The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1879-10-24
Lost ON the Plains.

eler expressed the opinion to the writer
that there was much larger number of
people annually lost upon the Western
prairies than was generally supposed. I
mean by lost, said he, people who wan
der away from well-known landmarks
and are never heard of again; who die of
starvation and that dread insanity which,
generally speaking, overtakes the lost
person. OF course we read now and
then of such case, but there are many
which never reach the public prints. It
is one of the easiest things in the world
for an experienced traveller to stray away
from camp, but very different matter
for him to find his way back again.
Once out of sight of the wagons and
tents, and the whole plain is alike to him.
He stands always in depression, with
the ground rising slightly on all sides.
It is an optical illusion, of course, but it
is very like walking in the center OF an
immense sheet with its four corners
slightly raised. The earth meet the
horizon on every side, and presents the
same unvarying view of waving grass
and grayish brown soil. There is not
| mark by which one may be guided. To
take the sun for guide, even on per-
| fectly clear day, is with most persons
only to intensity the difficulty. Unless
one is an expert in the sun guidance, he
may follow that luminary and yet con-
tinually go round in circle to the left.
| The truth is proven every year by the
recovery of persons who are found only
to have traced large circle in their
efforts to escape, invariably coming
round again and again to the point from
which they started. The possession Of a
compass, moreover, seldom proves of
any advantage to the person lost on the
about it till he discovers that he is lost,
and then he has no landmark from which
| to take his bearings. I have known re-
peated instances where persons have
been lost on the plains and afterward
found dead with a compass in their
hands.
AS an illustration, recall an instance
which occurred some years since on the
Red river trail. A Mr.. Mckenzie, a
I clerk in the trading post at Georgetown,
started early in the month of April, in
charge of small party, for Fort Garry.
The snow still lay deep on the plains,
but, the season being SO far advanced
wagons were used to transport their
effects. Unfortunately the snow did not
melt so rapidly as was anticipated, and
the party were detained long time on
the road. About thirty miles on this
ions. Mckenzie, who was stout, able
bodied man, accustomed to prairie
travel, volunteered to go ahead and OBJ
tain assistance. He set out on snow
shoes, and expected to reach the fort at
Pembina within twenty-four hours.
Meanwhile his comrades plodded on as
best they could, and, after two days of
suffering, reached the front without hav-
ing seen anything of Mckenzie. Moth
ing had been heard of him there. A
party was at once organized and thor
ough search instituted for the missing
man. On the second day he was found,
some seventeen miles from the post, and
long distance from the trail, lying be-
side clump of bushes, frozen to death.
He had taken off his coat and vest and
hung them on the bushes, most probably
to attract the attention of any passer,
and lay on his back in the snow, with his
compass in his hand. Now, here was a
man experienced in prairie travel, an
adept in the use of the compass, yet who
was hopelessly lost in a country which
he had repeatedly traversed. The expe-
rienced plain man who found him knew
at once that, having unconsclously wan.
, dered away from the trail, and benumbed
, with the cold, he had lost the ability to
use his compass, and so lay down to die
, Under ordinary circumstances, the man
could have gone anywhere over the
: prairie by the aid of his compass alone
The mental resolution of person lost
on the plains is nearly always one O
hopeless confusion. Not one man in &
hundred retains sufficient control OF his
mental faculties to help himself out o.
4
completeness, too, with which many
: minds give way, form one of the curiou.
phases of their condition. Some years
ago was guide to a hunting party OF
: the Southern plains. Among the mum
) ber was an Englishman, an intelligen
! young fellow of perhaps twenty -fiv'
{ | years of age. He was an excellent shot
| but unacquainted with the prairie, and
| warned him repeatedly of the danger o
e straying away from the party. For .
| while he observed the caution and stucl
close to the camp. But after time h
e grew more yenturesome, and seemed In
: clined to take his own course. One day
D when we were running buffalo, he fol
: lowed on after the herd instead of re
t returning to camp, as we had supposed
g Upon our return H was missed and
4 search instituted In not more than tw
e 0OurS aIIcr Ie WIS LulSScu SiSIltcu III
e horse feeding alone on the prairie.
! few minutes after H was discovers
!. sitting on the ground about half a mil
d away. As soon as he advanced towar,
s him he started up and ran off at the to-
+ of his speed. I knew what was the mat
d ter with him as soon as he jumped, bu
a the rest didn't. Riding alongside G
: him, jumped to the ground and too
e after him on foot. After sharp run
d caught him. He was clean daft. Th
r discovery that he was lost, and possibl
would not be found again, had upset hi
# intellect completely. He struggled lik
i madman to free himself, but I held o
e to him. We took him back to camp an
e tied him fast. Toward night he began
q recover, and by morning he was quit
himself. After that experience he kel
close to camp.
recall another instance which illu
e trates this phase of the lost, but whic
ls had more tragic ending. A neighbe
I, of mine, living in a new prairie countr,
2, cut and stacked his hay on the plail
- about two miles in the rear of his hous
Tt was his custom to visit the stacks an
IS haul the hay to his farm as he require
it. He started one afternoon in mi