that covered a period of twenty-five years, Bridger settled on a tract of land near New Santa Fe in Jackson county, Southeast of Kansas City. It was the old scout's custom to spend the summers on the plains and the winters at home. He died at his home, July 17, 1881. Bridger's reputation rested on the extraordinary part he had in the exploration of the West. Following is the record of his achievements, as given on his monument in Mount Washington cemetery in Kansas City: Discovered the Great Salt lake in 1824; the South pass in 1827; visited Yellowstone lake and the geysers in 1830; founded Fort Bridger in 1843; opened the overland route by Bridger's pass to the Great Salt lake; a guide for the United States exploring expeditions, Albert Sidney Johnson's army in 1857, G. M. Dodge in the Union Pacific railroad survey and the Indian campaigns of 1865-66. The immensity of the fur trade finally called for greater facilities for transportation and steamboat navigation had its beginning. To the Independence-John Nelson, captain-belongs the honor of making the first steamboat voyage up the Missouri river. Leaving St. Louis, May 15, 1819, the packet came as far as the mouth of the Chariton river, near Glasgow, Missouri. The boat stopped at Franklin in Howard county, May 28, on the up-trip and the officers were given a heartyy reception and a dinner. The Independence returned to St. Louis, June 15, 1819. Encouraged by the success of the Independence, a fleet of four steamboats, under the command of Major Stephen H. Long of the United States army, left St. Louis in June, 1819, for a voyage up the Missouri river. This excursion, partly scientific and partly military in its nature, is known in history as "Long's expedition." The major had instructions to proceed up the river to the mouth of the Yellowstone to ascertain if the upper part of the Missouri was navigable and, at the same time, to overawe the Indians with a military display. The boats that comprised Long's fleet were the Thomas Jefferson, the R. M. Johnson, the Expedition and the Western Engineer. At the mouth of the Osage river the Thomas Jefferson struck a snag and sank, and thus was the first steamboat to find a grave in the Missouri river. The Expedition and the R. M. Johnson went no farther than Cantonment Martin, arriving there, September 18, 1819. This military post, the first established in Kansas, was situated just below Atchison on an island, called by the French, "Isle au Vache" and by the Americans, "Cow Island." The troops on board went into winter quarters and the boats returned to St. Louis the following spring. The Western Engineer, which proved to be the only boat of the four adapted to river navigation, proceeded to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Within five years after Long's experiment steamboat navigation was in successful operation on the Missouri river. The first white settlement in Jackson county clustered about Fort Osage, established in the summer of 1808 on a tract six miles square ceded by the Osage Indians. The fortifications were on the high river bluff on the site of Old Sibley. Fort Osage for several years was on the extreme frontier border. The commander of the fort in 1809 was Captain Eli B. Clemson, First United States infantry. Fort Osage in the early days was an important military center and sometimes was headquarters for as many as one thousand men. A United States fort and factory were established there where the government bartered powder, traps and scalping knives for furs and peltry. The fort had an excellent boat landing at the base of the bluff and a natural harbor formed by an eddy in the river. The post was abandoned in 1825. Writing from Fort Osage, March 29, 1817, George C. Sibley, government agent for whom the town of Sibley was named, gave this account of one of his journeys to St. Louis: "In December, 1809, business called me to St. Louis. I traveled the country from Fort Osage eighty miles to Arrow Rock where I crossed the Missouri river by swimming. From thence I traveled in a direct course toward St. Charles one hundred and twenty miles before I came to a house or mark of civilized beings. In February, I returned to this place and in my route overtook the first families who came to Boone's Lick, who were in number about six or eight." Soon after Fort Osage was established, the Osage Indians, by treaty with the government relinquished the title to lands south of the Missouri river, except a strip twenty-four miles wide, lying eastward from the western boundary of the state and extending south from the Missouri river into the territory of Arkansas. No settlements of any consequence were made in Jackson county until the Indians relinquished the title to the twenty-four mile strip in a treaty June 2, 1825. Prior to 1830, few white families lived west of the Blue river. Missouri at that time was sparsely settled. The western half of the state had been inhabited by white men in part, not exceeding twenty years and the tide of immigration, although considered large at that time, was insignificant as compared with later movements of population. Several kinds of quaint craft were in use by the fur traders on the Missouri, Kaw and Blue rivers and other streams in the vicinity of Kansas City before the coming of the steamboats. The canoe of the Indian, of course, was the most familiar to the early pioneers. The Indians' canoes, or "dug-outs" were made from logs ten to twenty-five feet long. The |