The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-05-15
Particalars sr the wafcrspsut Disas.
aster On the Cslorade Desert.

Ths correspondent Of the Alta Caltor
mia gives the following account of th'
recent singular disaster on the Colorado
Desert: The unusual storm of Sunday
10th inst, notice of which l sent yor
by steamer, was not confined to this I'M
mediate locality. On the Colorado des
ert, on the afternoon Of the same day
in what is here known as waterspout
Government train was lost. The
train consisted of eleven wagons, was
known as Chandler's train, was accom-
panied by one company, and detach
ment from another company of the 14th
United States Infantry, under the com
maud of Lieutenant. They had en-.
camped in the bed of, and just below
the forks of deep and broad wash
The troops were marching to Date
Creek and Skull Valley, in Arizona. The
camp was about nine miles east of the
Dos Palmos, at Canyon Springs. While
thus encamped, small black cloud sud-
denly appeared above the horizon, from
which lightning and thunder proceed.
ed. A sufficient time hardly elapsed to
observe this cloud when it, or another
one teeming with electricity, made its
appearance in almost the opposite di-
rectiOn. The whole heavens were over
cast, and amid the vivid flashes Of light
ming and deafening peals of thunder, q
shower of hail commenced falling,
which soon became a shower of Hat
pieces of ice, from two to four inches
square. The mules instantly fed be-
fore the pelting storm to some neigh
boring hills, while the men sought shell
ter under wagons and the high banks
Of the wash. An employe, Califor-
nian, who came in with an express from
the command to the Quartermaster at
Wilmington, says he took shelter in a
wagon, and in few moments huge
volume of water, the face of which was
nearly or quite three feet high, came
rushing down the wash. This was soon
followed by an additional one which
came pouring onward, and which pre-
sented front still higher above the
waters of the first. The water rose In
the wagon in which he was until it near
ly reached the top Of the bows of the
covering, only few inches Of air being
left to him beneath the wagon cover.
Two men of the Fourteenth were drown
cd and the commanding officer was car
ried down the wash in the angry and
boiling food, and was only rescued
from drowning by an Indian vaquero,
who, standing on the brink, saw the
Lieutenant completely exhausted from
battling with the wild waters, amid the
wreck of the trees, and threw his RATA
over his head and drew him to the shore.
Six wagons were irretrievably lost, to-
gether with nearly all the harness of
the whole train, and the rest of the wag-
ons were washed down the torrent over
turned, broken, bruised, and scattered
for miles. Commissary stores, with
which the train had been laden, were
carried into Salt Lake, (the great basin
of the Colorado desert a distance of
eighteen miles from the scene of disas-
ter. The command and the train are
unable to move until resupplied with
wagons, harness and provisions from
the dept at Wilmington. The provis-
ions were nearly all lost. Canyon
Springs are about two hundred miles
from tlis city, on the La Paz road, by
which route and place the command
was marching.