| Biography/History | The steamboat Expansion, a sternwheel packet with a wood hull, was built in Bismarck, N.D., in 1900. She was owned by the Benton Packet Co. and Capt. Grant Marsh was master-pilot for some time. The Expansion was lost in ice at Bismarck on Mar. 13, 1910.
The Washburn, a sternwheel packet with a wood hull, was built in Bismarck, N.D., in 1901. Originally owned by William D. Washburn, she became one of Benton Packet Co.'s fleet organized 1904 by Capt. Isaac P. Baker. She was lost in ice at Crockett's Bluff, Ark., on Jan. 12, 1918.
The Weston, a sternwheel packet with a wood hull, was built in Running Water, S.D., in 1901. She was originally named Little Maud. Owned by the Benton Packet Co. While the Weston was bound from Bismarck to Fort Yates, N.D., on Sept. 7, 1909, she was snagged and lost.
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. |
