Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-03-02
Trails of so Years Ago Beset With
Hardships that Pioneers Ouercanne

per or settler. However, to the man in
ured to the ways of the northwest and
who learned by contact and association,
the Indian was an arrant coward as an
aggressor and only attacked the needless
and unwary. For the later arrival. he who
followed on the crest Of advancing civili-
cation and who kept within the folds of
the westward procession of the star of
empire, the movement of the railroad
over new paths of steel laid toward the
setting sun removed the aborigine as a
bugbear and dissolved the wandering and
dangerous bands of hostiles.
Coincident with the establishment of
Fort Keogh at the mouth of the Tongue
river in the fall of 1876, came the move
ment to set up a village just outside the
military boundary line on the east. Sub
sequently 1t became the seat OF Custer
county. Located OF the bank of the
Yellowstone, it was the port of entry into
the great new northwest" In order to
reach 1t from the east it was necessary
to experience the perils and vicissitudes
of travel from Bismarck, Dakota terri
tory, then the western terminus of the
Northern Pacific railroad on the Missouri
river. across from which a little way
down that stream was located Fort
Abraham Lincoln.
Custer county so years age was more
Atti3A AlC bAAA4d q ~ d4C9 bAAtSlA 4 0AA1A
%sylvania. 1t was as large as Missouri or
Washington. Miles City had a popula-
ton of about $50 souls and in the
neighborhood Of ITS buildings. To reach
the city from the end of the railroad,
overland or by water, was a hazardous
undertaking.
The ride from st. Paul to Bismarck
rather lulled the traveller INTO a sense of
security. Departing from the Minnesota
state capital at 40 minutes past 5 o'clock
in the afternoon, 26 hours later, Bis
marck, All miles distant, was cached.
One hundred miles of the fertile Red
river valley, the then greatest wheat
growing country in America, had been
traversed. At Bismarck the traveller to
the great new northwest" stood on the
threshold Of a new adventure.
Two modes of travel presented them
selves. One was by stage, the other by
steamer. Overland by stage meant a ride
of about four days II the weather was
favorable. There was no intermission
for the distance, estimated at $50 miles
in a straight line. Stops were made only
for meals. The discomforts were many
and varied, for the stages were merely
"~buckboards' without shelter from the
sun or rain. Time was an element only
to be suffered but speed was essential
and constant movement forward was
held to be necessary to avoid the ever
present dangers OF contact with warning
Indian bands.
The steamboat route was the ~favorite
method of travel when 1t was available
during the few months of spring and
early summer The route lay up the
Missouri river to Fort Buford, thence up
the Yellowstone to Miles City. The cur
rents in these streams run at the rate Of
about S miles an hour. From Bismarck
to Fort Buford, a distance of 410 miles.
required from four to five days. There
was no night travel except in clear,
moonlight weather. The boats tied up
to trees IN the bank during the interval
of darkness. Fort Buford was described
as being located at 40 degrees north and
l04 degrees west. 1t was a military post
designed to receive a garrison Of four
companies n to serve as a depot for
the upper Missouri n Yellowstone river
valleys.
The Yellowstone pours into the Mis-