8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 176 



1941). In 1841 the first bona fide emigrants ascended this covered- 

 wagon route; in 1849 the emigration became a flood, spilling toward 

 the California gold fields (Ghent, 1929; Hafen and Rister, 1953, pp. 

 315-330). 



The Platte or Oregon Trail route, precursor of the first transcon- 

 tinental railroad, completed in 1869, demonstrated the virtues of the 

 Central Route overland to the Pacific Coast. However, for many 

 decades it was rivaled by the Missouri River as a major transconti- 

 nental route. From the time of Lewis and Clark until the completion 

 of other railroad bridges in Dakota Territory in the 1880's, the "Big 

 Muddy" was traveled by thousands of pioneers and hardy adventurers, 

 its tortuous banks becoming the setting of many small but vigorous 

 communities. 



To frontiersmen pushing out onto the prairies, accustomed to river 

 travel, the wide Missouri River rather than the shallow unnavigable 

 Platte was the obvious way west, and the fact that it made a decided 

 northward swing about 200 miles west of St. Louis was not a deter- 

 rent. This mighty stream was not only the key to the mysterious 

 and long-sought Western Sea, it was the royal road to riches through 

 the lucrative fur trade. After 1806 its role as a major transconti- 

 nental thoroughfare was insured, and soon trading posts began to 

 spring up near every Indian village (Chittenden, 1936, pp. 75-602). 

 Among the earliest of these was Bijou's (or Bisonette's) trading post 

 below the mouth of White River, set up by Manuel Lisa in 1812 

 while en route to the Arikara (Drumm, 1920, pp. 56-59). In 1822 

 two major establishments appeared farther upstream, just below the 

 S-shaped reverse called Big Bend, between present Chamberlain 

 and Pierre — the American Fur Co.'s Fort Recovery, and Fort Kiowa 

 alias Fort Lookout, a rival post of the Columbia Fur Co. In 1828 

 the great trading post of Fort Union was erected by the American 

 Fur Co. near the mouth of the Yellowstone River, while rival posts 

 were erected in the vicinity by Kipp, Campbell, and Sublette. About 

 1830 Fort Clark appeared at Knife River, and Fort Pierre and Fort 

 Laframboise were erected at Bad River near present Pierre (Wilson 

 and De Land, 1902; Abel, 1932). In 1845 the American Fur Co. 

 established Fort Berthold at the great bend at the Mandan Villages 

 where the Missouri River makes its final swing westward. 



There were a few occasions when officials launched expeditions 

 upriver to subjugate or parley with the Indians — notably the Leaven- 

 worth expedition of 1823 and the Atkinson-O'Fallon expedition of 

 1825 — but fur traders dominated the scene until the 1850's, when 

 Indian troubles on the Plains brought the United States Army into 

 the picture. 



In 1855 General Harney, after chastising Sioux Indians on the 

 Platte, led his cavalry overland from Fort Laramie and took over 



