"The Guns, They Hear Me"

In June 1867, Thomas Francis Meagher, governing Montana Territory after his Civil War leadership of the famous Irish Brigade, rode to the Missouri River Port of Fort Benton to accept the transfer of guns and ammunition being shipped by steamboat from the U.S. Arsenal at Saint Louis. At around 10 P.M. the night of July 1, he mysteriously disappeared from the decks of the steamboat G.A. Thompson. The mystery of his disappearance has eclipsed any effort to answer another question: What happened to the guns and ammunition? This non-fiction story pursues an answer, develops new facts and generates additional questions surrounding the more popularly known enduring mystery.

John Driscoll has spent most of his 70 years exploring Montana, except for time spent in graduate study and in the army. He holds advanced degrees from Columbia University's School of International Affairs, Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, University of Montana's Graduate School of Business and the U.S. Army War College. He is a former U.S. Forest Service Smokejumper, a former Speaker of the Montana House of Representatives, a former member of the Montana Public Service Commission, a former member of the Electric Power Research Institute Advisory Council and a retired Colonel of the Montana Army National Guard. His last military assignment was working for several years on the Joint Staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He currently resides in Helena, Montana and is pursuing answers to historical mysteries that interest him.