Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-08-13

noon the snow had melted sufficiently Il
wet our moccasins thoroughly, and by
it's softness TO impede our travel, so thai
the distance made had not been so great
as on other days, while the fatigue anc
discomfort had been greater
During the day we had fallen in with q
Mr.. Wheeler, gentleman from Montana
with whom | had been previously ac'
quainted, man Of huge and burly
physique, capable of immense endurance
He was journeying in our direction, hay
| ing come up on the fnail-sled the day be-
fore, and gladly availed himself OF an in
| vitation 10 encamp with us for the night
| 1t being nearly dark on our arrival at the
river we did not think it necessary to
build fire, both on account OF the
warmth of the evening and the quality
1 of the fuel, Of which we were unable 10
find any except wet, green elm, hardly
! ignitable. So, having eaten cold sup
per, we set about our preparations for
| the night.
Elm River, like all prairie streams, is
narrow and runs in channel much be
I low the surface of the plain, having, in
| consequence, high banks, which in most
cases are precipitous, but on this stream
slopcd back with only moderate abrupt
ness to the level prairie. 1T was on the
| farther bank that we selected our place
Of rest for the night, without shelter, of
course, but sufficiently below the level to
be out Of the sweep Of the wind, as we
| thought
The half-breed and myself had for bed
| ding four large buiialo-robes and four
| blankets; and our custom was to spread
one robe and blanket under US and use
the remainder as covering. The amount
! under was sufficient, giving TO the snow
preventing the cold reaching us from the
earth, and rather increasing the amount
Of heat than otherwise. Mr. Wheeler
had two robes and two blankets. Welay
with our feet toward the stream, Mr..
Wheeler placing himself Immediately
across the head Of our bed--if so | may
call Wrapped in his own bedding.
am thus minute in the description of
our positions and bedding in order to
more thoroughly impress the reader
with the intensity OF the storm which fol-
lowed.
IL was about six O'Clock in the evening
when, after taking off our wet shoes,
we retired, with overcoats and caps
on as customary. The sky at that time
exhibited no extraordinary appearance,
Gated snow. Being fatigued with the
labors of the day | was soon asleep, and
did not awaken until about half-past
nine o'clock, when / was aroused by the
tossings of Mr. Wheeler In his efforts to
adjust his bedding more comfortably. /
observed that il had grown colder, and
that u sharp wind had sprung up, which
seemed To- come down the channel of the
a. Ina pfa 40 hol
ticipated in the selection Of o camp.
However having the guide on the wind
ward side, ] thought but little of it, and
was soon asleep.
/ awoke again, as near as ] can Judge,
In about an hour and half; this time
from general sensation OF cold which
enveloped me. | found both my com,
panions awake, on speaking to them, and
that Mr.. Wheeler had been unable to
sleep at all, owing TO the cold, as he lay
with his head TO the wind, and could
not prevent it from entering under the
covering.
II was blowing a perfect gale, and the
air was so filed with wbirling particles
Of snow that we could not distinguish our
animals at the distance of few yards.
From that time forward it was impossi-
BILE to sleep. We did everything we could
devise to ward off the cold, and the half.
breed seemed especially anxious ! should
not suffer; covered me with care, and
shielded me as much as possible with his
own person. But the chill seemed to have
taken complete possession OF me. /
could not restrain my desire to shake
and SILVER, although knowing that IL
augmented the difficulty. For time we
conversed on the severity of the storm and
our error in not having built fire, but
gradually relapsed into silence; each
one evidently engaged in endeavoring to
protect himself or moodily brooding over
his own sutlerings.
Real physical suffering 1t had now be-
come. The skin on my arms and limbs
felt quite cold to the touch and my bones
grew heavy and chill as bars OF iron.
Yet had no fear or thought even ~
freezing to DEATH On that point | SIM
ply expected to shiver until morning
would give us light sufficient to build II
fire. The mind. however, was unnatu-
rally acute. Thought on every subject
was very vivid and distinct, ] remem.
Der to have received better insight of
several subjects which occurred to me
than at any previous time, and was able
to think more rapidly. This was, sup
pose, owing to 'the increased and en-
forced vitality necessary to sustain life
end to the stimulated condition OF the
brain under the suffering arising from
the cold Every thought was clear and
distinct | thought over the business !
was upon and studied the minutest de-
tails OF il, all with remarkable rapidity.
Occasionally my companion spoke to me
or touched me gently with his arm, but
neither served to break up the general
current of thought.
All through this outer surface OF
thought, however, there ran an under
tow Of suffering / was conscious OF
growing colder; my limbs, especially,
felt more chill and heavy. began also
to experience a peculiar sensation as II
the flesh for the depth Of quarter or half
an inch was frozen solid and the con-
gealment gradually extending to the
bone The bone itself at times felt like
red.hot bar noticed, further, an in
creased labor in the beating of the heart
and could distinguish the pulsations
quite easily. At every throb ! could
feel the blood seemingly strike the end
of the veins and arteries in the extremi-
ties. This, after time, produced slight
J...:ua,. a.. tlxa hooI op1 luhnrinna