ended
his career on the Little Big Horn
in June, 1875. There was also much
of the humorous and even of the
ridiculous in connection with the
undertaking. Tragedy, too, was not
lacking.
In the spring of 1873 Colonel Nor
ris was at Fort Benton, and deter
mined to go to the western terminal
of the Northern Pacific, where Bis
mark, N. D., stands now, to take up
some land in the belief that it would
become extremely valuable. He en-
barked on the steamer Far West
later famous as the boat that car
ried Reno's wounded from the Custer
fight to Bismark-and took his sad
die horse with him on the boat. At
the mouth of the Musselshell he was
Joined by a Virginian, Gus Tyler,
whom he asked to become his part
Az IA WV at n.
Bismark a Tough Town.
When Norris and his companion
reached Bismark, they found a tough
railroad construction population
housed in tents, with a varied as
sortment of camp followers that
went to make up about as a com
munity as could be found any,
WhQro in tho Tocf UTh;clyu Nd
oilers, gamblers and women of the
underworld were there in profusion.
Human life was held cheaply and
killings were frequent. Norris soon
decided that there were pleasanter
places to live and planned to move.
At the time of his arrival the sur
veying party of the Northern Pacific
was assembled at Bismark, while at
Fort Lincoln, across the river, and
at Fort Rice, 80 miles below on the
Missouri, General Alfred H. Terry,
commanding the department of
Dakota, was making ready the mill
tary column that was to accompany
them. The force consisted of the
entire Seventh cavalry with the ex-
ception of two troops; headquarters
and five companies of the Twenty
second infantry, six companies of
the Ninth infantry, four of the
Eighth infantry, two of the Sixth in
fantry, three of the Seventh infantry
and a detachment of Mandan and
Arickaree scouts. General David ST.
Stanley, who was placed at the head
of this strong force, had a fine
record as a fighter in the Civil war,
and Custer, who commanded the
cavalry under him, was considered
n of the most brilliant cavalry
leaders in the army. 1t was expect
ed that strong bodies of hostile Sioux
would be encountered on the Yellow
stone, and ample protection for the
surveyors was felt to be necessary.
General Custer, who possessed a
as a royal entertainer,
seldom set out on an expedition with
out several guests, and this occasion
was no exception. He had with him
r. Graham Frost, the son of a dis
tinguished Confederate general; and
Lord Clifford and Lord Wordsworth, !
tw young British noblemen who
were anxious to see something of the
western American frontier. The en-
gineer in charge of the railroad sur
was likewise an intimate
friend of Custer. This was General T.
L. Rosser, who had been Clusters
classmate and roommate at West
Point. When the Civil war broke
out Rosser resigned from the
academy and accepted a commission
the Confederate service. He rose
rapidly to prominence as a cavalry