Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1881-04-02
AIM RIVER muHcHAusEn.
"h" Wisely Places tho Wonderful Han.
penings he Relates Mt no Remote Period
mat they Cannot i,o Corroboratsd or De-
MED by the Oldest Inhabitants.

pe"H" ne Relates Mt no RemOte Period
mat they Cannot bo Corroborate,l or De.
MED by the Oldest Inhabitants.
Huron Settler, 9th.
IL will be remembered that some little
excitement was caused last summer hy
the discovery of nn old grave near TIE
bluff northwest Of town, and the crhn.
nation OF what seemed to DO the remains
OF an Indian, together with the trinkets
winch had been buried with the cornse
IL may not be as well remembered. INIT
nevertheless, among the articles found
IN thls Indian tomb was an old. rude. mn =.
row.necked eatthen urn, which was nm.
parently empty. The urn was preserved
as curious relic. and but for an accident
lew days since which shattered Il ;t
would have been valued simply asa
specimen Of the red mans primitive not.
terry. But it's destruction revealed n roll
OF paper, Drowned and dirty. which had
adhered to the side Of the vessel md and
therefore. while in that position was -
not discoverable through the narrow
aperature in the neck.
An examination of the roll d;aclosoa
.me ..l:a, surprising fact that it was covered
WIN writing IN the French language,
Purporting to have been penned by one
Jean Baptlste Rabideau. while living
near the jacques river about the spot
"nere the grave was found.
M: kabideau, it appears from the man.
uscript, was Frenchman whose love of
adVanture led him to forsake France for
1ne lndlan country of America, but whose
uevotlon to religion was not 50 great MS
70 induce him to labor for the salvation
OF the savages, as did so many of his
sel1.denylng conntrymen.
His manuscript is chiefly valuable for
the account which it contains Of the Sc
we're winter Of l830-3l, and of the disas.
trous floods OF the following spring.
knowledge Of which has heretofore been
very meagre. During that winter, Rabi-
dean lived in an Indian village which un.
doubleday existed at the mouth of tile
run" which lies Just north OF the pre-
sent town of Huron. At the time of
writing his annals, he, together with those
OF the tribe who had escaped destruction,
were living on the upland about a mile
north OF the site Of the former village.
where yet remain number of stone cir
cles plainly marking the spot where the
wlgwams stood. We translate from his
chronicles:
"The traditions of the Indians tell OF
no winter 30 remarkable rs WAS that OF
!o3o'3l. An Unprecedented snow fall
buried the northwest many feet deep for
several months and caused great dvsti-
tuition IN some portions OF the Indian
country. But our village was fortunate
ly better prepared to meet a rigorous sea.
son than were those of most OF the other
tribes. We had an abundance of corn,
which yields mn a-maize-ingly here;
and the antelope herds which. fiocked in
to the river bottom afforded us bounti-
full supply of meat. The forest of stately
trees which then covered the bottom
land in the vicinity of the village, Shelf
cred it from the storms, and furnished
fuel with which to keep the frosty air
outside the huts. But Notwithstanding
these advantages. there was much dis
content IN the camp, and the red men
chafed under tho restraint which the
snow placed upon them. The white pail
which rested upon the earth did not be-
gin to disappear until late in March, and
then only Ill fitful way. After that
month had gone, the suns influence was
more regularly felt, and showers Of rain
aided i'll the honey-combing process
which foretold the total destruction of
the ghastly monster which had so effect
ually held the tribes and nations in bon
dage. As April progressed, the rains be.
came more frequent and prolonged, and
the snow changed more rapidly into a
liquid state. Violent winds, which this
section had been remarkably free from
during the winter, at times accompanied
the rain, beating the hugh drops sharply
into the faces Of the braves, and, BY
washing portion OF the dirt off, tempor-
arily dlsiguring them.
"Thc 18th Of April was bright, warm
day. But the earth was submerged un-
der sea Of slush. In the evening a
breeze, almost tropical in its warmth, set
in from the south. When l retired to
bed, the air was remarkably sultry, and
the thick siush was fast dissolving into
clear water. Several hours after was
awakened by loud tumult to find that
the water wa, was rising rapidly in my hut.
was swelling the already dangerous flood.
Rushing out through the water, found
the violent tornado lashing it into b,llows,
and wild excitement existing among the
savages. Vivid flashes of lightning dis
closed mass Of frightened people despe-
rately struggling toward me, i'll an at
tempt to reach the upland Just above.
II turned in its direction, and then
discovered that even from the prairie a
large volume of water was swiftly flow
ing down over the bluffs into the bottom.
I llastened to climb the height, and a
fierce battle for life followed. Again and
again l was swept off my feet and sent
plunging downward. Intense darkness
succeeded the frequent CLEANS of light
ming, and before / knew Of theirapproach
cakes Of snow and ice would hurl me
headlong into the cataract. With every
nerve strained and almost breathless, l
was Mt last nearing the summit when n
loud and increasing roar and the crash
ing Of falling timbers gave fearful warn
ing that another and mighty torrent was
coming down from the north, and sweep
ing trees and oil else in its path resist
lessly before it. The loud ye)ls Of the
men. the walls OF the squuws and the
piercing screams of the children
behind me showed that they, too, were
aware of the new danger which threaten.
cd them. With superhuman effort !
reached the level ground. Al turned
to look back, q brilliant fash Of lightning
illuminated the valley and revealed a
huge wave reaching from bluff to bluff
rapidly nearing the wretches below
Darkness shut out the scene for an in
stunt. and when the gloom was again
dispelled, those of the terror-stricken
creatures who had not yet climbed up tc
the brow of the bluff, were crouching be
fore the wall Of water which the next
moment ruthlessly engulfed them anc
swept onward in its destructive course
needless of the death -shrieks Of the lost.
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