The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

The following article about Fort Assinniboine as seen through the eyes of Dr. John Carroll was written for “The Mountaineer” in 1930. Dr. Carroll was slated to go on an adventure to the North Pole during his tenure at Fort Assinniboine but did not go. The article was given “The Mountaineer” by Midge Edwards. Why coal banks are not capitalized in the story remains a mystery.

It was 51 years ago, June 17, 1879 that Dr. John V. Carroll, now a resident of Great Falls but at that time a private soldier in the 18th United States Infantry, stepped from a Missouri river steamboat at the coal banks bound for the then recently established regular army post of Fort Assinniboine.

Assinniboine was then but a tent camp. No buildings having been erected. Troubles with the Indians, culminating in the Custer massacre, the battle of the Big Hole and Bear Paw but three years previous. With the knowledge that the troublesome Sitting Bull and many of his followers were just across the line in Canada from where they made occasional forays upon American territory, had prompted the establishing of forces at several points in Montana.

Among the several posts to be established under this condition of affairs was Fort Assinniboine, nearest to the Canadian line and but a few miles south of where the city of Havre was later established.

Assinniboine was but a collection of tents upon a flat just west of Beaver Creek and it was manned by a small force of regulars when Carroll and a party of 200 recruits arrived from New York.

This party, which had been recruited at David’s island, New York harbor and had been brought out into the then wild west under the charge of Capt. Walter Clifford and First Lt. George S. Young, both of the 7th infantry, disembarked June 17, 1879 coal banks from the steamer upon which they had made the journey up the Missouri from Bismarck. The coal banks, which was a point merely touched by steamers on their way up to Fort Benton and the point where the government unloaded its men and materials for the new army post, is near the present town of Virgelle where the Great Northern leaves the Missouri river going towards Big Sandy.

Five days were consumed by this bunch of recruits in its march from the steamer landing to the fort although the distance was not as great as this space of time might indicate. During the season 1879, work was commenced upon the erection of permanent buildings at the post under the direction of Major Lee of the quartermaster’s department and during that year he constructed the first set of barracks, four long, low, brick building sufficient to accommodate eight companies of men. These buildings are among the few still standing and subsequently constructed houses having been since demolished following the abandonment of the post by the government.

This lack of accommodations necessitated the billeting out of several companies of soldiers during this first year. In September of that year four companies were detached temporarily and sent to more completely equipped regular army posts in the territory. These four companies left Fort Assinniboine in a body and march overland to their next winter quarters. Two companies were left at Fort Shaw, which post was later transformed into an Indian school, one dropped off at Helena where it march eastward across the mountains to old Fort Logan, of which some portions are still standing in Meagher county on the road to White Sulphur Springs and Co. D, to which young Carroll was attached went on to Fort Ellis, one of the earliest of the Montana posts which stood near the site of the present city of Bozeman. This latter company remained at Fort Ellis for 10 months until it was ordered back to Fort Assinniboine.

It was a desire to get away from cities and into the wide open spaces that prompted young Carroll to enlist in the regular army. He was a native of New York, born there February 14, 1854, had been educated in the schools of that city and studied at Washington and Lee university for a time had put a year at St. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit college in New York City, and had been a student of the medical department of the University of New York.

Carroll enlisted March 27, 1879 and was assigned to the 18th infantry being attached to a party of green soldiers being sent out to build up the usually short companies of regulars in the Indian country. When Captain Clifford learned at David’s Island that Carroll had been a medical student he detailed him to look after the health of the men en route, no regular surgeon having been assigned to the party.

As a result Carroll served in the medical corps during all the years he spent at Fort Assinniboine, being appointed hospital steward of the first class in 1883. Two years later the War department gave him a seven months leave of absence which he devoted to the study of medicine in New York, receiving his medical degree in March 1886.

Carroll concluded his army service in July, 1888 when he went to the Fort Belknap Indian agency having three months earlier been appointed agency surgeon.

Dr. Carroll tells that while coming up the Missouri on the boat in 1879 the craft ran into a herd of buffalo estimated to contain 20,000 of those plains animals which were crossing the river from north south. The boat was compelled to slow down which passing through the herd and some of the officers indulged in the then sporting pastime of wantonly slaughtering them. Carroll stood behind Captain Clifford who shot buffaloes until he was tired. Probably 200 were killed he says and a few of the cows were lifted on board for fresh meat.

Dr. Carroll tells on an expedition sent out from Assinniboine in the winter of 1879-1880 to head off Sitting Bull who had come into the territory from Canada with a large number of followers.

“We left Assinniboine on January 10 or 11, 1880 with the temperature at 13 degrees below zero,” said Dr. Carroll. “Every available man was taken under orders to head Sitting Bull off and to prevent him from coming west there were 12 companies of men, 150 packers and teamsters and about 50 Indian scouts, Assinniboine and Gros Ventres under command of Lt. Col. Henry M. Black.”

“We went as far and the big bend of the Milk river about where the town of Malta is now and there we established a permanent camp, being equipped with Sibley tents. The snow was very deep and the temperature got as low as 55 below zero. I slept in a tent on a pile of rubber ponchos and buffalo robes and during two awfully cold nights kept on my clothing, my buffalo lined overcoat, shoes and 12 hospital blankets piled upon me and still I was cold. Sitting Bull had about 25 of his young bucks watching us and it was reported that three of them froze to death. It was not until Feb. 5 that we got back to Bull Hook bottoms, now Havre.

Money was always not always plentiful around old Fort Assinniboine according to Dr. Carroll, and at one time the men received no pay for three months due to the failure of the army pay master to arrive. Major. John E. Blaine, a brother of James G. Blaine, secretary of State under President Garfield and the unsuccessful republican candidate for president in 1884, was paymaster with headquarters in Helena.

On one occasion he did now show up at the post for three months and when he did come the soldiers received four months pay in a lump.

This gave the men more money than they knew what to do with. There was no place to spend it away from the fort and some pretty stiff gambling games were pulled off.

One little corporal of the infantry, a drug addict then under Dr. Caroll’s care, who had joined the army with the main object of plying his trade as a professional gambler cleaned up $13,000.00 the night following this fourfold pay day.

Dr. Carroll was married at Fort Assinniboine, September 25, 1882 to Matilda Simpson of St. Paul who died in 1923. To them was born four children, three sons and a daughter, all of whom are living with the exception of one son, John V. Carroll Jr. who died in Great Falls in 1928, While Dr. Carroll was still at the fort he became interested in the cattle business with a small herd started and he used for his brand V4. The V being his middle initial and the 4 being the number of children he had.

When he removed to the Fort Belknap agency in 1888 he continued in the cattle business enlarging his holdings and ran cattle under other brands which he secured when he bought the cattle of Isaac Mee of Fort Benton. At one time he ran as many as 3000 head ranging in the Cat creek country and other parts of Fergus County and from the Missouri river north to the Canadian line. During the early stages of his cattle operations the whole north country was open range all of it being Indian reservation land until in 1889. Until the reservations were opened up and the railroad built to towns between the Poplar river Indian agency and Fort Benton there was no object in possessing land.

Dr. Carroll remained at the Indian agency until September 1896 when he went back east and took a post graduate course of one year at Ann Arbor. On his return to Montana he traveled with Charles N. Pray, now federal judge in this state, who had previously been an attorney for Armour and Company and was then returning to the state to engage in the general practice of law in Fort Benton.

The doctor located in Fort Benton to engage in the practice of his profession. He had previously become interested as a stockholder in the Stockman’s Northern Bank, the pioneer bank of north Montana which in 1889 had developed from the bank of Northern Montana organized in 1880 by T. E. Collins, Charles E. Duer and Aaron and L. H. Hirshfield.

Dr. Carroll became vice president of the bank, succeeding David Brereton, manager of the Power Brothers mercantile store when he later returned to Ireland. He remained as vice president of this bank until it was closed several years ago during the post-war period of depression. It was the only bank in northern Montana for a long period and the big bank of the north country up to the time of its closing.

Dr. Carroll removed to Great Falls in 1914 at which time he accepted the presidency of the First Mortgage Loan company, in which capacity he served for about a year. He is hale and hearty despite the fact that he has passed the 75 mile post, and takes much pleasure in recalling incidents of the days when northern Montana was an unbroken stretch of virgin sod and wire fences and highways were unknown.