| Biography/History | The Scarab, a sternwheel packet with a wood hull, was built in Pierre, S.D., in 1906 and was originally named the W.D. Walden. She was renamed by the Benton Transportation Co., but they did not operate her very long inasmuch as she burned expensive "eastern" coal. She was sold October 1918 to the Flesher Towboat Co., Mt. Vernon, Indiana.
Frank Fiske served as an assistant steamboat captain prior to his lifelong work as a studio photographer, mostly associated with Fort Yates, N.D. He learned the trade from S.T. Fansler, post studio photographer, and remained in Fort Yates to document the town, the Standing Rock Agency, and the changing ways of the frontier. Fiske was also a writer, and served for a time as a newspaper editor, and wrote a popular column carried in many newspapers. He was best known for his Indian photographs, which depicted everyday Indian life, as well as studio views. |
