The story of Montana

Preface

The writing of the "Story of Montana" was undertaken while the author was on the staff of the Butte PubHc Library to meet the demand for a suitable textbook for schools, and also for the many lovers of Montana who wish to become familiar with the main facts of its early as well as present-day history without having to consult many separate volumes.

Much interesting source material has been studied, and it is hoped that others may be led to consult these sources with profit to themselves.

The author gladly acknowledges her indebtedness to those who have aided her in gathering the material; to those who have granted permission to use certain illustrations, and more than all to those who by their encouragement have enabled her to overcome many obstacles.

KATE HAMMOND FOGARTY

PART I. Early Explorers in Montana: page

1. The First AMiite Men to go up the Missouri River ... 1

2. The Boats they Came in 14

3. The People they Met 18

4. The Scenery they Saw 22

5. The Animals they Hunted 26

6. The Posts they Built 28

7. The Journals they Wrote 30

PART II. The Indians

1. Before the ^Miite Men Came 35

2. What the Explorers Learned about the Indians 41

3. The Fur Traders among the Indians 45

5. Sources of Indian History 59

PART III. The Fur Trade

1. The Men at the Head of the Fur Trade 61

2. The Fur Companies of Montana 65

3. The Posts of the American Fur Company 74

4. Transporting Goods to the Mountains 80

5. Noted Trappers 83

6. The Hudson Bay Company in Montana 84

7. The Journals and Letters of the Fur Traders 87

PART X. National Problems ix Montana

2. Dry-land Farming 257

Conclusion 271

Titles for Composition and Original Research 275

Questions on the State of Montana 279

Pronouncing Glossary 292

Index 293

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

The State Capitol at Helena Frontispiece

Head of the Big Blackfoot Valley 3

The Flatheads in Bull-Boats 16

The Buffaloes Roamed in Great Herds 27

Pend d'Oreille Indian Village 34

Relics of Indian Days 36

The Indian's Wagon 38

The Buffaloes were tame 40

Lodges made of Buffalo skins 44

Old Fort Owen 49

All that is left of Fort Benton 66

Gov. Stevens Distributing Goods 99

Chariot, Chief of the Flatheads 104

A Little Flathead . 108

House Built by the Indians Ill

The Mission of St. Ignatius 113

The House which was built for them 115

First House of the Missionaries 116

Old Fort Benton 119

The Great Salt Lake Trail 1^21

An old Prospector Panning out Gold 130

The old Stage Coach 134

"Robber's Roost," a Road Agent's Resort 145

A Mud Wagon ' 149

Cantonment Stevens in the Bitter Root Valley 161

Cantonment W'right. Lieut. MuUan's Winter Quarters 163

The First Army Station in Yellowstone Park 173

Custer's Last Stand 183

A Sioux Warrior's Grave 185

Prospector Panning out Gold 198

Hydraulic Mining 202

Anaconda Hill 203

A " Jerk-Line Twelve " 209

X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Sheep at the River 213

An Old Time Cattle Ranch 215

A Ranch Interior 216

The Old "OX" Cow Camp 218

Sheep in Custer County 220

Sheep Shearing 222

Hauling Wool to the Warehouse . 224

A Miner's Cabin in Butte 225

Real Cowboys 227

Pend d'Oreille Indians 232

Painted Lodges of the Black feet 241

The Rising Generation 244

The Last of the Buffaloes 249

The Great Falls of the Missouri in their Natural state and after

completion of Power Development 259

LIST OF MAPS

FACING PAGE

1. Lewis and Clark Route and Verendrye Route 8 ^

2. Tribal Homes of the Indians 22 v

3. The River Systems of the Northwest 72'^

4. Governor Stevens' route to Washington. Father DeSmet's First

Trip to the Flatheads 96 ^

5. First Settlements 146 ^

6. MiUtary Posts and Military Roads . 172

7. The State of Montana showing important Towns 226

THE STOEY OF MONTANA

Part I Early Explorers In Montana

1. The First White Men to go up the Missouri

Looking for the Pacific Ocean. — The first white men to go up the Missouri had a great object in view. They were looking for the Pacific Ocean. It seems strange to us that the year 1743 had been reached before the people of America had learned the first thing about the western continent. But just consider for a moment the conditions as they were in those days. How many miles would you care to travel at one stretch on horseback, or in a stage-coach.^ Or how far do you think you would care to go up a river if you had to row all the way.^ Canoes were their boats, and horses or oxen their only means of land locomotion. Steamboats were not used until 1819 and such a thing as a railroad was not known anywhere until 1830.

Then there were, of course, no supply stations and they had to carry with them provisions enough to last until their return, and they w^ere in great danger of falling into the hands of the hostile Indians, with no way of escape; or of being badly wounded and unable to return to their homes.

With all these difficulties in the way, men were indeed brave who would venture far in the wilderness, and even having such a great object as the discovery of an ocean had not charms for many.

The French fur traders. — The French fur traders were great men for seeking new lands. They were continually pushing farther into the wilderness and building trading posts where it would seem impossible for white men to go. These Frenchmen were friendly to the Indians, because thej^ wanted their trade. They would go into their lodges and become like members of the tribe and the Indians would tell them stories about their life in the wilderness.

Verendrye and his sons. — One of the traders was much interested in a story often told by the Indians, of a river which flowed from far up in the western mountains, and of another river which flowed in the opposite direction and which had its headwaters so near that of the first river that only the mountains stood between them, and this second river flowed down into a great salt sea, so great that no Indian could venture far out in a canoe.

This French trader, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de la Verendrye, was an emploj^ee at Fort Nipogen, a trading post north of Lake Superior. He very much desired to see this great salt sea; but how was the feat to be accomplished.^ He knew that in order to do it he would have to have a number of companions, and they would need provisions enough

THE FIRST \\HITE MEN 3

to last them several years. Who would put up the capital for such an enterprise? He had a hard time to persuade those who were in a position to help him, that his desire to explore this unknown country was not a wild scheme.

At last the fur company by whom he was employed agreed to supply the needed money, and it

Head of the Big Blackfoot Valley

was hoped that he would bring back furs enough to cover the expenses.

Expedition leaves Montreal. — In 1731 they left Montreal; Verendrye, his three sons, a nephew, a Jesuit missionary, and a number of boatmen and hunters. It was twelve years from the time of their first start until they beheld the Rockies.

They went up the Assiniboine River and then up the Mouse or Souris River and from there over into what is now Dakota, until they came to the Mandan Villages on the Missouri River near the point where now stands Bismarck.

Fort de la Reine. — This trip was not all made at one time. They stopped and built forts and traded along the way. The fort on the Assiniboine River was named Fort de la Reine. While they were at this fort, Verendrye went back to Montreal twice to take his furs and to buy supplies. Once he went over into the Mandan Country and there he met an Indian who had just come from the Far West. This Indian told him that by taking a round-about way they could eventually reach the Pacific. Verendrye would have gone on with him then, but about that time his interpreter deserted him and his bags of presents for the Indians were stolen, and he had to go back to Fort de la Reine for reinforcements.

Attacked by Sioux. — Before he was able to return, the fort was attacked by Sioux Indians, and one son, the missionary and some of the men were massacred. About the same time the nephew died. Verendrye himself was taken ill and was not able to go again to the Mandan Village. His two sons were undaunted by these failures and agreed to go alone on the expedition.

Verendrye's sons. — In the spring of 1742, the sons, Pierre and the Chevalier, with two Canadians, went over into the Mandan Country expecting to find some one who could guide them over the mountains. They were disappointed, for the Mandans did not know the way, and no Indians happened to be in their village at that time who had been in

THE FIRST ^MIITE MEN 5

that country. However two of the Mandans agreed to take the explorers to some Indians who were friends to a tribe which could lead the way.

Route of the Verendryes. — The route that they followed after leaving the Mandans has been puzzling to historians, for in the Verendrye records they speak of the Beaux Homines, the Little Foxes, the Pioyas, the Horse Indians, the Bow Indians, and the Choke Cherries, and not one of these tribes can be positively identified, for our Indians are all known now by different names. In the '* Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana," the route is given as following up the Missouri River to the Gate of the Mountains and then crossing over to the Wind River Mountains; but later historians agree more fully with Francis Parkman, who in his ''Half Century of Conflict" gives a map of the route as he has studied it out. According to Parkman, they went only into the southeastern part of Montana and no farther west than the Wind River Range.

When they had reached the country of the Bow Indians they thought their way would be clear, for these Indians were about to go on a war expedition against the Snake Indians. The Bows knew that the Snakes could find the way to the Pacific, for they had had captives of the Snake tribe who had told them about seeing the great salt sea. The explorers did not even reach the mountains, for at that point the Bow Indians became frightened at hearing that the Snakes were about to attack their village, and fled panic-stricken from that part of the country. It was useless for the Frenchmen to try to go on without the escort of the Indians, so they turned back, hoping to return at some future time.

A monument in the Choke Cherry country. — On their way back to the Mandan Village, they visited the Choke Cherry Indians, and while in their country planted on an eminence a lead plate on which were engraved the arms of France, and erected a monument of stones which they called Beau Harnois, in honor of the Governor of Canada.

Lost landmarks. — For many years historians searched for these two landmarks, but all to no effect, and it was decided that the plate had been washed into the river, and the monument leveled to the ground. No one could be really sure what places the explorers had visited unless these could be found.

Buried one hundred and seventy years. — One February day in the year 1913, two children were going home from school in Pierre, South Dakota, when one of them stubbed her toe against a protruding object. They dug up the piece and found it to be a curious bit of metal. They carried it home and some one knew what it must be. It was the Verendrye plate! Come to light after one hundred and seventy years!

Still a mystery. — But historians are still puzzled. It was found farther down on the Missouri than some of them had supposed it would be, and their theories had been upset. However, one question has been definitely settled, and that is: that the Verendryes did not go near the Gate of the Moun-

THE FIRST ^^T^ITE MEN 7

tains — indeed it is doubtful if they came into Montana at all.

The Verendryes' return to Canada. — The Verendryes reached Fort de la Reine in July, 1744. Their father received them with great joy, for they had been gone so long that he thought they were lost. They were not discouraged because of their failure to reach the Pacific. They hoped to make the attempt once more, for they were full of enthusiasm over the opportunities which awaited those with the daring to seek them, but they could not interest the ministers of the government of Canada in the discoveries they had made. They went to Quebec, hoping to find some officials or merchants there who would be interested, but no one would listen to them. Their fur-trading enterprise had not been successful and the dealers were not willing to risk any money.

Sixty years after. — Many of the Indians who gazed with wonder at the white men in the Verendrye expedition nevegr saw one again because it was sixty years before another white man set foot in the Upper Missouri country. The Revolutionary War had taken up the attention of the entire continent; and then, too, shortly after the Verendrye expedition, the western part of the continent fell into the hands of Spain and neither the French nor the English had any right or interest in exploring the country.

Upper Missouri becomes United States territory. — Not until it came into the possession of the United States was any serious thought taken of the exploration of the upper Missouri. When Thomas Jefferson became President of the United States, he saw the opportunity to accomphsh a plan which he had long cherished. This was to procure the Oregon Country, for the United States. He had watched the movements of the Canadian fur companies in that country and saw how they were gaining in wealth and in influence over the Indians. He wanted the wealth and power and opportunity for his own country.

Congress decides to send an exploring party into the new land. — After he had succeeded in bringing about the Louisiana Purchase, there were many people who criticized him, because they thought that the Far West was a barren waste, not suitable for the homes of men, and they thought that the Rocky Mountains were impassable. But Jefferson still believed that it was a great countrj^ and after a while he succeeded in getting Congress to agree to send an exploring party up the Missouri River and from there to the Pacific Ocean to study the manners and characteristics of the native Indians, to make arrangements for the establishment of trading posts with the tribes, and to thoroughly explore the country.

Lewis and Clark chosen leaders of expedition. — Meriwether Lewis was chosen leader of this expedition and William Clark his associate. The party, when organized, consisted of nine young men from Kentucky, fourteen soldiers of the United States army, two French watermen, an interpreter and hunter, and a black servant belonging to Captain Clark. In addition to these were engaged a corporal

THE FIRST WHITE MEN 9

and six soldiers, and nine watermen to accompany the expedition as far as the Mandan Village, to assist in carrying the provisions and to be a protection in case of an attack while passing through the Sioux country.

Their first winter is passed in St. Louis. — They were obliged to spend the winter of 1803-4 in St. Louis, as the Spanish authorities at that village would not allow them to pass into the newly acquired land until the official papers were received, notifjang them of the change of ownership.

The Mandans again. — The following winter they spent in the Mandan Village, having arrived there in October. This was an important stage of their journey. It was here they secured an interpreter for the trip. This was Charboneau, a half-breed. It was necessary to have some one who could converse with all tribes they might meet and explain to them the object of the expedition. They must gain the good will of the Shoshones, who lived in the neighborhood of the passes over the mountains, and unless there should be some way to communicate with them it would be useless for them to attempt the journey. Charboneau would not consent to accompany them unless he could take along his wife, Sacajawea. The explorers looked w^ith disfavor upon this proposition. They had no desire to be burdened with the care of a woman and a young baby on such a hard trip. But as Charboneau was firm, they reluctantly allow^ed her to join the party; and it was well that they did, for otherwise they could not have obtained the favor of the Shoshones.

Sacajawea's story. — The story of this brave woman, who was herself a Shoshone, is an interesting and romantic one. She was captured, when a small girl, by the Minnetarees, who were deadly enemies of her people, and was sold to Charboneau as a slave. He fell in love with her and made her his wife. No doubt it gave him a great deal of satisfaction to think of taking her back to her own . people and showing them that she was being well cared for.

He knew that she was better able to stand the hard trip than many of the men, for it was only a continuation of her daily life. Lewis speaks of her in his Journals in the highest praise, saying that she stood the journey as well as the men and far better than Charboneau, who was often disabled.

Over the mountains to the ocean. — In April, 1805, they started out into the unknown country, whence, as far as they kiiew, no white man had ever ventured. They had not heard about the journey of the Verendryes. As they went up the river in their canoes, their escort went down the river in the keel-boat, carrying with them the collection of animal skins and skeletons, specimens of flowers, and many curious things that they had found in their journey from St. Louis to the Mandans.

The route through Montana. — The explorers followed the Missouri up to the headwaters of the Jefferson River, which is one of the Three Forks of the Missouri. They crossed the mountains over into Idaho and passed the site of the present Salmon

THE FIRST ^ATHITE MEN 11

City. They purposed going down the Salmon River and then down the Columbia, but when they arrived at that point they found that that route was too rough and devoid of game and berries. The Indians told them that it would take seven days to pass the bad traveling. An old Indian in the Shoshone village ^ knew of a way to get over into the Bitter Root Valley from there, and they engaged him as a guide. Even that way was hard, for they had to cut a trail in places in order to get the pack horses through. After they had arrived in the Bitter Root, they still had, in order to reach the Columbia River, a range to cross, but the Lo Lo trail was not considered hard by the Indians. Lewis' journal says, ''Our guides traverse this trackless region with a kind of instinctive sagacity; they never hesitate, they are never embarrassed, and so undeviating is their step, that wherever the snow has disappeared for even a hundred paces, we find the summer road." This was written about the return trip, which was made over the same road.

On their return from the Pacific the party divided after they had passed over the Lo Lo trail, and Clark went back through the Bitter Root Valley and crossed over the pass which divides that valley from the Valley of the Big Hole. He then went to the Three Forks and went over what was afterwards known as the Bozeman Pass into the Valley of the Yellowstone. He missed by only a few miles the wonders of the Yellowstone Park. Lewis went through the Hell Gate Valley and over the Big Blackfoot Pass to the Dearborn River and thence down to the Missouri, and down that river to the mouth of the Yellowstone, where he joined Clark.

The expedition a success. — The work of exploration being now accomplished, they proceeded, with no further stops, down the river to St. Louis where they arrived on the twenty-third of September, 1806. The expedition had been entirely successful. They had found the Pacific Ocean and they had proved that it was possible to cross the Rocky Mountains. But it was not for this alone that these men made for themselves such an important place in the history of North America. It was because they had gone under the authority of the government, and were able to give complete records of the journey through the government publications. Furthermore, they had shown the Canadian Fur Companies that they intended to protect their frontier; and they secured to the United States, by right of exploration, the Oregon Territory.

Fur traders from St. Louis. — The fur traders began going up the Missouri River from St. Louis before the return of Lewis and Clark. They were Frenchmen and it was hard to get ahead of the French fur traders in those days. There was not a part of Canada that had not been explored pretty thoroughly by this time, and they were only waiting for a chance to get into this country.

John Colter. — When Lewis and Clark were at the Mandan Village on their return voyage, they met two hunters who were going up the river. They asked to have the services of John Colter, who was one of the exploring party. As the work of the

THE FIRST WHITE MEN 13

explorers was over, they consented to his discharge, and he turned back to Montana, going up the Yellowstone River. On their return they met Manuel Lisa, a fur trader, coming up the river, and Colter was again persuaded to turn back. He proved a useful man to Lisa, being sent out from the post as messen- ^ ger to different tribes. In these trips he did some individual exploration work. In Chittenden's ''History of the American Fur Trade" we read that ''he was the first explorer of the Valley of the Big Horn River; the first to cross the passes at the head of Wind River and see the headwaters of the Colorado of the West; the first to see the Teton Mountains, Jackson Hole, Pierre's Hole, and the sources of the Snake River; and most important of all, the first to pass through that singular region which has since become known throughout the world as the Yellowstone Wonderland." During his wanderings he had many terrible adventures, and nearly lost his life, but he lived to go back to civilization and tell of his adventures. People could not imagine such places as he had seen, and many thought that he was demented from long exposure. "No author or map-maker would jeopardize the success of his works by incorporating in it such incredible material as Colter furnished. His stories were not believed, their author became the subject of jest and ridicule, and the region of his adventures was long derisively known as Colter's Hell."

The War of 1812. — For several years after the first explorers went into Montana, there were no expeditions up the river. The reason for this w^as that the minds of the people were occupied with the War of 1812. Men, thirsting for adventure, found it at home, without venturing into the wilderness.

2. The Boats they Came in

Early boats. — The boats used by the early travelers would look queer to us now, and it was so hard to get them up the river that the invention of the steamboat was as wonderful to the people then as being able to fly in machines is to us now. There were four different kinds of boats used by the explorers and the fur traders: canoes, bull-boats, keel-boats, and mackinaws.

Verendrye's boats. — The Verendryes came in canoes, but they were not like the canoes used afterward by the Missouri River Voyagers. These first explorers were Canadians. Naturally they brought their canoes with them, as they had come all the way by boat and portage from Canadian waters. They were made of birch-bark which grows in such abundance in that country.

Missouri River canoes. — The canoes made on the Upper Missouri River were different. There w^ere few birch trees along the river. A substitute was found in the Cottonwood logs. These logs they cut into lengths of from fifteen to twenty feet and dug out the center of each, leaving only the shell. These canoes were much better than bark ones for Missouri River use, for they were strong enough to stand the wear of rocks and snags.

The canoes were much used, not only by the individual traders who brought their stock with them.

THE BOATS THEY CAME IN 15

but later by the fur companies. The principal use by the fur companies was in transporting goods from post to post, and for sending important messengers down the river to headquarters, and ''there are several records of their having been used to transport freight — such as bears' oil, which was exten-' sively used in St. Louis as a substitute for lard in the days when swine were scarce and black bears plentiful — Honey was also transported in this way," which had been taken from bee trees in the Missouri Bottoms.

Lewis and Clark canoes. — The canoes were sometimes bound together, two of them, side by side, and floored over. These they called periogues. There were two of these in the fleet that Lewis and Clark started out in from St. Louis, and they took them as far as the Marias River. Here one was anchored until their return. The other one they took on to the foot of the Great Falls, and left at anchor. At Mandan Village they made six new canoes, single ones. These they traveled in to the head of the Jefferson River. They portaged them and their baggage around the Falls, bj^ taking the mast of their second periogue and sawing it in pieces for wheels for wagons. These rude wagons they pushed and pulled over the eighteen mile portage.

When they came to the place where canoes were no more possible for transportation, they filled them with stones and sunk them to the bottom of the stream, so they would be there when needed again.

The canoes were used by Clark and his men in going down the Jefferson River and were taken down to the Lewis party after Clark had gone on to the Yellowstone, and Lewis and his men took also the perioques which were in anchor at the Great Falls and the Marias River.

Bull-boats. — The other small boats mentioned in the journals were called bull-boats because they were made of the skins of the buffalo bulls. The skins of the covv^s were not as strong nor as able to

The Flatheads in Bull- Boats

stand the rubbing against the rocks. The framework of the boats was about thirty feet long and twelve wide, and was made of willow poles firmly lashed together with raw hide. No nails w^ere used. The pieces of skins for the covers were sewed together with buffalo sinews, the hides dried and shrunk, and the seams were pitched with buffalo tallow and ashes. A loaded bull-boat could be handled by two men. At night when the landing was made the boat was unloaded, then turned over to dry. In this position it

THE BOATS THEY CAME IN 17

served as a shelter for both cargo and crew. In the morning the seams were repitched and any rents carefully patched. The boat was then launched and reloaded and the voyage resumed.

Keel-boats. — Besides the two periogues Lewis and Clark had a keel-boat which was the largest of their ' three boats, and w^ere like those used afterwards by the fur companies to freight their goods up the river. They were called keel-boats because they were the only boats on the river that had keels. They were large, sometimes sixty or seventy feet long. They were pulled up the river by a rope called a cordelle. It took from twenty to forty men to pull a keel-boat, while they walked along the bank. When they came to a place where the men could not walk they pushed the boats along by poles. Sometimes they used sails, if the wind was right, and again they rowed their boats.

As Chittenden says in the book he has written about the fur trade, ''Thus by one means or another, and now and then by all together, the early keel-boat worked and worried its way up the turbulent current of the Missouri — whatever the method of propulsion, however, the task was always extremely laborious."

Mackinaw boats. — The mackinaws were used by the fur traders to carry goods down stream. They were built at the Upper River ports and were floated down. They were not taken back up stream, as it was easier and cheaper to build a new boat than to take one up the river.