There seemed to be quite a bit of interest with Yellowstone Kelly and his arrival at the site that he helped build into Fort Ransom. Unfortunately the passage about Fort Ransom is small. He does tell about living conditions at the fort.
Writing in 1926, he says, “Judged by the standards of the present day our situation was cheerless enough. We constructed rude quarters of logs, floored with boards and lighted by candles. Our daily ration consisted of salt pork, bacon, beans, rice, dried apples, and peaches, together with coffee and tea. We always had sweet fresh bread, however, and were supplied beef by contract. Notwithstanding our rude quarters and simple fare, we were as happy and cheerful as soldiers could be.
“For the evening meal we marched through a dark corridor, cold as ice, to the kitchen where the cook and his assistant dished out a pint of tea and a good-sized chunk of bread, while as a side there was usually a plate of cold boiled pork from which each soldier might help himself. Having procured our share of pork, we returned with it to our quarters, where we ate our meal.” He concludes the passage with, “It was early spring when I left Fort Ransom.”
Kelly went on to a life of adventure and become friends with some of the well-known names of the West. With Teddy Roosevelt ending his term as president, he invited some of them for a farewell luncheon at the White House. Included in the group were Deadwood sheriff Seth Bullock, chief of the Forest Service Gifford Pinchot, and Luther S. Kelly. TR had first met Yellowstone Kelly on the Little Missouri when he ranched in the Badlands.
Yours truly enjoys stories about the early frontier days of Dakota Territory, especially those where Ransom County was the setting. AND there are lots of them that should be preserved in a modern format.
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