Plentywood herald., 1930-09-04

the He'll Gate river, crossing it fourteen
times on the ice. The beaver had also
been at work on the road but not in
a helpful way for the human road
builders, as they rendered it almost i'm
pasSable. Any one can believe this
VINO mas attempted 10 tear down a
beaver dam. l have tried it.
Reaching the head of Prickly Pear
canyon, a blizzard set in, the wind
blowing terrifically, overturning their
tents and keeping them in constant
fear trees would be uprooted and fall
on them. They survived the night.
however, but the morning brought no
relief from the storm. On the con-
trary it must have increased in severity,
as billiards in this region are likely
to do, and the strong wind, laden with
ice particles made it impossible for
the men to keep their eyes open while
ascending the divide between the Dear
born and Sun rivers. They were forced
TO turn back to shelter.
Reach Sun River
Not far distant was a camp of Pend
dOreille Indians, who would have re-
ceived them Hospitality and they could
have been comfortable and it seemed
advisable they should go there, or at
least wait for time before continuing
the journey. The topographer feared
II they did so it would be long be-
fore thev could reach the farm on
Sun river He therefore decided to
keep right on Notwithstanding the
severity of the weather Had he re-
allZed the serious menace of the storm,
he would have hesitated about expos
ing his men to it, They went on to the
farm but in sad condition, as many
of them were badly frost bitten. In
this respect however, they were more
fortunate than the soldiers who, later,
were the victims of a similar blizzard
on Frozen hill.
Despite the storm, Mullan's topo-
grapher did not fail to notice the fea-
lures of the landscape. He speaks of
Big Knee, Crown, and Square buttes.
Major Vaughn, then Blackfeet Indian
agent, received the company on their
them to the best of his ability There
their frozen members were thawed out,
and they once more found themselves
in a tit condition to go on.
1t happened that Major Dawson's
interpreter was at the farm from the
Fort Benton fur post. He kindly vol
unteered to act as their guide. The
weather modifying, they again struck
the indicated trail, which led them to
the Missouri below the Great falls.
From this point it did not take them
long to reach Fort Benton, that was to
see the end of the road, although it
was by no means settled it should be
approached by the route they had fol-
lowed, for their return trip would be
by another, at least part Of the way.
They stayed but short time at Fort
Benton. Possibly they were appre-
hensive Of trouble with the Indians,
as Malcolm Clarke gave them a how
itzer with an odometer attached to the
wheel, by which they could know dis
tances travelled. 1t belonged to the
government, and theirs being a gov
ernment job, no objection could be
raised at Mullan's taking the gun. The
odometer especially proved to be very
useful Only waiting to attach this
valuable acquisition to the howitzer
wheel, the company began the return
trip, which they accomplished safely
with no trouble from Indian attacks
knowledges his indebtedness, in the
early stages of his journey, to Father
DeSmet's book, Oregon Missions"
which gave him many geographical
and statistical facts"
He advised that depot be built at
the mouth of Sun river, to be a three
company cavalry post, this post to
supply a four company post at Deer
Lodge, and one company post at
Hells Gate, supplies to be shipped to
the Great falls from ST. Louis. He
was the first person on record to recog-
nize Great Falls as a good distributing
point. He also advised that the Indi-
ans be placed in charge of the war de-
partment. He spoke highly of the
missions, their object being ito secure
the Indians from the blighting effects
of advancing civilization, which to
them means death"