Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-01-08


pointment, or for dozen years later.
1t was territory without the
pale of civilization, where desperadoes
abounded and lynch law prevailed
Such was the general belief of the
average easterner in 1865, part of this
being well founded. Desperadoes had
ruled the territory, but the admins
tration of the Vigilantes had made
this region extremely unhealthy for
these gentlemen and when General
Meagher arrived here there was no
western territory so free from bandits,
and this fact was generally recognized.
The rule of law was gradually but
surely asserting its power, and 1t was
unfortunate that the acting governor,
General Meagher should have been
led through political reasons, to op-
pose the judiciary, and seek to ham,
per its action.
After his appointment, the new
secretary had to decide on the route
he would take to reach Montana. Not
for one instant did he think of plod-
ding along over the plains, as did so
{ IildliS VI Jul plollSCio, LII WdSOilo
drawn by slow OK teams. He had
heard enough of this way of getting
to Montana, and shrunk from it with
CONFUSION of the heart The world
pretty generally knows, by this time,
what it is to travel with caravan of
oxen and huge green wagons, in
column of dense red dust, to the
cracking of oathes and cowhides,
through region the greater portion
of which justifies the description that
cit is the worst part of the internal
domains burnt out"
The stage routes did not offer
greater attractions, and was sum-
marily dismissed from the generals
itinerary "a third line" he says, was
open to me, of which it is but fair to
say I heard nothing extremely re-
pugnant. This is the line of the Upper
Missouri. Early in April, and from that
/ to the end of May, great steamboats,
swing off from st. Louis for the
mountains; and having painted and
shrieked and blowed all their might
against the yellow volume of that
huge river, finally take rest at Fort
Benton, after violent struggle of SO, 60,
10, or 80 days."
Although the delights of that river
trip had been explained to him by
someone who had experienced them,
they did not appeal to the general.
Says he: Nevertheless I came to the
determination not to face the Upper
Missouri, as I have a strong aversion
to travelling on anything like canal
the more especially should it be from
two to three thousand miles long, with
the risk constantly recurring of being
impaled on a snag, running dry on a
sandbar, blown sky high into atoms,
or scalded to death.
Then I well knew the fresh provi-
sions were sure to give out on such a
trip as that long before it was over,
and that a surfeit of ham, Goldfish
balls, sardines, and lamp oil, and such
like rare and delicate commodities
would be our visitation day, noon, and
morning, for days, and it might be for
weeks. Buffalo meat would, of course,
occasionally come into play"
With these three routes held to be
! undesirable, the general decided to go
west via Nicaragua to San Francisco,
then to Portland, up the Columbia to
Walla Walla, and on horse or mule
back to Lake Pend d'Oreille, in Idaho.
From this point, with two companions,
one of whom acted as cook, and the
other as hunter, the party passed
| Thompson Falls and Horse Prairie
| This Horse Prairie could not have
been the one mentioned by Bonneville,
which was near Bannack, where the
general came to confer with Governor
Edgerton, before proceeding to Vir-
ginia City. He went to St. Ignatius
! mis- yuI1ara ha n q
week, entertained by the fathers sta
toned there.
In reading this First Ride Through
Montana" it may occur to many that
the least anxiety of the average pio-
neer was concerned with the variety
or kind of food he would have enroute
and with good reason. The bracing air
of the plains and mountains, and life
in the open, created an appetite not
inclined to be finicky. The most
elaborate meal served at the Waldorf
Astoria, could not have been more en-
joyed than was the usual fare of cakes
fried ham or bacon, taken with pint
of creamleSS coffee. This menu was
now and then varied by game killed by
hunters or given travellers by soldiers
at the stations passed. No, the pioneer
gave little thought to his food further
than to desire enough Of it.
If General Meagher had reached
Montana a year or SO earlier, he woulo
have regarded Goldfish balls with the
respect they deserve, composed as they
are of potato and Goldfish. Potatoes
or any other vegetables were then un-
obtainable, except for a brief time ir
the summer-and all have heard Of the
flour famine, when the miners
searched private houses for this deli.