The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-01-19
From a rare PRINT

and obtained 7. . the hide and tallow (of the
beef they were shooting for) for his forbearance
His usual practice was to sell his !. quarter
to the tavern or dram shop keeper for whisky
with which he treated everybody present, par
taking largely himself"
So the first period in Mike Fink's life was that
of crack shot, champion hunter and Indian scout
on the Pennsylvania frontier. Then came the
rush OF settlers beyond the Alleghenies after
the Revolution and this region became too
crowded" for him. The keelboat era on the Ohio
began and opened up opportunity for Mikes
energies. He won right to place keel
boat by beating up a champion keelboat fighter
who had challenged him after the fashion of
the times-and this at the age of seventeen or
eighteen
OF down-river trip, this paragraph from
Blair and Meine's book gives typical picture:
1.-The keel moved on, past Indian Loggstown,
past Legionville, where General Wayne encamped
In 1892, on down the river The boatmen for the
most part rested. Sometimes the steersmen mis-
judged the extent of a sandbar and there was
a swearing session with the poles or the oars.
But the wise Baptste (patroon, or commander)
knew the river well and there were few pauses.
A fiddler in the crew brought out his fiddle and
his bow, and played dance tunes, and one of the
boatmen banged his feet on the cover of the boat,
awkwardly jigging. One red-shirted bewhisk-
cred fellow trailed a hook over the stern.
little group of boatmen played with deck of
greasy cards. Mike watched the menacing river"
And of the up-rver trip, this picture: "Along
the shore, the boatmen might bushwhack'-drag
the boat along by grasping overhangng bushes
and trees and pulling. On the river side of the
boat the oars were used aid. And
they came to a sandbar, over which there was
a swift current. The men took to their poles and
began a struggling march along the running
boards. Their bodies shook, their chests heaved,
as they pressed each ounce of strength into the
timbers; poles bent; the captain urged his men
on, coaxing, swearing prodigously
Then pole snapped and Mike had to do for
time the work of two. for wavering meant dis
aster"
Then the Ohio and the Mississippi became
"too crowded" for Mike Fink. The keelboat era
on those two rivers was coming to an end and
with it the end OF Mixes career on this frontier
His next was on the Missouri river, where he
piled a keelboat for a short time. Then he be-
came a member of General Ashey's famous fur
trading expedition and embarked upon the third
and last phase of his career on his third from
tier, that of the Upper Missouri and the yell
lowstone.
Meanwhile the legends had begun to cluster
about him. Some of the more familiar ones had
to do with his feats of craftsmanship. There
was the time he shot the scalp-lock off an Indian
standing on the bank of the river considerable
distance away Another time he noticed some
pigs roofing around settlers cabin on the bank
of the river. They were fifty yards away "He
raised his rifle to his shoulder, pulled the trig-
ger. On shore, pig squealed and ran. Its tail
had been chopped off close to its rump. And
that said Mike, want no accident To prove
it, standing the deck Of the dancing boat as
it sped upstream, he fired eight more Shots and
each time the gun spat, bewldered pig lost
its curly tail. Pretty good said keller Just
a DETAIL said Mike"
Then there was the time when he was sitting
on the levee with some of his cronies when he
noticed, more than 100 yards away, negro sit
ting on the bank above the leyee. This black
man was town character, noted for the size
of his feet. So Mike shot at him and shaved off
a portion of his heel so "he can wear a genteel
boot" Later he sent "a handful of silver to the
darky to extract the pain"
Do you remember Emerson Houghs Covered
Wagon" and the two frontiersmen who were
customed to shoot a lineup of whisky off each