Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1939-06-30
By EDNA LAMOORE WALDO

mackinaw in the develop
ment of the upper Missouri coun-
try, for the small boats were used
long before the steamboat ven
tured into western waters, during
the heyday of the river palaces,
and long after the larger boats
had given up the struggle. A
mackinaw voyage was always dan
gerous, for the small parties they
carried were often at the mercy of
sniping Indians and had much more
difficulty, close to the water as they
were, in finding the channel But
even after the safe, If uncomfortable,
stagecoach mStie regular trips into
Montana, mackinaw travel remained
the most popular way of leaving the
mining country.
While small boats were used extern
sively during the fur trade period and
the bateau used by Lewis and Clark
was probably a first class mackinaw,
1t was not until the gold excitement
boats of various kinds were carelesSly
called mackinaws. That accounts for
the difference reported in size and
tonnage by several authorities who
considered themselves the last word
on mackinaw travel.
The boats were always crudely built,
usually from timber on the river banks,
flat bottomed. sharp at both ends, and
anywhere from 80 to 100 feet long.
Masts and sails were supplied, the
latter made of skins in the earlier
DAYS, and oars as we'll, although some
of the smaller boats relied solely on
a pole or two and the rapidity OF the
downstream current.
In Fur Trade Area
In Canada and on the lower Mis-
souri, during the fur trade era, mack
inaws were sometimes used upstream,
propelled by 20 to so husky voyageurs,
known also as cordellerS because ttsy
used ropes or cordelS passed from the
mast through a series OF blocks on
board to the shore. 1t was gruelling
work and slow. For the most part, how
ever, mackinaw travel was DOWN
stream. the smaller boats sold as
cheaply as IS or Sc once st. Louis mad
been reached.
After the gold strikes IN Mohtana,
deliberately equipped macklliaMS WEI
seen MANY with bullet-roof deckhouses
and hanks of oars In contrast there
remained unbelievably primitive ra1ts,
often followed out tree trunks, Oh
which those who had not struck II
rich made their precarious way oack
to the states. .,o;-
Steamboat pilots who knew their
business always carried macklnaWs, 70
tighten the cargo Whel my ~ ~
on sandbars, and to transport passeh-
oars IN and from the posts curing
tou, ,pater seasons. MackinaWS were al.
Wavs used between Helena ana Glea'
rails where there was SlH-rlli bl
tage and the head of navigation az
E t%S Benton. Stranded in Montana
after the last steamboat mad gont
down or when some pForhSee;G red Go or
failed iiif nacE EpP,S and set off down.
pullo -, iii'oN''''' -
stream. vo,1ovs+one river, about II
on me ne we spot where Captain
miles , apoHC bis rstilrn Journey in 1906,
Lewis Lew D U,aS an isolated grove OF greaI
onttorwoOds. growing upon liie ivy IVY
col in miles where under oye[tiait 1gsr;de
CANYON walls, the stream m1G ie,t mace
eddy. ~ was ,,l I1T 'n,b1rking nackinaWs,
for makihg % "'. INA. in 1865 600 people
SO m m Saaf so Of Inherent kinds began
IN As o oaoS mere
their VoH"eC ,'', -, "Self Riser"
NoEASTn IN "Vigilante Days
N. F. L"t'5I n,iS Of one party OF II
and M H,,iI boat in three days 81, IN
August, 1866. ! IN M y half foot beam.
with seven ana " ca 1IIa "The Self
the mackma% WA WAS and nd so rapid was
Riser" so cNcI ,T5y the the patty did not
their progress my 3 ''I made lao miles,
stop until ;h"y ma. ,Tre ia ia, antelopes
then teaSttG Oh COW, shot from the
boat. Game vas G ,,od special feast
down but t"ey WI, mao brought a black
,,,ba q luGhN cliff 10
tailed deer ndgc; canned fruit, coft tsss
the % PoIrhou IN cups furnished 'iie
trimmilstsii, oy sighted three huge . pears
Again az landed to pursue tle aat
on the os pane Iheir appetite for bear msas
then io tbo animals turned; reVea 1--WE
when I Lae as GRIZZLIES. said one; we we
them;Sei!seSd omoraIized rabbits IL %as
ran Hhe H. we we're after, not gri i1 i've
R hn s sssr e Charged
one rou I. :, halls before he, rolled 70
and TOOK ea, p Thev took the hind quarters a taS
their tee 1od one one great paw to the 1op
and nance ;ac,,S staff .,,ou
of the J1SCiSindred miles down, tney