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The book Whoop-Up Country by Paul F. Sharpe was about the Whoop-Up Trail and a study of the Canadian-American frontier. This trail was one that connected Fort Benton in Montana to Fort McLeod in Alberta. Fort Benton was the commercial center of the region for fur and buffalo hide trading, while Fort McLeod was where the trail ended so both were very important along the trail. Law was pretty much non-existent along the trail, this was evident in a letter that “Snookum Jim” wrote to a friend in 1873. It went something like “My friend was being a jerk, so I shot him. Potatoes are doing really well this year though.” That made me laugh. Lawlessness was also apparent in the fur traders dealing with Indians. They would get the Indians good and drunk off whiskey and then take their furs. Even more appalling they wouldn’t even give them good whiskey; it would more than likely be second-class and highly diluted with water. Other things that were discussed was the impact of steamboat trade along the Missouri River. Steamboats made farther and faster trade possible. But the demise of the steamboat came with the creation of the railroad, which led to more people permanently settling in the area to farm, which in turn lead to people wanting boarders to divide land.
This book was much more interesting to read than Webb’s. The first page caught my eye, unlike Webb’s book. Or maybe it caught my eye simply because it wasn’t Webb’s book. Either way, Sharpe wrote colorfully, passionately, and poetically. I couldn’t believe that from 1874-1885 this trail carried 1/3 of all freight handled through Fort Benson! Sharpe discussed how the name “The Great American Desert” confused many people. Some people called it the Great American Desert because it was deserted and desolate, and other people said it was a desert similar to the Sahara in Africa. Other people like Captain Lewis said the opposite speaking of a “beautifully, picturesque country.” Then he moved onto talk about the Chinook, that made me long for the days of old when western North Dakota was my home and we would a nice break from the sub-zero temperatures.