The following paragraph in that obit interested me, "Deceased was one of the old timers in the state, coming to Dakota Territory fifty-two years ago at the age of seventeen. Coming from the east, he was out for adventures and in 1871 entered the employment of the government and freighted with ox teams between Winnipeg, Fargo and Fort Abercrombie. He was a freighter with Major Reno's command at the time of the Custer massacre and often related with much vividness the stirring times of encounters with the savage Indian tribes that roamed over the state. He passed through this section when scarcely any settler was here with the train of government supplies from Fort Abercrombie to Fort Ransom and then on to Fort Lincoln where the troops were quartered."
Hickey started working on the freight trails a few years later than those men who stalled in a three day blizzard near Lisbon, the subject of the story I'm now working on, so Hickey will not be introduced as a character in that drama. But, if he kept Major Reno supplied, that will be the seed for another story. Reno is the controversial commander who did not ride to Custer's aid during the famous battle, but, instead retreated to a defensive position on a hilltop. After the battle he was placed in command of Fort Abercrombie but was called to a court-martial and charged with cowardice at the Little Big Horn. Found not guilty after a long trial, he got into further trouble at Fort Abercrombie for drunkenness, among other things.
Our man Hickey bore witness to much of the happenings in this period which I found to be very interesting. After his freighting career ended he moved to Sheldon, farmed awhile, and then purchased and ran the Sheldon Livery Stable for several years. He is buried in the Sheldon cemetery.
An interesting sidelight is the middle picture of ox shoes. Note they are in two pieces because of the cloven hooves of the bovines.
