Fort Union Trading Post Historic Structures Report (Part II) Historical Data Section

Charles Larpenteur's self-righteous sobriety undoubtedly brought him into conflict with his fellow employees from time to time. Nevertheless, he is more valuable historically than most of the other men at the fort, for he kept a diary rather than get drunk. His detailed journal shows that while Fort Union was six years old in 1835, it was by no means "finished."

Larpenteur held McKenzie in considerable awe, which feeling was increased the first time he entered the dining room. He discovered that clerks, who ate at the head table, had to wear their coats to meals. Moreover, no one could eat until McKenzie was seated; since McKenzie was a late riser this meant that breakfast was not eaten until nine o'clock. Still, it was worth the wait:

On entering the eating hall, I found a splendidly set table with a very white tablecloth, and two waiters, one a negro. Mr. McKenzie was sitting at the head of the table, extremely well dressed. The victuals consisted of fine fat buffalo meat, with plenty of good fresh butter, cream, and milk. . . but I saw that only two biscuits were allowed to each one, as these were placed at each plate. I soon discovered, by the manner in which the clerks took their seats, that mine would come very near the end of the table, for it appeared to go by grade. [1]

He did not say whether or not Hamilton modified the dining ritual during McKenzie's absence in Europe. By going abroad, McKenzie missed the very wet summer of 1835, "The quantity of rain which has fallen here this season I should think is almost without precedent." The woods became swamps, grass grew abundantly every where, the interior of the fort became a lake, and the mosquitoes came in clouds, making "the men cry out terribly and not without cause." [2]

Back in September 1834, McKenzie had noted that the bastions were well along toward completion. Hamilton confirmed this in March 1835 by writing, "The Bastions are completed with the exception of laying down the floors but the planks are all tongue and grooved." Other construction activities at this time were mentioned in the rather cryptic note, "Laucier was employed untill Christmas in finishing the attics." Also, timber had been got out for new storerooms, the existing ones being only temporary in nature. [3]

Luteman started work on the framing for the "stores and warehouses" on May 1. From time to time his assistants were called away to other jobs but he worked steadily on this job. On May 15 and 25, the drivers hauled rocks for the building's foundation; other men were kept busy sawing timber. Work slowed down when the rains came, such as the afternoon, "about three o'clock a heavy thunder storm. . . the fort yard like a lake."

On May 28, Luteman reached the point where he had to pull the old building down to make room for the new. For the next three days the men moved the supplies from the old structure. The goods in the storerooms were carried to the bastions, while those in the retail store were moved to "the Northwest end room of Mr. McKenzie's Dwelling house." In order to speed up the work, "the Drivers made a Bridge across a ravine to enable them to make four loads of rocks per day instead of three." This ravine may have been "Garden Coulee," one-half mile east of the fort.

By June 2, the carpenter had finished the framing, which work had been done to one side. The next day, nine workmen "commenced pulling down the [old] store & ware houses." Meanwhile, a second carpenter began constructing the door and window frames, and four men were "sawing planks for sheeting the new buildings." Four days later the old buildings were out of the way, as was a "part of the stables which was in the way of the new buildings." (From Denig's description a few years later, these stables were probably located against the palisade.) At this point, the old sills were hauled away and "Holmes and Kieffer diging the foundations for the new building."

For the next few days a variety of jobs were carried on: framing rafters, constructing the foundations, hauling in lime and sand and hauling out earth, making shingles, and hauling in the new sills. Finally, on June 19, all hands "commenced raising the buildings."

In four days the framing was complete. To celebrate, the men "tied a [posey?] on the top of one of the rafters and fired [a] few guns towards it with the view of gitting [a treat?] which is commonly done in such occasions and was administered to them to their satisfaction." Luteman, "who is the boss carpenter received a bottle. . . which induced him to get in a spree." He was still sick the next day, and the work was temporarily reduced to two men straightening the edges of shingles.

The next steps were to sheet the roof and to put five men to work digging the cellar. At the same time rock quarrying was renewed for lining the cellar walls. The earth removed from the cellar was spread on the fort yard in an attempt to give it a gradual slope toward the river so that it would drain. On July 1, Luteman finished sheeting the building and commenced shingling the roof. Hamilton wrote McKenzie that "the new stores are in part shingled and have a very imposing appearance. We are short of 10 dy and 12 dy cut nails." [4] A week later, Holmes finished digging the cellar and began its stone wall, while another man started putting in the window and door frames. Two men worked at putting tongues and grooves in the floor boards. The only things remaining to be done were weatherboarding the walls and planking the floor.

In early September, Larpenteur was able to record that the supplies in the bastions were being put in the new warehouses and that the men were storing potatoes in the new cellar. On September 24, two men were directed to paint the roof red; however, they ran out of paint with only one-quarter of the roof covered. [5]

To complement Larpenteur's description of the construction of the building was Edwin Denig's description of it that he prepared in 1843:

On the east side of the fort, extending north and south, is a building, or range, all under one roof, 127 ft. long by 25 ft. deep, and used for the following purposes. A small room at the north end for stores and luggage; then the retail store. . . where all white persons buy or sell. * * * * Adjoining this is the wholesale warehouse, in which is kept the principal stock of goods intended for the extensive trade; this room is 57 ft. in length. Next is a small room for the storage of meat and other supplies. At the end is the press room, where all robes, furs, and peltries are stored. The dimensions [of this room] extend to the top of the roof inside, which roof is perfectly waterproof. It will contain from 2800 to 3000 packs of Buffalo robes [10 robes to the pack]. All this range is very strongly put together, weather-boarded outside, and lined with plank within. It has also cellar and garet. [6]

The cellar depression may still be seen, but nothing else of this structure remains above ground. Still, it would seem that Luteman deserved his bottle--and perhaps a second--for a job well done.

A multitude of other projects were completed that muddy summer. Larpenteur's journal for May and June does not indicate clearly if the milk house underwent a renovation or was brand new. At any rate, men worked on its underpinning, "paved" its interior, shingled the roof, made a new window and a new door frame and door, and plastered and whitened its interior walls. The kitchen, located behind the bourgeois' house, also had its floor paved. The Indian house, located west of the main (south) gate also underwent repairs. Some iron that was stored in it was removed to the southwest bastion, and the room was cleaned up so that the men could store packs of robes in it. The roof of the Indian house was covered at this time with lodge skins, which in turn were covered with earth. Larpenteur wrote that the workmen "dried the lodges which covered the Indian house and recovered it again to remain untill the Packs are taken out."

Minor jobs around the fort included "sawing old logs about the Fort for fire wood;" "working at the May Pole to hoist the Flag," which pole was not raised until May 3; "hauling rails and shingle wood from the other Fort [William] for Baptiste Marcham to make shingles of;" repairing the chimneys over at Fort William, where some of the fort families were living; "hauling lime and sand to plaster the Clerks room;" "hauling sawlogs to the saw pit;" constructing a calf pen with the puncheons removed from the old warehouse; making a calf shed; repairing the earthen roof of the ice house; rendering tallow; "haulling earth to fille up the yard before the ice house;" removing all the robe packs out of "the room next to the Clerks in order to have it clear for the free [not under contract] trappers;" manufacturing a wheel barrow and an axel tree; bailing the water out of the just-completed milk house; and hauling gravel into the fort's yard.

Still other jobs included hauling wood to the charcoal pit; "pointing the under pining of the sills around the outside of the Fort;" planting four cedar posts on the river bank for tying the boats to; "John Prill raking the [buffalo?] chips off the bank on front of the Fort into the river, then graduating the river bank and making steps leading down to the water;" mowing and hauling hay; "splighting the fire wood smaller and piling it between the kitchen and the Dwelling house;" making an inclosure for a stockyard with timbers from the old warehouse; underpinning the gallery sills; repairing the chimneys; making and bundling up shingles for future use; making oars; cutting timber suitable for making ax handles; making a new saw pit on the south side of the river; building a canoe (hollowing out a log?); building new stables under the galleries; and putting in an upper floor in the men's apartments. Another undertaking of interest involved the inside of the office, where a workman put rocks "next to the weather boarding between the studing in order to be plaistered over."

In contrast to earlier attempts, a garden thrived in the rains of 1835. The first seeds planted, on May 11, included potatoes, corn, peas, red onions, radishes, lettuce, parsnips, carrots, yellow French radishes, celery, curled parsley, oyster plant, "and a mixture of seeds supposed to be turnip seed." Larpenteur, who apparently had some responsibility for the garden, mentioned two growing areas: a vegetable garden in or near to Garden Coulee and a field of sorts across the river. He was quite specific about the planting of corn, squash, pumpkin, watermelon, and beets on the south bank. Also planted in one or the other of the sites were onions, cabbages, cucumbers, dwarf beans and pole beans.

A fence was erected around the garden and a "walk" laid. By June 5, the first radishes were "fit to eat;" a few days later John Prill began "cutting pea sticks." A small, third area was planted on June 12 when Larpenteur "sewed radishes and Tongue grass in the Distilling house yard." A particularly bad rain on June 19 washed away eight "panels" of the garden fence and it took two men a day to repair it. Another emergency occurred on August 26 when a number of Indians arrived: "Imployed all hands in diging the Potatoes. . . and was obliged. . . to pull the corn green. . . for at the rate the indians were gathering it they would not have left one ear by morning."

Nevertheless, 1835's gardening was a success. Hamilton, in a burst of optimism, sent a substantial order for seeds to St. Louis for the following year. [7] That fall, after the last vegetable had been gathered, the Indians began burning the fence rails. Larpenteur was forced to have two carters haul all the fencing to the protection of the fort.

He did not write much about the domestic animals at Fort Union, except for the hogs. Several adventures happened to the pigs, such as the terse entry, "Killed seven dogs for having torn the hogs to pieces." The herd was reinforced later when "John Prill brought in a sow from the woods with five young pigs." This increase was diminished when "one of the old sows choked her self with a piece of meat."

McKenzie was not at Fort Union during the summer when the deeds of the Deschamps family finally caught up with the father and sons. Exiles from the Red River Settlement, they had drifted toward the upper Missouri where Campbell had hired them at Fort William. When Campbell discovered that Francois Deschamps, Jr., was secretly a spy for McKenzie, Francois deserted to Fort Union where he was employed as an interpreter. Both he and his father, Francois, Sr., tried the temper of their fellow employees many times. A particularly strong feud developed between them and Baptiste Gardepied, whose life they repeatedly threatened. Baptiste finally demanded a show down. The result took place in Larpenteur's room when Baptiste wounded Francois, Jr., and killed the old man. For a while there after the surviving Deschamps caused very little trouble for anyone. [8]

Another moment of excitement that Larpenteur said happened involved the arrival of a number of Indians who were allowed to stay in the fort. Possibly because of liquor, the Indians became so unruly that Hamilton became concerned. He directed Larpenteur to carry muskets from a bastion to the dining room and to put a small cannon in the hallway of the bourgeois' house. Then, "the window blinds of the dining room were opened, and there could be seen by the three candles the bright muskets, plenty of cartridges. . . and four men ready for action. The piece of artillery was rolled back and forward in the passage, making a tremendous noise, and two men mounted guard with muskets and fixed bayonets." This display of power quieted the visitors; and a very pleased Hamilton sent Larpenteur to the cellar to draw a bottle of Madeira for a celebration. [9]

Another Indian whose name entered the history of Fort Union in 1835 was La Main, an Assiniboin who had had several disputes with his own people and who was thought of as an outlaw. In the early 1830's, he had killed his half-brother, Broken Cloud, at the fort, and, now, another half-brother got revenge by shooting La Main and leaving his body to tumble into the fort when the gates were opened the next morning [10]

All in all, 1835 was a busy, exciting year, so busy that on July 4, Larpenteur wrote, "hollow day but had very little time to enjoy it." Yet there were times when the men relaxed a little. In the cool of the evenings, especially, there was time to promenade on the gallery that ran around the fort. From here one could see the prairie, the river, and the fiery sunsets, and dream a little about home or the mountains.

Back in May, Hamilton had hoisted the flag and fired the guns to honor the departure of McKenzie. That fall, word arrived that McKenzie was planning to remain in St.Louis. It was a premature rumor. He returned in late fall to renew his control over the fur trade of the upper Missouri. From Fort Union he wrote Prince Maximilian thanking him for the hospitality on the Rhine. He also mentioned the bad news that the steamboat that had carried the prince's collection of mammal and bird specimens had sunk with the loss of all the cargo. As for McKenzie's own trip, it had been a good one, with a side visit to Niagara Falls on the way home. The river was already frozen; but McKenzie looked forward to the winter. There was still Hamilton for company. Still, he asked, would the prince kindly think of Fort Union from time to time. [11]

The year 1836 was, perhaps, the quietest year Fort Union had yet experienced. The trade in robes was steady. Liquor was smuggled in. The Indians came and went. The next year started out just as quietly. Edwin Denig wrote in March 1837 to Fort Pierre, sending his thanks for the letters and papers that had just arrived, "we were beginning to get mere drones for the want of news." He said that nearly everyone at the fort had been sick with something like influenza, from which one child had died. On the other hand, trade had been superior, "We now have 900 packs in the warehouse and at least 250 more to be traded, and all of the very best kind of robes." He exulted, "if we make 2500 Packs Hurray for Upper Missouri Outfit against the world!!"

Despite the influenza, morale was high, "We are all in good humor. . . every man attends his business well and Mr. McKenzie is kind and obliging to all." As for himself, Denig said he "would rather be ostler here than bookkeeper general at F[ort] P[ierre] and though to oblige and obey Mr. McKenzie I would go any place, yet should I leave here it would be with great regret." [12]

However, McKenzie left Fort Union in 1837 to take up residency in St. Louis. Three months after Denig wrote his letter, Fort Union's high spirits were replaced by the darkest gloom. The steamer St. Peters brought the smallpox with it. The first person to take ill was the acting bourgeois, Jacob Halsey. Within a few days, 27 people lay sick within the fort, of whom four died. Larpenteur described the desperation felt, "Doctor Thomas Medical Book was brought down from the Library and the treatment of small Pox vaccination noculation was read over and over." The Assiniboins kept coming in to trade even though efforts were made to stop them. Like a wild fire, the pox spread through the tribe, and most of the other tribes of the upper Missouri. The Indians had no resistance to the disease. Halsey estimated that about 10 out of 12 Indians who caught the disease would die. [13]

The loss was terrible. The Mandan Indians were almost completely killed off. D. D. Mitchell, at Fort Union, estimated that four-fifths of the Assiniboins and the Blackfeet had died. [14] Buffalo were plentiful that year, but there were few Indians to hunt them. The American Fur Company worried that the Indians would blame the company for the disaster and attack the forts. Indeed, one Assiniboin leader, Le Vieux Gauche, vowed his vengeance on Union. Halsey took the threat seriously and had a double gate put in at the main entrance. The outside gates could then be opened, the Indians could come through them, and enter the Indian house; providing the inner gates were closed, the Indians could not come into the main part of the fort. As a further precaution, a wicket was added to the wall. Larpenteur used it when selling liquor to visiting Indians. He said a few shots were fired through it from time to time, but these were caused by the liquor, not by a desire for revenge. [15]

Hamilton, who had gone down to St. Louis with McKenzie, compiled the "melancholy details" from the upper forts and passed the dire news on to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., then in Washington. He confirmed most of Halsey's reports; he also noted that Halsey had done a poor job at Fort Union that summer. The new acting bourgeois, D. D. Mitchell, had written asking that Chouteau himself come up to settle a number of unnamed problems; he also gave "a woeful picture of poor Halsey's conduct during the summer." [16]

Despite the tragedy, the robe trade continued, slowly for a time but gradually increasing in volume again. [17] Fort Union continued to witness small excitements among its inhabitants. In 1840, one George Sumpter robbed the retail store and got away, only to be found working at Fort Pierre two years later. He was promptly "set adrift." The Deschamps were replaced in character by Alexander Harvey, a capable person possessed by a violent temper. He was fired in 1839, then rehired a year later. He returned to Fort Union where he had a showdown with an old enemy, Isadore Sandoval, in the same store that Sumpter robbed. In the manner of the upper Missouri, Harvey shot and killed Sandoval and dared anyone to do anything about it. [18]

In counterpoise to this violence, Peter De Smet, the Jesuit missionary, made this year the first of many visits to Fort Union. [19] Like other travelers, he was impressed with "the vastest and finest of the forts that the Fur Company has upon the Missouri." True to company policy, James Kipp, the new bourgeois, and his employees "overwhelmed us with civilities. . . supplied all our wants. . . I shall be most thankful to them all my life." He performed no marriages, but "regenerated sundry half-breed children in the holy waters of baptism" before pushing on down the Missouri. [20]

When De Smet made his next visit, in 1842, Fort Union had neighbors again. A new competitor, called both the Union Fur Company and Fox, Livingston and Company, established a post at or near the site of old Fort William. Although officially called Fort Mortimer by its owners, the old name "William" remained popular. The new post was first built of wood, including its walls. Later, either under Fox, Livingston and Company or under still another competitor it was rebuilt with adobe, the first time such material was used that far up the Missouri.

The new fort got off to a poor start. In 1843, a sudden and very high rise in the Yellowstone river cut into the north bank of the junction. Even as the occupants watched, the bank collapsed right up to the fort's walls. Working desperately, they succeeded in moving the front wall and the buildings nearest the water bank so that "the back buildings of the Fort as it was before the rise now are the Front ones." [21]

Like Campbell and Sublette, the Union Fur Company found it impossible to compete profitably with Fort Union. While Kenneth McKenzie was not on the river, his successor as chief agent, Alexander Culbertson, was a most worthy heir. Fort Mortimer held out against him for three years but, in 1845, the Union Fur Company gave up and sold its few holdings to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Company. [22]

Master Captain Joseph A. Sire could not bring his steamboat, the Omega, quite up to the landing at Fort Union in 1843. A sandbar lay in the way. He could take satisfaction however that he had made the fastest trip yet--St. Louis to Fort Union in 48 days and 7 hours. [23] His passengers were quite impressed. On board was a party of five men led by John James Audubon, then about sixty years old. With him was his long-time friend and amateur ornithologist, wealthy Edward Harris, John G. Bell, Lewis M. Squires, and Isaac Sprague, a 32-year-old artist whose job it was to draw plants and backgrounds for Audubon's fauna. [24] From this group came a number of letters, at least three diaries, and two paintings of Fort Union. From this wealth of material came a detailed picture of life at the 14-year-old fort that summer. [25]

Fort and steamboat exchanged salutes, firing six guns for the occasion. To welcome the visitors, "the gentlemen of the fort came down on horseback, and appeared quite a cavalcade." The guests met Culbertson, then walked to the fort where they "drank some first-rate port wine." They returned to the steamboat for the night, and not until the next day was their luggage "taken to the landing of the fort in a large keel boat" [26]

Audubon was quite disappointed at the small, dark, dirty room, about 12 by 14 feet, with only one window, on the west side, that was given to the party, now increased to six. [27] When he learned that this was the room that Maximilian had used, he could hardly believe it. However, he was but a guest and decided not to complain. The six men turned in early that first night, hoping to get a good rest. No sooner had they gone to bed, when a drunk in the room above them began cursing loudly. All lay awake, hoping the drunk would fall asleep, but now "clarionets, fiddles, and a drum were heard in the dining room," next door to their room. This new noise caused the drunk to renew his wearing "as if quite fresh."

When an invitation to join the party arrived, Squire. jumped out of bed, investigated, and returned with the information that a ball was in progress. The rest got up to attend the dance:

Several squaws, attired in their best, were present, with all their guests, engages, clerks, etc. Mr. Culbertson played the fiddle very fairly; Mr. Guepe the clarionet, and Mr. Chouteau [probably Pierre Chouteau, Jr.'s half-breed nephew] the drum. . . . Cotillions and reels were danced. . . and the company dispersed about one o'clock. We retired for the second time, and now occurred a dispute between the drunkard and another man; but. . . I was so wearied that I fell asleep.

Audubon still did not complain about the quarters. However, the strain must have showed on his face. The next day Culbertson offered them a larger and quieter room upstairs in the bourgeois' house. [28]

As they became acquainted with the fort and its surroundings, Audubon and his friends made a number of references to various structures and landmarks. No attempt is made to weave these into a chronological narrative. Audubon was favorably impressed with the dining room fare, "We have bread only twice a day, morning and evening, but we have very excellent Milk, and Butter, and probably the best Catfish found in the World." He noticed the "pig's trough, which is immediately under the side of the fort," but made it no clearer whether the pigs were housed inside or outside the palisades. He made reference to a bell ringing at sunrise; it was the signal to open the gate. However, Sprague's sketches do not show the bell tower that appears in paintings done several years later.

One day, 14 braves arrived, their faces painted black to show that they were a war party. They were allowed to stay in the Indian house just inside the front gate. However, Culbertson took their drum away because of the noise. Later, another group of Assiniboins were allowed to spend the night in the space between the outer and inner gates. During the night they built a large fire in that small apace; Audubon thought it "a wonder that the whole establishment was not destroyed by fire."

Sprague's drawings indicate that the bourgeois' house was still only one and one-half stories high. However, Denig's description of that year stated there was a porch. Audubon confirmed this by saying, "It was so hot I am going to sleep on the gallery again." Also, Denig made reference to Audubon and Squires sleeping on the porch.

When Larpenteur described the building of the new storerooms in 1835, he made many references to the carters hauling rock. Audubon mentioned planning to go to the quarry "from which the stones for the powder magazine were brought." This quarry probably was the one for which a bridge was built back in the 1830's to allow the carters to speed their operations.

Audubon also confirmed that the fort still operated a "ferry flat" large enough to carry a cart across the river. On one occasion, he went across with a cart and drove on "an old abandoned road, filled with fallen timber and bushes" on the south side. The reference to fallen timber supports Catlin's painting which shows a great deal of timber on the south shore, an area that is open, cultivated land today.

Both Audubon and Sprague referred to six-pounders at the fort firing salutes to departing mackinaws and keel boats. Denig at this time mentioned only three-pounders. Audubon further complicated this matter when he described the departure of Chardon for the Black foot country, "The flag of Fort Union was hoisted, the four pounder run out of the front gate. . . . The keel boat had a brass swivel on her bows, and fired first, then off went the larger gun."

Also contradictory were Audubon's references to the garden. As it had been in the lush summer of 1835, the garden was located in the coulee one-half mile east of the fort. In this year, the gardeners had much trouble from stealing by the employees of Fort Mortimer. Audubon said this stealing became so bad the garden was abandoned. But, later, he told of Crees pulling up squash vines and turnips and tearing down the pickets around the garden. Apparently there were some vegetables left, for "we all turned to, and picked a quantity of peas, which with a fine roast pig, made us a capital dinner."

One day, Audubon and some companions went for a walk in the hills just north of the fort: "From the top of the hills we saw a grand panorama of a most extensive wilderness, with Fort Union beneath us and far away, as well as the Yellowstone River, and the lake across the river. The hills across the Missouri appeared quite low, and we could see the high prairie beyond, forming the background." The view is very much the same today. [29]

One adventure of Audubon's at Fort Union badly misfired. He was desirous of acquiring an Indian's skull and persuaded Edwin Denig to help him remove one from an Indian scaffold burial. The two of them set off on the morning of July 2 "with a bag and instruments, to take off the head of a three-years-dead Indian chief." They succeeded in removing the head, but they could not get the coffin back up in the tree. Somewhat shaken, they buried everything. [30]

Turning to Harris' journal we find still more descriptive material. When he first saw the fort, he wrote that it was "constructed on a plan similar to the others, excepting that the logs which, in others, are planted in the ground are here framed, on a stone foundation, as to form a gallery from which a besieged party may fire over the ramparts at the enemy. The building and appointments throughout are," he thought, "of a description superior to any Fort we have seen on the river."

Nearly all the forts along the Missouri had a chantier, or boatyard, usually located in a suitable growth of timber. Here the workmen built mackinaws, skiffs, and canoes for river transportation. The chantier at Fort Union seems to have changed from time to time as suitable timber was exhausted at any one point. In 1843, it appears that the boats (a mackinaw and a skiff were under construction) were built right at Fort Union. The timber came from the woods across the river. This arrangement came to light when Harris described the mysterious disappearance of the scow used for crossing the river. "This is a serious loss," he wrote, "particularly at this time as they are very busy in building and fitting out the Mackinaw boat for Mr. Kipp to ascend the Yellowstone to the Crow establishment. . . they also have a skiff building for our use, and the men have to cross the river two or three times a day to work out the timber in the woods." Also crossing the river daily were men who were burning charcoal on the south side for the blacksmith.

Harris took a great interest in the condition of the competitor, Fort Mortimer. When a Mr. Collins there became ill, Harris visited him regularly acting the role of "doctor." On one occasion he took Audubon with him, the two of them riding down in Fort Union's carryall. Conditions at Mortimer were miserable after the flooding of the Yellowstone. The rain beat into the shanty where Collins was trying to recover, and the fort had virtually run out of food.

He also spent much of his time exploring the countryside. Once, when riding in the vicinity of "Garden river," he spotted a wolf. He also visited "Wormwood Prairie," 1-1/2 miles above the fort to the west, where in good years (such as 1843), the men mowed hay, "It is a beautiful bottom prarie [sic] covered with a sort of blue-stemmed grass said to be of the best quality." Harris and Bell spent July 4 deer hunting in a ravine leading off from this prairie to the north. On another occasion, Larpenteur took Harris and Audubon on a wagon trip to some sandstone hills about two miles north of the fort. They spent some time looking for fossils, but without success. [31]

Of the three diariests, Isaac Sprague was easily the most enthusiastic about the strange and wonderful way of life of the fur traders, although, worried about his health, he held back from full participation in it. He had barely arrived when Culbertson performed a dramatic pursuit. When someone spotted a wolf running across the prairie, Culbertson "immediately mounted his horse and proceeded in pursuit of him. In a very short time he came up with him and shot him while running at full speed, and in less than 20 minutes the wolf was brought into the fort."

Another feat that impressed Sprague was a demonstration by the batter riders and shots of the fort: "Several of them rode out about 3/4 of a mile from the fort starting from thence with unloaded guns, and while running that short distance at full speed they managed to lend fire from 9 to 11 times." With admiration, he wrote, "The horses are guided by inclining the body to either side, the reins being thrown loose upon the neck, leaving both hands free to use the gun."

His respect for Culbertson no doubt increased when the bourgeois presented the painter with "a beautiful Indian dress consisting of a Shirt Leggins and Mantle all of which are made of skins of various animals and highly ornamented with porcupine quills pieces of shells etc." He noted that July 4 passed without a celebration, a situation that appears to have occurred more often than not at Fort Union. A few days later, he visited the place about one mile from the fort where the Assiniboins placed their dead on scaffolds. After that, he crossed the river to sketch his views of Fort Union from the south side.

At least once more during the summer, Culbertson showed off for his visitors' pleasure. One afternoon, he, Owen McKenzie (the half-breed son of Kenneth McKenzie), and none other than Squires, "arranged in Indian Costume, accompanied by two Blackfeet squaw, in native dress made a grand display on horseback. They performed a number of evolutions on the prairie, and rode to the hills where they espied a wolf to which they gave chase and shot--and after returned to the fort at full speed." What a time to live! What a place to be!

Sprague was fascinated by the sight of Indians eating buffalo; they "eat the brain, the inner coat of the nostrils, etc. raw!" They also ate raw the liver and the stomach lining, or tripe. Sprague tried the latter, "but did not relish it much. Though I could eat it about as well as any tripe."

As his days at Fort Union grew short in number, Sprague became philosophical. Concerning the fort's employees, "Here far from civilization, the traders pass the best of their days--some from a Love of adventure some for gain--and others for crime are driven from civilized society." He doubted if he would ever meet any of them again. [32]

Before he left Fort Union, Audubon persuaded the post's bookkeeper, Edwin Thompson Denig, to write a description of the establishment. Denig put down in 2,000 words the most complete description of the post known to exist. Although several important changes occurred in the fort's appearance after 1843, Denig's description remains a basic document. Several quotations from this description have already appeared in this report. The entire article is included as an appendix; elsewhere its contents appear in the separate structural descriptions. Audubon possibly agreed with Denig's thought that the fur traders did indeed "enjoy at least the semblance of living like their more quiet, though not more useful brothers in the United States." [33]

Kenneth McKenzie returned to Fort Union in the autumn of 1844. It was not a pleasure trip nor a journey of reminiscences. Persuaded by Pierre Chouteau, Jr., that affairs on the upper Missouri were so bad, because of mismanagement (particularly because of Francis Chardon's firing a cannon at a group of Indians who had come in to Fort McKenzie to trade), as to need his attention, McKenzie had reluctantly agreed to leave his wife and business to spend the winter of 1844-45 on the upper Missouri. Unfortunately, no record of his stop at Fort Union has been uncovered. He wrote his wife from Fort Pierre, October 27, that "in a few days. . . we will start again for Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellow Stone River." Later, in an effort to settle his accounts with the company, he stated that "at great inconvenience, & loss to his private affairs, [he] . . . visited the trading posts. . . for the purpose of examining into the Company's affairs there, and of pacifying the Indians." He had no doubts about the success of his trip, "after spending some seven months there so occupied, he left the country in a peaceable state, and the trade revived & prosperous." For this task, McKenzie asked reimbursement to the tune of ten thousand dollars. He was no longer the king of the upper Missouri, but there was still a good deal about him that was princely in nature.