THE BLACKFOOT ANNUITIES.
[Sidenote: A BAD PREDICAMENT.]
[Sidenote: OFFICIAL REPORTS.]
At the mouth of the Yellowstone the voyage of the _Robert Campbell_
came abruptly to an end. There was only a depth of two feet over the
Yellowstone bar, and it was a physical impossibility to proceed. The
annuities had now been delivered to the lower tribes so far as Captain
La Barge was concerned, but there still remained undelivered those
going to the Crows, Assiniboines, and Blackfeet. The annuities for
the first of these tribes were to be delivered wherever these Indians
could be found, but those of the Blackfeet were to be delivered at Fort
Benton. Fortunately, the Assiniboines came in while the boats were at
the Yellowstone, and their annuities were delivered. Dr. Reed, the
agent for the Blackfeet, then advised La Barge to abandon the idea of
going further, and to store the goods at Fort Union until the following
spring. This the Captain was very loath to do. He knew only too well
the complications that might arise, particularly as such a course
compelled him to place himself in any degree within the power of the
American Fur Company. It seemed, however, the only thing to do. The
_Robert Campbell_ simply could not get any further. The _Shreveport_
had not been able to get above Snake Point, and since that time the
water had fallen materially. It was now the 8th of July, and no further
rise could be expected; in fact no boats reached Benton that year. The
only alternative to storing the goods was to haul them by wagon to
their destination, and for this purpose the transportation could not
be had. The Captain very reluctantly concluded to follow the agent’s
advice, particularly as the bulk of annuities were for the Indians
belonging to his own agency. An arrangement was made with William
Hodgkiss,[60] agent of the American Fur Company, and five days were
consumed in transferring the cargo to the warehouse. Full receipts
were given by Agent Hodgkiss, and these were witnessed by Captain W.
B. Greer, U. S. Army. In addition to the receipts the Captain secured
from Agent Reed a written statement of the circumstances in order that
his action might have the fullest explanation possible. In those days,
when the government felt that it was being robbed right and left by
dishonest contractors, and every claim was looked upon with suspicion,
the adjustment of any matter of that sort was extremely difficult, and
the innocent were made to suffer with the guilty.[61]
[Sidenote: THE “SHREVEPORT” IMPRESSED.]
[Sidenote: AT WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT.]
As soon as the business at Fort Union was cleared up the two boats
turned their prows down the river and made the best of their way
toward the lower country. When they arrived at Crow Creek, eighty-two
miles below Pierre, they met General Sully, who was engaged in his
expedition against the hostile Sioux. The General invited La Barge
to his tent and told him he should have to impress one of the boats
into his service for a time. As the _Shreveport_ was much the lighter
boat it was considered best to take her. Captain La Barge’s brother,
however, absolutely refused to remain, and accordingly Captain La Barge
had to. It was also necessary to use military authority to secure a
crew. The _Robert Campbell_ then went on her way to St. Louis, and
Captain La Barge commenced hauling supplies for General Sully. He went
up as far as the mouth of the Little Cheyenne, and there awaited the
result of General Sully’s expedition, which was a victorious battle
with the Indians. He then dropped down below old Fort Pierre, when
he was ordered to proceed to Fort Leavenworth and report to General
Easton. By that officer he was directed to take a cargo to Sioux City.
Though late in the season, the trip was successfully accomplished.
Captain La Barge then returned to St. Louis, where he arrived late in
November, and reported to the commanding officer at that point. He had
now been continuously at work for over six months, during one of the
most trying seasons ever experienced upon the river. His nightly sleep
scarcely averaged five hours, and he was constantly under the weight of
a terrible responsibility. Nothing but an iron constitution could have
withstood the incessant strain.
As soon as Captain La Barge could straighten matters up at home he set
out for Washington to see the Indian Commissioner in regard to his past
season’s contract. He received full payment for everything delivered,
but nothing for the annuities still undelivered and nothing for his
great loss caused by the delay of the Indian Department in delivering
the goods to him on time. He was, however, given a new contract to
transport the goods to their destination the following year.
In order to pursue this particular subject to its final outcome we
shall step ahead of our narrative to the year 1864. Captain La Barge
went up the river that year with the steamer _Effie Deans_, leaving
space on the boat for the undelivered annuities. Arrived at Fort Union
he first fell in with Captain Greer, who had witnessed the receipt of
Agent Hodgkiss for the goods the previous summer. Captain La Barge
told him that he had come to take the annuities to their destination.
“I don’t believe that you will find much,” said Captain Greer. “The
Company has traded it nearly all for robes.”
[Sidenote: MANIFEST FRAUD.]
[Sidenote: THE GOODS UNDELIVERED.]
Agent Hodgkiss had died during the winter, and Captain La Barge
presented the receipts to the new agent, Rolette. The latter refused
to deliver the goods except upon payment of the extortionate storage
charge of two thousand dollars. He expected that this charge would
cause Captain La Barge to refuse to take the goods. The sum, however,
was tendered, whereupon the agent refused to deliver them except upon
the prior surrender of Agent Hodgkiss’ receipts. Suspecting that
a large part of the goods were missing, the Captain declined this
condition, but offered to give a receipt for all goods he should take
from the warehouse. Driven from every position, the agent openly
avowed that he could not deliver all the goods, for he did not have
them all. He stated that, under instructions from Commissioner Dole,
transmitted through the Company, he had delivered a large portion of
the goods to the Grosventres and many packages to other Indians. The
delivery of the balance could, therefore, not be made except upon
surrender of the receipts of the previous year. Captain La Barge
asked to see the receipts of the Indians to whom the goods had been
delivered. The agent had none, although it was an invariable rule to
secure such receipts for all annuities delivered. The alleged order
from Commissioner Dole was then called for, but that could not be
produced, the agent stating that it came by messenger, who delivered it
verbally.
“You acknowledge, then, that a large portion of these goods you have
not got,” asked Captain La Barge.
“Yes,” replied the agent; “they have been delivered during the winter
and have reached their proper destination.”
[Sidenote: GOODS TRADED WITH THE INDIANS.]
All these proceedings were witnessed by the officer, Captain Greer,
whom Captain La Barge had taken the precaution to have present. From
what Captain Greer had told him, and from the trader’s inability to
account satisfactorily for the disposition of the goods, Captain La
Barge became thoroughly convinced that they had been used in trade,
and he very wisely declined to surrender his receipts. As the trader
would not give up the rest of the goods except upon a surrender of the
receipts for all, the Captain went on his way without them.
[Sidenote: UNPAID DEBT.]
In the meanwhile Dr. Reed, who had been relieved as Agent of
the Blackfoot tribes, went up on the American Fur Company boat
_Yellowstone_ to turn over his charge to the new agent, Mr. Gad E.
Upson. Mr. Chouteau had received the contract for taking up the
annuities for the year 1864. He took them only to Cow Island, where,
for some reason, possibly low water, they were put on the shore and
the boat turned back. Mr. Upson, who had gone down from Benton to
Union early in the spring, went back on the _Yellowstone_ with Mr.
Reed. The boat, after unloading, turned back, and a day later met the
_Effie Deans_. La Barge reported to Dr. Reed the facts as to the goods
at Fort Union. Mr. Chouteau, who was on the _Yellowstone_, was called
in and professed to disapprove of Rolette’s course, but did nothing
to rectify it. So far as Captain La Barge knew at the time or ever
learned afterward, this large quantity of Indian goods was traded out
to the Indians by the so-called American Fur Company and constituted an
unqualified theft from the government. The final outcome of the affair,
so far as Captain La Barge was concerned, was a loss of nearly twenty
thousand dollars.[62] He died a poor man, with the government in his
debt by a sum that would have given ample comfort to his declining
years.