Glacier County chief., 1940-10-18

! learned their history. At almost every
landing on the river where they
stopped they went ashore for de-
bauch, but hard drinkers and des-
perate characters as they were, they
never treated Wackerlin other than
in the most friendly and considerable
manner. nor did they insist on his
when as he looked back at the trip
they seemed in memory a strange,
picturesque crew. with rough humor
, to temper the evil in their natures.
In liquor they were brutal and quar-
relSome. and one day they drove all
! OF their negro deckhands overheard
after much abuse
Took Over Ministries
After the loss of their deckhands.
the crew reached small town where
a band of travelling MINISTRIES were
giving a performance for the enter
tainment of the populace of little
river settlement. Captain Miller. who
was a good deal of a humorist and
was possessed of Suave and per-
suasive manner. induced the MINISTRIES
to take passage on the Richmond for
a town higher up the river, but after
the boat had cast loose the actors
found themselves impressed into Serv-
ice in the capacity of deckhands.
which enforced labor they performed
for the rest of the trip. At night they
gers with music and Rotations.
At Mandan. N. D., there was a big
Indian council. several tribes having
gathered for pow-WoW with the mill
tary authorities, and the Richmond
tied up there while the crew and pas
sengers went ashore to take in the
proceedings. Thereafter. when in his
cups. Captain Miller would regale the
people on the steamer with a realistic
representation of an Indian chief ad-
dressing the council.
After Peale's Life
But the Quantrell men never forgot
the main purpose of the expedition.
and as they neared Montana their
was uppermost in their minds. Among
themselves they discussed the treat
ment Peale should receive at their
hands when they had captured him,
and how he should be put to death.
Arrived at the mouth of the Judith
river. they tied up the boat and sent
one of the band ahead to Fort Benton
to learn if Peale was there, and II
not. where he had gone. In a weeks
time the messenger returned to re-
port that word had been received at
Benton to the effect that Peale had
been killed in a gambling house fight
ut Helena only a few days previous
to the arrival of the messenger at
Benton. A council of the Quantreil
men was held and they determined 10
90 ahead with the boat and confirm
the report of Peale's killing. Arrived
at Fort Benton they had verbal con-
firmation OF the report, and they ther.
entered upon a wild debauCh. broke
up some of the gambling games and
terrorized the town for several days.
Before starting down the river they
pushed on to Helena TO make abso-
lutcly certain that Peale was dead
and buried Having done SO. they re-
turned to Benton. took their steamer
and set out down the river.
BY the time they had arrived at
Sioux City the federal authorities were
on their trail. They abandoned the
Richmond and struck out overland for
Idaho. There they lived for a time
the life of road agents and outlaws,
some of their number being killed.
Some of them went to Cheyenne and
opened a gambling house. Captain
Miller finally went to Quantrells
ranch in Texas, where he later died
of tuberculosis.