The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1951-11-01

Reports Finding
Site Of Old Fort
Editors Note The following is re-
printed by permission of Lou Griii OF
Miles City, who wrote the article 1or
his feature ."The Passing Parade roi-
lowing interviews with owen b. VIII
liams of Crow Agency
Because Owen B. williams OF
Crow Agency, following ms re-
tirement from manual LABOR,
enjoyed fishing, and because the
fish in the lower reaches OF the
Big Horn river, and where 1t
empties all its silt into the Vel
loWStone river, would not rise
to his bait, his disappointment
led him to engage in. the pleas.
ant compromising pastIme OF
hunting for old fur forts. He
found the sites of three such
forts, and another one for
which he has been, up to the
present, unable to find a name,
so he calls it Fort No-Name."
The three sites which he be-
lieves are the original sites OF
Forts Manuel Liza, CasS and
Van Buren,, were located. When
interviewed Williams was spend
ing his last day as a patient
in the Miles City Veterans hos
pital, being discharged as a
"well man." Admitted on August
10, the approximately As. days
he was a patient brought him
to declare that "this is the best
hospital I was ever in" A native
of SteWardson, ILL.,, in Shelby
county, Williams spent 70 years
of his life undergoing various
experiences, the highlights of
which are his enlistment at
NATION, ILL.,, in the 47th u. S.
Volunteers, sent overseas to the
Philippine Islands for two years
where he was a member of a
unit engaged in reopening the
hemp forts in the southern por-
ton Of the islands. This was an
arduouS task because the Flip
mos were dependent upon the
sale of the hemp for their live
lihood.
Shortly after his return from
the Philippine Islands, Williams
found his way to Montana, back
in the opening years of the
present century. When a por-
ton of the Crow Indian reser-
walton was opened to entry he
drew the first claim which was
in 1906, which he held for sew
eral years as a farm operator.
He lived for a time at Custer,
and in 1929 was employed on
the Northern Pacific railway as
a pumper, the duties of which
involved the treatment of wa
ter. He retired in 1913, and since
has made his home at Crow
Agency. The 18 years he spent
in the employment of the
Northern Pacific railway were
compromising years for him.
Now that I am retired I went
back to enjoy what always has
been a pleasant diverSion-fish-
ing. Yon know" he said quick
ly, when the fish won't bite
I couldn't do anything else but
go hunting for the sites of the
first fur fort erected in what
today is Montana"
II felt I ought, to tell some
body what I found in the way
of the evidences at and near
the mouth of the Big Horn riv-
er which indicate that at one
time way back to the days i'm
mediately following the Lewis
and Clark expedition, which
was completed in 1906, some fur
forts were erected where the
Big Horn and the Yellowstone
rivers join" He used as his
guide, he said, the story written
by a man named Crittenden,
who described the coming of
the fur traders to the great riv-
erS of the northwest where
beaver were plentiful, and
where the Indians, too, were be-
ing taught that beaver, and
other hides, were good for trad
ing purposes.
It was early in 1907, down in
old st Louis, that Emmanuel
Lisa sometimes spelled with a
"z"), after having been i'm
pressed by a reading of excerpts
taken from the Lewis and Clark
Journal, gathered about him a
number of close friends and
told them it would be a good
idea to organize and go up into
the country and see what could
be done in the way of gather
ing fur. Accompanied by a fair
ly large party, Lisa assembled
the Missouri and Yellowstone
rivers, and arriving at the
mouth of the Big Horn river,
built a trading post. Williams
located the site of this post at
a point about a fourth of a
mile east of the mouth of the
Big Horn, on the south bank Of
the Yellowstone.
I'M L. 11ENfiyNThI