The Bozeman courier., 1927-04-08

trees, and these (sOme Of them immense in
s1ze) as erosion progresses, tumble into
the water, float along with the current for
a short distance, and their roots become
anchored in the river bed. Here they re-
main for years. Sometimes these roots
project above the waters surface; other
times, they remain just covered and out Of
sight.
Crossings
AT the points where the current changed
from one side of the river to the other,
these reactions were called crossings"
Here it was that the greatest difficulty
was encountered by the navigator Of size
able tOats. 1t has beer described by old
experienced pilots, that at these places, in
stead of there being one main channel
there were many chutes, and frequently in
times of low water none of these were deep
enough to float a boat that was heavily
loaded.
These were the conditions which caused
the boats to so often run aground" from
which predicament they often remained sew
eral days before they were eXtricated. In
such cases the spars were resOrted to.
Spars were two long poles, one on each
| side Of the bow of the boat, attached to
the capstan by tackle. These were thrown
overheard and by means of pushing on
| them the vessel was virtually lifted over
/ the bar as if on a pair of stills Frequently
! as many as five large boats were to be
| seen aground at a crossing within a short
distance of each other. Good Judgment,
| keen eve and a nerve of iron were pre-
| requisites in a successful Missouri river
pilot during the palmy days; for there
were times in the experience of every one
! of these men when a slight miscalculatiOn
of the force of a cross current or even the
wrong turn of the wheel would have sent
his boat to the rivers bottom.
| There were other difficulties to be over
come by navigatOrs of the upper Missouri.
| The more important of these was the short
ness of the season. In ascending the river,
| the quantity of water naturally diminished,
and the narrowing of the channel in the
up Country" made it absolutely essential
that the trip should be made in ordinary
| seasons on the June rise This rise, which
is caused by the melting of SHOWS in the
Rocky mountains, usually begins in May
and continues until the latter part of July.
Needless to explain, it required quick work
and Skillful navigation to take a boat from
ST. Louis to Fort Benton, q distance of
more than $500 miles, and return before
the subsidence of the annual rise.
29S Boats Wrecked
Thus it follows that today, at the bot
tom of the Missouri river and in the old
channels of that treacherOus stream lie
cargOes and steamboats, valued at millions
of dollars. How great the losses resulting
from river wrecks covering the period since
1919, when the first Inflated steamboat went
to the bottom Of the river, will never be
known; but an estimate based on govern
) ment reports of the Sunken steamers would
indicate that $50,00O,000 might be a con
servative approximate.
: CargOeS that were variOusly comprised
; from peltries of inestimable value on the
J markets of present times, merchandise, anC
, fine liquors to gold dust from the Montana
placer mines, lie buried beneath the shift
) ing silt of the rivers bed, or in the ole
! courses that the turgid currents have Ions
2 since abandoned for new channels in thei
! snake-like course to the Gulf of Mexico.
5 According to governmental reports, from
t 1919 to 1898 no less than 29S Missouri rive
steamboats, found their graves in the sand
! of that rivers course. Three others wer
2 abandoned along the shores of the Yellow
stone. OF this number, 1913 met fate b.
striking snags, % by fire and the re
e mainder by explosions, fOuling in rapids
. rocks, bridges, storms, ice and falling rive
s banks, and one Of the boats lost on tn
i Yellowstone was the "Osceola," a govern
n ment improvement boat, wrecked by
cyclone in 1877.
Y Steamboat traffic on the Missouri bega
q los years ago Tin 1870 when a feet Of ST
= steamers were built under government con
Il tract for use in the Inflated YellowstOn
d military expedition, the object of whic
e was primarily the establishment of a mill
# tary post at the mouth of the YellOwstOn
:. river. This undertaking proved a cOstl
h failure, and one Of the six boats was sun