The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1884-11-05
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY.
How the q OF I.yrd leigh met
His Death-Story of IL Hunting
Companion.

The body OF the Hon. Gilbert II. G..
Leigh, M. p eldest SOL Of Lord Leigh,
Of Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshirc,
England, who was killed by falling
down n precipicc, in the Ten S%lccpcrs
Canyon, Bighorn Mountains, OH Scptcm-
Der IA, left New York on the White
Star steamer Btitannic Saturday last
in charge Of his uncle, the Rev. Canon
Leigh, and his brother, the Hon. ID.
Leigh. who had come to this country
for the purpose. W. II. Greenfield, Of
Taplow Court, Bucks, late member for
Salisbury, who was d O moanion Of Mr..
Leigh, gave IL succinct account Of the
sad event. He said
I'VE left England in the Nerm0Hic
o. August I. and travelled by way Of
Chicago. st. Paul, and the Northern Pa
citic to Custer, from there making our
way to the Bighorn Mountains. We
reached New York on the 18th, and !
proceeded to Niagara. We joined again
at Chicago. There were five in tho par
ty. Mr.. Leigh, Myself, two hunters
named Bob Stewart and "Ted," and an
other man as cook. ] had not been in
this country before, but it was nothing
new to Leigh. H. had been herc half
Il dozen times and knew almost every
foot of tn" ground in the district we
went to. 1t was on Sunday, September
IA, that Leigh was lost and we found
the body OH the 2lst. We had n camp
III the bottom Of the canyon, and he sad
died his horse and left about two O'Clock
in the afternoon. We waited till very
late in the evening but he did not come
in, nor did he reach camp all night, so
We became certain that something scri-
IL had happened. We did not expect
him in early, rs he had gone out late,
and had he killed anything it would
have taken him Il considerabl. time to
return to camp"
What steps did you take o asked the
reporter.
The hunter went down to the forks
of the canyon and hunted about care
fully. lie fired several shots and
shouted, but there was no response.
We became further alarmed, and began
y search which proved to BE- very long
one. We found his horse about two
miles up the canyon with his coat tied
OF its back. Bob Stewart was unable
to find anything further. and came back
t" me- saying: II guess we have another
lost mnn" We all continued the search
for n week, going from ledge to ledge
and "xaming every cave and every bear
hole 1t WAS very hard work Tor the
men, hat not SO much for member Of
tho Alpine Club, who had been three
times up the Mattprhorn. Finding
nothing, On Saturday | wrote a letter to
Mr.. Morton Fowler, who manages a
rancho for the Powder River Cattle
Company. and who knew Leigh we'll,
having been on, hunting with him sew
"ral times. | intended to send Bob
Stewart off with the letter early on
sunday morning, and after doing so We
started atarted again on the search. We
had been twice over the ground but we
went again, and soon found IL hat which
We recognized az L.righ'S. We came
Upon the body soon afterwards. It. was
hidden in Il kind OF hollow, below q
hiacA rock about eighty feet high. Gu
lral>ly enough, the clothes we're no,
torn. lle must hav,. been killed immc-
diatrly. The skull was smashed in, and
tn. back, thi. h and one Of the legs was
broker. lie was lying on his back,
with head upwards. The body had not
b.'n touched by any animals. and | COW
L I'd it owe with my blanket, secured
w stones. Wo were three miles frcm
tns camp. sent oil for Il doct, r to see
what conld be done in the way Of IN
l'%aiIning the body. 1t wus not ut all de-
composed, MS it WAS lying IN very cool
~i'ia>r. where the sun could not get "a,
it,
"Wha, is your theory co%nccrnin; tho,
cause Of the accident o.
"Oh, know cxnctly how it happened.
W" llai hunted this canyon for Il week.
a"A W. both knew it hy heart. 70,
nme miles the rock is quite %prrpcndic-
nlar, the lowest ledge being at least one
hundYed feet in height There is orl,
one place where you can get up it, about
n mile and Il half up the canyon. II.
got upltherc and then came along tn.
prccipice. | went up and followed hi.
tracks for a considerable distance. Tn,
ground at the place where. he fell shelves
rapidly, anni ne roul,. not sec the ..,,r,.c:-
p e ..iow, ! could not see I.iaiulv III,
,.I:'c" wh"r. hri:. d >lipprl.e There Was
al,"r aGoui ten or fifteen yards below
MI. his riff" had caugh. upon this i
w;'s on .h- very edge of the prccipicc
! should In y"u I" MIKE it clear tina
his Heath w. not caused IN and way l.,
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