Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-11-09
LOST ON THE PLAINS.

An Old Frontersman's "Reminiscences.
An experienced guide and prairie
traveller expressed the opinion to the
writer that there was q much larger
number of people annually lost upon
the Western prairies than was gener-
ally supposed. II mean by lost" said
he, people who wander away from
wel-known landmarks and are never
heard of again; who die of starvation
and that dread insanity which, gener-
ally speaking, overtakes the lost per-
son. Of course we read now and then
OF such case, but there are many which
never reach the public prints. it's one
Of the easiest things in the world for
an experienced traveller to stray away
from camp, but q 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 a depression,
with the ground rising slightly on all
sides. tits an optical illusion, of course,
but it is very like walking in the center
of an immense sheet with it's four cor
ners slightly raised. The earth meets
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 O guide
even on a perfectly-clear day, is With
most persons only to intensity the diff
Guilty. Unless one is an expert in the
sun guidance, he may follow that lumi-
nary and yet continually go round in a
circle to the left. The truth of this is
proven every year by the recovery Of
persons who are found to have only
traced large circle in their efforts to
escape, invariably coming round again
and again to the point from which they
started. The possession of compass,
moreover, seldom proves Of any ad-
vantage to the person lost On the prai-
RES. He probably never thinks about
it until he discovers that he is lost,
and then he has no landmark from
which to take his bearings. I have
known repeated instances where per-
sons have been lost on the plains and
afterward found dead with q compass
in their hands.
"As an illustration, I recall an in
stance which occurred some Years since
on the Red river trail. A Mr.. McKen-
zie, a 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 de-
tanned long time on the road. About
thirty miles on this side of Pembina
they ran out of provisions. Mckenzie
who was stout, able-bodied man, ac-
customed to prairie travel. volunteered
to go ahead and obtain assistance. He
set out on snow.shoes, and expected to
reach the fort at Pembina within twen-
ty-four hours. Meanwhile his comrades
plodded on as best they could, and, af-
ter two days of suffering, reached the
fort without having seen anything of
Mckenzie. Nothing had been heard of
him there. A party was at once organ
lied. and thorough 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 beside clump of BUSH
es, frozen to death. He had taken off
his coat.and vest and hung them on the
bushes, most probably to attract the at
tention of any passer, and Lay on his
back in the snow, with his compass in
his hand. Now, here was man expe-
rienced in prairie travel, an adept in the
use of the compass, yet who was hope.
lessly lost in country which he had
repeatedly traversed. The experienced
plain men who found him knew at once
that, having unconsciously wandered
away from the trail, and, benumbed by
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 com pass alone.
"The mental resolution of person
lost on the plains is nearly always one
OF hopeless confusion. Not one man in
q hundred retains sufficient control of
his mental faculties to help himself out
OF his situation. And the suddenness,
and completeness, too, with which many
minds give way, form one of the most
curious phases of their condition. Some
years ago I was guide to hunting
party on the Southern plains. Among
the number was an Englishman, an in
telligent young fellow of perhaps Is
years of age. He was an excellent shot.
but unacquainted with the prairie, and
warned him repeatedly of the danger
of straying away from the party. For a
while he observed the caution, and
stuck close to the camp. But after a
time he grew more venturesome, and
seemed inclined to take his own course.