7/3/2011:
On this date in 1876, Captain Grant Marsh and his steamboat, the Far West, embarked on their famous 700-mile dash from Fort Pease, Montana to Bismarck. Carrying wounded troopers from the ill-fated Battle of the Little Big Horn, the Far West set a new record as it hurtled down the river at 13 mph, even risking night travel on the treacherous waters. Just 54 hours after the leaving the mouth of the Big Horn, the steamboat reached Bismarck and relayed the fate of the Seventh Cavalry to the rest of the nation.
One hundred and twenty years later, the US Postal Service honored the Far West steamer by featuring it in a series of 32-cent Riverboat stamps.
Dakota Datebook written by Christina Sunwall
Sources:
“Riverboats Issue.” Arago: People, Postage & the Post. Smithsonian National Postal Museum.
Grover, David H "FAR WEST: Custer's Steamboat with Spurs". Sea Classics. FindArticles.com. 10 Jun, 2011. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200901/ai_n31170108/