Chap. 5 - Stevenson Reaches His Wagons

A Story of a Stranded Wagon Train

Stevenson Reaches His Wagons

Chapter Five

While Stevenson’s stalled wagon train sat languishing in the riotous blizzard wind and snow, he knew something had happened when they didn’t arrive as expected at the Pigeon Point way station. He was having his own troubles traveling in the face of the storm, but being a determined man who hadn’t ever let adversity deter him, kept fighting through the deep snow. Many of the details of his journey will go unspoken, but what better than Stevenson’s own words to conclude our story:

“None of the men were lost, but most of the oxen were buried in the snow. The men had nothing to eat. I had provisions with me and relieved the men but the train was a sorry sight to see. Twenty-two oxen were buried under the snow, most of them dead. We shoveled out those still living and got them to the hay. One ox had tramped the snow under him as it fell until he had walked over a wagon box and was eating the boys’ bedding under the wagon covers.

“The loss probably would not have happened with an old trainman, but the foreman had taken sick and a man without much experience took his place. An experienced man would have cut the oxen loose and they would have found shelter.

“We took two wagon loads of hay and the mess tent and went on leaving four of the forty-five wagons and twenty-two dead oxen to thaw out in the spring. Some of the wagons could not be seen at all and others we could just see the top of the bows. We reached the bend at midnight. Some of the boys had not had a square meal for fifty hours. I have always blamed myself for not staying with them.

“I remained with the boys till they reached Abercrombie, turned over my pony team to McCauley and took the stage home, thus ending one of the worst trips experienced in my long life as a frontiersman. I have, however, remained on the frontier and will take pleasure in giving you further old-time experience on the plains.”

With that we conclude the story of the wagon train stalled near Lisbon in 1867. When reading microfilms of old newspapers, I’d often find serialized books where a chapter or two of the story appeared in each weekly edition of the paper. Those papers were an important source of education and entertainment for the pioneers, and those who loved reading without access to a library those stories were welcomed. These last five weeks have been my attempt to echo that format.

As for Stevenson he went on to live a full life of adventure and success. As a freighter, he owned many wagons and teams with which he provided the materials to build and support the new forts and settlements. The Black Hills gold strike gave him further fame since his wagons brought the first gold nuggets to Bismarck.He ended his years with ranching interests along the Cannonball River in Morton County and became a state legislator. I found it interesting many of the other historic names of the Dakota frontier came west while working as drovers for Stevenson. When his name came up as a nominee for the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, I played a small part in supporting his successful nomination for induction in 2007.