Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-05-13

ihtiT iuDS ATc ttnk anu u ana f1fns
Their forms are swathed from foot TO chin
In garments made of bison skin.
Their coarse and ragged hair
Streams back from brows whose dusky stain
Is dyed by blizzard, wind and raini
They are a fearsome pair.
BY Joseph Mills Hanson in The Conquest
OF the Missouri"
TN THE early steamboat days on the up
per Missouri river, the most serious
l. problem which confronted the navi-
gator was that of fuel. Wood alone
was used on the steamboats,, and this
was procured from the groves that lined
the river banks and different intervals
Cottonwood comprised the principal fuel
because this was found nearly every
where along the rivers course. When
green cottonwood was used, 1t was found
necessary to add resin. Often 1t was
found impractical to load the BOAT with
sufficient fuel to last from one regular
wooding place to another, because such
would add too great a load to the already
cargoed steamer. In this event, 1T was
not i~nfrequently found necessary to
gather drift logs or put a crew OF men
ashore to cut the necessary fuel.
Whenever a trading post along the
route was abandoned. the timbers Of It's
palisades n building quickly disap-
peared for 1t was much easier to tear
these apart than to hew new logs. This
ID Ou6 IcdSOA WHY tIlcIt TtlIlhikls AOV u
single trace Of some OF the old posts and
forts which once existed for trade with
the Indians.
"Woodhawks"
In the earliest days OF navigation, The
cutting Of wood for fuel generally fell to
the lot of the boats crews, the vessel
being stopped at some convenient point,
n remaining there until 1T had been
wooded AS traffic increased, however,
wOOdvQrdg mpra Rgta hligha6 aifhar hu fine
boat owners, or more frequently, by In
dependent enterprise. Old plainsmen,
wtthou funds. were accustomed to seek
ou a point where a boat could easily
land. Here they would cut timber and
pile the cord wood to be sold to whatever
boat happened along first. These men
were known as "Woodhawks"; n their
life while in this sort of occupation was
n fraught with dangers which are to-
day beyond comprehension. This because
OF the fact that these groves AND wood
yards were of necessity located at isolated
points in the heart OF country infested
with hostile Indians. For q time the In
dams. themselves. found wood cutting
profitable and for this reason, they were
more anxious to prevent the whites from
taking the timber from their lands. Mem
bers of friendly tribes found this bust
ness a new source of revenue.
The Mouth of the Musselshell
lilE olOdA a VA liC SCFGlliiCSt
the wooding Of boats was an exceedingly
perilous one. Whole colonies Of wood
hawks were massacred and crews were
attacked at landings, and there was great
loss of time and men.
In Montana, the most prominent Of
the woodyards were located at points
near the mouth of the Musselshell river,
and 1t was the activities OF woodhawks
which resulted in the futile effort of a
group of hardy plainsmen to establish a
city on the Musselshell flats In the late
sixties.
Johnson and Beidler
Two of the most prominent Montana
pioneers who were engaged in the color
full occupation of woodworking at the
mouth of the Musselshell in the late six
ties were John Liver Eater" Johnson
and TX" Beidler, the FORMER n Of the
most fearless Indian fighters in the his
tory Of the old frontier, and the latter of
Montana vigilante fame.
James Mills Hanson, in his Conquest
Of the Missouri" sets forth the follow
ing amusing narrative concerning these
two woodhawks:
Two Of the most extraordinary wood
hawks that Captain Marsh ever encoun-
tered among these woodlands were o
pair OF partners named respectively *
Beidler and Liver Eater Johnson. They
were both large and powerful men, ignor-
Wal AL AiAOot "a W Wv
ilization holds as knowledge. but pro-
foundry versed in all the strange and
varied wisdom Of the wilderness, which,
however, they kept to themselves with q
taciturnity characteristic Of those whose
ways lie in Natures lonely places.
Ice Cream
when the Steamer Nile was on her
trip to Fort Benton in the spring of
1859, Beidler and johnson were encoun-
tered near the mouth Of the Musselshell.
Their cord wood was purchased and they
were, as usual, taken on board and en-
tertained while the boat continued her
journey. 1t SO happened that on that
particular day, the crew had ice cream
for Inner in honor OF the captains
birthday, the ice, which was q rare lux
ury on the upper river, having been OBJ
tanned at Fort Peck. Neither of the wood
hawks had ever seen or heard Of ice
cream before, and it's surprising frigidity
in the heat of a summer afternoon,
caused them to regard 1t with suspicion,
though Beidler was averse to admitting
his ignorance. Johnson was less reticent,
and straightway asked in a startled whis-
per OF his partner:
"X, where in - does this stuff come
from?'
"'Shut up, you FOOL growled Beidler,
bravely swallowing a spoonful of the
cream. 1T m in cans
Sent His Wife to Rome"
Among the passengers on this trip,
was q party of eastern tourists contain
ing several ladies who were spending the
summer viewing some of the strange Sec
tiOns of their own country. The ladies'