The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1877-05-19

feet and look ound; to his dismay he |
found that he was alone; on every hand
were evidences of the frightful crime |
that had been committed; blood was
everywhere; he saw the trail of the
wagons going down the river, and de-
termined to follow them. About 10
O'Clock in the night he had managed to
crawl in to the camp near enough to see
and hear all that was going on. Here
he was compelled to lay helpless and
listen to the heart-rending cries of these
poor women for help; to hear the pitt
full appeals of his wife to the monsters
to desist. Towards morning, every
thing became quiet, and he crept into
the camp for the purpose, if possible, of
rendering assistance to the unfortunate
women. 1t so happened that Mrs.
Benge was the first one he came upon;
she was awake, and on seeing her hus-
band, whom she had supposed dead, she
gave a wild, unearthly scream. Mr..
Benge seized her by the arm reassuring-
ly, and dragged her after him. Her
scream awoke the robbers, who sprang
up with fearful oaths, and some of them
started in pursuit, but owing to the dark
ness of the night, the dizziness resulting
from their drunkenness, and the super
human efforts made by Mr.. Benge and his
wife, who was now thoroughly aroused,
they managed to elude their pursuers.
To detail now the terrible sufferings and
wanderings of these poor people, how
they managed to keep soul and body
together, Of dangers, Of cold, of hunger,
for years that followed, would take u
book. Suffice it to say that by some
means or other, they hardly know them
selves, after months of toll and suffering
they reached the mountains. They took
up their abode in a cave. MIR. Benge
improyised traps, by which he caught
some game. AS best they could, they
covered their nakedness with the skins
of these animals. In the spring of 1859,
Milly was born. Mr.. Benge made fire.
quent excursions to see if he could find
any trace of man, but the country SEEM
ed as primitive as Eden, and thus for
tUelre years they lived, without seeing
living soul but each other. In July,
1871, party of prospectersfor gold dis
covered them and took them to their
camp, some ten miles distant. Mr..
Benge and his family remained with
these men some time. He then made
his way to Denver, where he has re-
manned until he recently made up his
mind to again visit the East, having ac-
cumulated handsome little sum in the
mines.
This is a horrible and strange, but
truthful, story. When Mr.. Benge left
civilization, James Buchanan was Pres
ident of the United States, and the
country ut peace. When he returned to
it, James Buchanan was dead, his sue
cassor had been twice chosen and then
assassinated, an obscure tanner from
Galena, Illinois, had acquired fame
equal to Alexander's, intestine war had
drenched the country from center to cir
conference, the NapOleonic star had
gone down forever, thousand great
calamities and great blessings had be-
fallen the world, and all this time this
poor little group of human beings,
bound together by the tenderest ties OF
nature, were isolated in the wilds of the
Rocky Mountains, living in ignorance
of these great events, through the crime
of those unprincipled scOundrels.