Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1871-07-28
Lost In the WOOds-Seventy-twO Hours
without Food.

A YOUNG lady, Miss Matilda Steen, left
San Francisco six or seven weeks ago,
where she has been following the business
OF dressmaker, to join her brothers, who
are engaged in making tan-bark in the
neighborhood of the Garcia River, Point
| Arena Mendocino County. She had been
| living with them some weeks, when one
| morning about II a. m. (on the 90 ult.)
she discovered that she had forgotten 70
put knives in their lunch basket, so she
determined to take them to the spot
where her brothers were working. She
did so, with great diff1culty-the forest be-
ing like those of many parts of Oregon
and British Columbia, a dense mass of
| underground, immense fallen logs, etc.,
| and very mountainous country. She then
| started to return, one of her brothers
offering to accompany her. This she de-
clined, saying that she had found her way
in, and she could surely find her way out
again. 1t was at this time she got lost.
Hear her story:
When 1 first found was lost was
badly frightened. l ran through the
| brush as fast as l could, bowling at every
step, but after awhile 1 cooled down and
confined my locomotion to a fast walk.
About an hour, should think, after left
my brother, | heard the sound of an axe,
and halloed to the chopper and plainly
| heard him answer. If | had kept on
ballooihg and had remained where was.
the chopper would soon have come to me,
as have learned since 1 got in, but 1
thought that could surely follow up the
sound of the axe, and l tried it. Alas
was following the echo. l was going down
a deep canyon and the sound died away
and | was left 0I0ne. Great God alone
IN, c1Inb Y,1o oruyI,i
sight grew dim all things reeled around
me. What would become of me IL I
should never find my way outS Ahl q
bright thought flashed through my mind.
A thought which gave me joy in an instant
there IS q God So}t0 Is G0le to SdUe! From
this time forward | was perfectly resigned
to my fate, feeling thatif it was Gods good
pleasure TO save me, He would do in good
time. All day l travelled, now pulling
myself up steep, brushy mountains now
rolling, sliding, tumbling down into the
deepest canyons l ever beheld. Some
times the mountains were so steep that it
was utterly impossible for me to walk
down them, and was forced to wrap my
dress around my feet and actually slide
down on my back.
The first night found me on the side of
a mountain, and about half way to the
top. l looked around me to find level
place where l could rest through the
night, but no such place could find, 80
just placed my feet against tree to keep
| from sliding down the mountain, and in
this attitude 1 remained during the night.
| Occasionally would wake, and whenever
l awoke, l would halloo at the top of my
voice, thinking, perhaps, some one might
hear me. Vain hope! had no fear of
any wild beasts
As soon as morning dawned resumed
my toilsome journey up, up, up, down,
down, down. The bright sun seemed to
greet me with q smile, and beckoned me
10 him as he loomed grandly above the
distant mountains, and wondered wlfeth-
er his bright face looked upon another
humao being in all the wide, wide world
so utterly lost, lost as poor me.
The second day l came to, two or three
mountains covered with ehapperal and
white thorn, and was obliged to crawl
through it like a snake, When Would
get through, all torn and bleeding. would
involuntarily exclaim, as looked behind
me, how in the name of God did ever get
through thatl
i AS was going down mountain heard
step behind me, and looking around dis
covered that it was deer followed me,
and when picked up a stick and threw at
| it it ran off and l saw it no more.
| tried often, the first day, to retrace my
steps, but every time failed, finding by
shred of my dress, a broken twig of some
| thing or other, that l was only going
round and round. l have been asked why
didn I follow the streams, as if they would
have led me out. But could not; there
were so many large logs and rocks in them
that it was impossible. l had good watch
and bunch of keys with me, and, as an
evidence that didn't go crazy, as many
supposed would, didn't lose either. /
| deeply regretted that l didn't have the key
| of the watch with me.
On Thursday, about noon, suddenly
came out to trail, and, like Robinson
Crusoe, | saW-a human track That track
| gladdened my heart as never track did
before. L followed the track and saw a
fence,- an d-6S&t~a house! Thank Godi I
am saved. When got close to the house
l stopped and halloed, and some gentle
man came out and invited me in. went
in and told them that | was the lost woman.
They said they had heard of my being lost
| the night before, and were on the lookout
for me. They prepared some food for me,
and were very much afraid I would eat
too much. | ate very little. Somehow /
was not hungry When l finished my
but they would not hear of it. They said
was too much fatigued to attempt it that
night and one of them got on horse and
went to the Garcia mill to bear the news.
One of my brothers came out that even
ing as soon as he heard the news, and
rode home on Friday morning.-Sdn Fran