Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1884-06-13
DROWNED IN A DELUGE.
Terrible Midnight Scene In Ne
braska Cattle Camp-Hereie En-
deayors to Save Life by Courageous
Horsemen.
nenrer lcnlA Disnatch


Denver (Col) Dispatch.
Word was received here that cat
tie roundup camp on the Frenchman
Greek, in Nebraska, just over the
Colorado line, was destroyed on
Thursday by a flood, and eleven cow
boys, belonging to Colorado and Ne
braska, and outfits drowned. Up to
last night five bodies have been found,
and six cowboys who were in the
camp when the flood came down upon
it are missing. The drowned men are
Hall, of the J. B. outfit; William
Carson, of Y. T. bar outfit; William
Ferguson. of the Mill Iron. All these
bodies have been recovered, and Will
be sent to Denver and Cheyenne for
burial. The missing men arc John
Smith, of the Q. Z. outfit; Patrick
Lynch, of the G. L. outfit; Robert
Roddy, of the Hash-knife outfit; J.
T. Lindsey, of the X. I. bar outfit;
Lon Wetherbee, of Denver. The
Frenchman creek runs through the
southwestern part Of Nebraska and
into the northeastern part of Colorado.
1t is generally shallow stream, whose
bottom is formed of quicksand, and
has Hitherto been distinguished for
the number of cattle annually lost in
it by being mired and drowned. The
creek runs through fine cattle range,
and thousands of cattle Craze on the
plains on each side of it and get their
water from it. As a consequence,
during the roundup season the outfits
from both Colorado and Nebraska
spend q good deal of time working the
ranges along the creeS, and are camp
ed on its banks for several weeks IN
succession. II is often the case that
several of the different outfits meet
upon the Frenchman with the object
of simplifying tHeir work and making
it easier to forrn a large common
camp and work together. This has
been done by three or four of the Col
orado and Nebraska parties.
When the tragedy occurred nearly
fifty men-rounders, foremen, cattle
owners and cowbOys-were in one
camp together. The roundup outfit
of Colorado Roundup District No. 10
arrived at the Frenehman Thursday.
and meeting the other parties, joined
forces and camped with them near the
Cooper Camp All of the wagons of
the Colorado outfit had been left in
the mouth of the old Cheyenne Indian
trail canon, but the Nebraska partirs
had theirs with them Just before
| night some of the cowboys coming
into camp from up the stream dropped
the remark casually that the French
mau was rising above, but as little
rain had fallen in the vicinity Of the
camp the dark clouds hanging over
the creek fifteen or twenty miles
above were not noticed particularly,
aud none of the men in the outfits
felt the slightest apprehension of dan
ger. The Frenchman had during the
evening, unn0ttced by any of the
roundup outfits, been gathering
strength and violence and rising rapid
ly, and shortly after midnight it is
thought that cloudburst occurred
some distance up the creek, and swell
ed the little creek to a mighty torrent
which burst the banks and came rush
ing down upon the camp in one
mighty wave Of water which swept
away wagons, ANIMALS and men at
once.
lHJ CALI III y It1OuSI-t was q oSC14 =
of indescribable terror. The shouts
for help of men struggling in the
waste of water surrounding the tents.
the screams of drowning horses, and
the believing of the perishing cattle
filled the air with awful soands. To
increase the terror of the scene the
rain began to pour down in t;rreRts
in the camp and thunder and light
ming lent their aid to the terrible
night in the midst of the general coM-
fusion III the camp. several of the
cow-men distinguished themselves by
their GOODNESS and bravery. John
McGinnis, captain OF the Colorado
roundup, kept his presence of mind
when the flood came He was sleep
ing in a tent with William A
Longfellow. foreman of the twenty
second outfit, when the waters took
them both off the ground, and in a
second both were half wading, half
swimming in water up to their waists.
Both got out of the tent and began to
shout the alarm to the others while
struggling to reach high ground, The
two, by hard work, succeeded in get
ting all of the men in the tent with
them out of it and on dry land, hav
ing to swim desperately part Of the
way, Longfellow having to carry one
of his cowboys, who was i'll with
rheumatism, on his back. The
Frenchman had widened to nearly a
hundred yards from bank to bank,
and to reach the buttes, where place
of safety would be found, required a
hard struggle, the water having
reached the depth Of about seven
feet.
NJ. w. Fitzgerald. who is foreman
for Hon. J. L. Brurh, of Denver, got
out of his tent when the props first
began to sway, saw the danger, and
awakened and got his men to place
of safety
Robert K. Kendall, of the twenty
Rat Tail staked out short distance
from his camp, and mounting him
bareback. swan him courageoHsly in
to the whirling waters, and managed
to carry four of the struggling men to
the buttes.
B TT Freeman, who at the round up,
was representing D. FL & j. w. Sny-
der & Co, contrived to get to his
horse, Old -Four, staked out near his
tent, and rode him around through
tie water, following Kendall's exam
pie. Freeman brought three men
to shore clinglng to his horses name
and legs
Lon Wetherbee, who was well
known in Colorado and lives in Den
yer, was among the first to extricate
himself from the bathing teat in which
he was. and was instrumental in saw
ing the lives of three of his compan-
ions, swimming twice to the baths
with a man, and then plunged back
again in the water. Wetherbee was
completely exhausted when he got to
shore the third time, but hearing
himself called by name with cry for
help from the rushing stream, plung-
ed in again and was carried away by
the water. His body is among those
not vet found Whetherbee was a
very youBg man and his death while
performing an act of such gallantry
is one of the saddest incidents of the
tragedy.
The lightning flashes from the dark
sky saved many a life. As soon as
tho cowhovS had recovered from the