The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1881-09-22
One Of the Tracks Of an Avalanche.

Lee Rainey, one of the Oldest and
best known professional prospectors il
this part of the country, has just re-
turned from a trip to the head of the
Eagle River, above Breckenridge. His
journey was replete with exciting Incl
dents, and none more interesting and
thrilling than that he passed through on
the divide above Middle Park. on or
near Park View Mountain. He had
been for some ten days prospecting in
this little-knnwn portion of the State,
and succeeded in discovering some very
fine veins of decomposed quartz. rich
in free gold. He staked off several of
the claims that seemed to him especially
valuable, and pushed his Investigations
up several of the smaller creeks in hopes
OF finding placer diggings. In this he
was disappointed, and started across a
spur of the range to return to the fertile
and level Middle Park. On the South
ern side his route lay down so steep
and precipitous an incline that several
times he meditated turning around and
going back, but finally decided to push
on. In one place the mountain side de-
scended in almost a smooth plane some
500 yards wide, and apparently the
water course of some dried up stream.
In this he descended, but when about
midway down happened to look around
and witnessed spectacle that made his
blood run cold and every limb stiffen
with terror. High up above, nearly at
the summit, gigantic mass of rock had
become detached and started on ter
rifle descent toward the valley. With
every bound it gathered mass of dirt,
smaller boulders and debris, and from
one mass OF granite it became, in the
twinkling of an eye, a hundred, and
then vast avalanche sweeping down
the natural channel. Recovering him.
self on the instant, and realizing his
dreadful peril, Rainey saw that his only
chance for life lay in his getting out of
the track before the avalanche reached
him, and darted toward the nearest
side. There was but an instant of time,
and, although heseemed for the instant
given wings, he despaired of ever reach
ing a place of safety. In a second he
reached the side of the channel, clam
bering frantically up ragged heap of
rocks. A pinone shrub was just above,
and seizing it in a desperate clutch he
dragged himself up the side. Small
boulders were already flying down be-
low him, the ground trembled and the
gigantic rocks shook to their foundation,
hurting him off his feet. With roar
that reverberated to the heavens, the
avalanche swept past. It was a wild,
strange sight-one that filled the pros
peetor with awe as he lay prone on the
ground, scarcely daring to breathe. For
an instant the channel was filled with a
rushing river, but river of stone and
earth, roaring, Kissing and surging like
living water. Huge rocks, masses of
earth and great pine trees would rise to
the surface and then disappear again
in the surging torrent. The mote that
poor humanity would have been in such
stream the miner could well realize,
and it is needless to say that in the re-
mainder of the trip he avoided the
channel. and preferred a rough scramble
over the rocks to the incurring of any
such risk again. Leadvilie Courier.