553 - Lewis and Clark Riverboat - Grant Marsh
Quite possibly one of the greatest Missouri River steamboat captains was Grant Marsh, who lived from 1834-1916. His story, one of historical feats, is legendary on both the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers.
His work on steamboats began at twelve years old on the Ohio River in Pennsylvania. Marsh moved to St. Louis in 1852 and worked on boats in the St. Louis to Omaha trade. By 1858, he was a first mate on the A.B. Chambers No. 2, on which he was assisted by Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, who was unknown at the time. During the Civil War, Grant Marsh worked in the Union Fleet on the lower Mississippi.
After the discovery of gold in Montana Territory in the early 1860s, the Missouri River served as a major artery for freight and passengers traveling between “the states” and Fort Benton, the birthplace of Montana. From 1862 to 1888, Grant Marsh was a prominent figure on the upper Missouri River, confidently navigating steamboats late in the season and even running the rapids in low water. During this period, Marsh was credited with piloting a boat carrying two and a half tons of gold, worth roughly $1,250,000, the most valuable shipment ever carried on the Missouri.
A riverboat pilot on the upper Missouri River was no easy task. Marsh contended with migrating buffalo herds, hostile Indians, and violent windstorms, as well as typical underwater hazards such as rapids, snags, and sandbars. From 1873 to 1879, Marsh piloted paddlewheel riverboats making pioneer voyages up the Yellowstone River in Montana, a tributary of the Missouri, deep into an area dominated by the Sioux, Crow, and Cheyenne tribes. Grant Marsh would make the highest upriver ascent of the Yellowstone River, arriving at a point just above present day Billings, Montana.
Among many trips up and down the Missouri River, one in particular is most often referenced and solidified his legacy as the finest riverboat captain who ever lived. That trip happened in 1876 when he was piloting the Far West. The steamboat was accompanying a United States Army column that included Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Calvary. The army column was part of the Great Sioux War of 1876, with the Battle of Little Bighorn, often known as “Custer’s Last Stand”, on June 25 and 26 of 1876. After the battle, Grant Marsh piloted the Far West down the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers to Bismarck, carrying wounded cavalry troopers from the site of defeat of Lt. Colonel Custer. Marsh delivered the first news of the “Custer Massacre” which was dispersed to the nation via telegraph from Bismarck. Marsh, king of the Missouri River, became noteworthy in riverboat lore, setting a downriver steamboat record, traveling 710 river miles in 54 hours.
A decline of riverboats on Montana rivers occurred in the 1880s, due largely in part to the railroad. Marsh continued to work as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi and the lower Missouri river. The finest riverboat pilot who ever lived would end his storied career on the Missouri, staying active on the river as long as he could. Marsh died in 1916 in Bismarck and is buried on a bluff overlooking the river he spent much of his life on.