Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-22
BACK TRAILING ON THE OLD FRONTIERS
TIME most famous of all the

army in the campaign against
the Sioux that ended with Gus
ter's tragic defeat on the Little
Big Horn, and which carried
the wounded survivors of
Reno's command down the riv-
err to Bismarck in one of the
fastest trips ever made on the
Missouri.
The Far West was piloted
during the Custer campaign by
Captain Grant Marsh, most
noted of the Upper Missouri
boatmen, who prior to 1876 had
acquired an intimate knowledge
of the Yellowstone river. The
previous year he had piloted
another boat, the Josephine, to
a point 40 miles above where
the city of Billings stands. Be-
cause of this General Sheridan
selected him to command the
supply boat attached to Gus
ter's command, and requested
him to choose a suitable steam
er for the purpose.
Captain Marsh decided that
of the several boats of the Coul-
son Packet company at his dis
posal, the Far West would be
the most suitable. She was not
so comfortable nor commodious
a craft as the Josephine, but
she possessed ample freight
carrying capacity, together
with light draught, and the
fact that she could accommodate
but few passengers was one of
his chief reasons for selecting
her. He knew that he was set
ting out upon a summer of
arduous work during which the
boat would be obliged to re-
main in close touch with the
troops in the field and he did
not wish to be burdened with
many passengers for whose
safety and comfort he would
have to be responsible. From
previous experience he knew
that more or less wounded men
would probably have to be &C
comodated from time to time,
whose presence would incon-
venience any idle pleasure seek
ers on board. The absence of a
large cabin furthermore rem
dered the Far West a very
manageable boat in the high
winds which often prevailed in
northern Dakota and Montana
during the summer months, for
it had no Texas" and it's short
upper works offered little re-
sistance to the wind.
The Far West had been built
for the Coulsons at Pittsburg in
1870. She was 100 feet long,
33 feet beam and her draught,
when loaded to her full capacity
of 400 tons, was four feet, six
inches, while unloaded she drew
20 inches. Thirty passengers
were all her cabin could &C
comodate. Her motive power
consisted of two fifteen-inch
diameter engines of five-foot
piston stroke, built by the Her
bertson Engine Works of
Brownsville, Pa, and she car
ried three boilers. She was al
so provided with two steam
capstans, one on each side of
the bow, being the first boat
ever built with more than one,-
although afterward all Mis-
souri, river steamers were SIM
ilarly equipped. Light, strong
and speedy, she was eminently
a vessel for hard and continu-
Gus service. During her long
tour of duty that summer the
government paid $500 per day
for her use.
At Yankton, where the Far
West had spent the winter, she
began loading with government
stores for Fort l incoln and the
troops in the field as soon as
she could be brought to the
levee after the ice went out,
and with a full cargo she left
Yankton about the middle of
May. Officers who remained
with the boat throughout the
summer were as follows: Grant
Marsh, captain and pilot; Dave
Campbell, pilot; Ben Thomp-
son, mate; George Foulk and
John Hardy, engineers; and
Walter Burleigh, clerk. The
trip to Fort Lincoln was quick