Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1939-11-25
By d. J. O'NFALLEY Nm Kid

/
A recent issue of the Eau Claire, wis.
| Leader carried the announcement o.
! the death of Oliver Cromwell, one o.
| the last (if not the last) of the large
number Of civilians sent from st. Pau
| in 1877-1878 by government contractor;
to erect two military forts following
the Custer massacre on the Little Bis
Horn. These forts were Fort Keogh
near the present town of Miles City
and Fort Custer, near Hardin.
In the fall of 1876 the war depart
ment authorized the building of two
environments to house United States
troops while the two forts were being
constructed, the battle of the Little
Big Horn having alarmed the nation
to an extent not justified by the facts
Oliver Cromwell, who was to be en-
ployed on the construction of Fort
Keogh, was born at Rushville, Ill, IN
Greeley's advice to go west, young
man." and at the age Of Is he was q
driver on the Overland stageline run
ming between the towns Of Pueblo and
Las AnimaS Colo, where he witnessed
many stirring events. Cromwell drove
stage for three years, when the dis
covery of gold In the Black Hills in
terested him.
Prospected In Black Hills
Cromwell prospected in the Black
Hills for nearly two years, with indif-
ferent success Then he decided he
would like to be a lumberjack in the
Minnesota and Wisconsin woods. The
fall Of 1875 found him in st. Paul, but
he found it wasn't easy to get q job
in the woods. He then went to Min
neapOliS and worked as a cooper dur
ing the winter Of 1876-18T7.
In the spring OF 1877, Cromwell
learned men were being hired for work
in the construction Of the two Mon
tana military environments. He decided
to go west again, and was hired by
the contractors. With large crew, he
went by rail to Bismarck, Dakota ter
ritory, then the railhead of the North
ern Pacific.
At Bismarck the crew embarked on
a Missouri river steamboat, the JOS
ephine. The Josephine had not trav-
eled very far when smallpox broke out
among the boats crew. There was no
doctor aboard, so a volunteer was
asked to 90 to Fort Stevenson, some
IS miles eastward, to bring help while
the boat was tied up at the bank. One
of the construction company's carpen-
tiers responded. The man had to make
the. trip on foot, with only the sun
and stars to guide him.
Carrying only a small package OF
food and a revolver, the man set out
on his perilouS trip-perilouS, for
bands of hostile Sioux still roamed that
On the afternoon of the fifth day
after the volunteer had left, those
aboard the Josephine saw number
of mounted soldiers coming over the
ridge a mile or so east of the boat.
They were followed by an army am
bulance and a six-mule team. The
man had made the fort by sheer luck.
He reported the situation to the COM
handing officer, who Immediately sent
a doctor with an escort of soldiers to
the boat.
Forgot Volunteers Name
Cromwell, in telling of this incident
many years later, said he could not
remember the name of the man who
made the hazardous journey for help.
The doctor held the boat in quaran-
tine until danger of an epidemic had
passed. Three of the smallpox victims
died and were buried on the banks Of
the Missouri, and after three weeks
delay, the Josephine proceeded up
river.
At another time, Cromwell related,
while one of the steamboats, was UNI
loading at the landing near the Keogh
cantonment. number Of mounted In
dams suddenly appeared on the OppO-
site side of the river and opened fire
ON those around the boat. One OF the
civilians was wounded and one Of the
mules was killed by the Indians fire.
The alarm was quickly sounded and in
a short time a company OF the Fifth
infantry, mounted on Indian horses,
rode to the landing. The soldiers rode
aboard the boat, which steamed to
the opposite bank, and the soldiers
took off in pursuit Of the fleeing In
dams. Late that afternoon the soldiers
bringing back is Indians and
% ponies. They had overtaken the In
dams on South Sunday creek and had
forced them to surrender. When asked
about the extra ponies, one Of the
soldiers said:
well. when we started back there
were six Indians who we're not in any
condition to ride, so we brought in their
horses"
Buffalo ROamed Near Fort
Cromwell said he thought the name
Of the officer In command Of the pur-