Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1867-02-16

@4 f. 380C0! ~
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Wilt a 16n I'LL 10 d SAGE Ii. Lid
In our last issue ~ copied from the Fort
Dodge Northssst - ars,eIs aSuos nsiaa ~
loss OF one OF the stages running bet~ees
Fort Dodge And Sous City, asd TIC probs.
III des,h Of Tho driver. = bekors our paper
ven, to press ~ learned ,La, The driver had
succeeded in reaching = se,tlsnen, on ,be
Des Moines River some twenty miles Souih
Of Fort b DE, but were without any psstic.
ulArs Of hi. adventures after losing lis way.
The North~est Of the 9Th insr gives 1 graph.
&c account Of the terrible sus.rinss aud be.
roic endurance Of the driver. The expert
encs Of this man dusins tho,e four days and
"ish''i If cold and storm, 10, We believe, With
out psra''sl, and Shoes tho ten.ei,y Of
life, aud struggles which man will undergo
% preserve Tie -brit.Is thread We copy
from the North,cest ~ fIno~s: - - -
On Thursday. the "a h Of January, i, half
pan p a.. CHARLES Hale left The s,stion ,t
Twin Lake,, in rCslhouo county, q miles
west Of Fort Dodge, with the Sioux Ctr
mail, in an open sleigh drawn BY Two horses.
The day lad been very pleasant. but jus,
before be started, i. b-Gsn 70 snow. The
wind VAS in the nosth-east, snd - sis&,
came on, it increased TO 4 strong gale. the
snow falling thicker and faster, 70 ,h., il
,on became difficult to keep the road, which
is simply track a,ress the great prairie,
without \ fence, tree, Or house 70 guide the
,rsv.lsr, for ten mica hs passed. y .msll
des,,tsd Cabin, The enIy building Of any
kind On the rou.e,) just after dark aad soon
after, the al hit became so dark and the
binding storm WAS driving 20 fiercely in his
face, that he was unable TO guide his team,
or see aoy signs Of tn. road. lie knew ,ha.
he could not he more ,ha1 . mile or two
from the Ya,es Settlement, and believing
that the horses would fed their way TO the
Station, he left them zee to take ,l,rir own
course. After travelling thus long time,
and failiosoto reach the settlement, he knew
that the team had los, the road, but was vi,
terly unable TO determine whether he was
north, south, cas-, OF west Of the station.
Aware OF the hopelessness Of fading the road
VI settlement, ia the dense darkness ,ha, had
by this time come on. he determined TO turn
around aud try to retrsce his tracks to the
deserted cabin with he had passed.
Bat the Storm which had been steadily in
creasing With each hour, drifted the snow
over The track almost as "a ), Al i, was made,
and Mr.. Hale soon found tina, no bad los. all
traces Of it, and was wandering aros nd on
the great prai,ie, utterly lost. H,s presence
OF mind never deserted him, AID he at once
determined that his OILY chance for life va
to keep the team moving slowly, that they
should nut perish with cold before murrinI
Mr.. Hale had taken the ps-cau,ion to pr.
pare & storm: | 9 ore he l. {. The Lakes 49,
He had on two flannel shirts, two pair Of
cocks, two pairs Of pants, two heavy coats,
tw" pairs Of mitten,, = pair Of thick boots
and buffalo oversho-s, and over al his cloth
ing was wrapped l.rge heavy rubber over.
coat All though that long, terrible i.ht,
he kept his team slowly moving. knowing
very well ,ha. il they stopped, the team aud
driver would soon become chilled through,
and The sleep and s,upor which precedes
death from freezing, would seize up them
long bef.'re morning. All through the nigh,
the fearful storm seemed to BE- gathering in
strength and fury, aud We Ill remember the
terrible
That followed. Business in tjwn was en-,
sire'y suspended. Messages left the stations,
streets were blocked up, railroads oil over
drifts, cattle persisted With the cold And
out in the midst Of a great bleak prairie.
alone Aud ost. The driver Of to Western
stage watched anx sasy for daylight. When
morning came tho storm dsrkened the sky
an Ann nj At 10 hat n
direction OF the sun d any time during tn
day.
Early in the day. the horses which had
been travelling through great drift, for about
eighteen hour. gave out, and ,oulI 60 no
farther. Mr. Hale h.si,n,ed no, moment,
but 4u"hitehiny them from the sleigh, he
turned them Loose, that The, might if pos.i
bic, reach some settlement. lIe Was now
lei, entirely alone, ia the midst Of .he ~ s,
terrific stsrm Of the winter, the snow Two
feet deep. I'D lying in i,nmsns. drifts
miles and miles from the nearest habita,inr.
with no idsa Of which direction he mus.
travel, or what distance, to reach the near
est shelter. Surprising that he vas nor,h
Ut the main road, he started in the direction
which he supposed TO BE- south, in hope.
that be might discover the lost track Hour
after hosr did be wade through tho snow.
with the fearful storm chilling him through
and through. Before many hours he found
that his ear, face and feet we're frozen solid,
and his hands we're beginning TO freeze
But still strong in the ds,er.n,na'i n to save
himself il in the range Of possibilities, he
kept moving on through tho long cherries,
day. Towards nigh. 10 suffered er atty from
hunger, a. be had eaten no.hing sine.
Thursday Noon. When darkness again clio
sed around him he fe't that tho chances for
surviving the night we're very slim Indeed.
He dared not cit down to rest, fearing tina,
he would fall asleep aud perish. All through
the second nigh. he KEEP, on his fee,, some
Imes becoming - exhausted with cold, hun.
ger, and his great exertions 70 keep travel
ing. he would stop = few moments To rest,
lie repeatedly fell asleep while thus stand
ing, and vas only awakened BY falling down
into the snew. Again and again during
Friday night did hs thus struggle on until
daylight appeared. The wind had now
ceased. but the cold MAS Intense. When tie
sun came up on
morning he Was able for the iirss time to
learn the directions Looking anxiously
around on every side and seeing no signs OF
settlement. grove Of read he felt that lon
ger struggle for life was almost hopeless -
w, G0ainx s'r6s he wss .tiii a6is 10 move.
he turned his face 10 the east knowing ,h.,
HE only hope now was in being ablc to reach
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