Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1880-07-01
Yof the 8sllipelIs Journal.
LExsI, IpAHo TkaHIroKy.

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LExss, IpAHo TEnRIroKy.
june IL, 1850.
EDITOg JouRNAL:-I closed my last
letter at Camas Station, Saturday the
18th OF March Sunday morning the
snn rose bright and clear, not clond to
be seen, and the coldest morning ever
In my life; at Beaver Can
yon, % miles north OF here the mercury
marked "a. remained In doors all
forenoon, and until D. m, when full
ten miles away, some one caught sight
OF the jerky that was to carry my pre-.
decessor and myself to Lemhi.
We now commenced to dress ourselves
for a ride OF liz miles, 50 of which must
be made by daylight next morning, and
not house, save one, which Is 30 miles
distant, at which we can stop TO warm.
had on already two pairs of heavy
drawers, bnt fearing that might freeze
to death. / put on third pair, and
then over them two pairs of pants, put
on two more shirts which. added to two
already on me, made four, then over
them two ordinary coats, and over all a
heavy overc0at. On my feet put two
pairs Of socks, my boots and pair of
No. II arctic overshoes, and then over
these and MP 20 my knees I wrapped
two burlsp sacks and securely bound
them with twlne. My friend Wright,
who was to accompany me. was similar
" clad, except that he had over all =
jumper-an air-proOf oyercoar.
Thus attlred, we boarded the jerky
now ih waiting for US. and at AZ
o'clock. each wrapped in buffalo robe
and a pair of blankets, we started on
the ride Of ray life.
We did finely until about 8 o'clock In
the night when 1t became 40 terribly
cold that we began to fear that we would
freeze before reaching the station. We
had left the valley at least an h0ur's
drive Ia our rear, and were now grad
usliy ascending the mountain, the sum-
nit Of which we did not reach until about
Z o'clock next morning. Each moment
seemed an hour, each hour seemed an
age" as we slowly wound onr te-
dIous way ssthrough canyons deep and
snow drifts high," up, up and still up,
until il was 90 intolerably cold that l
remarked to my partner In distress that
I thought the mercury was 50 far below
zero that man s'could not react 1t with
a forty foot pole"
The night WAS as clear as clear could
be. Talk about your clear blue skies in
the States. Why, You don't know what
a blue sky looks like, and am not go-
ing to tell you, simply because SIT can't
he did," And then the stars; why,
you never saw anything like them in
Ohio. They look like young moons
al, hhx,f faa ax.1 eutl
ing so bright and luminous, that they
actually seemed laughing at our misery.
And then the unending music made
by the hoofs of the horses and the
wheels of our vehicle ~ they went
plowIng through the snow, would,
under any other circumstances, have
been pleasant to listen to, but to a
"Buckeye" 1880 feet above sea level,
with teeth chsttering like pet monk
ey's, his feet so cold that he can't move
q toe, his. whole face and hair clogged
up with ice to such an extent that It il
next to impossible to open either eyes or
mouth, and then to be startled ever and
anon by the howls Of the coyotes spe-
cles of wolff confess it had no charms
for me.
At last, at l2IRs a. m., the shrill bark
of dog announced our arrival at what
is known as Birch Creek Station.
"Jim Harper" told me when leaving
Gallipolis that inside of Hinety days
would give V to see a Gallia County
dog. Little did then think that inside ol
two short weeks, the yelp of q miserable
mougrel, half wolf, half dog looking
sort OF nondescript, would awaken in
me such pleasing sensation as did the
first note of the dsliahtfal soprano voice
of that mountain purp.
On alighting and going through the
stable, We were conducted into q room
some 10 by Is feet In the clear, which
AM perfectly satisfied had never been
swept nor scrubbed since 1t was built.
In one corner were two hunks, lon2
and wide enough for one man tn sleep
In, In another lot of sacks filed with
oats, in a third rough plank table,
wilhelm the fourth stood an old familiar
looking two-story stove, which must We
duplicate of the one they used to have
In Alexander Chapel, in Green town.
ship. as it looked to me exactly like it.
Fortunately for US, this room is butt
in the side of the mountain. similar TO a
cave in Gallia county, and by a vigOr-
GUS examining with wood, the old stove
soon made our apartments quite com.
Portable.
The man who kept the station now
set to work TO get the driver and US
some supper, and inside of 30 minutes
we sat down to "straight, square
meal, composed of "hat cake" "sOW-
belly" coffee and molasses. We obeyed
the gospel injunction "asking no qnes-
ti0ns for conscience sake" even eating
In silence, and with uncovered heads.
Supper over, we each fork over half
dollar to the man of the house, for no
woman lives here, wrap our duds about
us and are of for Willow Creek Station,
some thirty miles away. For about
three hours we get along to!erably well
but at the end of that time 1t actually
seemed as though freeze we must, aud
TO add to our horror, halt was made,
and we were Informed that we would be
compelled to get out of our jerky, where
we were closely buttoped In, and get
into an open sled, as the snow was now
so deep that It WAS impossible for a ve-
hicle with wheels to get along at all.
Freezing as we were, we jumped out
ipto the snow, helped change the horses
to our sled, and turning our faces toward
home and our backs toward our desti-
nation, 20 protect us from the wind,
we soon went "bounding O'er the
snOw."
Shortly after daylight we reached
Willow Creek and found the keeper of
the station, q man as usual, getting
breakfast. We were treated to a break
fast the exact duplicate OF our supper,
with the addition Of pot Of bean soup.
Breakfast over, wraps adjusted, two
more half dollars, the price Of our bean
soup aud SOW belly, 60 jinglIng home
to the pocket Of our host, and we are of
again for "Junction," distant 81 miles.
Fourteen miles brought US down into
the Lemh Valley, where we found but
little snow.
Here we rnhltched from our sled and
boarded two horse wagon in which
We rode Is miles TO junction, where we
were met by Mr.. Boxwell of the Agen-
cy, with Government team, who,
just ss the sun went down behind the
mountain, landed US safe and sound at
n