Note 74 — Chapter XVIII · VOYAGE FROM MUSCLESHELL RIVER TO FORT MC KENZIE, FROM JULY 28TH TO AUGUST 9TH

For James Kipp see our volume xxii, p. 345, note 319. The site of this post was directly in the angle of the rivers on the west bank of the Missouri; it has since been swept away by the river. While the fort was building, Kipp requested the Indians to depart and return after seventy-five days, when to their surprise they found a completed structure. In the spring of 1832 most of the engagés declined to re-enter the service because of the hazardous situation of the post; moreover, the furs had to be transported to Fort Union. Kipp had, therefore, no alternative but to abandon the stockade, which the Indians soon burned. Three French-Canadians, having taken Blackfoot wives, remained with this tribe. See "Affairs at Fort Benton," in Montana Historical Society Contributions, iii, pp. 203-204.—Ed.