The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1924-04-18
BY Martha Edgerton PIassmann

company with my cousin, Colonel
Wilbur f. Sanders, to visit MS
family in Helena. We left Akron,
Ohio, in February, passing over by
rail nearly the same route from
Omaha we had earlier followed in
covered wagons drawn by oxen.
At Corinne, Utah, we left the rail-
road, and our northward journey
was made by s1edge, jerky and mud
wagon. 1t was in the last named
conveyance that we entered Hell
ena.
The capital of Montana was in it
infancy. There were but few goot
houses, and society there was in thu
transition stage from pioneer day.
and ways. Already there was a con
siderable display of wealth, and en-
PERTAINING was done in a lavish ia
shion that astonished newcomers.
I spent five pleasant months there
and during that time sang in seVera
concerts, one of these being given tt
buy instruments for the first Helena
band. The selection I gave at this
last was eye Merry Birds" 1t was
well received and, what was my sur
prise, to be serenaded by the band
on the arrival of their instruments
with a rendition of the song I had
contributed towards their purchase
Mrs. Sanders had planned to go
east in the summer, together with
her mother, Mrs. Fem, her three
boys, James, Wilbur e. and Louis,
and myself. 1t was the middle of
July when we left Helena, and the
last boat of the season had been tele-
graphed to await our arrival at Fort
Benton. We travelled day and night
by stage from Helena to Fort Benton,
an exceedingly tiresome trip, and at
its end, went directly on board the
boat, the Emile LaBarge, according
to my recollection.
had been told that It's captain
brought the first boat up the Mis-
souri, to Fort Mckenzie, fifteen miles
below Fort Benton, and for many
years I believed this to be true. Tt
was mistake arising from the name.
Captain John LaBarge commanded
the Chippewa, which reached Fort
Mckenzie, July IT, 1859. Our cap
tain was the famous Missouri river
pilot, Joseph kaBarge, brother of
John LaBarge. some son of his acted
as pilot of the Emile, and another
was its clerk.
There we're but few passengers. OF
these I recall two Catholic Sisters on
a begging visit for the Chicopee Mis-
sion in Minnesota, Miss Culbertson,
Major Culbertson's daughter, and her
brother, Joe, handsome boy of some
IA years. Joe Culbertson was TAX
ing with him sack of buffalo tom
CUES for some friends of his father.
A few of these never reached their
destination. Miss Culbertson and I
shared them at luncheons kindly pro-
vided for us by the colored steward
ess. 1t was my last taste of buffalo
tongue, I regret to say.
Under favorable circumstances,
there is, or was, nothing more de-
lightful than steamboat journey
down the Missouri. Unfortunately,
1873 was mosquito season, and
these insect pests harassed US every
day and night, unless there
was strong wind blowing. 1t was
to remain in the cabin of
the boat, even to eat It's walls were
black with them. We took our meals
on the front deck, where the motion
Of the boat always caused a slight
breeze. But even there we could not
entirely escape them. They drowned
themselves in the syrup, soup and
gravy; chanted shrill defiance; and
bit us whenever, and wherever, they
could.
1t was especially hard for the chill
1ren. Louis, the youngest, being but
three years old, had tremendous
voice, all out of proportion to his
age or size. When bitten, he could
fairly below with the pain it caused
him. We women wore wells, and tied
the sleeves of our coats at our wrists.
But it was useless. Some declared
they were bitten through their shoes
Such torture as we endured is hides
cribable. Only those who have ex-
perienced it can understand what it
One morning Captain LaBarge
came out of his state room looking
haggard and i'll. On being asked
what allied him, he replied "Those
will not let me sleep day
or night. In the many years I have
travelled on the Missouri, 1 never
knew them so bad as they are now" d
Later it was reported that stock had
been killed by them.
When our captain said the mos
quitoes that year were the worst he
had ever known, he spoke from an
of nearly fifty years, dur
ing which time he had been identi-
fled with the navigation of the Mis-
souri,. The story of his adventurous
life has been told in two interesting
by H. M. Chittenden. That
we CHANGED to be on the Emile was
due to its being held up at Fort Ben
ton, according to Chittenden, by Mr..
Z. d. Hard, deputy U. S. marshal,
sub-Indian agent, and special Indian
detective at that point, who arrested
Captain LaBarge on a charge of sell
ing and trading whiskey on Indian
reservations. Chittenden says the
captain was not allowed to introduce
any evidence in self-defense. Hard
then seized the boat and turned it
over to himself. He then attempted
TO secure the aid of a squad of SOL
olers from Captain Kirkland, the Of
1icer IN charge at Fort Benton, but
captain Kirkland refused to supply
them.