Montana oil and mining journal., 1942-12-12
Fort William, Where Daring Deschamps
IF Family Committed Sanguinary Violence

neighborlng fur trading post, For
william, located on the same side o
the Missouri as Fort Union, but below
the mouth Of the Yellowstone. Be.
tween these forts the Missouri make;
a big bend, and while by water theJ
are widely separated, by land thu
rival posts were not far removed from
one another.
Fort william was built in 1888 b.
Sublette and Campbell, and named fol
William Sublette. Larpenteur, who wa:
employed there, says 1T was Isl
feet front and 100 feet deep. Tht
stockade was Of cottonwood logs
called pickets, 18 feet in length, hewT
on three sides and planted three feet
in the ground. The boss house stood
back, opposite the front door; 1t con-
sisted of a double cabin, having two
rooms 18 x % feet, with passage be-
tween them ~ feet wide. There was g
store and warehouse 40 feet In length
and 18 feet in width; two rooms for
the mems quarters 16 x 10 feet, q
carpenters shop, blacksmith's shop
ice house, meat house, and two splen-
did bastions. The bastions were built
more for amusement than for pro-
that time, although they we're con-
stantly at war with other tribes, there
was not the least danger for any
white men except the free trappers,
and we could go hunting in all di-
rections with perfect safety Large
war parties frequently came to the
fort, but behaved well, taking their
leave after getting few loads Of
ammunition and some tobacco"
River Water Pancakes
It was November 18th before the
buildings were completed and ready
for occupancy. When the employees
moved into their new quarters, Mr.
Campbell gave a feast in honor Of
the occasion The delicacies served
says Larpenteur, "a half pint Of flour
to each man, one cup of coffee, one Of
sugar, and one of molaSses, to four
men. Out of this a becoming feast was
made, consisting of thick pancakes,
the batter containing no other in
gredient than pure Missouri river
water, creased with buffalo tallow:
but as I had had nothing Of the kind
for upward of six months, thought I
had never tasted anything so good in
my life, and swore would have
plenty of the like If ever got back
to the states"
1t was late in the season when the
fort was finished, but the fall had
been unusually warm, which was
fortunate for the employees, while
disastrous for the fur traders, as the
buffalo remained north longer than
usual. Sublette and Campbell. not
securing the trade they had expected,
sold out that winter to the American
Fur Co., rather than suffer loss.
After Fort william passed into the
hands of the American Fur Co.. it i
was torn down and rebuilt in more
manner of adobe, and be-
ing so near Fort Union, was used ap-
parently as quarters for the Indians !
or mixed bloods, who had been forced |
TO leave the Red River country, "and |
some of the company's men who had
squaws, and the horse guard with the
horses"
Here lived the notorious Deschamps
'amily who caused the destruction of
The fort The Deschamps were mixed
oloods, who had been forced out Of the
Red River country because of their
awlessness. The head of the family
xilled Governor Robert Semple, dur
ng a massacre on the Red River Of
The north, and in the battle which
,ook place there, witnesses claimed he
committed extremely cruel acts.
Having been exiled, this undesirable
anily journeyed to the Missouri, and
20 Fort Union, where one of its
members was engaged as in
erpreter.
Change Didn't Help Them
Their change of location did not
,etter manners or morals of the am
able family with whom murder and
,indred crimes constituted an obSes-
ion. But the killing of man did not
njure the standing of an individual
n those primitive surroundings. Only
yhen the fort employees were threat
ned by DeschampS, was much notice /
AIKEN Of their misdeeds
Two families OF mixed bloods. one
eing the Deschamps, had been hunt [
ng together, and on their return en- I
cred upon the usual spree, in the
curse of which one man Of the other I
arty was killed by the Deschamps, /
'ho we're seeing red, as anyone might I
ell have done on drinking the liquor I
erved at the trading posts. Finally |
ne man then in charge of Fort Union
Mr.. Hamilton-became frightened, |
nd to the various ingredients the !
quor already contained, added a good /
1se of laudanum This was more
Elective than might have been ex-
ected, as the men slept so soundly
nat Mr.. Hamilton feared they would
ever waken. They soon proved, how
yer, that they could not be so easily
lied, as they lived to fight another z
by, which proved to be the last for h
ost of the DeschampS family. y
-Four men conspired to kill the elder y
eschamps and his son, Francoise,
no was the interpreter for the COM a
any. One OF the cOnspirators asked n
le elder Deschamps, when he made =
IS customary morning visit to the is
rt, If the latter would make peace y
ith him, as Deschamps had often
lTeatened his life. ITO which the old
replied, I win never make :,
ace with you so long as there Is a =