boat, was a noted character in the upper country and considered something of a desperado. He and McKenzie had a standing grudge between them relating to some former accounts. McKenzie was a great drinker and visited the Nellie Rogers in an intoxicated condition. Accounts differ as to what happened in detail, but the main fact is that Clark shot McKenzie in the cabin, killing him instantly. Whether he had sufficient provocation for his act, may never be known, unless some surviving witness of the tragedy, if there be any, shall tell the story; but tradition has handed down the act as a cold-blooded murder.
The deed came near resulting in more serious consequences than the loss of the victim's life. McKenzie, besides being a half-breed, was married among the Indians and was personally popular with them and with the white population of that country. A band of Indians were encamped near by and when they heard of McKenzie's murder, they were desperately wrought up over it and vowed summary vengeance. Father De Smet, it is said, interfered and prevented trouble and Clark was promptly hustled out of the way.(2)
After a time the ox trains came down from Fort Benton to transport the cargo the rest of the way. It was a long tedious journey of 350 miles, over parched plains, and in the heat of summer; but it was accomplished in safety. Father De Smet here met Father Imoda from St. Peter's on Sun river and turned over to him the articles destined for his mission, and the recruits whom he had brought with him.
"I had thus far fulfilled the wishes of my superiors," writes Father De Smet. "I had brought the two Italian Brothers to the first Rocky Mountain mission. My own principal object was a missionary visit to the wandering tribes of the plains. This I had accomplished only in part.
(2) There is a tradition that Father De Smet married Clark to his second wife,