Blackfeet warriors scoured the banks of the Missouri River hell-bent on their next kill. Four American trappers had recently died at their hands, ambushed, and butchered as they ascended the river in wooden canoes.
Idle days now strained their nerves as the endless hunt continued.
Finally, at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers, the war party discovered a crude, American-built fort. The abandoned fort failed to provide the fight they had been craving but piqued their interest enough to inspect its ghostly remains.