was speaking of Fort Pierre, because of a journal kept in 1832 by the
trader at that place. It is largely a record of weather and water, but
has a touch or so of interest now and then--I made some notes from it.
Thus, I find that on June 24th the steamer _Yellowstone_ arrived, down
bound, and they put six hundred packs of buffalo robes on her. That boat
on the next day had on board one thousand three hundred packs of robes
and beaver. In the old trade a pack was ninety to one hundred pounds.

"On July 9th three bateaux got in from Fort Union with a lot of robes.
They loaded on one bateau one hundred and twenty packs of beaver and
other fur, and on another thirty packs of robes, and she was to take on
one hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty packs more at Yankton
post.

"On July 11th four bateaux left Fort Pierre for St. Louis, and they
carried three hundred and fifty-five packs of robes and ten thousand two
hundred and thirty pounds of beaver. And on July 30th another bateau
came down from Union with six thousand beaver skins on board.

"From this you can see something of the size of the big bateaux--or
Mackinaws--of that time, and something of the size of the fur trade as
well. And all the time the big river was outfitting the hardy pack-train
men who brought out fortunes in beaver from the rivers of the Rockies.
Great times, boys--great times! And all of that trade rested on the
Lewis and Clark expedition.

"You now have seen how important the mouth of the Yellowstone was--where
Fort Union was located in 1828. That was for a time pretty near the end
of the road, just as it was for Lewis and Clark a quarter century
earlier. Above there were the Blackfeet, and they were bad Indians.
About the first man up in there was James Kipp.

"Now I want to tell you something very curious--one of those things now
rapidly getting out of record and remembrance. James Kipp lived among
the Mandans and married there. He had a son, Joe Kipp, whom he once took
home to Illinois to educate, after he had left the trade and married a
white woman. He loved Joe, but told him he must never let it be known
that he was the Indian son of James Kipp, the respected white man.

"Well, the boy Joe couldn't stand that. He ran away up the river, and
never came back. He went back to his mother, a Mandan woman. In later
days, since the fur trade passed and the Indians all were put on
reservations, Joe Kipp was the post trader for years. He was