Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-05-02
nv w. II. RANFILL)

vk|A411 Vie utdlll d lew WEEKS dBO VI
w Ike Allen, or Colonel Allen, as he
~ was more often called in his later
years, there passed n OF the last of
the old frontiersmen, one whose span
OF experience in Montana reached back
to the days when Andrew Dawson was
bourgeois at Fort Dawson where the
American Fur company still was SUI
preme.
Young Allen was living at home in
st. Louis in the spring of 1862 when
the urge came to join the Union army
where a brother was already serving.
But his father suggested that the son
be permitted to enter the employ of
the American Fur company.
The idea appealed to the youngster.
There wa even more room for adven-
ture in the wilds of the Rocky noun
tainS than in the army and there was
a chance at great wealth. The cOm-
pany had its headquarters at st. Louis,
which was the base for practically all
the fur trade, and with his parents
consent he joined the band that was
going up to the %company's posts on
the Missouri. The men enlisted like
soldiers for a years service, another
idea to appeal to the lad.
The journey up the Missouri to Fort
Benton was made in the steamer
Spread Eagle. Aboard was a cargo of
supplies TO be traded to the Indians
in exchange for furs. At that time
only a few boats were plying yearly to
Fort Benton, all engaged in the fur
business.
While engaged in fixing a rope for
cordelling the steamer through shallow
water near Fort Benton, a yaWl boat
in which three men swung around in
front of the steamer which struck it in
the middle and swamped it. One of
the men managed to catch hold OF a
ring on the steamer. Allen, grabbing
hold of a post, managed to reach
another man as he was swept along
the side of the steamer but it took
three men to get him out of the water.
The third man was drowned. The sec
ond mate was n Of the rescued men
and his first words were, Il never saw
your maStS."
the steamer made the trip without SER
ious misadventures. Only the season
before, the Chippewa had burned at
Disaster bend. There was quite a car
go of liquor IN board for the contra
band trade with the Indians. A deck
hand stole down into the hold with a
gimlet and a lighted candle. In draw
ing off some liquor for his personal
use, the alcohol ignited and the boat,
which was filled with Indian annuity
goods and consignments to the Ameri-
can Fur company, caught afire. There
were rs kegs of powder at the rear of
the boat which had to be abandoned
too quickly to attempt to get the pow
der out of the way. When the fire
reached the powder, the Chippewa blew
up. Packages OF goods from the steam
err were afterWard found three miles
from the scene Of the explosion.
At the fur company's post, Allen and
his cOmrade, Romeo de Frenn, a youth
of French descent, were sent with a
traders outfit to bring in buffalo robes
and beaver and other skins. The trader
went to camps of the Piegans, BlOods
and Blackfeet, some miles distance.
While the Indians were Ostensibly
friendly, sharp lookouts had to be
maintained for roaming bands of
marauders who would welcome the
chance of pillaging the traders goods,
if they did nothing worse. On these
trips Allen began to learn the sign
language and other ways of the Indians
which was to stand him in good stead
over a period Of more than 20 years as
an Indian trader and army scout:
Later on in the year., the gold ex-
element in the Deer Lodge valley drew
every one who could leave from Fort
Benton. Allen and de Frenn obtained
permission from the factor to join one
of the gold seeking parties. Allen pros
pected for gold in several places where
there we're gold stampedes but the life
of a miner did not appeal to him and
in a month or SO he was on his way
back to Benton. having parted COM
pany with his companion who re-
manned in the gold fields and whom he
never saw again.
Allen was then sent out with a buff
falo hunter attached to the post. To
Allen and other helpers was delegated
the task Of skinning the animals after