Although the Indians of the region were usually quite peaceable, there was occasional trouble with them, particularly on the route to Fort Stevenson along the Missouri (_see Tour 10_). This trail constituted the main channel of transportation and communication for Fort Totten in its early days. An anonymous poem describes what is said to have been an actual occurrence (although the date given is not correct) in which Josh Murphy and Charlie Reynolds--General Custer's scout on the Black Hills expedition, who died with Custer at the Little Big Horn (_see_ HISTORY)--are carrying the mail into Fort Totten. "It was in the spring of sixty-four, Just a little while ere the war was o'er, That 'twas mine the mail bags to transport From Stevenson Pass to Totten fort; Through the rugged passes the route to take O'er the mountains that frown on Devils Lake; Those canyons alive with skulking crews Of the Chippewas and the savage Sioux; But my heart felt light and my arm felt strong For brave Josh Murphy rode along." Josh is shot by Indians and begs his companion to prevent them from taking his scalp. Charlie lifts the dying man to his saddle and Josh's pony dashes into the night. "We sought for Josh and we struck his trail In the dew damp notes of the scattered mail; And we found him at last, scarce a pistol shot From the picket wall of the fort he sought. There he proudly lay with his unscalped head On the throbless breast of his pony--dead! And the route from the pass to the cedared hill Is known as the 'Deadman's Journey' still." The garrison was withdrawn from Fort Totten in 1890, and the mission school, which had been conducted by the Grey Nuns of Montreal since 1874, was consolidated with the Indian Industrial School and housed with the agency offices in the fort buildings. Approximately 1,000 Sioux and a small number of Chippewa--many of both tribes are now of mixed blood--are under jurisdiction of the agency. At the school here the boys are taught dairying, gardening, carpentry, shoe repairing, steam and electrical engineering, baking, and tailoring; and the girls, sewing, laundering, cooking, and housekeeping. At the auditorium (_last wk. Feb._) is held the annual Midwinter Fair. Another annual fair is held (_1st wk. Sept._) on the fairgrounds adjoining the agency on the NW. To both of these a few Indians bring handicraft work for sale; elsewhere such work is scarce, though beadwork and certain primitive musical instruments--flutes of red cedar, whistles of bone, large drums, tom-toms, rattles, and string bells--can be obtained at some of the homes. The reservation, with its wooded hills and ravines, and its numerous lakes, is a beautiful region. Originally covering 360 sq. m., it has been reduced to 137,000 acres. The land is allotted in 60-acre tracts to a family, and some farming is done. The economic status of the Indians here is poor, however.