Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1879-11-15
LOST ON THE PLAINS.

Old Old-Frontiersman's "Reminiscences.
experienced guide and prairie
ef expressed the opinion to the
that there was q much larger
Der of people annually lost upon
Western prairies than was gener-
opposed. II mean by lost" said
4 people who wander away from
nown landmarks and are never
Of again; who die of starvation
|hat dread insanity which, gener-
|peaking, overtakes the lost per-
|Of course we read now and then
b acase, but there are many which
reach the public prints. tits one
/ easiest things in the world for
berienced traveller to stray away
lamp, but a very different matter
|m to find his way back again.
out Of sight of the wagons and
and the whole plain is alike to
He stands always in q depression,
|he ground rising slightly on ali
tits an optical illusion, of course,
lis very like walking in the center
immense sheet with its four COR
raised. The earth meets
Prizon on every side, and presents
Pme unvarying view of waving
|and grayish brown soil. There is
mark by which one may be
u. To take the sun for a guide.
pn perfectly-clear day, is with
PERSONS only to intensity the diff
Unless one is an expert in the
|uidance, he may follow that lumi-
|nd yet continually go round in
TO the left. The truth Of this is
b every year by the recovery of
bs who are found to have only
large circle in their efforts to
!, invariably coming round again
gain to the point from which they
\. The possession of q compass,
Svcr, seldom proves of any sd
30 to the person lost on the prai-
He probably never thinks about
til he discovers that he is lost,
hen he has no landmark from
to take his bearings. 1 have
repeated instances where per-
laye been lost on the plains and
ard found dead with a compass
II hands.
an illustration, L recall an in
which occurred some years since
Q Red river trail. A Mr.. McKen-
clerk in the trading-post at
etown, started early in the month
Iil, in charge of small party, for
larry. The snow still lay deep
plains, but. the season being SO
ivanced, wagons were used to
crt their effects. Unfortunately
ow did not melt so rapidly as was
pated, and the party were de-
q long time on the road. About
miles on this side of Pembina
an out Of provisions. Mckenzie
rs q stout, able-bodied man, ac-
led to prairie travel. volunteered |
head and obtain assistance. He |
on snow-shoes, and expected to
he fort at Pembina within twen-
hours. Meanwhile his comrades
d on as best they could, and, af-
days of suffering, reached the
ithout having seen anything Of
lzie. Nothing had been heard of
ere. A party was at once organ
nd o thorough search instituted
Q missing man. On the second
was found some seventeen miles
10 post, and q long distance from
Il, lying beside q clump of bush |
ven to death. He had taken of
Il and vest and hung them on the
. most probably to attract the at
\ Of any passer, and lay on his
n the snow, with his compass in
nd. Now, here was q man expe-
d in prairie travel, an adept in the
the compass, yet who was hope
lost in a country which he had
'edly traversed. The experienced
men who found him knew at once
having unconsciously wandered
nom the trail, and, benumbed by
Nd, he had lost the ability to use
'onpass, and so lay down to die.
fordinary circumstances, the man
have gone anywhere over the
\ by the aid Of his com pass alone.
Pe mental resolution of person
I the plains is nearly always one
eeless confusion. Not one man in
|afed retains sufficient control OF
Islial faculties to help himself out
ntuation. And the suddenness,
|mpleteness, too, with which many
4 pve way, form one of the most
~ phases Of their condition. Some
ago was guide to q hunting
On the Southern plains. Among
aloer was an Englishman, an in
ny young fellow of perhaps %
aage. He was an excellent shot,
nacquainted with the prairie, and