THE STEAMBOAT IN THE FUR TRADE.
The most important early use of steamboats upon the Missouri River
was in connection with the fur trade, for this was the principal
business conducted along the valley in the first half of the nineteenth
century.[17] Steamboats had entered the river in 1819, but that early
experiment had not been very successful and had led to no regular
traffic as late as 1830. The American Fur Company, which monopolized
the fur trade of the Missouri Valley, continued to send its annual
cargoes of merchandise up the river in keelboats. The great difficulty,
heavy cost, and extreme delay by this method of transportation were a
serious handicap upon the business. It took an entire summer to reach
the far upper posts and not infrequently ice closed the river before
this could be done. A large crew was required for a comparatively small
cargo, and it was necessary to bring them all back in order not to
have more men in the field than were needed.
[Sidenote: A STEAMBOAT FOR THE FUR TRADE.]
It was from considerations of this character that the use of steamboats
was determined upon in the summer of 1830, and from that time the true
history of Missouri River navigation begins. The American Fur Company
then had its headquarters in New York. John Jacob Astor was the real
head of the company, although his son, William B. Astor, was its
president. The Western Department of the Company was established in
St. Louis and managed by the firm of Bernard Pratte & Company. Pierre
Chouteau, Jr., writing for the firm, August 30, 1830, to the house in
New York, thus describes the beginning of this new undertaking:
[Sidenote: DISADVANTAGES OF KEELBOATS.]
“Since the loss of our keelboat and the arrival of Mr.
McKenzie,[18] we have been contemplating the project of
building a small steamboat for the trade of the upper Missouri.
We believe that the navigation will be much safer in going up,
and possibly also in coming down, than it is by keelboat. The
only serious drawback will be the danger of breakage of some
important pieces of machinery, which it would be difficult
and perhaps impossible to repair on the spot. However, after
consultation with some of the ablest steamboat captains, we
think that by having spare parts and a good blacksmith outfit
on board, we may be able to overcome this difficulty. I imagine
that there will always be a little risk to run, but I also
believe that, if we succeed, it will be a great advantage
to our business. The expenses we are annually put to in the
purchase of keelboats and supplies, and in advances to engagés
before their departure, are enormous, and have to be repeated
every year. With the steamboat we could keep all our men in the
Indian country, where we could pay the greater part of their
wages in merchandise instead of making the large outlay of cash
which we are now constantly required to do.[19] The boat would
make the voyage to the upper river every spring. By starting
from here [St. Louis] at the beginning of April with the full
season’s outfit of merchandise, it would probably be back
early in June, and bring with it a portion of the peltries.
The finer furs could still be brought down in the ordinary
way. The merchandise would all reach its destination before
ice closed in the fall, which we now sometimes fail to do, to
our great loss. Furthermore, by having boats on hand at the
trading posts, we can always bring down the returns in case of
accident to the steamboat. After the return of the latter from
the annual trip it can be used in freighting on the lower river
during the balance of the season. Such a boat as we require we
think will cost in Cincinnati or Marietta about $7000, but as
we shall want a number of duplicate parts and extras the cost
may amount to $8000.
“Our plan, promising as it seems to us, has its difficulties,
and we submit it to you for approval before taking definite
action. We beg you to think it over and reply as soon as
possible, for, in case of your approval, we have no time to
lose in getting the work under way, if the boat is to be ready
by spring.”
[Sidenote: FIRST VOYAGE.]
Such is the clear statement of the origin of a business which thirty
years later assumed enormous proportions. The house in New York gave
its approval, the boat was built, and was named, most appropriately,
the _Yellowstone_, and in the spring of 1831 started on its first
voyage for the far upper river.
[Illustration: THE FIRST YELLOWSTONE
(After Maximilian)]
[Sidenote: CHOUTEAU BLUFFS.]
The boat did not get as far as was expected on this trip. A little
above the mouth of the Niobrara River it was stopped for a time by low
water. Pierre Chouteau, Jr., who, with McKenzie, was the soul of
the enterprise, was a passenger. Burning with impatience at the delay,
he sent to Fort Tecumseh for lighters to take off a portion of the
cargo. Every day he got out upon the high bluffs overlooking the river
and paced up and down, watching for the desired assistance and praying
for a rise in the river. The bluffs have ever since been known as the
Chouteau Bluffs.
At last three boats came down and relieved the steamer of enough of her
cargo to enable her to reach Fort Tecumseh, where Fort Pierre, S. D.,
now stands. No attempt was made to go farther, and in a short time she
returned to St. Louis.
In spite of the failure to reach the mouth of the Yellowstone
the experiment was considered enough of a success to justify its
repetition. Accordingly, in the spring of 1832, the _Yellowstone_ set
out again, and this time reached Fort Union. The voyage was highly
successful, and the return trip was made at the rate of a hundred
miles a day. Pierre Chouteau, Jr., was again a passenger. Since the
previous year Fort Tecumseh had been rebuilt in a situation less
exposed to the ravages of the river, and was ready for occupancy when
the _Yellowstone_ arrived on her upward trip. It was at that time
christened _Fort Pierre_, in honor of the distinguished visitor and
member of the company. George Catlin, the painter of Indian scenes and
portraits, was also a passenger, and his writings and sketches have
added to the celebrity of the voyage.
[Sidenote: SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT.]
The success of the second experiment in navigating the Missouri gave
great satisfaction to the company and to the public in general, for it
had never been considered possible to take steamboats so far. It added
seventeen hundred miles to the internal navigable waters of the United
States, with every prospect that this would be extended to the very
foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The voyage created great interest
both in this country and in Europe, and John Jacob Astor, who was in
France at the time, wrote home that nearly all the public journals of
the Continent had made mention of it. Ramsay Crooks, general agent of
the company in New York, thus expressed his pleasure to the house in
St. Louis at the great success which they had achieved:
[Sidenote: CONGRATULATIONS.]
“I congratulate you most cordially on your perseverance and
ultimate success in reaching the Yellowstone by _steam_, and
the future historian of the Missouri will preserve for you the
honorable and enviable distinction of having accomplished an
object of immense importance, by exhibiting the practicability
of conquering the obstructions of the Missouri, considered till
almost the present day insurmountable to steamboats, even
among those best acquainted with their capabilities. You have
brought the Falls of the Missouri as near, comparatively, as
was the River Platte in my younger days.”
The experiment thus inaugurated grew into a regular business. The
American Fur Company sent up one or more boats every spring, as long
as it continued in the business. In the spring of 1833 it sent up two
boats, the _Yellowstone_ and the _Assiniboine_. It was this year that
Maximilian, Prince of Wied, went up and spent several months at Forts
McKenzie, Clark, and Union.[20] The _Assiniboine_ went above Fort Union
for some distance, thus making another advance toward the head of
navigation. It was caught in this advanced situation by low water, and
was compelled to remain there all winter.
[Sidenote: AN EARLY LOGBOOK.]
A most interesting and valuable relic of these early steamboat days has
survived in the form of a journal, or logbook, covering the voyages
from 1841 to 1847 inclusive. It is all in French except that for the
year 1847. It is very complete, and exhibits in the clearest detail the
manner of life which existed on the Missouri River steamboat in those
early days. Captain La Barge was pilot on some of these voyages, and
we shall now note a few of the interesting incidents with which he was
connected, for they furnish a living picture of a condition of things
which has long since ceased to exist.