Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1939-09-09
By EDNA LANEOORE WALDO


Battle SCARED and water marked,
cabin registers of the river steam
boats, Butte and Rosebud, have
recently been found among the eff
fects of the late Capt Isaac ?.
Baker of Bismarck and will be
sent to the Montana Historical So
ciety for preservation. Marking
the years 1882 and 1888 and there
after, when river traffic was main
tanned with difficulty against the
rapid encroachment of the railroads,
/ the records reveal a stubborn, II losing
/ fight for business that had been, IN
the decades just preceding, a river
The big. black books with their
faded red leather trimmings tell one
story through the simple entries OF
names, dates, points OF emparkatlon
and departure, and rates charged
There Is another story between the
lines It pictures the changing pageant
of Montana's growth, the rise OF one
town or section and the consequent
fall of another; the travel Of Indians
and woodhawkS, the excursions OF
pleasure seekers, the journeys of United
States marshals and, increasingly, OF
the military from one river post 70
another. In the rates liSted-nOt al
ways the same for the same distance
the books speak eloquently Of the strlg-
gle to keep passengers on the boats,
cost what 1t might.
The first trip up in the spring and
the last down in the fall were always
the most profitable, for there were
stu many places that could De reached sslssi
only by the river and that were thus
completely isolated after the freezeup.
Army transportation and the move
ment Of other government employees
and railroad mechanics accounted for
most of the revenue in 1882, although
there was, of course, considerable
freight handled at the same time which
had 10 place in the cabin hStings.
FUN House First Trip
The Butte had a full house on the
first trip up in the spring OF 1882.
carrying 1913 different passengers, some
of them children, and not all for long
distances. An officer and five enlisted
men were ferried across from Fort Abe
Lincoln to Bismarck and there was
considerable local business between
southern Dakota and Montana points,
much of 1t between the army posts and
Indians agencies. The rate from Sioux
City, Ia, to Fort Benton, the entire
voyage, was $65-in eloquent contrast
to the 5000 up from st. Louis and $3.50
down which had been charged during
the gold rush of the sixties. From
Pierre to Bismarck passengers paid $12
for cabins, SIS If they slept on deck.
From Bismarck to Benton, most people
were charged $40, although families
or others travelling in parties some
times got special rate Of $3.50. Deck
passage was SIT.
From Poplar river to old Fort Peck
the rate was So and from Carroll 70
Benton twice as much. On the down
trip, prices we're shaded a good Bit
$25 in cabins. SIS on deck. One family
went down for $41.90. Meals at this
time were always extra; many pas
sengers brought their own lunches for
there were no references to meals ex-
cept for officers and men and railway
employees, travelling long distances on
tick" One man from Poplar river
paid only $3.50 to Bismarck, his COM
panionS, $14 apiece.
without the government business In
both passenger and freight transpor- |
tation, the boats would not have been /
running at all. Consequently many |
one captain who had seven children, /
and numerous prominent people from |
Fort Benton were listed simply as "dh."
BiedIer and Prisoner
The cabin register, Of course had I
fewer important names to list than /
might have been the case IN the sixties !
and seventies when going up to the
mountains" was all the rage. Decks
were less dramatically laden than when
they had been stacked high with furs
and gold or when the boats had trans
ported hostile Indians to the new reSer-
vations in Dakota. But the west was
still wild enough so that the well
known X Beidler land prisoner" took
the Butte from Carroll to Benton and
later in the season from Poplar to
Rocky Point.
white man and squaw'' Travelled
from Wolf Point to Poplar and other
squaws were picked up at one wood
yard TO be set down at another In
dams in parties visited from fort to
fort up and down the river Wood
hawks-so listed-got on at the sixth
point above Fort Peck to journey as
far as the second point above Fort
Peck and "Mulligam and 2" as well
as Sergeant Moriarty and three men"
went up from Bismarck TO Coal Banks.
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