Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1875-02-19
A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES
A Fearful Storm Of Snow aud
Sleet Overtakes the Tenth
Cavalry ON the Prairie.

A Fearful Storm Of Snow and
Sleet Overtakes the Tenth
Cavalry ON the Prairie.
The following account of the terr,t'
experience Of q detachment of the Tenth
United States Cavalry which had been
ordered 10 bring supplies from Fort Sill
!, 10 Elk,ereek. y furnished +; Lieulensn
L. II Orlemnn:
I'm compliance with orders, with NV
escort Of eight men. left camp ut 7:30
p M, November 18th 1t was very dark
ard storming heavily. having commenccj
TO sleet ABOUT 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
and this, accompanied hy violent north
east wind, rendered the weather extremely
trying. Before leaving camp took .
bearing with the compass by candle-light,
and by obseI wing the direction from which
the wind blew, was enabled to determine
the course After travelling until about
midnight. the storm became 80 severe, the
sleet cutting like knife, and nv horses
evincing SO decided disposition to turn
back rather than face 1t, that was COM
PEELED TO go into camp, or rather halt,
about two miles east of Buffalo creek, in
the same hills, between two of which we
man gcd to obtain little shelter from the
incc a+ed severity Of the storm, after hav-
! ing marched about eighteen miles, Owing
to the scarcity Of wood. there Geiug none
in The vicinity. # except short growth
of thin oak entirely coated with ice. we
We're unable to obtain fire enough 10 keep
! warm. The men suffered Intensely from
the cold, three of them being frOsl-bilten
during The night With no fire and 9
scanty supply of covering uhere being
but two b'a, kcts in the whole detachment,
We waited for morning.
The storm. continued all night, abating
nothing in violence as day approached.
VIII ch saw us again en- route The ground
by this time was covered with sheet of
ice bet wecn four and five inches thick,
which, in connection with the thin oak,
coated also with ice, rendered it very diff
cult TOR the horses to travel
/ Owing to the arful condition Of the
road, found it impossible 70 go further
on this day than thirty c ght miles, which
! brought US to Davtlson's creek. where We
camped abou. p. III. During the day
three Of my ho ses gave our, and wa,
forced TO abandon them Our progress
was, of course, by this accident very much
dei~yed the x.i. IF thoss- mounted wns
necessarily q commodated 10 that Of those
on foot.
The sufferings of the second night were
but repetition Of those Of the first, and,
If possible. augmented Four additional
men ere ffos'-hit.en, making total of
seven thus disabled out Of the !etachment
of eight, and but for the fact ,ha; they
were compelled to move about and exer-
else themselves continually It is my firm
conviction mary of them would have
frozen to death.
The storm continued with unat,ated
severity during the night, but ceased u,
sunrise IN the morning.
AT daybreak We were tain in the sad
die, mixing SLOW progress ov,r the icy
p:arits. the animals marking trail with
blood at every step. oozing from cuts maze
by the ice-crusted thin oak, and breaking
through crust covering the ground We
kept on, however. until 12 O'Clock that
night, when We encamped on Carpenters s
creek, having made but forty miles in
eighteen bours Without food for the me-
or forage for the stock, we passed the
night without shelter, and exposed to q
keen north wind.
At break of Gay We started again, and
with the exception of an hours halt, kept
on until mi.imght, which brought as 10
the head of Cache creek, in the Wichita
Noun aims, where We camped, having
marched thirty-five miles. Our progress
during the day was very slow and tedious,
the exhausted condition of the horses
making it necessary for tie men to per-
form nearly the whole distance on foot.
| Starting at daylight the next morning
we arrived at this post about noon without
further incident worthy of note, having
marched twt nty two NJ les
| On leaving the camp Of the Fort Sill
column on Sweetman creek, my detach
mcnt started with one and one half days
ra.ions and three quarts of corn per AM
NAL for the whole tri }, which were all the
supplies they could be furnished with
This fact will serve better than anything
can say to demon strate what my men
and horses were compelled to undergo.
Without food. without sufficient covering,
flor two nights almost without fire, walk
ing the Recovered praires for mary miles
with frost-bitten feet. their slfferings
equalled, and think surpassed. anything
OF the kind l ever witnessed. Yet, not
withstandlng all these ills. the men be.
haved admirably.
In conclusion, desire to lnar testi.
mony to the good conduct of Sergeant
Major Parker. of the Tenth Cavalry, who
rendered me invaluable assistance in my
efforts to inspire the men with cheerful
spirit, and encouraged them tn renewed
exer'ions during tie day, as well as keep
ing them moving during the night to pre-
vent them from freezing
The tota! distance marched was $50 miles
In truth. Mexicu, which good Protes-
tant folks are apt to consider stronghold
of the Roman Catholic church. 10 as anti
Catholic rs Germany uu'ier Bismarck.
or as England was in her era "f proscrip-
ton. Eighteen articles Of regulatian Tor
"the religious party" were put before the
just adjourned Cangr's>. The first,
which w-s adopted. declares the separa.
d IN Of church and state. and affirm the
authority of the stale over all religions 30
!aI rs to protect public p sce and the
national institutions. In the discussion
upon this article. II Was decide that