Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1940-12-20
By WILCHEY

BY WILCHEY
From as early as 1880, when the
4 French vOyageurs penetrated
upper reaches Of the Missouri
f,r, TO 1890, when the last COM
Srcial steamboat left Fort Ben
on its downriver trip, many
[ausands Of fortune seekers trav-
n over the uncertain river high
in search of the pot of gold
The end of the rainbow. Many
md the wealth that they sought
N returned to eastern homes to
L in luxury the remainder of
sir lives or Squandered their
{ney and sought new fields OF
SSers remained in Montana and
II TO develop this state TO its
Ell Greatness. But there was an
Z and less fortunate class OF ad-
fnrpr, whose bones lie today in
Sarked, forgotten graves-the rec
1 nj their names and the fate that
Ia them long buried from human
SIecuUn by the passing years.
{,ot Great Missouri river steamboat
C8ytain LaBarge, said a short
| before his death, Il, alone, could
h name 100 points along the river
r. have buried passengers or
<,bers of crews of my boats. !
t~sliy sought some elevated ground
|thiS purpose which the ravageS OF
river could not reach. These graves
marked If at all, with wooden
Eboards. for there was generally no
e material at hand. or II there
time did not permit OF It's use.
a will never be known, and cannot
/ even be conjectured. how many
these forgotten graves there are.
III can say with truth that there
enough to make the shores OF
Missouri one continuous grave
1 from its source to its mouth.
Were every white mans grave along
1 stream distinctly marked. the
keler would never be out of sight
these pathetic reminders of futile
Fests with the universal enemy,
IA But, unfortunately. no marx
(ains upon any but very few. and
names of those who are buried
most OF them are wrapped forever
oblivion"
Nv Stories Untold
lad the annals Of the tragedles OF
lei I'D and down the Missouri peeri
frded and preserved. there woulo
Hong chapters and many volumes
le,e with stories Of unfortunate ad-
rurers In the wilds. Many OF these
lid be pathetic tales OF men VINO
1 from illness or starvation where
had been overcome far from all
Kan help. Others would describe
berate and thrilling fights for lie
ms terrible odds, after which red
o, the prairies added another
70 their list of enemies conquered
he river men of the Missouri-a
s who filled a great place III the
|orv Of the west and who today are
tticallv forgotten - used to tell
le interesting tales of these river
ledies
he Of these stories concerned d
ty Of q men and women VINO IN
summer of 1868 went down the
sour in a flat-bottomed MacKlnaw,
t from Fort Benton. They reaccheo
mouth of Apple creek, near where
narck N. D., now stands. Just as
Sioux Indians, whom General Slb,,
was driving out of Minnesota and
DSs the country to the missouri,
wed on the banks of that stream;
Sc Indians had just been defeated
three fights with heavy losses, ana
y were in an angry mood. They
licked the boat and fought the little
" an entire day, finally killing
n all and sinking the boat. 1t was
Drted that the whites killed 81 In
rs in the fight, and that the cap
! Of the boat, whose name was
Ter, showed such bravery that the
ians offered to let him go alive.
refused to leave the other survivors
they were all killed. This boat
tanned a considerable quantity OF
! dust. some of which was recoV-
! by the Mandan and Aricara In
lers Are Killed
1864, while Captain LaBarge was
'ort Benton, a party Of miners from
yinia City offered to buy small
,kinaw boat that he possessed. He
lsed to sell, because he felt sure
1t meant death to them to try
TN the gauntlet Of hostile Indians
lg the river. They replied that they
e afraid to go overland because
Dad agents. The captain told them
they had less to fear from road
hts than from Indians. The road
It's, he said, might take their gold.
the Indians would spare neither
sure nor life. They were uncon-
ed, however, and as the captain
Id not sell the boat, they stole 1t
set out.
lille passing a high cutbank near
Berthold, in North Dakota, where
channel ran close to the shore,
|. were attacked by a war party
Sioux and every man In the boat
killed. Pierre Garreau. a French
breed and one of the best known
rpreters in the Indian country,
! down and recovered some OF the
and the following year Captain
arge saw some of it among the
ans.
'edy on Marias :,
n April %, 1865. a band OF Blood
ans near Fort Benton stole about
horses belonging to a party OF
er trappers. Of whom Charlie Car
a nephew Of Kit Carson, was one.
the night OF May % these men,
e on drunken spree. attacked a
D party of Blood Indians who hap
d to be near Fort Benton. but
not the thieves. killed three and
" their bodies into the Missouri.
survivors fled toward the south
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