The Bozeman courier., 1927-04-08
A. Ar E fling ChdA g11N
Vf0O0n0f0UC Nos O.
0NmitG 8Stenn "
A1..om5sC Y1oysons

ties maintained that the Yellowstone river
offered better conditions for the promotion
of river navigation than did the Missouri
Within sixty miles of Yellowstone park
by steamboat! What an alluring caption
for an advertisement in some eastern per-
iOdical! This very feat was, however, &C
cOmplished June 6, 1875, by the steamer
Josephine" pilOted by the famous river
captain, Grant Marsh, and chartered by the
United States government. AS a result Of
this eventful journey, Lieutenant COlOneE
| 7. W. Forsyth reported to General Phil
Sheridan that the Yellowstone river was
navigable for commercial purposes as far
west as the mouth of Big Horn river; while
the second officer Of the expedition, Lieu
tenant Colonel +. d. Grant, stated that the
river was navigable to POmpeys Pillar,
within thirty miles Of the site Of the pres
ent city of Billings
The Josephine"
| These two officers agreed in their reports
| that the Yellowstone river, owing to its
gravel bed, its stable banks and islands,
and its freedom from snags offered much
better highway for commerce from Fort
BufOrd to the settlements of western Mon
| tana than did the Missouri river from the
same point to Fort Benton. However, the
opportunity never arrived for these officers
to establish the correctness of their
theories. The advent of the railroad, short
ly after the date of this expedition, brought
to a close all efforts to navigate the Yellow
stone. The report of this successful trip
aroused a great deal of interest throughout
that part of Montana which would be
Served by such commercial traffic; and in
the fall of 1875 there was organized at
BOzeman, an expedition which undertook to
leStablish a town at "the 'JOsephines' head
of navigation" Nearly opposite the mouth
Of the Big Horn river, a small StOckado
was erected and townsite was laid out;
This was named Fort Pease, in honor OF
the chief Of their expedition, +. D. Pease-
The promoters of this enterprise naturally
expected as did the builders of the short
lived Kerchival (Or MusselshelD City, az
the mouth of the Musselshell, and the In
fant city Of Ophir at the mouth Of the
- Marias, to create a metropolis which would
eclipse Fort Benton in its palmiest days
e 1t was planned that a road should be
opened between Fort Pease and BOzemaB,
;. and that freight would there be trans
ferred from the steamboats, to wagons ana
D hauled overland to the settlements to the
!, west as was being done at Fort Benton.
The fate of this enterprise was much the
I same true of the paper" cities Of
T the upper Missouri. The depredatiOns Of
& hostile Indians compelled the promoters to
d abandon the post. Throughout the winter
7, settlers at Fort Pease were engaged in con-
8 stant battle for existence Finally, when
l. their number had been reduced to twenty
It five by the killing Of six and severe wound
y ing OF nine, 1t became evident that only
s relief expedition could save them from an
:, Inhalation at the hands of the hostile
O Sioux. One Of the party succeeded in car
Is rying an appeal to the commanding officer
II at Fort Ellis, 1I5 miles distant, and four
1t troops of United States cavalry were dis
> patched, the settlers being escorted safely
t. to BOzeman.
- This voyage of the Josephine up the
- Yellowstone was an indeed eventful un-
- dertaking. Until the steamboat had at
" tanned a distance twenty-five miles above
- the mouth Of the Big Horn, the Josephine
- had not required the assistance Of either
- spars or lines in making her way upstream.
~ Here the rugged bluffs bordering the val
he ley closed in until they stood 50 feet apart
b towering straight above the vessel. The
oe current meanwhile increased in depth and
~ ~ rap1dity until It became q torrent that
= ragged at pace of no less than nine miles
ri an hour. In narrating the experiences dur.
III ing this struggle with the river, JOSEPH
ot Mills Nils Hanson: in his Conquest Of thu
10 Every pound of steam was crowded OF
H. the 'Josephine's' boilers and her paddle
ne wheel beat the water into foam: but tht
ns utmost speed she could make was One-sixtl
- OF mile an hour, and most Of the tim,
- she seemed to be standing still. The cap
- tain ordered the spars set and after al
nc eXhausting struggle Of several hours th
boat was finally forced through The Mar
rows, as the place was appropriated!
7er termed, into the wider channel beyond.
INT For some miles the steaming be
ers came easy, and in the latter part Of tht
m AFTERNOON the Josephine drew in sight o
No. an isolated butte rearing it's head abOv
ppi the southern bank, and, from the pOin
the where 1t was first seen, apparently STANDING
my in the river itself. The appearance of
m aroused the greatest enthusiasm on board
erS. for 1t was at once recognized as POmpey'
st., Pillar. the famous landmark discovered b
the Captain William Clark of the Lewis an
.ful JOSephine'S men found inscribed the word
hat VIM Clark, July %. 1906 the letters sti
lies as clearly defined when chiseled theT
em- by the industrious explorer, SO years be
ap- fore
bile " " The VOyagers resumed their on
last ward course at 3 :45 o'clock next morning
e a But their journey was now fraught wit
st. many increasing difficulties. The greS
in river, though apparently undiminished
rom volume, grew more and more swift, cor
red stantly breaking into rapids through whic
the it was necessary to warp and spar the boa
Salt while numberless small islands split Il
lion channel into chutes. At length aftt
ena two days incessant struggle, PryOr's Fol-
he was reached"
own The next day the Josephine" pushe
on. but before nightfall, tremendous rap
was encountered, which was passed on
und after a hard struggle. Here the nan
still Hell Roaring Rapids" was given to Il
that torrent At dawn the next morning a
ion. cOnnOitering party examined the river f
of several miles further up, but the curre
ats was found to be so powerful that it WI
even decided to turn back. The "JOsephin
With had reached a point 463 miles above Il
the mouth of the Yellowstone and less thi
All 60 miles in an air line from the nOrthea
and corner Of the present Yellowstone Nation
into park-nearly forty miles upstream fro
Ould the site Of the city of Billings.
Thpu