Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-03-05

TOUR horses. A QrlVeT uaQ DctH doo1SASe
for the trip by Colonel Brooke and
RoenSch rode ahead on his saddle
horse. The going was heavy and the
horses began to tire in the neighbor-
hood of Priest butte. A storm was COM
ing up and Roensch asked the driver
to speed up so that they could reach
Choteau before the storm broke. The
driver replied that they were making
the best time they could, that the
/ horses couldn't travel faster. The
storm hit them before they reached
I Choteau, but they arrived in the town
safely and put up for the night.
Morning Blizzard
The next morning a blizzard was
what will we do, Roensch?" Judge
Wright asked the guide.
Nothing" was the reply. Colonel
Brooke told me not to get you into a
tight fix and I won't We stay here. .
The next day the storm was sttl
SWRat win we do?" the commission
ers asked their guide again.
worthy.
They remained in Choteau seven
days, the storm upon them all the time
and the snow blowing so that it was
difficult to see across the street. The
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES AOcANA pHOAb bAAC AA0~|A
and they all spent most Of the time
sleeping.
When they arose on the eighth morn
ing the storm subsidized and the sun
was shining. The ground was covered
with blanket of snow and great drifts
four and five feet deep were continu-
ally encountered, avoidance of which
required much driving to travel short
distance. 1t required three days Tor
fhoY,1 m rOvor tho distance from Chm
teau to Dupuyer, stopping at ranch
houses at night. Roensch didn't miss
the road a rod the whole way.
Now and then when bare spot ex-
posed the road one of the commission
ers would say: There's the road,
Roensch." And Roensch would reply:
What the heck do care. I don't need
any road"
AS they entered Dupuyer a man
came out Of Charley Thomas saloon
and Roensch asked him how the roads
were.
you dern fool, there haven't been
any roads for week" was the reply.
Roensch felt pretty sure that he
could find the way, although the snow
covering changed the appearance OF
couleeS and buttes. He kept his party
moving. He. was particularly worried
about crossing Blacktan Deer creek.
There was a bridge but he couldn't
see it from where he hit the creek
bank. There was five feet of snow on
the ice in the creek, and Roensch
couldn't tell which was upstream or
downstream in the flat valley through
which the creek wound.
If he couldn't find the bridge the
party would have to go back and try
another route which meant serious de-
lay. RoenSch stopped the outfit and
started in the direction he thought was
upstream In the hope of finding the
bridge, and came across it within 200
yards. From there to the agency was
only short distance. Roensch said
afterwards that those three commits
sioners were the happieSt men he ever
saw when the agency buildings loomed
in sight.
There were hundreds of Indians at
the agency awaiting the arrival of the
commissioners and the pow vows be-
tween the redmen and the repre-
sentatives Of the Great White Father
got under way at once. They lasted
five days before the terms of the treaty
we're agreed upon Six hundred Indians
signed the treaty.
On the return trip the party was
Stormbound for several days at Du-
puyer. When they finally did get
started the snow was so deep they
could travel only with the greatest
difficulty. RoenSch induced the COM
missionerS to let him take the heavy
box off the sled and replace it with
platform of boards, making the rig
much lighter and easier to pull through
the deep snow, though 1t was much less
comfortable for the passengers.
At Choteau, RoenSch bought long,
heavy rope When the horses would get
into drifts so deep they would go nearly
out of sight, they were unhitched and
taken flounderingly ahead through the
drift to where the snow was not so
deep. The rope was then attached to
the sled and by 1t the horses would
pull the sled through the drift over
the trail they had broken, and without
going back for It; # was slow going
but there was nothing that could be
done about it except to keep plugging
along. The party returned to Sun River
lust three weeks from the time they
had started on their trip It was the
only party that had been over the road
during that time, there had been no
news received Of them and they were
surprised to find that the general belief
of the populace was that they had
persisted.
The commissioners stopped at Sun
River, but RoenSch and the driver re-
ported back to Fort Shaw that night
The next day the commissioners went
to the fort and asked RoenSch to intro
duce them to the colonel.
He did so, and the commissioners
made a highly complimentary report
to the colonel upon the excellent Serv-
ice that Roensch had rendered them.
A few weeks later RoenSch received
from the commissioners by express
solid silver tankard and a solid silver
goblet. On the tankard was engraved |
these words:
Presented to August Adolph Roensch
by the Blackfeet Indian commission, |
Larrabee, Wright and Daniels"
The tankard was Is inches high and /
it and the goblet remained Roensch's |
most valued possession all of his life.
RoenSch was born In Saxony, Ger
many, and came to the United States /
in 1868, landing in New York. Shortly |
afterwards he went to Chicago, and |
there enlisted in the 18th United |
States infantry. He served five years
In the southern states and IN Indian
territory. After the expiration of his
enlistment he was for q time police
man in New Orleans. The military life
to him, however, and in 1875
no Te-anIiStPd In the 18th Infantry He