Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-09-25
Of Pioneer Days
IS Revealed il Sketch Of
Old Fort Union's History

sa.neo ina O tns Crow lnEter enc
maes OF ne, blaeklest2 on me upper
~ a,tn' ~ ~. Ie 81 t t9srs 1uhn
HsoEAn ~ ~ Ilvin I'M. vs.sn
vaiio,.a4 Alf,vsH. =. sns mSuasnn - LA
,,rtpsrtote "a Msegnnousn " = ~ e
f faat .sA .nso sne 0vun.Iy ~ ~ 49,
49, &c, ne was persuausa ~ .ne Cno.eau
strea -. viii, - et ~ 3W,s sse mhena Gov
s..eain Win .the Missouri "nefe' con-
sides'n ng, the important object in view,
sereotAd a. thst t,nSs 1iaSsS 49, nrA-
.llminary claim Is the 4iirible location
for the cornnanv,a busihess az barter
Missouri. "a veil A. thoas aIont ina
Yellowstone. While 81 "a trsa thar
Macmillan, a Usually competent u
EthoritY. a. VI that Port fJnitY wAs Ma.
gun M 18S9. Il a Aiso A@taAt that Mo
kenzie wrote to cHoteAu from Varfnil-.
liam river Cct. q INA fhst "a hah
Just returned with the indian agent.
Sanford, from the traders: h a four
days before ne left tha kee1 boat Of
'tef had left Tor the YAilowstona to A.
ctablish a post tor the A~ssinaboinA.
Aid IL j iettAt ran Fart TAauyossh'
| Dec: e& 1929, hAssAid. "ThA otter a..
rived at the YeiloWatonA IN snff:cient
time to build-A 8 Ara .hsvA Ill
,necessa nv nrenaIafion noads a. .At,,
,,;rity.",
.$rhis~seeths ~ .AatA ntish IVA tact ,,,A+
trading oosf: WAS h,,iit ~ IA ,ho,th
Of ING Yaif6wAtone - iS5t. ana f,rns
the autumn Of that year asithe dale
10 ~. ! raten, an 2 aecoroth =
cpadt, ~ t,r;n ietelrea tne
sho,,'a y. LIB .ns t4cat!oh IneIc
s sns NC given 10 the Cheteau protn-
''s' WI,
"eh'buAt Fort
! Fort Union wat the best built and
II and. with the possible exception Of
rBent'a fort on the Arkansas. river, the
best in the entire west. It Was 246
BY 22n fact, win II Sshnr+sr tias 80.
ine the river. Ana VA surro,indAi H.
O. palisade az sa,lArA hAwn nint Al
! about 4 foot tKiek Ana 81 tat htph.
There we're bastinns At ~ sos,tn var
and northeast corners, consisting o.
square sa are houses; - feet on the stde and
~ feet high These ware built entirely
or stone and OF w s~tories--the lower
n provided with cannon, the upper
With a balcony for better ohser-
cured with q powerful gate which, in
1897, was changed IS a double gate
on account Of the dangerous DISPOSE
ton Of the indians o%ccastonAd bV thu
scourge Of Smallpox.
Around the inner. SQUARE were the
barracks for the employees, the shore
house.. work shops. stables, cut
holding $4,000 pounds, and a rScep.
tion room for the indians coming
there to trade. tn tho center OF the
court was a tall fagstaff. around
which were the skin tents of half
breeds in the service Of the company.
Near the Flagstaff stood a or two
canon, trained up, the entrance to the
fort; and somewhere within the ens
j. closure was the famous distiMery 81
I~.1S3s-71. All the buildinRs were of
~i|cottonwsood lumber, ana everything
was Of unusually elaborate character.
/, Nathaniel Wyetk,S when lie .Stait1d Fort
Union in the kuniiner .of- 1888, de-
plant that Gould compare with ii.
-
q Open Naytget1on.
Mckenzie aor4kfnated Is the SSidAAr Of
steamboat SraViGAS4kN1hsf, n1esa.itf4~upper
4 Missoufi4L1ln plaexaf0f the old keel
boats propelled byatars ana sails. He
e9%tEt ,,ass, s,for, ths building >et the
Oct. 1880, which was delivered in Bt.
Louis in April, 1891. From there II
started. on ITS maiden trip on April
Is, 1881; and Fort Tecumseh was the
farthest point reached that season,
, This was on the 31st OF May; ana the
party remained there for six days In
order to unload the lumber brought
of the new Fort Pierre. This fort
named for one Of the Choteau broth
ers, was completed the following
Arri. (1832), and the portable prop:
erty. removed thereto from the Old
post TecumAeh, which was whereby
d%ismantled and soon swept away b
) the rising waters Of the Missouri.
The second voyage Of the yellow:
stone" on the upper Missouri the fol.
lowing spring (1832) is thus described
in. the '.Annals Of the West'':-"rht
Choteaus' were again aboard; and
among others forming the. boats
, company was George CAtlin, the cele
brated artist and student OF 1ndiAr
, life and chAra cter; and also the twt
, survivors, Of the little band Of fou,
Nez Perez Cor FlatheadJ Indians. OF
: their return from ST. Louis, whethe
! they had been sen by their tribe tn
: previous summer in order to secure
3 copy of&Et"the whfte mans book Q
i 6 ~ : Lnsy nag nsen kindiy Re
t Ecomrmissioner. who had entArtAineI
then1 in 1nhtcratdrned cotnfort d,r
ing the winter; but two Of thAacofn
fore the spring had opened; one on
F, Of the remaining two died on the boa
on the -way M the river. ana in al
probability was buried at Fort IJnto,
upon the boats arrival there. m,
= storv ST th~etrTreltgious tueSt ia A var,
Y pathetic and .intensely intArtestini
: one. and OPENED the nav ara, OF mis-
: sions among the indian tribes Of til
! far west. Their portrait! we
4 I,Sl. -.