The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-01-24

and the eldest daughter undertook I.
. travel on foot with her mother, Will
Mr.. Forbes took two of the children
and John one, upon sleds; and thu
they proceeded with as much dispatcl
as possible. The way. however, wa
rough. and they travelled but shor
distance during that day. At nigh
they encamped, and the next morning
there came on violent storm of rain
a hail and snow. which continued til
Wednesday night. In the meanwhile
the children were pinched with hunger
and with cold. and their cries were 81
bitterly distressing. that, leaving tn,
mother and children in camp, the
father and son pushed on with al
speed to the pond; but it was Still
stormy. and the travelling SO difficult
that they did not get back with the two
loaves till Wednesday evening. Upor
their return they had not dry thing
about them nor any dry clothes to pu1
on. And, to add to their misfortune
the fire was extinguished. and the,
were unable to rekindle it for the whole
night.
The next morning, the storm being
considerably abated, they proceeded
on their journey; but the trees and
bushes being wet, they had an uncom-
Portable time. and did not reach the
pond till Friday morning about ten
O'Clock. Soon after this. to their great
consolation. they met with the before.
mentioned Indian, who proved to be
one John Baptist. and with whom they
had had some previous acquaintance
in Canada. He very Hospitality in
vited them to his camp. which was at
a considerable distance from the pond.
and here he kindly treated them with
the best of what his house afforded.
This was camp where he and his wife
resided while he followed hunting.
Here they tarried until the next Mon
day; and the Indian having Just before
their meeting killed moose at few
miles distance, Mr.. Forbes and his son
went with their sleds and assisted him
in bringing it home. The Indian gave
them as much moose Neat as they
would undertake to carry, and agreed
to pilot them to the kennebec River.
This agreement he punctually fulfilled,
and would have proceeded with them
1
unwell that he did not dare to be any
longer absent from her. He therefore
marked the way on piece of bark,
| representing the bends, windings, falls
and carrying places along the river.
He then wished them well and left
| them.
On taking leave of the Indian, they
could not sufficiently express their
gratitude. His kindness was beyond
their expectation. Before his depar-
ture. however, they gave him what
things they had left behind, together
with some other articles of considera-
bic value. And they had reason after
ward to wish they had presented him
with more, for their loads proved so
much too heavy for them that they
were obliged to leave by the way a
large bag full of valuable articles.
They now met with almost insur-
mountable obstacles. for in pursuing
the river their progress was obstructed
by craggy windfalls. rocky lodges,
lofty mountains and hideous precipices.
On the 18th day of April their provis-
ions were again exhausted, and Mrs.
Forbes thought it advisable to have a
camp erected. and for herself and chill
dren to remain here while her husband
and Oldest son should go forward to see
it they could find the inhabitants; ap-
pretending that they were much nearer
than they afterward proved to be.
A camp, therefore. was erected, and
leaving Mrs. Forbes, with her four
children, Mr.. Forbes and his son went
forward with as much speed as posi-
bic. The first and second DAYS, finding
the ice would bear them, they travelled
on the river; and would have made
considerable progress, but unfortunate
ly they mistook their way at a, ,""+r-.'~'
carry ing place, where instead of leav-
ing the river and crossing by land to
the next bend, which was only twelve
miles, they followed the river sixty
miles round.
A little before night, the second day,
they came to the falls, and could 90 no
further on the ice. They went on
shore, and soon after came to preci-
pice where they were obliged to de-
scend twenty feet almost perpendicu-
larly, and at the risk of being dashed
upon the rocks. Night coming on.
they encamped; and the next day find
ing shoal rocky place in the river,
they crossed over to the other side, in
hopes of finding better travelling. and
more convenient place to encamp.
Here they were obliged, by reason of
stormy weather, to encamp the re-
mainder of the day.
The next day they travelled on, and
percciving the river to be almost en-
tirely free from ice, they concluded to
build a kind of rata thing with
which they were altogether unacguaint-
ed, and by means of which they had
both like to have lost their lives. They
got on the raft and under way about
ten o'clock the next morning. The
current, however. ran SO swift, that
they soon found there was no POSSIBLE
ity of turning it to the shore. As they
passed down the river they struck
against tree, Which they were obliged
to cut away in order to clear the raft.
When they descended over the ripples,
the water never failed of dashing over
them, SO that they were wet cOntin-
ually.
About the middle of the day, The raft,
moving with great rapidity, struck a
large rock, parted one of its corners,
and spread into a single string of logs.
At this time they lost their ak, and it
became extremely difficult to keep upon
their broken machine.
They were from this time driven with
amazing rapidity, expecting every mo-
ment would be their last, until about
four o'clock in the afternoon, when,
falling into an eddy. they were brought
up by point of land, and both got safe
on shore.
They now travelled on land till their
strength was almost exhausted. About
the Goth of April they heard the report
of gun, which seemed to give them
new life. They fired several times, but
were not answered. Then, concluding
it might be nothing more than the fall
of tree, their spirits again sunk within
them, and they moved with heavy
hearts.
But on the evening of the 22d, hav-
| ing built q small fire upon an emil