1There is in the possession of the La Barge family in St. Louis a large pocketbook, still in a state of excellent preservation, which was brought from Canada by Captain La Barge’s father. In this book is a slip of paper, worn and mutilated with age, which contains the record of the elder La Barge’s birth.

2“I can safely recommend him to any traveler, as the best person in his line I have ever met—intelligent, sober, obliging, and never afraid to encounter any difficulty that may occur.”—Three Years in North America, by James Stuart, who traveled in the United States, 1828–30, and employed La Barge to convey him on his journeys in the vicinity of St. Louis and as far east as Vincennes, Ind. He was very anxious to adopt the young child, Joseph La Barge, and take him to England and educate him, but the parents would not consent.

3For a history of this exciting affair see “The American Fur Trade of the Far West,” p. 267.

4The expeditions of General W.H. Ashley to the Rocky Mountains in quest of beaver fur were very celebrated in those days. They occurred in the years 1822–26.

5The data for the sketch here given of the ancestry of the La Barge family are mainly derived from letters by Dr. Philemon Laberge, Sheriff of the district of Beauharnois, Quebec, to Captain La Barge. Dr. Laberge had chanced to come across a copy of the St. Louis Republic of January 9, 1898, in which there were a biographical sketch and photograph of Captain La Barge. Knowing that there was but one family of the name in America, he set about to trace the relationship, and presently sent to Captain La Barge a complete genealogical table of the family from Robert Laberge down.

The data relating to the maternal line are gleaned from Scharff’s “History of St. Louis.”

6The following tradition concerning the Lafayette visit is taken from the obituary sketch of Captain La Barge in one of the St. Louis papers:

“When General Lafayette visited the city in 1825 the populace turned out to greet him. He was a French nobleman and an American patriot—two distinctions that entitled him to the greatest courtesy. The children of the town had gathered to welcome his coming. When he was driven away hundreds paid homage by following the route of his carriage. To follow was not enough for Joe La Barge. He broke from the crowd and ran to the carriage in which Lafayette rode. Jumping upon the rear axle, he remained there a considerable time. The crowd was horrified, but Lafayette was too great a man to be thus wounded. Gently stroking the lad on the head, he asked his name. The boy responded: ‘La Barge.’ ‘Ah,’ said the General, ‘then we are both Frenchmen, and the only difference is in the ending of our names.’”

7The term engagÉ was applied to the common hands who did the ordinary work of the fur trade. The term bourgeois was used to designate the person in charge of a trading post.

8“Captain Pratt of the Assiniboine reports that he met the Yellowstone at the mouth of the Kansas River, having lost her best pilot from the cholera, and four or five men in the space of twenty-four hours. I fear that, in this situation, she will not be able to continue her voyage.”—Pierre Chouteau, Jr., to John Jacob Astor, July 12, 1833.

9See account of American and Rocky Mountain Fur Companies, in “American Fur Trade of the Far West.”

10This man had a long and honorable career in the West. As late as 1859–60 he was in the service of the government as interpreter on the expedition of Captain W.F. Reynolds, Corps of Engineers, U.S.A.

11A curious illustration of the great changes which have taken place along the Missouri Valley occurred a few years ago. In 1896 a farmer was digging a well near the mouth of Grand River, Mo., several miles from the present channel of the Missouri. A Bible was found in the excavation, and on its cover was the name Naomi. The book was sent to Captain La Barge to see if he could suggest any explanation of its presence where it was found. The Captain recalled perfectly the fact that the steamer Naomi was wrecked at that precise spot fifty-six years before. In those days the missionaries always left Bibles on board the various boats, attached by chains to the tables or other parts of the cabin, and lettered with the names of the boats to which they belonged.

12The first Yellowstone, built in the winter of 1830–31, is a good example of the original river boat. It was 130 feet long, 19 feet beam, 6 feet hold: beautiful model; side wheels; single engine; flywheel; cabin aft of shaft; ladies’ cabin in stern hold; boiler decks open; no hurricane roof; pilot-house elevated; two smokestacks; one rudder; 6-foot wheel bucket; 18-foot wheel; stages aft; draft, light, 4½ feet; loaded to 75 tons, 5½ feet.

In the river boats the main or forecastle deck was the first above the water, and the one covering the hold; the boiler deck was the second one, just over the boilers, covered by the hurricane roof; the hurricane deck was the third deck. Upon this were situated the texas and the pilot-house.

13A noted steamboat that ran on the lower river during a portion of the fifties was the Felix X. Aubrey. Between the smokestacks was the figure of a man riding at full speed on horseback. The reference was to a horseback ride, very celebrated in its day, from Santa Fe to Westport, where Kansas City now stands. In the year 1853 Felix X. Aubrey made this ride in five days and thirteen hours. The distance was 775 miles.

14“Of all the variable things in creation the most uncertain are the action of a jury, the state of woman’s mind, and the condition of the Missouri River.”—Sioux City Register, March 28, 1868.

15As an example of primitive lighthouse or fog-signal work, the story is told of a steamboat captain who always made a certain crossing on the lower river, if at night, by the aid of the bark of a dog belonging to a farmhouse directly in line with the course of the boat. The dog came out on the bank whenever boats were approaching, and saluted them vigorously until they had passed. The captain ran by this bark with the most implicit confidence. But unhappily the dog did change his position—once—and the captain ran by its bark no more, for the next morning his own bark was a hopeless wreck upon a neighboring sandbar.

16About 1856 this matter was made the subject of military investigation under General Harney.

17The practicability of commercial steamboating on the Missouri River had begun to be recognized about 1829. In the summer of that year the W.D. Duncan commenced a regular packet trade to Fort Leavenworth.

18Kenneth McKenzie, the ablest trader the American Fur Company produced, was at this time in charge of Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, and of all the company’s operations in the tributary country along the upper rivers.

19This affords a glimpse at the crafty and oppressive methods of the company, which bore with intolerable hardship upon its employees. To pay wages in merchandise at an advance of three or four hundred per cent. upon their cost was a great saving to the company, but an unqualified fraud upon its servants.

20Fort McKenzie was six miles above the mouth of the Marias River; Fort Union was three miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone: and Fort Clark was about fifty-six miles above the modern Bismarck, N.D.

21Log of steamboat Omega, May 10, 1843: “Nous venons trÈs bien jusqu’aux cotes À Hart oÙ, À sept heures, nous sommes sommÉs par un officier de dragoons de mettre À terre. Je reÇois une note polie du Capitaine Burgwin m’informant que son devoir l’oblige de faire visiter le bÂteau. AussitÔt nous nous mettons À l’ouvrage, et pendant ce temps M. Audubon va faire une visite au Capitaine. Ils reviennent ensemble deux heures aprÈs. Je force en quelque sorte l’officier À faire un recherche aussi stricte que possible, mais À la condition qu’il en sera de mÊme avec les autres traiteurs.”

22The above description of this inspection is from “The American Fur Trade of the Far West,” by the present author.

23Captain Sire, in the logbook of the Nimrod, Friday, May 10, 1844, says: “Il s’est passÉ encore longtemps avant que Messieurs les agents faisaient leur visite. Tout se trouvait satisfaisante. J’ai dÉcidÉ de ne partir que demain matin, et pour cause.—May 11. Nous nous mettons en route avant le jour.”

24It appears that the company’s bond was to have been put in suit; but the United States Attorney would not bring the case to trial unless he could get La Barge as a witness. When La Barge got back to St. Louis Sarpy came on board and told him to make himself scarce immediately. The Captain hastened to St. Charles and took service on the Iatan, where he remained until the storm had blown over. The case was finally compromised through the influence of Thomas H. Benton.

25While detained at the Omaha villages the crew had cut and piled about fifty cords of wood.

26The original journal is silent about this affair, but the facts were suppressed, says Captain La Barge, by clerk Finch, of the American Fur Company, in order not to expose the questionable conduct of Campbell and Matlock in regard to the annuities. La Barge himself wrote the following marginal note opposite the entry for June 9: “The Indians fired on the boat while we were lying there and killed Charles Smith, deckhand.”

27The Republican, March 19, 1849, in an editorial notice of the event, thus referred to Captain La Barge: “There is no Captain on the Western waters more highly esteemed than Captain La Barge. He is a St. Louisan born, and has been familiar with the river from early life.”

28This island took its name from the fact that it was a famous dueling ground. Its history in this connection dates from the past century, but its fame rests upon a few celebrated contests, among which the following may be noted: Thomas H. Benton and Charles Lucas fought here twice, on August 12 and September 27, 1817. In the last encounter Benton killed his antagonist. Joshua Barton, brother of the first U.S. Senator from Missouri, and Thomas C. Rector fought here June 30, 1823, and Barton was killed. The most celebrated duel of all took place August 27, 1831, between Major Thomas Biddle, Paymaster U.S.A., and Congressman Spencer Pettis of St. Louis. Both principals were killed. Another duel occurred in which one of the principals, B. Gratz Brown, editor of the Democrat, received a wound in the knee. When dueling fell into disuse the island became a noted resort for prize-fighters. Overlooking the island stood a large cottonwood tree, near which these duels were fought. It was certainly more than two hundred years old, and it fell from old age, July 18, 1897.

29The City of St. Louis passed an ordinance at this time that vessels should be moored with iron cables, and it placed permanent rings in the levee for that purpose, so that boats could not be cut loose in case of fire.

30The Aricara language is related to that of the Pawnees, which La Barge, as we have seen, had learned in his first years in the Indian country.

31La Barge Avenue, St. Louis, extending from Union Avenue west to the city limits, was in part given by Captain La Barge and recorded in his name. A later generation, with an amazing indifference to the work of one of the most noted characters in the history of the city, has changed the name to “Maple Avenue.”

32One of the medical officers accompanying the troops, and possibly the surgeon in this case, was Dr. George L. Miller of Omaha, Neb., who had early established himself in the West to seek his fortune there, and afterward became one of Nebraska’s most eminent citizens and well known throughout the country. He had gone up with the troops for temporary service because they had no regular surgeon. Dr. Miller returned to Omaha on the St. Mary, and many years later prepared an account of his personal experiences on the trip. His reference to Captain La Barge is interesting in this connection. He described him as “a short, stout, alert, and energetic man, with the eye of an eagle, which had been trained by twenty years’ service as a student of the mysterious and muddy waters of the Missouri.” A few years before these reminiscences were written by Dr. Miller, Captain La Barge’s brother John died, and Dr. Miller had mistakenly understood it to be his old river friend of 1855. The event called forth this further reference to the Captain: “The death of Joe La Barge, the brown-faced and black-eyed pilot, two or three years ago, caused a pang of regret in the hearts of tens of thousands who dwell along the valley of the great river, and who knew and admired him both in character and calling.”

33For a vivid picture of those early steamboat days, see Everybody’s Magazine, October, 1892.

34“Captain John La Barge, one of the oldest and best steam boat men on the river, takes command of the Chippewa, and if the trip to Fort Benton can be made, he will make it!”—Sioux City Eagle, July 23, 1859.

35For a complete record of this event, see letter from Alfred Vaughn, Indian Agent for the Blackfeet—Report Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1859.

36The Tom Stevens is said to have gone to the mouth of Portage creek, within five miles of the Great Falls the same year, and one authority states that the Gallatin, either in 1866 or 1867, went nearer to the Falls than any other boat before or since. The exact point is not stated.

37The Blackfeet nation, as understood by the early traders and trappers, comprised four bands—the Piegans, the Bloods, the Blackfeet, and the Grosventres of the Prairies. Only the first three were really Blackfeet. The tribal affinity of the Grosventres was with the Arapahoes. In some way these two tribes had become widely separated, the Arapahoes going far to the south, and the Grosventres to the country of the Blackfeet. So far did the Grosventres adopt the language and customs of the Blackfeet that they were ordinarily considered in early times as a part of that tribe and were commonly referred to as Blackfeet. They were relentlessly hostile to the whites during the first twenty-five years after Lewis and Clark passed through their country. Next to them in point of hostility came the Blood Indians. The Piegans were the most favorably disposed of any of the Blackfeet tribes and were also the best beaver hunters, and it was with this band that trade relations were first opened.

38There has been a good deal of confusion about this date, and it cannot yet be considered as definitely settled. The weight of authority is as given above. Chardon had other difficulties with the Indians which may have been confused with this affair. Thus the journal of one of the inmates of the Blackfoot post (whether Fort McKenzie or Fort Chardon is uncertain) says: “February 19, 1844. Fight with the north Blackfeet, in which we killed six and wounded several others; took two children prisoners. The fruits of our victory were four scalps, twenty-two horses, 350 robes, and guns, bows, and arrows, etc.” This answers very closely to the description of the “Blackfoot Massacre” at Fort McKenzie. If it is the same, the founding of Fort Chardon was in 1844 instead of 1843.

39In 1864 Malcolm Clark shot and instantly killed Owen McKenzie, son of Kenneth McKenzie. The affair took place on the Nellie Rogers, American Fur Company boat, near the mouth of Milk River. McKenzie and Clark had some standing cause of dispute between them, and Clark shot his opponent while the latter was in a state of intoxication. The family of Clark have tried to screen his name from any blame in this affair, and have claimed that the deed was done in self-defense. On the river it was everywhere considered at the time a cold-blooded murder.

40By W.W. DeLacy, a civil engineer of high reputation, and closely identified with the early history of Montana.

41June 11, 1866, there were seven steamboats at one time at the levee of Fort Benton.

42In this sketch of Fort Benton I have drawn somewhat, for the period after 1843, from the notes of Lieutenant James H. Bradley, as published in vol. iii. Proceedings Mont. Hist. Soc. The notes were taken by dictation from Alexander Culbertson. Unfortunately, as in most cases of personal narrative, this one abounds in errors, and is controlled throughout by the desire of the narrator to magnify his own importance in the events he describes. The notes possess, however, great intrinsic value, and are an important contribution to the history of the West. Their preservation is due to the zealous forethought of an army officer who recognized the importance of collecting original data on the history of the West before its principal actors should have passed away. He did not live to prepare these notes for publication himself. They found their way to the Montana Historical Society, which, with the intelligent zeal that has always characterized that body, has given them to the public in a well-gotten-up volume of the society’s proceedings.

Lieutenant James H. Bradley was born in Sandusky, O., May 25, 1844; enlisted as a private in the 14th Ohio Volunteers, April, 1861; re-enlisted in the 45th Ohio Volunteers, June, 1862; mustered out as Sergeant, July, 1865; appointed Second Lieutenant 18th U.S. Infantry, February 23, 1866; promoted to First Lieutenant, July 9, 1866, transferred to 7th Infantry, November 28, 1871; killed in the Battle of the Big Hole by the Nez PercÉ Indians, August 9, 1877.

43“Hon. Abe Lincoln, and the Secretary of State for Illinois, Hon. O.M. Hatch, arrived in our city last evening, and are stopping at the Pacific House. The distinguished ‘sucker’ has yielded to the earnest importunities of our citizens,—without distinction of party,—and will speak upon the political issues of the day, at Concert Hall, this evening. The celebrity of the speaker will most certainly insure him a full house. Go and hear ‘Old Abe.’”—From the Council Bluffs “Weekly Nonpareil,” Saturday Morning, August 13, 1859.

The reports upon this speech in the Republican and Democratic papers of the town were as follows:

From the Nonpareil, August 20, 1859:

From the Weekly Bugle, August 17, 1859: