Far West was a shallow draft sternwheel steamboat (or riverboat) plying the upper Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers in the Dakota and Montana Territories, in the years from 1870 to 1883.

By being involved in historic events in the Indian Wars of the western frontier, the Far West became an iconic symbol of the shallow draft steamboat plying the upper Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers in the era before railroads dominated transport in these areas.

A number of authors write that by virtue of her shallow draft and her ability to "grasshopper" over sand bars (using spars and steam capstans on the front of the boat to lift the boat and swing it forward a few feet at a time) she was famous for being able to get through shallow channels and low water conditions on the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers that turned back other steamboats.

The Far West was under contract to support a military column of infantry and cavalry units under General Alfred Terry, Colonel John Gibbon and Lt.

The column was advancing up the Yellowstone, seeking a large Sioux and Cheyenne encampment which was moving along the river drainages to the south.

Traveling night and day, she returned downriver to Bismarck, Dakota Territory, making the 710 mi (1,140 km) run in the record time of 54 hours and bringing the first news of the military defeat which came to be popularly known as the "Custer Massacre".

From this vantage point the river pilot (who has often the captain, in a smaller steamship like the "Far West") guided the boat, while also regulating the power applied to the paddle wheel.

Two tall smoke stacks towered above the forward part of the hurricane deck and the 'scape pipes were in the rear, venting steam from the engines.

The Far West was neither graceful nor grand in appearance, but she was strong, powerful, fast, durable and had an enormous capacity for hard work.

This process was intended to create enough draft or flotation in the water, so the steamboat could then move forward into the deeper channel beyond the sand bar.

In 1872 the Far West made the quickest trip on record from Sioux City, Iowa, to Fort Benton, Montana – seventeen days, twenty hours – with Mark Coulson as master.

The Far West was used to ferry supplies from the rail head at Bismarck up the Missouri to the Montana Territory, and then up the Yellowstone River where the military column was seeking the villages of the Sioux.

[8] The military column led by General Terry and Custer's 7th Cavalry traveled westward over the prairies from Fort Lincoln, Dakota Territory to the Yellowstone River.

[4]: 282  Captain Marsh ordered grass cut and placed on the decks, and covered with canvas tarpaulins for the wounded, which soon began to arrive from the battle site which was only about 15 mi (24 km) distant.

Casting off from the mouth of the Little Big Horn, Captain Marsh descended 53 mi (85 km) to the column's base camp on the north bank of the Yellowstone River.

The Far West spent the next two days ferrying troops across the Yellowstone and taking on a heavy load of wood to power the two engines.

At 5 p.m. on July 3 Terry ordered the Far West to take the wounded to Bismarck 710 mi (1,140 km)river miles away.

With only brief stops the Far West arrived at Bismarck in at 11 p.m. on 5 July,[4] after an amazing downriver run of 710 miles in 54 hours which set a record for riverboat travel.

Along the way only one trooper died, Private William George and the "Far West" stopped briefly at 4 a.m. on July 4 at "Terry's Landing" at the mouth of the Powder River where Pvt.

Only 9 days later, Captain Marsh and the Far West steamed back up river with horses and supplies for the Terry column.