Grant Marsh facts for kids

Grant Marsh was a famous riverboat captain.

Grant Prince Marsh (born May 11, 1834 – died January 1916) was a very skilled riverboat pilot and captain. He was famous for his trips on the Missouri River and the Yellowstone River in Montana from 1862 to 1882. He started working on boats in 1856 as a cabin boy. Over 60 years, he became a captain, pilot, and even owned riverboats. People called him "possibly the greatest steamboat man ever" because of his amazing skills and reputation. He worked on more than 22 different boats!

When gold was found in Montana in the early 1860s, the Missouri River became the main way to transport goods and people. Boats traveled from "the states" all the way to Fort Benton, which was as far as boats could go. The last 300 miles of the trip were through wild lands. As a pilot, Marsh faced many challenges. These included huge buffalo herds, strong winds, and dangerous parts of the river like rapids, hidden logs (snags), and sandbars.

In the 1860s and 1870s, the Yellowstone River went deep into lands where the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Crow tribes lived. From 1873 to 1879, Marsh piloted special shallow boats called paddle wheel riverboats. He made early trips up the Yellowstone River in Montana to help military groups exploring the area. In 1875, he took the boat Josephine further up the Yellowstone River than anyone before, reaching a spot near where Billings, Montana, is today.

Grant Marsh is best known for a special event in 1876. He was the pilot of the steamboat Far West. This boat was helping a U.S. Army group that included Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry. This army group was part of the Great Sioux War of 1876. The most famous battle of this war was the Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as "Custer's Last Stand," on June 25–26, 1876. After the battle, from June 30 to July 3, 1876, Marsh piloted the Far West down the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers to Bismarck. He carried 51 wounded soldiers from the battle site. He brought the first news of the "Custer Massacre" to the country by telegraph from Bismarck. Marsh set a record for riverboat speed, traveling about 710 miles in just 54 hours!

After railroads became popular in the 1880s, riverboats were used less on Montana rivers. Marsh continued to work as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi and lower Missouri Rivers. He worked on ferry boats, boats that removed snags, and boats that carried large loads. He remained a steamboat man until he died in 1916 at 82 years old.

Early Life and River Adventures

Grant Marsh started working on the Allegheny River when he was only 12 years old. He was a cabin boy. In 1858, he became a first mate and learned to be a pilot under Samuel Clemens (who later became the famous writer Mark Twain) on the Mississippi River. When the Civil War began in 1861, Marsh worked on riverboats. He helped transport soldiers and supplies for the Union army during battles like Fort Donalson and Shiloh. In 1862, he worked on the Mississippi during the Vicksburg campaign. After that, in 1862, he began working on boats going up the Missouri River. He carried army supplies and troops for battles against Native American tribes in the Dakota Territory.

Navigating the Wild Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers

After gold was found in western Montana in 1862, steamboats began carrying people and goods to Fort Benton, Montana. This was the end point for boats on the "upper Missouri" River. The trip from St. Louis to Fort Benton often took 60 days or even longer. Carrying goods and people was very profitable. Just one successful trip could pay for an entire shallow-draft riverboat!

The last 300 miles of the river had rapids and went through a wild area called the "Missouri breaks." Steamboats would leave St. Louis early in the spring. They tried to get past the rapids when the water levels were high in mid-to-late June. Then, they would try to get back downstream over the rapids before the water got too low and dangerous. A boat that stayed too late risked getting stuck in low water or even frozen in the ice.

Marsh was a very important person in steamboat travel on the upper Missouri River. He worked there from the time gold was discovered in 1862 until 1888. He was so confident in his piloting skills that he would operate on the upper Missouri even late in the season. He would run the rapids when the water was low. In 1866, he became Captain of the Louella when he was 34. He took the Louella to Fort Benton. He then stayed until September, carrying a load of miners who were catching the last boat of the summer. They had $1,250,000 in gold, which was the most valuable shipment ever carried on the Missouri.

In 1868, Marsh took the Nile upriver during the fall. He kept the boat safe over the winter and successfully returned downriver in the spring. In late 1869, he took the North Alabama upstream with vegetables. Even though there was a risk of getting stuck in ice, he went all the way to the mouth of the Yellowstone River. He delivered fresh food to Fort Buford.

Marsh faced special challenges as a pilot and captain on the upper Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. He met Native Americans who sometimes shot at his boat. He was delayed by huge buffalo herds crossing the river in front of him. He had to use ropes and winches to pull his boat up rapids where the current was very strong. He would attach a rope to a tree or a strong post planted in the riverbank. He also learned to "grasshopper" his way over sandbars when the water was low. This meant sinking long poles (spars) from the front of the boat to the river bottom. Then, a steam-powered winch would pull the front of the boat up onto the spars. This would slide the boat forward a few feet. He repeated this process until the boat was across the sandbar.

The Coulson Packet Company

In 1871, Captain Marsh joined with Commodore Sanford B. Coulson and other important businessmen. They formed the Coulson Packet Company. This company quickly became famous in the history of the Missouri River. Their goal was to control all the steamboat business on the upper Missouri River. The boats they owned included the Far West, Nellie Peck, Western, Key West, E. H. Durfee, Sioux City, and Mary McDonald.

The new company quickly became known for being reliable. They were good at moving goods and leading their crews. In the 1870s, they worked for the military. They hauled supplies to army posts along the Missouri River. They also ferried army explorers and survey teams up the Yellowstone River. Marsh helped in military expeditions. He made important early trips on the Yellowstone, like the highest trip up the river (to just above present-day Billings, Montana) in the shallow boat Josephine in 1875.

Piloting the Far West

Grant Marsh is most often remembered in history as the steamboat pilot and captain of the Far West. On July 3, 1876, he brought the first news to Bismarck about the "Custer Massacre." This event happened on the Little Bighorn River in Montana on June 25, 1876. On the Far West were 50 soldiers who had been wounded in the battle. In an amazing display of riverboat piloting, Marsh brought the Far West from the mouth of the Little Bighorn River, down the Bighorn to the Yellowstone River, then to the Missouri, and finally down to Bismarck. He made this trip from June 30 to July 3, 1876, in just four days. He rarely left the steering wheel. He traveled about 710 river miles in only 54 hours. This set a record for steamboat travel that is still remembered today.

Grant Marsh's home in Yankton, South Dakota.

Later Career and Legacy

After 1876, Marsh continued to work on the Missouri River. In late 1877, he left the Coulson Packet Co. In the spring of 1878, he started working with Joseph Leighton and Walter B. Jordan. These men were traders at Fort Buford, North Dakota Territory. The traders wanted to get into the transport business. They had bought a steamboat being built in Pittsburgh, called the F.Y. Batchelor. Marsh traveled to Pittsburgh and brought the boat to the Dakota Territory. In 1878, 1879, 1880, and 1881, he piloted the F.Y. Batchelor up the Missouri and then up the Yellowstone. He brought supplies to Fort Keogh (near present-day Miles City, Montana) and Fort Custer (near present-day Hardin, Montana).

In August 1878, Marsh set another steamboat speed record. He piloted the Batchelor from Bismarck to Fort Buford, a distance of 307 miles, in just 55 hours and 25 minutes. This was a new speed record for traveling upstream on the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers.

In 1879, Marsh bought a ferry boat called the Andrew S. Bennett. This boat operated between Bismarck and Mandan on the Missouri River. He hired another pilot to run the ferry while he continued to pilot the F.Y. Batchelor.

In 1881 and 1882, the Northern Pacific Railroad built tracks west from Bismarck, Dakota Territory. The tracks went to the Yellowstone River valley, and then up the valley and over the mountains. This railroad building ended most riverboat traffic on the Yellowstone River.

In 1882, Marsh bought his own riverboat, the W.J. Behan. He continued to carry goods and people on the Missouri River from Bismarck. In 1882, the Sioux Chief Sitting Bull returned from Canada. He had sought safety there in 1877 after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He surrendered to the Army at Fort Randal with his remaining followers. In late April 1883, Marsh was asked to take the W.J. Behan up the Missouri to Fort Randal. His job was to transport Sitting Bull downstream to the Standing Rock Reservation.

By 1883, steamboat traffic on the Missouri was decreasing as railroads expanded. Marsh sold the W.J. Behan and moved from Bismarck to Memphis, Tennessee, and then to St. Louis. There were still jobs for steamboat pilots on the Mississippi River, and Marsh continued to work. For the next twelve years, he operated ferry boats and tug boats on the Mississippi. After that, he did various other jobs.

This statue of Grant Marsh is in Riverside Park, Yankton, South Dakota.

In 1901, a businessman named William D. Washburn built a railroad to the Missouri River above Bismarck. He also bought a large area of land that was quickly being settled. Washburn also bought several small, light-draft steamboats and barges. He used them to carry lumber and goods upriver from Bismarck to the settlers. He also brought grain and other farm products downriver. Washburn found Marsh in St. Louis and asked him to return to Bismarck to work as a riverboat captain. In 1902, Marsh returned to Bismarck and continued his career on the upper Missouri River. He was in command of the river snag-boat Choctaw.

In 1904, Washburn sold his businesses in Dakota to the Minneapolis and St. Paul Railroad. This railroad immediately sold all the steamboats and barges to Isaac P. Baker. Baker then started a new company called the Benton Packet Company. The Missouri River valley was filling with new settlers who were claiming land on both sides of the river. These new communities did not have railroads. Baker saw a chance to provide transport for people and goods to this growing population along the Missouri River. Baker made his company bigger to include five steamboats, six barges, and two ferryboats.

Marsh continued to work with the Benton Packet Company. At different times, he served as captain or pilot of each of the five steamboats. He also operated a "snag" boat. This boat traveled up and down the river, removing sunken trees and other obstacles from underwater.

Grant Marsh died in Bismarck, North Dakota, on January 6, 1916. He was buried in a simple grave in Bismarck's St. Mary's Cemetery. A large rock serves as his tombstone, with a picture of a riverboat carved into it.

Memorials to Grant Marsh

Grant Marsh is remembered with statues and places named after him.

• The I-94 Grant Marsh Bridge over the Missouri River at Bismarck, North Dakota, was built in 1965 and rebuilt in 2001.
• There is a life-size statue of Captain Grant Pierce Marsh. It overlooks the Missouri River at Riverside Park in Yankton, South Dakota. The words on it say, "Captain Grant Prince Marsh, 1834-1916, Steamboat captain, Pilot and Riverman. 'He never flinched at the call of duty'."
• The Grant Marsh fishing access and wildlife management area is on the Bighorn River, 7 miles north of Hardin, Montana.
• The old railroad station and ghost town of Marsh in Dawson County, Montana, was on the Northern Pacific Railroad. It was located between Terry, Montana, and Glendive, Montana.
• A Liberty Ship, built in 1943 during World War II, was first named for Grant P. Marsh. However, the ship was finished as the Valery Chkalov and given to the USSR as part of a loan.

Images for kids

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  Grant Marsh home, 513 Douglas St., Yankton, South Dakota. The home is used as an office and classroom by the adjacent Christ Episcopal Church.

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  This statue of Grant Marsh is in Riverside Park, Douglas Avenue & Levee Street, Yankton, South Dakota.