The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1924-06-12
HOW MONTANA BORDER WAS
SURVEYED lM 1872; SURVIVOR
EXPEDITION MONTANA IMAM

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binary laborers engaged in the SUI
: vey were paid $50 and rations pc
p month.
According to Guillot the British
party was split into two chief fiel,
e parties, one under Captain Feather
stone, and one under Lieutenant Gall
: way, both astronomers, he being at
tached to the Featherstone party. TIL
American party came in about thu
same time and all were camped a
Pembina until late in the fall.
Run Into Prairie Fire
The line of survey was divided III
into blocks Of 20 miles each, the
American and British parties alter
mating along the line. When winter
came or the American surveyors sus-
pended operations until the following
spring, while the British party re-
NAMED on the work, covering that
stretch of the country between the
Red river and the Lake of the Woods,
this being a swampy section which
could not be surveyed until after it
had frozen up early in the winter.
"In the spring of 1873 the survey
was resumed westward from Penn
bina. Along in August Of that year,
when the survey had progressed to
a point somewhere east of Woody
mountain, the party was travelling
with it's train of from 10 to Is wa
CONS owe a rolling country when it
ran into a prairie fire. The members
of the party became panic stricken
and started to run in all directions
to escape the oncoming flames.
81 was in the ZEAL of the train with
a light wagon carrying the instru-
ments," says Guillot, "and had with
me a young fellow named Tracy. I
drove to the right on a run and then
stopped and set a backfire. Captain
Featherstone, on a saddle horse, came
g%alloping up and began to upbraid
me for my action. I told him to get
down off his horse and assist, which
he did, and after getting the fire well
started we rounded up the rest of the
party and got them safely on the
ground we had burned off with the
backfire. After that when anything
went wrong the old man always came
to me for help"
Indian War Parties
According to Guillot the surveying
parties never had any trouble with
the Indians, although on n or two
occasions they ran into war parties.
zone day, when WE were on the
east side of the Milk river, a party of
80 painted warriors rode acros the
line just at the head of our train.
They were travelling in single file and
paid not the slightest attention to
us, never stopping or speaking to any
of our party, nor giving any intima-
lions of even seeing us. One of our
t-opographers, Wilson, was about a
mile north of the line taking some
notes, his pony grazing a short dis
lance from him. The war party rode
a few feet of him but paid not
the slightest attention to him. Will
pony, which he had bought
some Indians, started to follow
the warriors and Wilson called to
hem to drive it back. He might as
we'll have called to a rock or a tree.
Then he stripped off his coat and
on a run after the party, fl
1ally succeeding in catching the ami !
nal in the midst of the party. Still
he Indians paid not the least atten-
ion to him and, mounting, ne rode !
Jack to the line angry and disguised.
"On the east side Of Poplar creek, I
N the Montana line, some of the sur '
party discovered the body of I
man tied to the only tree visible
within miles. 1t appeared to have G
'een dead for a couple of months and $
vas entirely dried up. 1t could not 7
70 a~scertained If it was the body of d
white man or an Indian and it look s
n 90 thorCb tho mon hod hoop fiod s
here and left to die. a
"Out north of the Sweet Grass p
ills, about 100 feet north of the line, a
We found the bodies of 21 Indians. t
hink they were Crees. They were {
naked and the head of each I
ad been scalped to the extent that T.
appeared the heads had been skin n
ed. About four or five miles south
f the line others of the party found a
bodies of seven Blackfeet, which q
ad not been scalped, an indication q
nat in a battle between the Black q
get and the Crees the former had o
cen victorious" L
Work Started in 1872 a
The survey of this stretch of the Il
boundary was made by ..
joint party of Americans and Brit u
n, unQer the provisions OF d COIL -
between the United States "
nd Great Britain held in 1918. n
Upon recommendation of the presi- u
emit of the United States in his an a
ual message to congress, December u
1870, during the third session of -
le 41st congress, the house adopted p
joint resolution appropriating u
100000 for the survey, but it failed
pass the senate. At the succeed "
lg session, 1871-72, congress APP W
'opriated $4,000 for the purpose, tt
hereupon the chief of engineers, of &C
10 war department, detailed Col. F. W
i. Farquhar, Major w. J. Twining, tn
ieut. James F. Gregory and Lieut.. W
/. ". Greene to carry on the work M
the American commission. m
Early in July, 1872, Colonel Far
thar, with his assistants, went from tn
'ashington to st. Paul and there ga
'ganized a train at Fort Abercrom- &C
Q and on August 29 the train was pc
arted out for Fort Pembine, reach th
q that point September 5. Camp en-