IV
AMERICAN EXPLORERS SERIES
=Early Steamboating on Missouri River=
_VOL. II._
[Illustration: KENNETT MCKENZIE]
HISTORY OF EARLY
STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION
ON THE
MISSOURI RIVER
LIFE AND ADVENTURES
OF
JOSEPH LA BARGE
PIONEER NAVIGATOR AND INDIAN TRADER
FOR FIFTY YEARS IDENTIFIED WITH THE COMMERCE OF THE
MISSOURI VALLEY
BY
HIRAM MARTIN CHITTENDEN
_Captain Corps of Engineers, U. S. A._
AUTHOR OF “AMERICAN FUR TRADE OF THE FAR WEST,” “HISTORY
OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK,” ETC.
_WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS_
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. II.
NEW YORK
FRANCIS P. HARPER
1903
COPYRIGHT, 1903,
BY
FRANCIS P. HARPER.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER XXI.
THE CIVIL WAR, 249
CHAPTER XXII.
GOLD IN MONTANA, 265
CHAPTER XXIII.
INCIDENTS ON THE RIVER (1862–67), 277
CHAPTER XXIV.
LA BARGE AGAIN IN OPPOSITION, 287
CHAPTER XXV.
VOYAGE OF 1863--THE TOBACCO GARDEN MASSACRE, 298
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE BLACKFOOT ANNUITIES, 315
CHAPTER XXVII.
COLLAPSE OF THE LA BARGE-HARKNESS OPPOSITION, 324
CHAPTER XXVIII.
CAPTAIN LA BARGE IN MONTANA, 331
CHAPTER XXIX.
CAPTAIN LA BARGE IN WASHINGTON, 340
CHAPTER XXX.
THE INDIAN OF THE MISSOURI VALLEY, 351
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE ARMY ON THE MISSOURI, 365
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE STEAMBOAT IN THE INDIAN WARS, 382
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE PEACE COMMISSION OF 1856, 394
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE MURDER OF CAPTAIN SPEAR, 408
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE BATTLE WITH THE RAILROADS, 417
CHAPTER XXXVI.
LAST VOYAGES TO BENTON, 425
CHAPTER XXXVII.
DECLINING YEARS, 438
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
DESTINY OF THE MISSOURI RIVER, 445
INDEX, 449
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
_VOL. II._
KENNETH MCKENZIE, _Frontispiece_
_Facing page_
LA BARGE ROCK, 299
A STEAMBOAT AT THE BANK, 331
REMOVING SNAGS FROM THE MISSOURI, 421
“IMPROVING” THE MISSOURI RIVER, 424
STEAMBOAT WRECK ON THE MISSOURI RIVER, 439
HISTORY OF
EARLY STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION
ON THE MISSOURI RIVER
CHAPTER XXI.
THE CIVIL WAR.
In a great many ways the War of the Rebellion affected the commerce
of the Missouri River. Missouri was a slave State, and most of her
citizens along the river were Southern sympathizers. It is stated that
all the Missouri River pilots except two were in sympathy with the
South, and that General Lyon had to go to the Illinois River for pilots
when he wanted to move his troops up the river in June, 1861.
The steamboat business on the river felt the weight of the war almost
immediately upon its breaking out. Most of the business was with the
loyal people and was, of course, considered by the Confederates as
a legitimate subject of confiscation. Guerrilla bands infested the
country along the river, fired into the boats, and did all they could
to break up the business. They succeeded in driving most of the
traffic off the lower river; but at the same time the demands of the
war stimulated the trade higher up. There was an increased movement of
government troops and stores, and in the later years of the war many
refugees from both armies passed up the river to the mountains. The
discovery of gold in Montana added greatly to the river commerce during
these years. The injurious effects of the war, therefore, were mainly
confined to the river below Kansas City.
[Sidenote: GUERRILLAS IN MISSOURI.]
The peril to navigation due to the operations of the guerrillas was
a formidable one. Wherever the channel ran close to the high wooded
banks or other sheltered localities, ambush and attack could always
be expected. The danger was mainly from the south bank. It became
necessary to tie up at night away from this bank, and Captain La Barge
followed the practice of anchoring in mid-stream. The pilot-houses
were regularly equipped with shields of boiler iron, semi-cylindrical
in form, inclosing the wheel, and capable of being moved so as to be
adjusted to the changing course of the vessel. These shields were of
great service on the upper river also, for the Indians at this time
were as dangerous in that section as were the guerrillas farther down.
Occasionally, when there was much government freight aboard, troops
were sent up on the boat until Kansas City was passed.
The passions aroused by this internecine strife deadened human
kindness, and made men as ferocious and brutal as wild beasts. This was
particularly true of the lawless bands of guerrillas whose desultory
operations have been in all wars the most cruel and most difficult to
suppress or control. Brigadier General Loan, of the Missouri State
Militia, in reporting the tragedy which we shall next relate, said:
“The guerrillas and Rebel sympathizers are waging a relentless, cruel,
and bloody war upon our unarmed and defenseless citizens, and are
determined to continue it until the last loyal citizen is murdered, or
driven from the State for fear of being murdered.” Such was the true
situation along the south bank of the Missouri River, and it was only
by the most vigilant precaution on the part of the steamboat men that
they did not suffer more than they did. We shall relate one instance in
which these precautions did not avail.
[Sidenote: AFFAIR OF THE “SAM GATY.”]
In the latter part of March, 1863, the steamboat _Sam Gaty_ was on her
way up the Missouri with a heavy load of freight and passengers, bound
for the far upper river. There were on board several persons of wealth
on their way to the newly discovered gold fields of Montana. There
were besides quite a number of paroled Union soldiers and some forty
contrabands, as the negroes freed by the war were called. While passing
under a high wooded bank near Sibley, Mo., the boat was attacked by a
band of guerrillas under the leadership of one Hicks, who had for some
time been the terror of the surrounding country. The boat was ordered
to come to the bank and promptly obeyed, whereupon the guerrillas
immediately boarded her. The attack was unexpected, and the passengers
were seated around the cabin engaged in games and conversation when
the appalling fact of their situation dawned upon them. A rush was
made to conceal valuable property, and the paroled soldiers made haste
to get into citizens’ clothes. The poor negroes could do nothing. The
guerrillas made quick and heartless work. They robbed the passengers of
all the valuables to be found on their persons, and one man narrowly
escaped summary death for attempting to slip his gold watch into his
boot. All the property on board that seemed to be of any use to the
government was thrown into the river. The safes were broken open and
robbed. Some of the paroled soldiers were taken off the boat and shot.
All of the contrabands were driven ashore, where they were shot down
in cold blood. Their shrieks and cries were plainly heard on the boat.
After this attack the boat was allowed to proceed.
[Sidenote: AN ATROCIOUS CRIME.]
Vengeance followed quickly in the wake of this atrocious crime. A
body of Kansas troops under a Major Ransom pursued and overtook the
guerrillas, attacked and destroyed their camp, took twenty-one horses,
killed seventeen men in combat and hanged two, and completely dispersed
the organization.[44]
[Sidenote: A UNION MAN]
Captain La Barge had his full share of troublesome experiences that
followed the outbreak of the war. As a slave-owner in a small way,
and as a man born and bred in the old ante-bellum atmosphere that
surrounded the institution of slavery, his natural sympathies were with
the South. But when it came to a decision he did not hesitate a moment.
As between union and disunion he was for union. It required a degree
of self-denial and patriotism which many Northerners have never fully
appreciated to stand by the country when one’s training and natural
sympathies would have led him to the other side. Captain La Barge
remained a Union man, took the oath of allegiance, and throughout the
war rendered constant service to the government. He soon came to see
the wisdom of his decision, and before the war was over his sympathies
had swung into full line with his action.
[Sidenote: THE GALLOWS CHEATED.]
In 1861 Captain La Barge was coming down the river on the _Emilie_ from
Omaha, and, as usual, stopped at St. Joseph for freight and passengers.
A good many people got on board, most of them Southern sympathizers
going south. When the boat rounded out into the stream the passengers
went up on deck and cheered for Jefferson Davis. The news of this
event was telegraphed to Colonel R. D. Anthony of Leavenworth[45].
This distinguished agitator and ardent Union man called a meeting of
the citizens, and it was decided to hang La Barge the moment the boat
arrived. The Captain had a stanch friend in Leavenworth of the name of
Alexander Majors, of the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, overland
freighters. He was waiting to take passage to his home in Lexington,
Mo. When the boat approached there was a great crowd on the levee.
The instant the prow touched the bank Majors leaped on board and told
the Captain not to make fast, as the crowd proposed to hang him. The
Captain asked the clerk what business they had for Leavenworth. He
replied that there were only a few bills to collect. “Let them go for
now,” said the Captain, and tapping the bell to depart, drew back
into the stream. When the crowd saw that they were outwitted, they
swung their rope into the air and yelled that they would get him at
Wyandotte. “All right,” replied the Captain, “I expect to stop there,”
but when he reached that place he kept right on.
[Sidenote: SERVING UNDER DURESS.]
[Sidenote: AN UNPLEASANT DILEMMA.]
On one of the down trips in the season of 1861 the _Emilie_ arrived at
Boonville just as the Confederates were evacuating that place upon the
approach of the Federals under General Lyon. La Barge knew nothing of
what was transpiring there, and his first intimation of any unusual
state of things was a volley of cannon shot whistling over the boat.
The Captain signaled that he would halt, and rounded to above the
town. The Confederate General Marmaduke came on board and with him
Captain Kelly and a company of troops. “I knew Marmaduke well,” said La
Barge, “and asked him as soon as he got on board what the matter was.
He replied, ‘I want you to turn around and take General Price up to
Lexington. He is sick and cannot stand the overland ride.’ I replied
that I could not think of such a thing; that I was in the service of
the government. He then took possession of the boat, placed me in
arrest, and forced me to take the boat back to Lexington. I protested
again, saying that the crew would look to me for pay for this extra
work, and the government would hold me responsible for failure to
fulfill my contract. Marmaduke replied, ‘I will pay you every cent you
have to disburse on account of this trip.’ After Price came on board
Marmaduke left, and we then steamed up to Lexington, where the boat
was turned over to me and I was told to shift for myself. I suppose
they thought I ought to consider myself fortunate to get off at all.
They never paid me anything, although they might easily have done so,
for the first thing done upon landing at Lexington, as I was told, was
to sack all the banks of that town. As to my getting away, that was far
from being a matter of much satisfaction. It was, of course, known in
the Federal lines that I had carried Price up the river. How should I
answer for myself upon my return? I went to Price, told him the dilemma
I was placed in, and asked him to help me. He gave me a very strong
letter, stating that I had acted under duress, and had been forced to
go back against my repeated protest.
[Sidenote: GENERAL LYON.]
[Sidenote: LA BARGE RELEASED.]
“It was with no slight misgivings that I turned the _Emilie_ downstream
and started in the direction of Boonville. I knew that there was
trouble in store for me. When I approached the Federal lines a volley
was fired at the boat, apparently with the definite purpose of hitting
her. I promptly rounded to and the firing ceased. A young Lieutenant by
the name of White came on board with a guard of a dozen men to arrest
me. I had known White in St. Louis as a commission clerk, a young man
of no account, but who, having now some authority, felt disposed, like
all inferior men, to exercise it with a severity in inverse proportion
to his ability. He doubtless thought it a great feather in his cap to
have as prisoner a man who would scarcely have deigned to notice him
in any other situation. He was insolent and arbitrary, and lunging his
sword toward me, would order me to walk faster. I was taken to General
Lyon’s quarters, and when in that officer’s presence, he said to me:
‘You are in a very bad scrape here, sir.’ I took Price’s letter from
my pocket and handed it to him, saying, ‘General, please read that; it
may help to straighten matters out.’ He read the letter, but pretended
not to think much of it. After hemming and hawing over the matter for a
while he said: ‘Do you know anyone here who can tell me who you are?’
He knew very well who I was, for he had been with Harney in the Sioux
War of 1854–55 and we had met then. I asked him to name the members of
his staff, and I could tell. He finally mentioned Frank Blair. I said
with some irony, ‘I know Frank Blair very well, and I think _he_ knows
me.’ We then walked up to Blair’s quarters. He shook hands cordially
and said, ‘I understand that you are in a bad fix here.’ ‘It looks like
it,’ I replied. ‘Rather be at home than here, I presume,’ he continued
jokingly. ‘Much rather,’ I replied. Lyon showed Blair Price’s letter.
They consulted together for a little while and Lyon then said to
me, ‘You can take possession of your steamboat and go home.’ I found
the boat in Lyon’s fleet where it had been taken, and all of her
provisions confiscated. I was not long in getting up steam, and left
the inhospitable region with the utmost expedition.
“I did not like Lyon. He was a Yankee, and his disposition seemed to be
to crush everyone who did not think as he did. His language and bearing
toward me were so insolent and exasperating that they left a lasting
rancor in my mind.[46]
“This affair cost me about five thousand dollars, although I was
partially reimbursed for the stores taken. I did not go up the river
again that season, being too much vexed and disgusted with my late
experience. I sent the boat up under charge of a man of the name of
Nick Wall, who ran her until my government contracts were completed.”
In the year 1862 Captain La Barge was again impressed temporarily
into the service of guerrillas. On October 16 of that year a body of
Confederates was at Portland, Mo., when the steamboat _Emilie_ came
along. The _Emilie_ stopped to put two men ashore, when a gang of
Rebels concealed behind a woodpile took possession of the boat and
compelled Captain La Barge to set them across the river. He was forced
to unload his deck freight and take on 175 horses and as many men.
Scarcely had they started across when a force of Union cavalry of the
Missouri State Militia arrived, but not in time to arrest the operation.
These were the only occasions on which Captain La Barge had trouble on
the river on account of the War. Like all other boatmen, he welcomed
the close of this conflict and the tranquillity which it brought to the
river business.
[Sidenote: UNITED STATES VOLUNTEERS.]
[Sidenote: A NOTABLE CHARACTER.]
There was an organization in the military establishment of the United
States, growing out of the progress of the war, of which very little
is known. It was called the United States Volunteers, and consisted
of six regiments and one independent company. It was composed chiefly
of deserters from the Confederate army and prisoners of war who had
taken the oath of allegiance to the United States. These troops served
continuously on the Western plains and in the Northwest, except the
1st and 4th regiments, which served mainly at Norfolk, Va. On the
Missouri River, and perhaps elsewhere, they were commonly spoken of as
“Galvanized Yankees.” In 1864, when Fort Rice was established near the
mouth of the Cannon Ball River, it was garrisoned by the 1st Regiment
of U. S. Volunteers under Colonel Charles A. R. Dimon. This officer was
one of the remarkable characters of Missouri River history, and made a
great impression along the valley, considering his brief service there.
He was the particular bugbear of the traders, and the character which
they have given him can be best expressed by spelling his name with an
“e” in the first syllable. It was said that he ordered his men shot
down on the least provocation, and that many of the regiment were slain
in this way. Numbers of his men are said to have deserted through fear
of his tyrannical and ungovernable temper. One of the traders has left
a record of his own special grievance.
[Sidenote: DRASTIC MEASURES.]
In the winter of 1864–65, as already stated, the American Fur Company
sold out to the Northwestern Fur Company, more commonly known as the
firm of Hawley & Hubbell. In the following spring these two gentlemen
went up the river with Mr. C. P. Chouteau on the American Fur Company
boat, the _Yellowstone_, to make the transfer of the posts and
property. There were many passengers of different political creeds on
board, including a number of ex-Confederates. At a point about one
hundred miles above Fort Sully news of Lincoln’s assassination was
received, and the passengers of all shades of opinion expressed their
horror of the event. When the boat arrived at Fort Rice, Colonel Dimon,
according to this authority, came down to the boat with a large guard
of soldiers and placed the whole party under arrest on the charge of
jubilating over the assassination of the President. The traders thought
the whole proceeding was a scheme of Colonel Dimon to advertise his
intense loyalty. He told Chouteau, whose Southern proclivities were
well understood along the river, that he would take him out on the
bank and shoot him like a dog. Chouteau was thoroughly frightened and
trembled like a leaf, for there was no knowing what the impetuous
officer might take a notion to do.
Hubbell and Hawley determined to go down to Sioux City and report to
General Sully the detention of their boat and the conduct of Colonel
Dimon toward themselves and others. Chouteau gave them a yawl and
wrote a letter to the General. Dimon ordered them not to go without
first reporting to him. Although his authority to give such an order
is doubtful, the men did not dare to disobey for fear of being shot.
When they appeared they were required to submit all their letters to
his inspection. The particular letter he was after was one he believed
Chouteau had written, but Hubbell and Hawley had slipped it into the
breech of a Henry rifle and left it in the boat. Finally they were
permitted to go. They made a rapid trip, partly by river and partly
by land, and immediately reported their grievances to General Sully.
The General promptly gave them a written order to Colonel Dimon to
release their boat. Armed with this they returned to Fort Rice by the
steamer _G. W. Graham_, and in an incredibly short time, considering
the distance and mode of travel, appeared before Colonel Dimon. General
Sully’s order eased matters up somewhat, but still the traders had a
good deal of trouble with the irate post commander.
[Sidenote: FACT AND FICTION.]
How much there was in the stories about Colonel Dimon is doubtful, but
probably about an equal mixture of fact and fiction. Certainly the
view of the traders concerning him was not shared by General Sully, if
we judge from the following extracts from his own correspondence with
General Pope. Writing from Sioux City under date of June 10, 1865, he
says:
[Sidenote: GENERAL SULLY’S VIEWS.]
“I admire his energy and pluck, the determination with which he
carries out orders; but he is too young--too rash--for his position,
and it would be well if he could be removed. He is making a good
deal of trouble for me, and eventually for you, in his over-zealous
desire to do his duty.... His regiment was raised and organized by
Ben. Butler, and he is too much like him in his actions for an Indian
country, but he is just the sort of a man I would like to have under
me in the field.” Upon his arrival at Fort Rice a month later he thus
commented upon Colonel Dimon:
“I am much pleased with the appearance of this post and the way
military duty is performed. Colonel Dimon is certainly an excellent
officer. A few more years of experience to curb his impetuosity would
make him one of the best officers in our volunteer service.”
Pope in the meanwhile authorized Sully to take such action in regard
to Colonel Dimon as he saw fit. A board of officers was convened to
investigate complaints against him, and on the strength of their report
he was relieved July 21, 1865. He resumed command of the post, however,
October 10, 1865, but was mustered out of the service on the 27th of
the following month. He was subsequently brevetted Brigadier General of
Volunteers for gallant and meritorious service during the war.
[Sidenote: A FAIR PROBABILITY.]
Colonel Dimon probably showed an excess of severity toward the traders
where the average officer showed far too little. That explains their
chief ground of dislike of him. Add to this the “impetuosity” of
temperament referred to by General Sully, and we have a pretty close
analysis of a situation which caused a great flurry on the Missouri
River in its day. As a matter of fact a great many of the men in
the 1st Volunteers died at Fort Rice, but from disease, and not
by execution under Dimon’s order. A number of men did desert, and
seventeen of them walked all the way to Fort Union. One of these men
made a pen drawing of that post which is probably the most accurate now
in existence.