Moving Freight

 Without elaborating, the newspaper in Sheldon printed a simple statement in their first issue declaring, “Prairie schooners are passing westward almost everyday.” It’s fun to imagine those ox, mule, or horse drawn white canvas topped wagons moving across the tall grass prairie singly or with others. At the end of their journey they found places to settle and build farms and communities. Rails had only begun lacing the countryside, so  how did settlers come by the goods they needed? They depended on those freight hauling wagons drawn by oxen, mules, and horses  that brought them here in the first place. 

A great story came out of Bismarck on the Missouri River that illustrates the movement of freight to satisfy the wants and needs of settlers. Prior to the arrival of the Northern Pacific in 1873, a settlement had sprouted and residents wanted cooked food to fill their stomachs. Iron stoves could not be purchased. Those stoves were manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio, but no direct route existed. A new stove took quite a journey to reach Bismarck. 

At a Cleveland dock on the Ohio River stoves were loaded on a steamboat and rode southwesterly until reaching Cairo, Illinois where that river converged with the Mississippi River. Then the stove hauling steamboat headed mostly northward until reaching St. Louis, Missouri. Here it reached its confluence with the Missouri River. A long trip still awaited, but the Missouri River would take them to Bismarck and beyond with that desired cargo. 

A person ordering a stove had to be very patient because the trip took some time. I can’t guess, but I do know some of that freight never made it. While traveling during one of our road trips we visited a museum near Kansas City that paid tribute to a sunken steamboat named Arabia. After striking a submerged object in the river it sank in 1856, 169 years ago. Through the years the river changed course and skirted the site of the wreck, silt and dirt covered it over, and then in 1988 it was rediscovered and dug up in a farmer’s field.

Many goods intended for settlers never made it. Over two hundred tons of material have been salvaged, and it is probable more might still be buried. Exhibits in the Arabia Museum include a wide range of salvaged goods, including lamps, dishes, silverware, cookware, firearms, shoes, buttons, hammers, saws, and yes, stoves. A great narrative with plenty of pictures can be found by searching for the Arabia wreck on the internet.

River and railroad traffic could only supply some of the demand. Hauling goods and material still required wagons pulled by oxen, mules, and horses. In 1863, General Sibley entered the territory with about 3,300 uniformed men. Their intent was to punish the Indians for their undesired behavior in the Minnesota Uprising. Imagine the army’s appetite at the end of a long marching day. To satisfy their hunger 225 mule-drawn wagons bearing foodstuffs and material plus a herd of cattle accompanied the army. The men who drove the mule teams became known as teamsters.

At least one of the teamsters who drove mule teams returned to make his home in the area. In the old Owego Church cemetery I spotted a lonely military gravestone standing by itself. One of the words engraved on it identified him as a “Wagoner.” The inscription identified the man as James M. Kinney, Wagoner, Co. B, 10 Minn. Inf. I have found a roster of these men and Kinney’s name is included. He earned a bit of fame when the editor of the Sheldon noted how he had walked sixteen miles through the snow into town to catch the next day’s westbound train to Lisbon where he wanted to stay at the soldier’s home. He entertained some of the boys that evening telling them about his experiences.

Another teamster living in the area is buried in the Sheldon cemetery. John T. Hickey wound up driving a supply wagon at a famous historical event known as Custer’s Last Stand. The headline of the local paper referred to him as Reno’s freighter. My reading of history tells me that Custer rode into the area and thought he would hit the Indian encampment at three different points. Major Reno led the detachment to which Hickey was assigned.  I’d like to have been in the presence of the man when he “often related with much vividness the stirring times of encounters with the savage Indian tribes that roamed over the state.” When he brought his family to Sheldon to settle he managed a large livery stable across from the NP depot.

Today we only need to drive along an interstate highway to see multitudes of semi-trucks hauling goods from place to place. And who drives them? Teamsters. A large union represents their membership, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.