The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-09-28
Dug Out By Grizzlies,

Late in the autumn of 1870, two
, young men named George GaiIison anC
; Joseph P. Stevens set off from the mining
town of Little Cottonwood, Utah. on
prospecting" tour among tho noun
tains. Shey started with their mining
tools and a stock Of provisions packed or
the back of a small burTo donkey. On
the third day of their tour they entered
gorge between high crags, which now
bears the name of "Grizzly Canyon.
There Stevens saw what he deemed to
be " indications" chloride-ore; and after
further examination, they fell to work
to blast and remove the outer portions OF
the ledge.
This was on the'very last days of No
vember. The weather, Tor nearly q
week, had been raw and cloudy, with a
/ biting wind blowing across the ridges.
But the eager searchers for silver, though
it had the appearance of n sno~storm,
worked on in the canyon, the rocky
walls of which were several hundred feet
/ in height
A snowstorm in the mountains is al
ways dreaded by the miners, and CALI
son wished to leave indeed for Alta city;
and Stevens, who seems to have been the
ruling spirit, refused to stir until they
had opened the lead" and located a
claim for it.
Grizzly Canyon, like many of the
mountain ravines in the west, Is a deep
gorge, winding between almost perpen-
dicular cliffs of dark igneous rock, which
from their SUBMITS rise less steeply to
peaks, three and four thousand feet in
height. The bed of the canyon IS not
more than three or four rods in width,
and is even narrower at its elbow-like
bends On the side where they were
working, and a little below their supposed
silver ledge, the cliff overhangs the path !
for some distance. Here the miners had /
built shelter against and Fulrtirsiiy y under \
the projecting rock, by standing up poles !
and waiting in brush and dry grass. |
They thus formed a comfortable hut, now
much needed in the night, for the
weather was bitterly cold and raw. On
the night of the 29th Of November snow
began 10 fall On waking next morning
GallisOn found the ground covered with
snow, and the air full of whirling flakes,
which were sifted down, dry as meal.
More prudent than his comrade, he was
alarmed at this sudden approach of
winter; but Stevens made light of the
matter, saying there would be no very
heavy snowfall at this season. He was
no true prophet of storms; for from the
29th of November till the 9TH of Decem- |
ber-eight days-snow fell almost unin-
terruptedly; not always fast, but yet
continuously. The bed of the gorge was
filed to the depth OF nine and ten feet, |
while curled and glittering masses of !
snow hung from the high cliffs. 1t WAS
a grand but an appalling panarama of !
winter.
Fortunately they had brought withf
them a considerable number OF packs of
-four and pork, or starvation would have
overtaken them, ior it was impossible |
even TO move for few rods along the
CANYON. For miles and miles the country |
was completely blockaded. Many trunks |
Of pine had fallen down into the canyon,
and from these, at the outset of the |
storm, GalIison had collected large rick !
of frewood During all these weary
days the two prospectors " kept in their
camp, which they had rendered as "wea-
ther proof as possible. Though aston
ished at the unprecedented snowfall,
Stevens bore his imprisonment with
stoical indifference. He also had to bear
Collisions ill-humsr and reproaches.
The burro now suffered most, being
cut off from the grass. They took the
little beast into the camp but as the
animal grew weak, and bade fair to starve,
they shot him on the fourth day. Taking
off the skin, they buried the quarters in
the snow, to keep as "a last resort; for
they knew not to what straits they might
be reduced for food.
On the sixth day of the storm deer
leaped off the cliffs above them, and
fioundered helplessly in the drift. They
supposed IChad been pursued by wolves
from the woods above.
As The storm abated, the weather some
what moderated. On the afternoon of
the eighth day the sun came out, for the
first time, dazzlingly bright. The fol-
lowing day it was warmer still. Stevens
cut a rord to the ledge where they had
been working, and clearing out the snow,
began to drill again.
But far more Ferilous crisis of their
fortunes-one wholly unlocked for-was
at hand Gallison was getting dinner,
but had started to carry a can of powder
up to where Stevens was drilling, when
suddenly an ominous sound was heard
ike thunder or the rumbling shock of an
earthquake. Astonished, they both
stopped short, their wonder not un-
mingled with terror. The noise contin-
ued, growing louder and louder every
second. 1t seemed to come from the
cliffs, or the sky above. The solid ledge
on which they stood was perceptibly
iarred. A great curled drift, overlfang-
ING from the rock above, fell down, nearly
burying them. Struggling out of it,
they both ran for the shelter of their
camp. Scarcely had they reached it,
when, with frightful crash and roar
a huge mass, made up of snow, trees,
rocks. and earth, slid down from the cliffs
into the canoyn. burying everything in