The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-03-01
A RAFrsn1AN's ADVENTURE.
Mr.. CIarl1's Terrific Ride Through the Can
yon of Tarryall Creek.

Clark proceeded:
well, you see, had been out here from
Wisconsin three years, but hadn't been in the
mountains much to speak of About that time
had a contract with the government to furnish
1000 cords of wood to be delivered at Omaha at
So Il cord ! considered that | would have no
difficulty in filling the contract. was well used
to rafting logs, having spent the best ten years
of my life at the business on the Wisconsin and
Chippewa rivers.
Il put force of men at cutting logs on some
of the different tributaries Of the Platte river,
particularly on Tarryall creek, the mountains in
that section being of shape peculiarly favorable
to rolling logs down their sides to the banks Of
the creek
Il was assured by my choppers that it would
be impossible to raft logs in the rapid mountain
streams, but laughed at the idea ! had ridden
on log over the falls of St. Anthony, and
would not have feared to go over Niagara on
good saw-log
when the May freshets were about to open
had all of the 800 cords of logs arranged in one
great pile upon the banks of Tarryall creek,
about forty miles from its junction with the
Platte river.
Il had everything in readiness for making the
drive if the water got up high enough to take the
logs through with certainty. The log pile was so
arranged that by removing the supports 1t would
roll into the stream. put on my spiked shoes,
ana with pike pole i'll my hand, pushed away
from the bank on stout log, probably three
feet in diameter The men watched for the out
come with IA good deal of attention, evidently ex-
pecung TO see me undergo Il QuCklng, II not
worse When, however, they me manage
the log with as much ease and safety as an In
dian does lis canoe bringing it up stream by
means Of taking tack with my pile-pole in the
water. cheer broke from the men.
while was engaged i'll this / noticed that it
suddenly grew dark, and, looking up the canon,
/ noticed that terrible black cloud was settling
down upon it. / hurried up with my work as
fast as l could, and had nearly got through with
it us the night grew pitchy black, and l was pre-
pared to run back to the landing place. when [
was almost lifted from the log by the most daz-
zlng flash of lightning that / have ever seen,
accompanied almost simultaneously by peal
of thunder that shook the hills
at clear as monday for fully half a
minute, and in the hasty glance that | cast up
the stream toward the landing l saw what had
occurred. A cloud burst water spout had
emptied itself into the canyon.
ITO reach the landing l saw would be abso-
lutely impossible. Gray walls of rock rose
hundreds of feet high on both sides of the stream
where l was, efTectually cutting off the escape i'll
that direction of anything not provided with
wings. The terrible roar of the deluge of waters
crOwding themselves within the narrow walls of
the canon above the log-pile could be heard
miles away. In an instant it would be
upon me, l knew if l remained where l was.
Experienced log-rideT as [ was; and fearless of
danger, knew that to ride that stream on a log
would be as easy as to play with forked lightning
empty handed.
take a second to make up my mind to this, and
before the sound of the thunder had died out
| was riding with the stream, which had already
begun to rise under the log upon which 1 stood.
again the lightning cleaned out. and [ cast
a glance backward in time to see the supports
swept from my pile of logs by the towering
column of water. The huge pile of logs rolled
down into the water with a sound only equaled
by the roar of the thunder which followed the
fash
Il felt myself being hurried along with hor-
rible speed that made my senses swim. My
pike-pole stood straight out behind, so great
was the velocity, and it was only with the utmost
exertion of my strength that could bring it
forward in time to guide my log away from the
rocks.
'The lightning was now a steady blaze.
have seen many extraordinary electric displays
in the mountains before and since, but never
anything like this The very air seemed made
of lightning. Every point of rock was sur
rounded by huge mass of electricity. The
point of my pike-pole seemed a lantern vivid
were the rays from the electricity crowded upon
it; and around my head was halo of light which
must have given me wildly supernatural APP
pearance, and which certainly had an alarming
influence upon myself Water-I could not call
it rain-was falling in heavy sheets, almost
washing me from my place upon the log.
''The addition of the huge pile of logs to the
torrent in the canon is all that is needed to make
the grandest possible effect in the way of APP
palling horror For a moment the huge mass of
timber damned the torrent within the walls of
the canon, but the walls could not YIELD and so
the logs had to- With an awful crash, which
sounded above the now steady roar of the thun-
der, the logs were forced through the canon
breaking wherever they became entangled, but
never pausing for an instant again.
II was not more than ten rods from the log
pile when it went in, and from that out until the
awful race ended, was never greater distance
away while often l was Immediately beneath
the terrible column, which lowered to a height
of at least three hundred feet above me-
"A slight widening in the canon allowed
large volume of water to escape from behind the
logs once as ] was Immediately under the tower
ing torrent This caught under the log, and l
seemed to bound at least hundred feet. Still l
kept my feet set fast in the log, and in another
instant was speeding on at the same rate 1t
was awful work trying to keep my place on
that log. Every moment L expected to be
caught in an eddy in the stream and sent spin
ming around at the speed of top. The log
rolled and whirled and spun beneath my feet.
At times | was forced to drive my pike-pole into
the log and climb the pole in order to avoid be-
ing tossed off Even then L was in constant
danger Of being swung off, so violently did the
log spin around,
not more than half an hour, [ should judge, al
though the distance forty miles, and it
seems next to impossible for water to travel at
this rate; but the speed at which L went could
not have been less than this.
''Once out in the Platte the speed Slackened
appreciably but still the torrent kept right at
my heels. The tremendous crashing of the logs
in the torrents grasp had almost died out, too,
the timbers having been ground 70 comparative
ly small pieces. Still had but little hope of
riding the race out in safety. A moments de-
lay, the slightest collision with Il rock. and all
would be over
shortly after leaving the creek 1 left the
storm, and passed out into the bright, clear
moonlight All was quiet excepting the roar of
the torrent doubt if there was even breeze
stirring. but that awful wind caused by my speed
still whistled and roared around me-
''The Platte was up high, too, before the tor
rent come, and the walls of its canons were
none too wide. Still it was clear sailing as com
pared with Tarryall creek, and before midnight
| had passed through the mouth of Platte canon,
and knew that | was safe"
'What became of your logs"
so, everybody knows that I failed on that
cord wood CONTRACT When the waters got ont