Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-02-28
A Frontier Incident.
ny KiCORD IIAEDLTY.
From the y. !. Iudcperlrnf

From the y. !. Independent
gentleman, who had been travelling
Tor some weeks, found himself one winter
morning within .htty miles Of home. II
was beautiful winter weather. frosty nights
and sunny days, and the prairie roads
were a smooth and hard as a pavement.
HIS plan was to reach horne that night Il
@a' Sg5 l?nE ii5s!S4 s5S 12Ey oRs 4, IS Sf,
more anxious to get home becaG,e the
In" weather OF the last three weeks could
not be expected 10 continue much longer
and travel on the prairie In n winter storm
j. 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 tor hun
drrd. of miles. and a 'northwester" Is a
terrible thing 10 be exposed to. There Is
no hiding from II and no escaping IT, 1t
seems to search sll around man, taking
the heat from him and penetrating cloAss
and blankets and wraps as if they were
paper. We frequently read OF people be-
ing frozen 10 death in these prairie storms.
This Is not because the cold Is so intense,
butibecausc the exposure IL so great.
For this reason our friend was especially
anxious to reach his home that day, a.
there were signs OF change and it mi ght
be his last fine day. The chief ground OF
anxiety vas that an Indian reservation"
lay between him and his home OF about
thirty miles extent. On thi. there was
neither house nor shelter. He rode mod.
erat-ly the first part Of the day. so a. not
10 wear his horse at the outset; and at
noon he took a good long rest and gave his
horse good dinner from small sack
strapped on behind his saddle. He was
now within the reservation. There was
neither field nor fence nor human hahita.
tiOn. 4 deserted cornfeli now and then.
an abandoned hut. or Ia halfhidden Indian
trail and the half-blind road on which he
Travelled were all that gave sign that hu-
man feet had ever trod those solitudes be-
fore. Nearly thirty miles OF just such
country lay between him and The settle
ment. The day was unseasonably warm.
not "A cloud in the sky and scarcely
breath OF air in motion. The unnatural
warmth and almost oppressive stiffness of
the day were themselves symptoms of a
coming storm.
After his horse was thoroughly refreshed,
he put on the saddle and mounted for his
long ride. He rode on rapidly for a couple
OF hours, when he noticed that the wind
was rising and blowing from the north. 1t
was soon so chilly that he had to put on
his overcoat; and /, was not long before
he was compelled to unstrap his blankets
and wrap them about him. Still il grew
| colder. The sky was soon overcast with
clouds. a few flakes of snow began To tall.
The wind gre" siceG and iiercer, and the
snow and sieet s;ung like shot a. il struck
the face. Coats and shawIs and wrappings
| seemed like loose sheets about a man. The
snow grew more and more dense and was
fast filling up the trails and tracks and
making all the pairie look alike. Our
| friend pressed on as fast his horse could
90. II was impossible 10 distinguish the
| the road and the only guide was the di
rection 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 everything was filed up leyel; and
every now and then they would plunge
into some hole or gully. and horse and
rider were almost buried. 1t was grow
| ing dusk. the thick clouds and the drift
Ing snow bringing on night even before
| its time. 1t seemed madness to attempt
| 10 get through 1t could not be less than
| ten miles TO the nearest house. aud there
were ten chanches to one that he would
miss the way. To stay out on the prairie
| was To freeze 20 death. Ascending one of
the prairie swells. he saw. ..sOme two miles
to the right. Il strip of wood, which skirted
"A stream. 10 reach this and trust to its
sheIter seemed 10 De the only nope. but
even this was no easy matter. 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 q path and the dark
ness was growing thicker all the time. aud
the snow and wind were almost binding.
But, getting the direction as well as he
could. he started across the prairie. Fort
unately. 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 aban-
doned log hut. 1t was not much of shell
ter. There were neither doors nor win-
dows and it was all open between the
logs. The wind and snow blew through
almost as freely as outside. But there was
sort of a roof and the open logs some
what broke the force of the wind. There
was also stone fireplace at one end and
if a fire could only be secured the night
might be passed very safely. But without
T, IRE 1t was perilous situation.