Fort Clark was on the west side of the Missouri River, near Fort Mandan, built by Lewis and Clark. Tilton's Fort, built by James Kipp in 1822, stood a little above Fort Clark. Its abandonment was forced in 1823, by the hostility of the Arikaras, and in 1825 Kipp re-established a post at the mouth of the White Earth River, northwest of the Fort Berthold Indian Agency, which was sold to the American Fur Company in 1827. DIVISIONS OF THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY Teton River post, at the mouth of the Bad River, near Fort Pierre, was owned by P. D. Papin, Henry Picotte and Carre Brothers, under the firm name of P. D. Papin & Company. The post was built in 1828-29, and sold to the American Fur Company in 1833, Picotte thereafter becoming one of the managers of their vast interests on the Missouri with headquarters at Fort Pierre. Sublette & Campbell also had a post in this vicinity established about this time and sold, in 1833, to the American Fur Company. In a letter to Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, dated October 24, 1831, Thomas Forsythe spoke of the several divisions of the American Fur Company-details of whose organization have been previously given-operating above St. Louis. The division of Joseph Rolette, of Pembina and Prairie du Chien fame, included all the Indians from the Dubuque mines to a point above Fort St. Anthony, now Fort Snelling, and up the St. Peters River (now Minnesota), to its source, and also all Indians in the Wisconsin and upper part of Rock River region. J. P. Cabanna had the Indians below Council Bluffs, and August P. Chouteau had the Indians in the Osage country. Mr. Rolette procured his goods at Mackinaw, at the head of Lake Michigan, and shipped them by mackinaw boats across Lake Michigan, through Green Bay and the Fox and Wisconsin rivers in Central Wisconsin, to Prairie du Chien on the east bank of the Mississippi River. From Prairie du Chien they were forwarded up the Mississippi by keel-boats and by smaller boats to other points. Fort George, twenty-one miles below Fort Pierre, was built by Ebbitt & Cutting in 1842, for Fox, Livingston & Company, and like the other establishments became a part of the American Fur Company's trade monopoly. COLTER AND FINK: CHARACTER SKETCHES Colter and Fink are samples of the characters who sought the frontier under the stimulating influence of the fur trade, or to take advantage of the opportunity to get beyond the restraint of law. JOHN COLTER'S RACE FOR LIFE John Colter was a soldier with the Lewis and Clark expedition, and requested and received his discharge on his return to the Mandan villages, desiring to remain in the Indian country. He was the first to explore the headwaters of the Yellowstone. At one time he traveled over five hundred miles among the Indians, returning unharmed, but on another occasion he was robbed of all his clothing and of every means of defense and of subsistence and turned out on the prairie, with 500 yards the start, and told to run! He was followed by several hundred whooping, yelling savages, and outran them all, followed to the last by one Indian who stumbled and fell, when Colter turned on him and killed him with his own weapon. Thereafter he was on the prairie several days before he reached safety. MICKIE FINK, OUTLAW Mike Fink, or Mickie Phinck, as he usually wrote his own name, joined Ashley's expedition to the Yellowstone, in 1822. At Pittsburgh he was barred from the turkey shoots, being an expert shot, and at St. Louis he had a court record for paring a negro's heel with a shot from his rifle, because he thought it would look better after such an operation. He had two chums, one named Carpenter and the other Talbot. It was their custom to entertain their associates by each in turn shooting a cup of whiskey from the other's head. Finally they quarreled, and in due time their reconciliation was announced, and Fink, as evidence of their renewed confidence in each other, suggested the cup of whiskey test. The first shot fell to Fink, and Carpenter took his place without flinching, though not without fear, for he knew his man. As Carpenter fell, shot through the forehead, Fink remarked: "Carpenter, you've spilled the whiskey." He then deliberately blew the smoke out of his rifle barrel, and, finally, as he felt compelled to say something, cursed the whiskey, cursed his rifle, and cursed himself. Later he boasted that he killed Carpenter purposely, and Talbot killed him. on the spot. Talbot came to his death by drowning. The vigilance committees organized in Montana in connection with the development of the mining industries, disposed of a number of the lawless characters infesting this region, and the early courts at Bismarck convicted many and sent them to the penitentiary at Fort Madison, Iowa. CHAPTER XII THE CONQUEST OF THE MISSOURI-CONTINUED FORTY YEARS IN THE HANDS OF INDIAN TRADERS―KENNETH M'KENZIE, “KING OF THE UPPER MISSOURI"-FORT UNION ESTABLISHED FIRST STEAMBOATS ON THE UPPER MISSOURI-FORTS CLARK, M'KENZIE, MORTIMER AND BUFORDBATTLE OF FORT M'KENZIE THE USES AND ABUSES OF INTOXICATING LIQUOR IN THE FUR TRADE-THE SMALLPOX SCOURGe of 1837, and CHOLERA EPIDEMIC OF 1845-BEAR RIB PAYS THE INDIAN PENALTY FOR TREASON. They are slaves who will not choose Hatred, scoffing and abuse, Rather than in silence shrink From the truth they needs must think: They are slaves who dare not be -James Russell Lowell. Lewis and Clark, the explorers, as shown in Chapter V, Part One, found the natural inclination of the Indians disposed them to hospitality; their first impulse being to offer food with a greeting in words of friendship for the white men. They were eager for trade that would enable them to obtain means of defense against other tribes, and the articles and implements essential to their comfort and development in Indian life; but under the influence of the Indian trade, as it was prosecuted, their disposition changed and their attitude generally became one of unrelenting hostility. For forty years the Upper Missouri region was without law, without the influence of schools or churches; given over to an inordinate desire for gain, and to the unrestrained passions of men. Not until Dr. Walter A. Burleigh, and other Indian agents commenced the culture of grain, and the missionaries gained a foothold, was there the slightest advance toward civilization. "THE UPPER MISSOURI OUTFIT" Among the traders who joined Joseph Renville in the organization of the Columbia Fur Company, consolidated with the American Fur Company in 1827, to whom allusion has been made, were Kenneth McKenzie and William Laidlaw. The latter had charge of their business at Fort Tecumseh and vicinity, and the Upper Missouri was placed in charge of Kenneth McKenzie. Their organization was a part of the American Fur Company and was known as the Upper Missouri Outfit. Daniel Lamont was a member of this organization. Their |