Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-02-26
A Rapid and Perilous Descent on
Snow Shoes.

Snow Shoes.
The Leadville (Col.) Chronicle gives
the following account of the perilous
journey of Mr.. F. G. McCandless, who
made the trip from Ute City, in the
Roaring Fork District, to Leadville on
snow-shoes, 80 miles, in four days and
half: "The first 10 miles occupied
three days of hard labor, and brought
him to Independence Camp. Two days
out of this three he was without food,
having taken but one days supply on
starting. The difficulties in the road
were appalling. Heavy, wet SHOWS had
laden the trees in the canyon and soaked
them full of water. Cold weather froze
them solid, and strong winds cracked
them off their stumps like so many
matches. This caused the narrow gulch
to be completely filed with a dense
brush or thicket of their snow-laden
branches. The high, perpendicular,
and heavily timbered walls of the can
yon forbade any attempt to scale them,
and to pass this all but unsurmountable
obstruction McCandless saw that he
must cut his way through or return. He
chose the former course. A light
"squaw ak" was his only tool, and was
almost useless, from the fact that the
wood was almost equal to rock in hard
ness. He had calculated on making
Independence Camp the first night. His
provision was gone, and there was moth
ing to do but toll on, or lie down and
die. Night came on, dark and cold.
No wolves howled to keep him COM
pany, nor was the roar of the mountain
lion heard. Nothing broke the DEATH
like silence, save the sharp thud of his
little AK, as he cut his way, inch by inch,
and foot by foot, through the gloomy
defle. So passed the night, the day,
and late i'm the afternoon, McCandless,
haggard, pale, starving, and COM
pletely worn out, crawled up to the door
of cabin in Independence Camp. He
was warmly welcomed and tenderly
cared for, so that on the next morning
he felt like pursuing his way.
"After hearty breakfast he started
again, reaching the foot of the range at
the head of Independence Gulch at 9 80
O'Clock Tuesday morning. Another
hour took him to the summit. He had
draw-knife with him, and he stopped
to fix his snow-shoes. The edges were
shaved down and the pole was sharp
ened. Then, securing every thing about
his person carefully, and bracing him
self for the perilous descent, he made the
start. The crust of the snow was like
ice, and neither shoes nor pole made
any impression on it. This rendered
any attempt at steering or slowing use
less, and an idea of the rapidly. with
which the descent was made may be had
when we state that it was just 10 O'Clock
when he left the summit, and four miles
below, where he passed a cabin, he
pulled out his watch, and it marked
seven minutes past, showing speed of
over a mile in two minutes. 1t was
while on this descent, and at the highest
speed attained, that McCandless passed
through the most imminent peril of the
whole trip. AS he drew near to timber
line, tall and sturdy pine, fully three
feet in diameter, doomed up directly in
his course. His hair stood on end, as
every effort to swerve to one side of il
proved vain until when, within few
feet of the tree, the snow had become a
little softened by the sun, and slight
grip was taken by the shoes and pole.
Expecting instant death, and with
the mentally-uttered prayer of
'Good-by, Mac the man
threw himself over until his
shoulder touched the surface of the snow.
A sharp Zip and the tree was passed
in safety. On down through the timber
flew the slider, and soon the foot of the
range was reached in safety. From
there on he used his legs with such good
effect that the Twin Lakes were reached
at 5 o'clock in the afternoon of Sunday,
McCandless having made thirty-eight
miles that day. Monday morning
10 80 he left the lakes, and at IL 80, two
hours later, he was eating dinner at the
Grand Hotel in this city.
"The snow-shoes on which this trip
was made are worthy of mention.
McCandless hewed them out himself
at his cabin. Their length is thirteen
feet nine inches each, while the guiding
pole is thirteen feet long. McCandless
is an expert in their use, having trav-
eled, perhaps, thousands of miles upon
them. In addition to his travels in all
the noteworthy mining regions of Amer
lea, he has visited and mined in the gold
fields of Australia, the diamonds beds of
Africa, and other notable foreign min
ing countries. He unreservsdly de-
clares, however, that his last trip, as
detailed above, is by far the hardest and
most perilous he has ever made. He
will return to Roaring Forks in few