The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1867-04-24

Great 0uAssAn9 In Iswa-Ths RSsRae -
clay County IN Starving csnnisssA-
Terrible Snow Dtern-Asn Rressn -
Death. 4
IRronths Fort Dodge Iova) Northwest April III
For several weeks past We have heard 70.
ports Of great Suffering among the homesseed
settlers in the counties north and west q y,
from the severity of the winter and 10 tcn9
continuance, Great numbers OF cafties
sheep and hogs throughout Northern Iowa
and Southern Minnesota are known 70 have
psrishsd iron scarciiy Of fsea md from ~
tenss cold and deep SHOWS, which continues
throuGkfhe entire month Of Maroh4 !.
On Monday Kelley Almond, . resident o.
Clay cvunsy, wss u sown, end from hun we
lean that large numbers Of the people n
Clay county are in most deploAble eondi-
ton. W
Winter SCI in early, and there has been one
continuous succession Of severe snow,stofms
following each other at short intervals IRON
early in November mp to the hrst OF np1i''
The early frost last fall cut Oh the corn crop,
and the wheat raised was entirely irsumclen'
to feed the heavy immigration thai cane IN
itco hts TO raise CROP kafiX2 He S1se.
The snow became % deep n
impossible to get down to fofeDosee 1is>
lance of seyenty-fve miles, TO procure hour
and other provisions. As the winter ad'
y.nced the snow became deeper aud the
storms more severe, drifting the deep ravines
full of snow, in many places to the depth OF
from fifteen to thirty feet There. - one
stretch Of forty miles across the bleak prai'
no with house or grove to shelter the
,rsveler Isolated from all the surrounding
world. the inhabitants OF Clay County were
entirely shu, in by the snowy barrier, and
those Who had moved in during the past
season hive suffered terribly from cold ana
hunger.
Great numbers Of cattle, sheep and hogs
have persisted, and tor many weeks past many
of the people have subsisted on paicneo corr
4 and t.rn;ns. Meat, -four and meal were not
4 Il h. had nj apy price. man might starvs
to death with his pockets full Of greenbacks,
for thew would avail him nothingiu the ssrug-
Gle among the settlers to keep from stsrvs-
ton. On Tuesday, the 22d day OF January,
John Laughlin, . returned soldier, about
tveuty-eieht years OF age, saw deer not TAR
from his cabin. Taking his gun be started
after Il. and has not been seen SINCE. Not
! returning the next day. his wife became
alarmed and got some OF the neighbors to 60
and search for him. The great snow storm
came on the next day, and no TRACES OF MI
LAuehlin could be found until SUNDAY, when
parties who were out searching, fonno the
!. deer killed and dressed and hanging on
tree, about four miles up the river from mr.
LauRhlin's cabin. Some pieces o. Venslou
we're cut out OF it, and 8 sheet that Mr;
Lanphln had taken with him Was wrapped
around the deer Following some Trucks VS.
ible where HE snow had been blown away,
the neiehbors vent down The river about two
miles, TO where it makes q sudden turn west
ward. Here al the bend, about mile and
half from his home, Mr. Laugblin's gun was
found setting up against some bushes and the
dor skin thrown over it. No farther traces
of the los, hunter have been found, and IT Is
supposed that he got bewildered In the ter
ri6c storm Of Thursday night and persisted,
and that his body was drifted under the snow.
BE left young wife who has recently gone
back East 10 Der friends. =
\ Our informant, Mr. Almond stafted on the
third day OF April, for Fort Dodge, with
sled and Eve pair Of cattle. He was seven
DAYS in making the trip. The snow was from
two to three feet deep, most Of the way, for
forty miles, and in many places il was dr'tted
from ten to fifteen feet deep. completely bury
ing up his team. One pair OF cattle became
entirely exhausted, and persisted on the road
With the others be got through and reached
here on the 10th Many OF the people have
had their hands, feet and faces badly frozen
during the winter in getting up wood and taking
care Of their cattle. A large number Of their
cattle have persisted, and many of The Home
stssd settlers are ON the verge Of starvation.
All kinds of provisions are very scarce here,
and the streams are now so swollen that II
would hardly be possible to send assistance
to these destitute and suffering people. lns
few days the snow will probably have thawed
away SO that teams from the Little Sioux
can come down and take mp supplies.