Montana oil and mining journal., 1940-07-27
Army Deserters Were Flogged
In Early Days of Northwest

Trappers and traders came into
the northwest because they chose
to do so. They were adventurers
who could not tolerate the restric-
tiOns of civilization, or hoped TO
make money. Many of these be-
came attached TO the life nOtwith-
standing its manifold privati0ns
and hardships, and came to like It.
Far otherwise was il with the SOL
diers who were ordered into this
region either before or after the
Civil war. They had no love for
the wilderness, whether plains or
mountains, and could not expect
to gain more from their exile than
the regulation pay.
When Montana was a part Of Me-
braSka territory, troops were sent TO
Fort Pierre, evidently not to protect
settlers, there being none there nor
farther up the Missouri. In the early
fifties, when they were dispatched into
the northwest, they must have gone
in the interest Of the fur trade here,
which was then at its height.
A young German boy, Augustus
Meyers, who was with the soldiers as
q musician, has told the story of those
days from the soldiers standpoint. The
troops suffered greatly from official
ignorance of climatic conditions, and
the difficulties of transportation. The
houses provided for their accommoda-
ton were flimSy affairs, not suitable
for withstanding the extreme cold to
which they were subjected. Their food
for about eight months consisted main
ly Of salt meat, and resulted IN many
having scurvey, several dying from the
dread disease.
Soldiers Were Needed
II. oaI rsF col
diers to function in that region. The
fur trade was brisk Just then. When
the steamboat Genoa was loaded for
its down-r1ver journey, it was tmpoS-
sible for it to carry all the furs await
ing transportation at Fort Pierre. Such
wealth called for protection. But many
of the soldiers, having no interest IN
1t, did not take kindly to their new
location There were desertions IN con-
sequence.
The lot Of the deserter so far from
the settlements and In strange coun-
try could not have been envtable. Some
may have escaped and found their way
east; others were killed by Indians or
starved to death, but the majority were
captured and taken back to the fort.
It was partly on the soldiers account,
yet more on their own, that caused the
authorities to adopt stringent measures
to discourage further deSerttons. Mey-
ers tells of what happened in one in
stance. Some captured deSerters, hav-
ing been tried by court martial, were
sentenced to be logged with rawhide.
after the following manner:
"The officer OF the day read the SEN
tence and called out the name OF one
Of the deSerters, who was led to the
center of the square, where a triangle
81. 4.{e cat HaFn
he was divested of his jacket and shirt,
and his wrists bound with cords. His
arms were pulled up over his head and
tied to the top, while his feet we're
spread apart and secured to the bot
tom Of the triangle. 1t had always
been the custom In the army for flog
ging to be administered by one OF the
musicians When all was ready the Of
ficer Of the day called one Of the older
boys from the ranks. He was handed
q rawhide and told by the officer to
strike the prisoner hard from the
shoulders to the lofns."
It may be suspected that the musi-
clan, having sympathy for the deSerter,
did not use his utmost strength at
first, nor until, under the threats Of
the officer, the blows increased in Sc
verify, first raising great weltS and
then cutting the skin until the blood |
flowed. When the seth blow had been
struck, the officer, who had kept count, |
cried Haiti The victim was united By
the guards and, unable to stand on his
ieet, was dragged towards the guard
house"
Another deserter was then called out
and the officer looked around to find |
second musician to administer the /
punishment. Meyers was trembling in |
his shoes and undoubtedly the rest of
MS uniform, lest he be the one select /
ID. He escaped this time, but was not |
% fortunate when the third and last
nan was truGaed up.
on being Commanded to assume the
whip, Meyers exclaimed, sI refusel" A
mighty piuclEy act for q boy OF about
Is years Of age. OF course be was at
,nce placed under nrreSt, and q drum
ner chosen 70 carry cut the whipping,
Sosaibly becaziae beating was his part
a the bMxn.
n @oes without saying that Meyers l