The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-03-11

lar troops or hastily levied frontiersmen
we have always found them foemen worthy
or our steel" This is not the testimony of
an eastern sentimentalist, but Of a soldier
who had campaigned in the West and
knew the Indians. A brave man is always
ready to give due credit to his opponent.
Why not admit, and teach our children,
that the Indians outgeneraled the whites
IN the Battle of the Big Hole, and that of
the Little Big Horn? VIII it injure them
now to learn the ruth?
Back to Fort Shaw went the 18th Infantry
TO remain until it was relieved in the
spring by that of the Bird, under the COM
mand of Col. John r. Brooks. Ten years
later a colOred regiment, the 20th Infantry,
Col. J. j. Van Horn commanding, was sta
toned at the Sun River post for two years.
when the fort was abandoned, as a fort, to
become an industrial school for the In
dams, which was opened in 1892. / have
heard it stated by one who is familiar
with work among the Indians, that it was
a mistake on the part of the Interior de-
partment not to have continued this school,
which is badly needed.
The Fort Shaw military reservation COM
prised $1,000 acres of land which, like that
of the AssinibOine military reservation,
was thrown open to settlement. This final
event in the history Of the fort took place
in 1909.
Life at Fort Shaw
Only a person gifted with a vivid imag-
~inatiOn together with some familiarity with
pioneer military stations, can today pic
ture Fort Shaw as it once was; but there
are a number of pioneers living in the
northeastern part of the state who knew it
well. / am not of these, and my knOwl-
edge of the post is gathered from books
and from heresay.
In 1873. / was made painfully aware of
its vicinity while making the stage jour
ney from Helena to Fort Benton with Mrs.
Sanders and her family when on our way
east, via the Missouri. Somewhere near
Sun River, in the early morning, my at
%tention was attracted by a long file of men
marching in single file, under charge Of a
counted man. The gait of the men on
foot struck me as being peculiar, and l
could not account for it until their nearer
approach revealed that they were connected
by a chain, and / was told this was the
chain gang from the fort being taken to
work under the escort of a n-oncOmmis-
stoned officer.
The sight affected me unpleasantly. In
voluntarily l rebelled at the thought of
men being punished in this manner, al
that none but those soldiers guilty of the
worst crimes were punished like this. If
such was the case, criminals must have
been plentiful at Fort Shaw that summer.
Discipline is necessary in the army, IN
dOubtedly; but it is possible the private
views it in a different manner from the
way it appears to the officers lady.
Many Buildings Still Stand
That the buildings of the fort are still
in fairly good condition indicates their
having been constructed of more lasting
material than went to the making of some
of our earlier forts. Like Fort Laramie,
Fort Shaw was built Of adobe, and the of
fcers' quarters and the barracks were more
comfortable than those of the ordinar
frontier post, and the ground had been
rendered attractive by the planting of trees,
which were kept we'll watered by an irri-
eating ditch General Gibbon had brought
to the fort, and which made possible the
cultivation of a garden there. C~ottonwOOds
, are of rapid growth if plentifully supplied
with water, and General GibbOn remained
long enough in command of the post to
see them casting a friendly shade over
Officers Walk, where they constitute a
living memorial to the foresight of him
who had ordered their placing.
During the twenty-three years Fort
Shaw was a military post, from 1867 to
1890, it saw some lively times both in a
military and social way. From it were
sent out expeditions like that which cul-
minated in the Baker massacre; the one to
remove the half breeds from Sioux lands
to Fort Belknap, at Sitting Bulls request
and the attempt of General GibbOn to pre-
vent Chief JOseph's march northWard.
While the companies were away there were
dull times at the post, as / can testify
from having seen Fort Douglas under sim
liar conditions, following the Custer bat
tie, when most of the soldiers were in pur-
. suit of the Sioux, leaving hardly enough
men for post duties.
Quite different was it in the fall, says
Mrs. Roe. after the return of the COM
panies from their hard and often danger
Oh6 ouA4nAC1 CaAlpo4SAs dAh GCLb&C dOMD
for the winter we feel that we can
feast and dance, and 1t is then, too, that
garrison life at a frontier post becomes SO
delightful"
It this season gaiety was at it's height
along Officers Row. LuncheOns, dinners,
dances and theatrical entertainments rapid
~ succeeded one another in these favored
quarters, while we are assured that the
soldiers were not forgotten. They could
: attend the theatricals, take part in the re-
ligious services; and besides this, were
there not drills, and special target prac-
tice? 'and of course there weres inspec-
tons" Mrs. Roe says these were thought
fully provided, and what more could a
reasonable private ask in the way of jolly
recreation! And yet Fort Shaw had its
Thanks to Mrs. Roe, the Iuncheons, din
nerS. ETC., are not left solely to our unfet-
tered imaginations, for she has given US a
full description Of them. In the fall OF
1873, after the return of the commanding
officer and his wife from MissOula, where
they had spent the winter, ''those of us
who were at Helena and Camp Baker, feel
that we must entertain them in some way
Consequently, now that everyone is settled
the dining and winning has begun" / would
add that this matter of getting settled was
~ no means a matter OF little account, re-
sulting, as it often did, in hard feelings
due to the rule that the officers quarters
were assigned according to rank. The
'wining' as a matter of course, in those
pre-prohibition days, was a part Of the
dining. Mrs. Roe cOntinues: Almost
every day there is a dinner or card party
given in their honor, and several very de.
1ghtful luncheOns have been given. And
then the members of the old garrison, &C.
cording to army etiquette, have to enter,
tain those who have just come, so alto
gether we are very gay. The dinners are
usually quite elegant, formal affairs, beau
tifully served with dainty china and hand
some silver. The officers appear at these
IN fun-dress uniform, and that adds mucl
20 the DriIllancy Of things, but not mucI
to the comfort Of the officers, / imagine.
A Ghost Fort
With the above in mind, one can readily
when visiting Fort Shaw, picture 1t, not al
a ghost fort, but with all It's former life