The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-11-13
Capt. Belk. River Figure, Gone

A colorful figure in the transportation history Of the
Northwest. Captain John n, Bcls mas been called into
his last port By the great captain OF He. lie came to
tho Northwest as 4 pilot on the Sunset and Evening
Star. and III the poetic phrases Of Tennysoa. sunse; and
evening star pi!o. HIM across the bar as he goes ou, on
the tide Of death.
He is almost the las, Of The adventurous souls of the
river III the los TO 90. Few OF the men OF the packets
that steamed up the Missouri from 81. Louis 10 Omaha
Kansas City. Bismarck and For, Benton in those now
distant days arc left.
Captain Belk served as pilot and captain on IS OF
tho Missouri river boats. accordins to a reckoning made
By a friend several years ago. Few men OF the river
were better known than he However, he came to tho
Missouri when its navigation by the old s,ern-Mheelcrs
already Was on tho wane. and With the advent OF the
railroad he saw his calling decline. then fade out en-
tircly.
His death recalls tho prime Importance tho river once
enjoyed in Northwest transportation. II was the trans
portation key to this region as far as For; Benton. Mon
tana. Many boats out OF 81. Louis Piled its shifting
channel and ,rcacherous current, to get their cargocs
into Montana. whence they were sent west BY pack
trains to the mining fields and to Oregon.
In III, carly days. as during tho Civil war. the Mis-
souri, steamboats, led All adventurous existence. They hao
to run the double perils 0. the stream itself. with its
uncertain sandbars. and the menace OF hostile Indians
always TO be encountered. Tales as thrilling rs any
ever embodied III dime novels were associated With the
fleets that coursed the river. All transportation was
conducted by day. At night the risk OF running into
snags or sandbars. 10 have the bottom Of tho boat ripped
or the craft grounded. WAS too great 10 risk travelling.
Pilots commanded bic pay and had regulations that
made them heroes jn tic Northwest. They became
no.aoie characters.
It was in the days when plotting was tapering off tina.
Captain Bclk came up the river from ST. Louis. Leaving
Alabama. his native state. AT the close OF the Civil war
in which he served in All Alabama Confederate infantry
regiment. he came TO Bismarck ard engaged in plotting.
He had learned how 10 handle a boat OH the Alabama
river and this knowledge gained him temporary Jobs
from ST. Louis to Kansas City and from there to Omaha.
as assistant to the pilots OF the Sunset and Evening
Star boats. From Omaha he made his way here as .
pilci. Thc.ctpon the sou,hcrncr III him faded out and
he became Of tho west. He made Bismarck his home
and settled down TO a career OIL the river boats. Hun
dreds OF trips were made By him from here to Fort Bei-
ton and down the riscr TO ST. Louis. Then came the day
when the last boat retired. The coming Of the railroads
had killed the dream OF a vast river commerce. Bismarck
lost Its prestige rs a port out Of which the commercial
distribution OF the Northwest was made. The metropolis
which It was supposed to become never materialized
Captain Belk retired. He became a familiar figure iii
the city. Out Of the lore Of the river he had acquired.
he became annalist of the boating days. He was full
Of stories Of those times. was an authority on the river
history Of the 70s.
Three years ago he was elected police magistrate.
He held this position with considerable pride. He never
yielded any OF the morale he had acquired as q pilot and
captain. and he was mesiculous ii discharging the duties
OF his office.
An interesting figure has passed from the pages Of
local history, a figure that WIS not alone linked TO Bis
narcks history but to the story Of the entire Northwest.