We Should Observe That This Year, The Rocky Mountain Company Were
Pushing Their Way Up The Rivers, And Establishing Rival
Posts
near those of the American Company; and that, at the very time of
which we are speaking, Captain Sublette
Was ascending the
Yellowstone with a keel boat, laden with supplies; so that there
was every prospect of this eager rivalship being carried to
extremes.
The last band of Crow warriors had scarcely disappeared in the
clouds of dust they had raised, when our voyagers arrived at the
mouth of the river and glided into the current of the
Yellowstone. Turning down this stream, they made for Fort Cass,
which is situated on the right bank, about three miles below the
Bighorn. On the opposite side they beheld a party of thirty-one
savages, which they soon ascertained to be Blackfeet. The width
of the river enabled them to keep at a sufficient distance, and
they soon landed at Fort Cass. This was a mere fortification
against Indians; being a stockade of about one hundred and thirty
feet square, with two bastions at the extreme corners. M'Tulloch,
an agent of the American Company, was stationed there with twenty
men; two boats of fifteen tons burden were lying here; but at
certain seasons of the year a steamboat can come up to the fort.
They had scarcely arrived, when the Blackfeet warriors made their
appearance on the opposite bank, displaying two American flags in
token of amity. They plunged into the river, swam across, and
were kindly received at the fort.
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