| Summary: | EARLY DAYS Historical Dates • 1673—Fr. Marquette—100 years before the American Revolution—Two Frenchmen descended the Mississippi. • 1738-—Pierre De La Verendrye—visited the Man- dans on three different occasions. First white man to see the shiny mountains. • 1797—David Thompson—World famous geographer and land surveyor. • 1803—Louisiana Purchase—President Jefferson (Robert Livingstone our Minister to France and James Monroe, Envoy Extraordinary) negotiated purchase for $15,000,000. Contract signed April 30, 1803—world's largest real estate deal. • 1805-1806—Lewis and Clark Expedition—Meriwether Lewis, secretary to the President and William Clark (32) and 45 men. Capt. Clark's negro servant "Big York", 21 soldiers, 9 voyagcurs, keelboats, 55 ft. long, sq. sail, 22 oars. 12-15 miles per day. Question—At the end of the (lay these stalwart gentlemen been riding1 upstream, walking downstream, and if they walked downstream as fast as they rode upstream —how did they manage to get anywhere? • 1807— Manuel Lisa—Set poles for the Yellowstone. Established a post far up the Yellowstone. • War of 1912—Manuel Lisa maintained the friendliness of the Plains Indians. • 1818— Secretary of War Calhoun with the blessing- of President Monroe planned Yellowstone Expedition. • 1822—Fort Henry—Ashley and Henry Fort— Established a camp on Mussleshell river. Established by the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Associated: Jim Bridger, greatest mountain man, Tom Fitznatrick, tutor of Kit Carson and guide for John Fremont; Kliniie Provot—ProvO, Utah; Jed Smith-Explorer of Lewis and Clark stature; Hugh Glass-famous for his encounter with a grizzly; William Sublette; Mike Fink, notorious for his fight with Davey Crockett and for his prolonged drinking bouts—-one of which brought about his death at the mouth of the Yellowstone—buried out of the bluffs. These men discovered south pass, Salt Lake, named rivers and mountain ranges, lead wagon trains, served as scouts and explored the west. Confluence the Gateway to the West. • 1823—-Fort Abandoned—Fink and Carj>entcr feud over beautiful half-breed Indian mother. Shooting of cups of whiskey from eacli other's heads, • 1829—Fort Union—Kenneth McKen/ie, "King of the Upper Missouri outfit"—bourgeous—rule was absolute. Successor to Fort Floyd, established by John Jacob Astor (American Fur Company). For 40 years the greatest fur trading post on the North American Continent—others Fort Gary and Bench's Landing. Stockade—240 ft on a side-—20 feet high. Piazza in front (white turned pillars) carjx'ts, wallpaper, fine furniture, ice buckets, Maderia and Port wines from Spain and France were regular fare. Sat at head table —order of elegance, guests and gentlemen of the post. Keel boat "Otter" left Fort Clark for Confluence. • 1830 -Prince Paul of Wuerttcn!>erg, artist, author and enthnologist FIRST STEAMER • 1832—George Catlin—First steamer to reach Yel lowstone—his ambition was to preserve by pen and brush the story of the Indian tribes of the country. From Fort Union he went back down stream to Fort Clark and spent considerable time with the Mandans (Four Bears). FORT WILLIAMS • 1832—Sublette and Campbell. • 1833—Maximillian of Wied, German General- Napoleonic Wars, Famous Scientist—shabby, toothless, bald, oldish gentleman—white felt hat and a pair of the greasiest trousers on the Missouri. • 1833—-Karl Bodmer—famous Swiss painter. • 1833—Fort William—Opposition Fort (Sublette and Campbell). Actually two Fort Williams-different locations-different times. 9 1837—Small Pox epidemic—Steamer St. Peters (Audubon says the Assiniboine.) Small pox broke out on the steamer at about Fort Pierre. At the Mandan village an Indian purloined a blanket from a sufferer and thenceforth the epidemic spread throughout the West. Mandans exterminated (30 persons left). Gros Ventre and Arikara from 4,000 to less than 2,000. Assinihoines some 9,000 all but annihilated. Crow and Blackfeet suffered awesome casualties. Accounts almost unbelievable. Swept away from 60,000 to 150,000 Indians according to various estimates. The whites at Fort Union had difficulty escaping the wrath of the Indians for placing the plague at the Indians feet. • ] 839—Major Alexander Culbertson succeeded Kenneth McKenzie as Bourgois. • 1840—Father Pierre Jean De Smet—Jolly Jesuit priest, native of Belgium but a naturalized American Story by himself. Made over half a dozen journeys through Dakota via Fort Union. #184?—Jim P.ridger Winter Camp. • 1843—John James Audubon—naturalist "Audit- bon Sheep"—nearly 70 years old. • 1843—Fort Mortimer—Fort Campbell and others. • 1851—Fort Laramie Peace Party—Fr. Pierre Jean De Smet, "peacemaker"—saved 90 children and women below Ft. Benton, • 1853—Isaac Stevens Railroad S U r V e y—Fort Union jumping off point • 1855 -Sir George Gore—Irish Peer—Most pretentious hunting party perhaps ever organized. 40 servants alone—lasted 3 years and reportedly cost Sir Gore over half a million dollars at pre-war prices (Civil War). Slaughter thousands of buffalo, deer, elk. Used hundreds of horses, wagons, cattle and guns. • 1863—Minnesota Massacre—General Sully and Sihly pursueing the Sioux—-Rattle of Kilklecr Mountains. • 1866— -Fort Campbell—Lonesome Charlie Reynolds—Yellowstone Kelly. • 1866—-Fort Buford— Established. Sitting Bull gave Fort Buford his personal attention and often had it under seige for a month or two at a time. First Winter—Sitting Bull had fort under almost constant seige —captured a saw mill and made a medicine war drum from the blade. • 1866— Fort Union dismantled. Wyetli—Yankee trader—after being lavishly entertained at Fort Union, but feeling slighted, betrayed the still at the Fort Union to the authorities. At night around the campfire -Sir Gore would read Gulliver's travels and Shakespeare to Bridget and apparently Rridger began to feel his experiences were as astounding as Gulliver's and started recounting them later for others to write down. Fort- Union stood in Assiniboine county. East and south, hunting grounds of the Sioux and Crow Indians. Westward buffalo ranges of the dreaded Blackfeet Nation. (Blackfeet, Mover, Pegen, Gros Ventre of the Prairie; Bloods, Kootenays. South and cast were Mandans, Arikara, Gros Ventre, three affiliated tribes. The Chippewa were north and west of their half-blood cousins, the Mitis. Southwest were Cheyenne and Sioux, LEFT FT. LINCOLN, MAY 17, 1876 Band Played "Gary Owen" • June 25, 1876—Battle of the Little Big Horn. Lt. Keogh's horse "Commanche". Capt. Grant Marsh got news of massacre while on steamboat "Far West", pushed to within 15 miles. Two years before Custer went into the Black Hills to reconno'tter and reported gold in the Black Hills (Sacred Hills) of the Sioux- Nation, tlic Ogalla and Hunpopa. • 1880's—Drought • 1881—Sitting Bull surrendered at Fort Buford. Others that surrendered here were Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce—last symbol of resistance for both the in- dians and whites—returned to Bismarck—then to Standing Rock. • 3882—-Last of the great buffalo herds destroyed just west of the confluence and Fort Union by hide hunters. • 1889—Sioux heard of the Indian Messiah "w<>'- vok'a"—a Piute Indian. His Code: Do no harm to anyone Do always right Do not tell lies Do not fight- When your friends die—do not crv • 1890—Sioux delegation returned and verified the existence of an Indian Messiah; "Ghost Dance's Story of the Thunderbirds"—three skulls, red. • 1895—Fort Buford deactivated and sold at auction. It was an accident that Williston was established at the mouth of the Little Muddy rather than at the confluence. Fort Buford Military Reservation 100 square miles—-within stones throw of the confluence. • Lonesome Charlie Reynolds—Yellowstone Kelly —When Sioux troubles were, at their height, young Kelly reached upper Missouri searching for adventure. He volunteered to carry the mail alone from the lower forts to Buford—a job previously performed by a Company of soldiers. For a year he traveled alone, miraculously escaping death. Indians named him "The Little Man with a Strong Heart" and believed he had a charmed life. After the year he built a cabin on the site where Williston stands. He dressed in ringed deerskin, beaded mocassins and with his long barreled rifle covered with snake skin hunted south of (lie Missouri. Later in the 1870*8 he became one of the most famous scouts of the Indian Wars. "Since 1887" Index Section 1 - Early Days —- 2 Section 2 - Our Neighbors — —— --- 55 Section 3 - Industry and Agriculture--— —-—_— 65 Section 4 - National Guard — ———— - 91 Section 5 - Organizations —< 94 Section 6 - City Church History 116 Section 7 - Education 125 Section 8 - City and County Government 139 Section 9 - Miscellaneous 132 Section 10 - Old Settlers 152 Section 11 -Jubilee Planners 1 58 %l mm Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited in Multi-page TIFF Editor.
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