The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1872-02-29

--rr-s-
...- MO. q.
.. sssss-s-es--s-s .--~-.-----,---.----4.--
Lost IN THE SNOW.
4 Green Agountatn Boys Advsnr
ture IN uorshsru Oolorado--A
MINT Of poril in . Fierce otOrm.
From she Greeiy tcol.) Tribune. Jan. 2.
russday. the sd Of January. 1877,
viii long Be rsmembersd By the people
Of northern Colorado. Snow covered
the ground, yet the weather was pleas
ant, and the mountain stood out
grandly In the sunlight. On the at
ternoon Of this day, Jeremiah Fish
LEFT the Higley coal milne with . load
OF coal for his homein Greeley The
distanceis fourteen miles. Two teams
had gone before him, and others were
on their way to thu mine. A little
after four o'clock, when In sight of
town, he met two Of his neighbors,
who were cutting Ice In a lake seven
miles northwest OF Greeley. The
Cache Ia Poudre River lay at the foot
Of the slope, about two miles due south
Of him and the road leads almost d.
rectly down to the river. and follows
u 70 the town limits. Not long after
leaving thelake he heard noise like
the roaring Of great water spout.
Instfnctfvciy he turned toward the
mountains; they were calm and beau
tifil ~ In the morning. but north
ward where the Black Hills rise from
the plains. he saw vast wall Of cloud
approaching with the speed Of . whirl.
wind. The roaring increased. At
this Instant the frozen tidal wave
touched the foot hills and chased the
snnbeams from the mountains like an
avalanche. The horses rushed for
ward In terror, and q second later they
we're In dark ness, the storm sweeping
over then, with resistly fury. Snow,
finer than the finest -four, filled the
air SO that It was impo ssible to see
hundred feet In any direction. Fish
wrapped a buffalo robe around his
neck and shoulders, and urged his
trembling horses on, but they could
not keep the road, aud in short time
the plain was as trackless - the sea.
After the horses had left the beaten
way they could scarcely walk, and it
was not long before they refused 10
move. The darkness increased, aud
the mercury was rapidly running down
to zero.
No time must be lost. The traces
were unhitched, aud, mounting the
strongest horse, Fisk attempted to
urge him forward but he would not
60. Then he led them for time, but
finding that it required all his strength
to keep the buffalo robe from blowing
away, he left the team and pushed Oh
before the wind, for the wind was his
only compass. The storm increased
in violence every moment, and 1t soon
became dark and intensely cold. In
many places the snow was deep, and
more than twenty times the strong
man was hurled into:the drifts, % ter
rible was the storm. BY So'clock the
mercury stood ten degrees below zero.
The snow blew from all points of the
compass, and penetrated every stitch
Of his olothing thai was not protected
by the buffalo robe. He knew that
several houses were near, but how
could he find q single one of them,
when on that very night the eng gineers
on the r8ilroad were unable to find
the water tank at Pierce station, in
the darkness. The man knew that
death was on his trail. His strength
was rapidly failing, aud the cold in.
creased with the fury of the storm.
A II his garments were frozen stiff and
his eye!ashes coated with Ice. 1t
seems that he crossed the river . few
hundred feet below Boyds ranch, but
but he only has faint recollection Of
stumbling down bank. and of dream
ing that he might be near q house.
He felt that his time had come. To 60
on was madness, yet he could not stop,
except to brush away the frozen tears,
for wife with her babies are waiting
and praying, not three miles away
from his sinking heart.
He managed to walk an hour longer
when dizziness came on him, and his
heal reeled like the storm. Then he
began digging hole In the deepest
drift he could find. It was like dig.
ging his own grave, for he knew not
how soon he might sink from exhaus-
tion. After working long time the
ground was reached, and, drawing the
robe over his head, he waited for the
snow to bury him. The wind did its
work well, aud in an hour eighteen
inches Of snow covered his roof ot fur.
Never III man long to sleep more
than he, but he knew that il he closed
his eyes it would be forever. He
fought with his senses like Bunyan's
Christian Pilgrim, aud kept awake.
Burning pains shot through his swol-
len limbs, and his legs cramped as If
on the rack finally something like
| nettles pricked In his boots. Then he
knew that his feet were freezing.
Was he to die after all these hours of
suffering. No, he would keep his
muscles moving, and he did SO long
1 after his Lueo frnznn stiff. Hour
after hour he fought with death, while
snowy pillows were rolling above his
head.
At daylight he crawled out. Houses
were near. Then he staggered and
fell; got up again, and dragged his
frozen limbs toward the limits of the
town. After walking an hour be
reached Cooper's ranch-the summer
residence of our Town C!erk-and
pushed In the back door. Another
/ T.. lvs AaA