The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1924-05-16
HOW TEN D0Y, BAMRaAGK CHIEF, 0UTwITTED
GRANVILLE STUART; WON WHITES PROPERTY

TTOW Bannack Indian with al
II old fashioned muzzle LOADING
= = rifle, defeated Granville Stuart
pioneer of the gold diggings of Mon
tana, at a shooting match and clean
ed Stuart and his crowd out of al
their ponies, blankets and butcher
knives, is told in the personal remin.
iscences of P. w. Meadow, member
of the Stuart party, writing from
Punta Gorda, Florida, in 1908.
Stuart used one of the first breech-
loading rifles ever brought to the
territory, but he was no match for
the Indian, who won on every shot
with a single exception The win
ming brave was Pushigan, a member
of the band under Chief Ten boy, a
migratory remnant of the once pow
erful tribe of Bannacks.
Ten boy, or Tin boy, as he was
sometimes called, was a brother of
and was referred to by Maillet as the
bravest Indian he ever saw. He was
at the head of the band which fire.
quented the Bitterroot country but
he does not seem to have been the
head chief, as his name does not ap-
pear in any of the reports of the
Indian agents who had supervision
over the Bannacks during the sixties
or seventies.
Reference was made to him in the
Weekly Montanian, Virginia City, of
Z. 1871, which told of
band of Bannacks under Ten boy
which was then at Virginia City, on
the way from Salmon river, where
they had been for several weeks lay
ing in a winter supply of fish, bound
for the Yellowstone and Wind river
countries to hunt buffalo, and, as
they said, to fight the Sioux. There
we're about 200 warriors in the party
and Ten boy called upon Governor
Potts in hopes of obtaining provisions
and gifts, in which he was unsuccess-
ful Referring to Ten boy the Mon
sanian said
'Ten boy is fine looking fellow.
S pretty good Indian and if not
influenced by mean and bloodthirsty |
indians in his tribe will always be |
to the whites"
At the time of Granville Stuart's /
hooting match with one of Ten Dogs |
,raves, in the winter of 1861-1862, |
stuart, with his brother James, P. w. |
Meadow, and other gold seekers
we're prospecting on Gold creek in
he B1ackfoot country. Meadow
ellis of the affair as follows:
Having heard that gold colors had
een found in the sands of Gold
reek, which did not receive this
anne until later, Stearny Blake and
concluded to go up there and do
ONE prospecting. We dug holes in
everal dry gulches, the bed rock be-
ng three to four feet deep. We
ound good prospects, as much as 10 I
ents to the pan, which we regarded 4
s encouraging. 1t was now the mid
lie of December and old Boreas was
eginning to shake his sceptre. The ]
'eezing of the ground compelled US
, wait until spring to continue our S
/
We moved our camp down to the /
outh of Gold creek and while there /
hief Tendoy, who was camped at the s
outh of the Little Blackfoot with g
Is band of Bannacks, sent down a J
inner to John Powell with a chal-
nge for a shooting match. These l
ldians we're hunters of small game
Id could easily do US up unless we G
,uld prevail on them to shoot at s
ng range.
James Stuart had in his possess e
on Henry rifle which was about t
10 first breech-loading long range
In brought into that part of the t
'untry. AS Powell could speak the t