Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1854-05-31
THE HEsQUATTER's ADVENTURE.

I'd rather have a daughter.''
THE SQUATTER'S ADVENTURE.
Well, stranger, we have floods here
in Louisiana, such as, l guess you've
never seen the like in England. One Of
them would cover your whole country,
have heard said. l will not say that it
is true, as 1 am not acquainted with
your geography. l know, however,
there are mighty big freshets here, and l
have sailed my skiff more than hundred
miles across one Of them, where there
was nothing to be seen but cypress tops
peeping out of the water. The floods,
as you know, come every year, but the
very large ones only occasionally.
Well. about ten years ago, l located
in the Red River bottom, about fifty
miles or thercabout below Natchitoches,
where l built shanty. l had left my
wife and two oung children in Mississip-
pi State, intending to return for them in
the spring; so you see, was alone, by
myself, except my old mare, Collins
axe, and, of course, my rite.
81 had finished the shanty all but the
chinkin9 and the building of chimney,
when what should come on but one of
those severe floods. 1t was at night
when it began to make its appearance
l was asleep on the floor of the shanty,
and the first warning had Oft was feel.
ing water soaking through my old blan-
ket. l had been dreaming, and thought
it was raining, and then again l thought
l was being drowned in the Mississippi,
but it was not many seconds before
guessed what was the reality. jumped
to my feet like startled buck, and
CROPPED my way to the door. What q
Sight beheld. had cleared piece OF
ground around the shanty-about cou-
pie of acres-leaving the stumps good
three foot high, but now there was not
one to be seen. My clearing, stumps
and all was uldor water, and could see
1t shining among the trees all round the
shanty. Of course, my first thought was
about my rifle; and l turned back iuto
the shanLy and laid my claws upon that
qiuck enough. next went in search OF
my old mare. She was not hard to find;
for if ever creature made noise she
did She. was tied to tree close to the
shanty, and the way she was squeaklng
was a caution to cats. l found her in
three or four feet Of water, pitching and
floundering all around the tree. She had
nothing on but the rope she was hitched
bv. Both saddle and bride had been
washed away; SO l made the rope into a
sort of halter, and mounted here bare
backed.
just then began to think where l
was going. The whole country appeared
to be under water, and the nearest neigh
Dor had, lived across the prairie ten
miles off. l knew that his shanty stood
on high ground, but how was l to get
there? 1t was night, 1 might lose my
way and ride 'shuck' into the river
When l thought Of this, 1 concluded it
ty till morning. l could hitch the mare
inside to keep her from floating away; and
for myself, l could climb on the roof
However, while l was thinking of this, l
noticed that the water was deepening,
and a thought entered my head that 1T
would soon be deep enough to drown my
old mare. For myself l was not fright
ened, for could climb a tree, and stay
there till the flood fell; but should then
| lose the mare, and that creature was too
valuable to think Of such a sacrifice, SO
| | made up NV mind to chance crossing
the prairie. There was no time to be
wasted-never minute; so l gave the
mare kick or two in the ribs and start
ed.
&" 1 found the path out of the edge of
the prairie easy enough. l had blazed it
when first came to the place. and as the
night was not very dark one, l could
see the blazes as passed between the
trees. Ny mare knew the track AS we'll
as myself, and waded through it at
sharp rate, for she knew too. there was
no time to be wasted. In Eve minutes
we came out on the edge of the prairie.
and, Just as l expected, the whole land
was covered with water. and looking like
big pond 1 could see it shining clear
across the other side of the opening. AS
luck would have it, could just get a
glimpse of the trees on The far side OF the
prairie. There was big clump of cy-
press trees that could see plain enough ;
knew this was close to my neighbor's
shanty, SO gave my creature the switch
and struck right for it. As left the tim
Der, the mare was up to her. hips. Oi
course, expected good deal of heavy
wading; but had no idea the water
would get much higher. there is where /
made my mistake. had not got more
than couple of miles out, when disco
vered that the water was rising rapidly,
! for noticed that the mare was getting