LAST YEAR AT CABANNÉ’S.
After a few weeks’ visit among his friends in St. Louis in the spring
of 1834 La Barge started back on the steamer _Diana_ for Cabanné’s
post. Pilcher was no longer in charge, having been succeeded by Peter
A. Sarpy. During his service under Sarpy La Barge had an adventure
which came near cutting off his career on the river almost at its
beginning. Late in the fall of the year Sarpy sent him down to Bellevue
to take charge of a herd of horses which was being wintered there for
the mountain expeditions of Fontenelle and Drips. There were about
150 horses in the herd, and they were kept on the east side of the
river in the bottoms, where they subsisted mostly on the bark of young
cottonwood trees. This kind of forage was extensively used in those
days. It was an excellent food and was liked by the stock. Instances
are recorded where they have taken it in preference to grain. Horses
throve well upon it, and it is related that Kenneth McKenzie at Fort
Union fed it exclusively to his hunting stock.
[Sidenote: HORSE WOOD.]
The method of preparing the bark for forage along the Missouri River
was as follows: The trees were cut down and the trunk then cut into
short logs three or four feet long. In the winter time the bark was
frozen and had to be thawed out before using. To do this the logs were
stood up in front of a fire and turned around gradually until the bark
was warmed through. It was then peeled off with drawknives and cut
up into small pieces, after which it was ready for food. It was very
essential that the bark be thawed out when fed, for the sharp edges
of the shavings were like knife blades if frozen, and liable to cut
the throats and stomachs of the horses. Animals were occasionally lost
from this cause. After the logs had been stripped of their bark they
were split and piled on the river bank, forming an excellent fuel for
the next season’s steamboat. Traders at the various posts were under
standing instructions to gather up the “horse wood” in their vicinity
and pile it on the bank of the river, where it could be reached by the
boats.
[Sidenote: INTO AN AIR HOLE.]
It was while engaged in this work of caring for horses that La Barge
had the adventure just alluded to. It was mid-winter, 1834–35. The
Missouri was frozen deep, and a pathway led from the post at Bellevue
across the river on the ice to the east bottoms, where the herd was
kept. The path ran between two large airholes through the ice--one
just above and the other about a hundred yards below. The weather
was extremely cold, and there was every indication of an approaching
blizzard. Captain La Barge wrapped himself in a blanket coat, held
tight to his body by a belt, and was armed with a rifle, tomahawk, and
knife. He experienced no difficulty in crossing to the east shore, for
the wind was behind his back. But before he was ready to return the
blizzard was on in full force; the wind came from the west obliquely
across the river, and the drifting snow completely obliterated the
path. La Barge nevertheless felt confident of crossing all right,
for the distance was short, and he knew the way so well that he felt
as if he could follow it blindfolded. In fact, that was practically
his present situation, for the wind drove the snow into his face so
violently that it was impossible to look ahead. Getting his bearings
as well as he could, he started across on a slow run in face of the
blinding storm. It would seem in any case to have been a reckless
performance, considering the existence of the airholes near the path;
but La Barge was not given to enlarging upon future dangers, and forged
boldly ahead. For once his confidence deceived him. All of a sudden he
plunged headlong into the river. He instantly realized that he was in
one of the air holes--but which one? If the lower one, he was certainly
lost, for the swift current had borne him under the ice before he came
to the surface. If the upper hole, he might float to the lower. But
did the current flow directly from one to the other, and would he be
at the top at the critical instant? All these questions and many more
flashed through his mind with the rapidity of thought in the presence
of imminent peril. He soon rose to the surface and bumped the overlying
ice. Sinking and rising again he bumped the ice a second time. The
limit of endurance was almost reached, when suddenly his head emerged
into the open air. Spreading out his hands, he caught the edge of the
ice. He held on until he could draw his knife, which he plunged into
the ice far enough to give him something to pull against, and after
much severe and perilous exertion he drew himself out. He had stuck
to his rifle all the time without realizing the fact, and came out as
fully armed as when he went in.
[Sidenote: MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.]
But now a new peril awaited him. The storm was at its height, the cold
intense, and his clothing was drenched through. The bath which he had
received had not chilled him in the least, for the water was much
warmer than the air outside, and his exertion would have kept him warm
anyway; but out in the wind the chances were that he would freeze if
he did not quickly reach a fire. Hastily recovering his bearings, he
set out anew, and had the good fortune to reach the post without any
further delay.
It is needless to say that the inmates of the post were slow to credit
the Captain’s story, in spite of the proof afforded by his frozen
clothing. Martin Dorion, one of the most respectable of the numerous
family of that name, said to La Barge, “Your time hasn’t come yet. Your
work remains to be done.” It was not until after he had changed his
clothing and had settled down by a strong fire that the reaction from
the terrible strain came; but then for a little while he felt as if he
could not keep himself together.
[Sidenote: EXPERT SWIMMER.]
La Barge was an expert swimmer, having practiced the art from
childhood. He learned to swim in the old Chouteau pond, which filled
the hollow near where the Union Station of St. Louis now stands. It was
not an uncommon feat for him in his younger days to leap from a boat
when he saw an elk or deer crossing the river, outswim and catch it,
hold on to it until its feet touched the bottom, and then kill it as it
was ascending the bank.
In the year 1850 La Barge was making a voyage to the upper river on
the steamer _St. Ange_. Mrs. La Barge and some other ladies were on
board. One day a boy fell overboard from the forecastle. La Barge,
who happened to be near, instantly leaped in and seized him, keeping
him from the wheel (it was a sidewheel boat), and got him to shore
before the boat could get there. A lady sitting on the deck with Mrs.
La Barge asked her if she was not alarmed when her husband leaped
overboard. She replied that she was not in the least; that she knew
Captain La Barge’s qualities as a swimmer too well to doubt his ability
to rescue the boy.
[Sidenote: RECOVERING A YAWL.]
In the summer of 1838, when La Barge was serving as pilot on the
_Platte_, another incident occurred which illustrated his skill as a
swimmer. At a point some twelve miles below Fort Leavenworth one of the
guys of the yawl derrick broke, precipitating the yawl into the river.
This craft was so essential to the steamboat in navigating the Missouri
River that its loss would at any time be irreparable. The alarm was
instantly given that the yawl was overboard. Captain La Barge was in
his stateroom, but immediately hastened to the stern of the boat,
where he met Captain Moore, the master. The latter said he had ordered
the steamboat to the shore and would send men down the bank to try to
recover the yawl. Captain La Barge replied, “I will get the yawl; send
some men down to help me bring it back.” So saying, he plunged into the
river, overtook the yawl, and brought it to land half a mile below the
boat.
In the spring of 1835 Captain La Barge went down, as usual, with the
mackinaws to St. Louis. This terminated his three years’ engagement
with the company. He remained in St. Louis all summer except when
absent on short river trips in the vicinity. In the fall he went up the
Missouri to the Black Snake Hills (St. Joseph, Mo.), where he engaged
for the winter to the trader Robidoux, who was in charge. Nothing of
interest transpired, and in the spring he returned to St. Louis.
[Sidenote: PRACTICAL APPRENTICESHIP.]
The next four years of Captain La Barge’s life were a practical
apprenticeship in the business which he was to follow as a career. They
were spent almost entirely on the lower river in the various capacities
of clerk, pilot, and master on different boats. Not many events of
special note occurred, and the actual voyages made are now somewhat
uncertain. But the experience was a useful one, and by the time it
was over the Captain had won a reputation as a pilot which thereafter
insured him continuous service.
[Sidenote: LEAVES AMERICAN FUR COMPANY SERVICE.]
The Captain’s first service during this time was as assistant pilot
on the steamer _St. Charles_, but the boat was burned at Richmond
landing, opposite Lexington, Mo., July 2, 1836. He then engaged as
pilot on a new boat, the _Kansas_, and ran in the lower river the
rest of the season. In the spring of 1837 he shipped as clerk on the
steamboat _Boonville_, but this boat was wrecked on a snag early in
November near the mouth of the Kansas River, and was lost with a full
cargo of government freight. In the spring of 1838 he went as pilot on
the _Platte_, a boat built during the previous winter, and the first
double-engine boat that ever plied the river. He remained on this boat
for two years, mainly on the lower river. He made but one trip to the
far upper river, and started, in the fall of 1838, for the Bayou la
Fourche, to spend the winter in the sugar trade. The boat had gone
scarcely thirty miles below St. Louis when she ran upon a snag, which
tore an immense hole in the bottom and caused her to sink immediately.
In the spring of 1840 the Captain again entered the service of the
American Fur Company as pilot of the steamer _Emily_, which was to
make a trip to Fort Union. Before the season was over the company
assigned him to work on a new steamboat, the _Trapper_. For some reason
the Captain did not like this assignment and refused to accept it.
This incensed the company, who considered him bound to serve wherever
directed. Neither side would yield, and the Captain forthwith left the
service of the company.
[Sidenote: THE MORMONS.]
During these four years of apprenticeship several incidents of interest
occurred, some pertaining to the local history of the country and
others of a purely personal character. Captain La Barge saw a good deal
of the Mormons, who at this time were undergoing those persecutions
in western Missouri which finally drove them from the State. They
were frequently on the steamboats, and the Captain at one time or
another saw nearly all the leaders, including Joseph Smith and his
brother Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon, Orson Hyde, and others. Captain La Barge
never liked the appearance or demeanor of Smith, and never believed
in his sincerity. He thought more of Rigdon, who was a most pleasant
talker and who once preached a sermon on his boat. Captain La Barge’s
knowledge of the Mormons and their doings at this time led them to
request him, nearly sixty years afterward (1895), to appear for them
and give evidence as to their title to the land in Independence, Mo.,
on which their temple was built.
[Sidenote: DANIEL BOONE.]
Another incident which occurred about this time calls up one of the
famous characters of American frontier history--Daniel Boone. This
noted pioneer had passed most of his life in Kentucky, but when
settlement began to crowd upon his primeval domain he moved westward
and settled in Warren County, near St. Charles, Mo., where he died
in 1820. Some years later, by agreement between the governments of
Kentucky and Missouri, Boone’s remains were moved to the latter State.
A committee from the Kentucky Legislature went to Missouri on the
occasion of the removal and were taken up the river to Marthasville,
where Boone was buried, on the steamer _Kansas_. Captain La Barge, who
was serving on the _Kansas_ at the time, recalled the circumstances
perfectly. Many years later he was invited to go to Frankfort, Ky., to
attend an anniversary celebration pertaining to Boone’s career, but was
not able to accept. La Barge’s father knew Boone intimately, and La
Barge himself was a warm friend of his son Nathan Boone.