The Bozeman courier., 1927-03-25

structed with stern wheels instead Of side
wheels
One very unusual feature Of a Rat-bot-
toned Missouri river steamboat was its
equipment with a little railway and tram
cars in its hold. These little cars ran all
around the circumference of the freight
quarters for the purpose Of handling bulky
articles with greater facility.
After the AssinnibOine attained a point
beyond the mouth Of the Yellowstone in
1884, Il was 10 years before her feat was
surpassed by another steamboat. In 1853
vessel named El PasO succeeded in pass
ing the mouth of Milk river, and finally in
1850, the Chippewa and Key West arrived
at Fort Benton, and in so doing they
reached a point further from the sea BIZ
continuous WatercOurse than any other boat
had ever been. they were 1915 miles frOm
/ the Gulf of Mexico.
The TreacherOus Missouri
Steamboat navigation on the Missouri
was even more difficult than on the Mis-
sissippi or the Ohio, or, in fact, any other
| stream used by steam vessels. Besides
being filed with snags and sandbars, and
! being extraordinarily tOrtnOus in its wind
ings, the big river of the west was con-
| sistently erratic in it's course and the bed
of the stream was constantly shifting its
position throughout the entire 1900 miles
with which its navigatOrs were required to
be familiar The stream would often find
itself flowing through a tract of country
that lay miles from the bed it had occupied
during the preceding week. A western
newspaper, the Sioux City Register, in its
variable things in creation are the actions
of jury, the state of a wOmans mind
and the condition Of the Missouri river"
Sometimes there were dangerous whirl-
pools, when the whirl of water was so
swift that the center Of the eddy was L
feet below its edge. Many a boat was
wrecked in one of these agitatiOns.
1t is now almost 6S years since Captain
Charles ChOuteau, of a family famous In
the annals Of the Missouri river fur trade
and prominent in the business world Of
.Orrfg Vrrrnk ,T,~,-.A
the Missouri river to Fort Benton, then one
2 of the small OutpOsts Of the fur trade. He
! was the harbinger of the posts prosperity.
After him came other pioneers of the I'm
[ per Missouri navigation, bringing in sup
plles to the trapperS and traders and
taxing away cargOes of furs, then the
, cOuntrys only source of wealth.
I With the discovery of gold at Alder
. Gulch, Bannack and Last Chance GuIch,
D thousands of fortune hunters came to Mon
tana, and Fort Benton became the head OF
e navigation on the Missouri and the water
port for supplies for an area greater than
that now served by the wholesalers OF
minneapolis. 1t was robust, lusty center
Y OF considerable population, thrObbing with
$ the raw life Of the frontier
The river trade reached its peak during
q the summer of 1866, and during that sea
T son 40 steamers unlOaded their cargoes OF
e goods and adventurers there. From Ben
q ton bull teams trekked into the far dis.
e tance Of the north country, carrying sup.
o plies to the little settlements of western
Odudud, ana 10 the new gold camps Ol
o western Montana. 1t all made for trade
e and important business houses at frs
n trading posts developed into mercantil,
n houses Of importance, such as the T. c
q, Power company of Montana.
n Decline of SteambOating
is Fort BentOn lourished as the waite
e metropolis and port of the frontier unit
Is the coming Of the railroad Thereafte
steambOating on the Missouri river decline,
y rapidly. and in the course of a few seasons
Is because Of railroad competition, it wa
e abandoned entirely.
u With the recent announcement in tn
re press of the proposed bill before congress
< to authorize the appropriation Of necessar
funds for the opening up Of navigation O
the Upper Missouri river, there looms
81 faint hope that this greatest of America
II waterways shall again, in a sense, at leas
n come into its own as an avenue of CON
Al merce. The Missouri river, and especial
as the Upper Missouri, now threads its wa
" through a land vast and rich in agricu
rs tural lands that are rapidly becoming in
MS proved and which have proven most prC
ie ductlve Of fOOdStuffS of almost every know
l4 and needed variety. This new method {
az transportation Of products and merchandis
ne will prove an added aid to the produce
eu and the manufacturer and merchandiser
10 the Great Northwest, and could even b
eS made instrumental in the opening up
,eI new territory which lies outside the radiu
ne or present railroad facilities