Читать книгу Vigilante Days and Ways. The pioneers of the Rockies; the makers and making of Montana and Idaho онлайн

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The Northern Overland Expedition, as it was called, left St. Paul on the sixteenth of June, 1862. It was confided to the leadership of Captain James L. Fisk, whose previous frontier experience and unquestioned personal courage admirably fitted him for the command of an expedition which owed so much of its final success, as well as its safety during a hazardous journey through a region occupied by hostile Indians, to the vigilance and discipline of its commanding officer. His first assistant was E. H. Burritt, and second assistant, N. P. Langford (the writer); Samuel R. Bond, secretary, David Charlton, engineer, Dr. W. D. Dibb, surgeon, and Robert C. Knox, wagon master. About forty men were selected from the company, who agreed, for their subsistence, to serve as guards during the journey. One hundred and twenty-five emigrants accompanied the expedition to Prickly Pear Valley. This company was thoroughly organized, and ready at all times for instant service while passing through Indian country. Fort Abercrombie, Devil’s Lake, Fort Union, Fort Benton,^[2] and Milk River were designated points of the route, and it was generally understood that the company should pursue as nearly as possible the trail of the exploring expedition under command of Governor Isaac I. Stevens in 1853.