American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1878-02-23
A FRONTIER INCIDENT.
A gentleman, who had been travelir

Ter morning WIlHiH ~ IlIleS oI HOlHe-
1t was beautiful winter weather, frosty
nights and sunny days, and the prairie
roads were as smooth and hard as
pavement. His plan was to reach home
that night 1t was q long stretch for
one days travel but with good horse
he was sure he could make it. He was
the more anxious to get home because
the fine weather of the last three weeks
could not be expected to continue much
longer, and travel on the prairie in a
winter storm is neither pleasant nor
safe. In the woods and among the
mountains one is sheltered by trees and
hills; but on the prairie the wind sweeps
without obstruction for hundreds of
! miles, and Northwestern is a terrible
thing to be exposed to. There is no
hiding from it and no escaping it. 1t
seems to search all around a man, tax
ing the heat from him and penetrating
cloaks and blankets and wraps as if they
were paper. We frequently read of peo-
pie being frozen to death, in these prai-
rie storms. This is not because the cold
is so intense, but because the exposure is
so great.
For this reason our friend was especi-
ally anxious to reach bis home that day,
as there were signs of change and it
might be his last fine day. The chief
ground of anxiety was that an ''Indian
reservation lay between him and his
home, of about 80 miles extent. On
a.. -. Il,
ter. He rode moderately the first part
of the day, so as not to weary his horse
at the outset; and at noon he took a
good long rest and gave his horse a
| good dinner from a small sack strapped
on behind his saddle. He was now
within the reservation. There was
neither field nor fence nor human habi-
tiltion a deserted cornfield now and
| then, an abandoned hut, or a halt-hid-
| den Indian trail and the half-blind road
/ on which he travelled were all that gave
| sign that human feet had ever trod
those solitudes before Nearly 80 miles
of just such country lay between him
and the settlement The day was I'M
seasonably warm, not cloud in the sky
/ and scarcely breath of air in motion.
| The unnatural warmth and almost OPP
! pressive stiffness of the day were them
selves symptoms of coming storm.
After his horse was thoroughly re-
freshed, he put on the saddle and mount
ed for his long ride. He rode on rapid
| ly for couple of hours, when he no.
ticed that the wind was rising and blow
ing from the north. 1t was soon so
chilly that he had to put on his over
coat; and it was not long before he was
compelled to unstrap his blankets and
wrap them about him. Still it grew
colder. The sky was soon overcast with
clouds, few flakes of snow began to
fall. The wind grew fiercer and fiercer,
and the snow and sleet stung like shot
as it struck the face. Coats and shawls
and wrappings seemed like loose sheets
about man. The snow grew more and
more dense, and was fast filling up the
trails and tracks and making all the
prairie look alike. Our friend pressed
on as fast as his horse could go. 1t was
impossible to distinguish the road, and
the only guide was the direction of the
wind. The poor horse was becoming
bewildered, and could make but slow
progress through the snow and tall
prairie grass. The snow was drifting
so that every thing was filled up level E;
and every now and then they
would plunge into some hole or
gully, and horse and rider were
almost buried. II was growing dusk,
the thick clouds and the drifting snow
bringing on night even before its time.
1t seemed madness to attempt to get
through. 1t could not be less than ten
miles to the nearest house, and there
were ten chances to one that he would
miss the way. To stay out on the prairie
was to freeze to death. Ascending one
of the prairie swells, he saw, some two
miles to the right, a strip of wood, which
skirted stream. To reach this and
trust to its shelter seemed to be the only
hope But even this was no easy nat
ter. From the high ground where he
was he could but just see the tops of the
| trees; and when he descended he
would lose sight of it all, and
see it no more till he reached
it. There was not the sign of a
path and the darkness was growing
thicker all the time, and the snow and
wind were almost binding. But, get
ting the direction as well as he could,
he started across the prairie. Forum
ately, he came out as he planned, on the
edge of a little strip of timber, which
somewhat broke the violence of the
storm Still more fortunately, he found
an abandoned log hut. 1t was not much
of shelter There were neither doors
nor windows, and it was all open be-
tween the logs. The wind and snow
blew through almost as freely as out
side But there was sort of a roof,
and the open logs somewhat broke the
force of the wind. There was also a
stone fireplace at one end, and if a fire
could only be secured the night might
be passed very safely. But without a
fire it was perilous situation.
Feeling in the darkness among his
baggage, he found one single match.
But what could he light with itP Every
thing was buried in snow and the wind
was blowing wildly all the time. First
he went into the timber and gathered a
quantity of WOODLANDS and dry sticks.
Then he went again and felt around
with his feet under the snow till he