Omaha daily bee., 1885-08-05
PIONEER
Accidents by Flood and Field and
Through Snow and Ice-Pertls of
Express Riding, Etc.


messenger were many and thrilling. N
one has q more deeply Interested audi
ence than an old Wells, Fargo & Co
rider, when he can be prevailed upon t
reoIte some OF his accidents by food an
field; bis hairbreadths escspes from tn
scslp.huntlng Indian or the gold dust
seeking highwayman. Toe following |
the opening response from one who ha
been asked to tell something of his expe
rience as o pioneer express rider:
Yours of the 18th inst. was received
several days sgo, and since Its receipt
have teen thinking about my services II
the company In the early days of thi
country, and, In compliance with your re
quest, 1 give you some items of iuteres
connected with the express company II
that snowy region known as Nez Perez
country. l will take the liberty of be
ginning this letter by stating that In this
month of May, 1861, about 5000 of us
being of all n~ationalities on the earth, OF
nearly 80, arrived in the Nez Perez mine,
in what is now Shoshoue county, Idaho
territory, bat then a part of Washington
territory. The mines had bsen discov-
cred a year before by Capt. Pierce, who
is now dead, He had been taken into
the mines by q Nez Perez Indian squaw.
They found the gold at what Is now
Pierce City, and at o place sfterward
called Orotino, two miles distant from the
first discovery.
"Gold was found In paying quantities
and a large mining camp aprsug up like
maglc. An express line was a. once
formed, called Trscy's express, and for
the frat summer carried on business
under that name. That fall Wells, Fargo
81 Co., bought cut Tracy q Co., and Nod
Tracy, the mansger became the agent of
Wells, Fargo & Co. at Portland, Oregon.
" began work for the company In
1862, and my first work was to take q
pair of snow shoes ON my eIpragu horae,
besides my express matter, and start for
the Orotiuo mines, a distance OF 100
miIeg. Wells, Fargo & 90. had a horse
stationed at the crossing of the north fork
of the Clearwater river, a dlstance of
about forty miles from Lewiston. The
horse l left Lewiston or was one of the
worst bucking animals In the Indian
country, bat he had been ridden until
parity suboued.
upon starting, the eyes of the horse
had been blinded until | had secured
my self In The paddie and the SNOW shoes
had been handed me, which l took under
ing the ferry and up the river, crossing
Rorges aud passing along the base Of
mountains on a marrow trail. Finally l
Became t!r d of carrying the shoes, and,
as L attempted to change them from one
arm to the other, my horse took fright
and began to buck right down the side of
a steep mountain, and In less thsn no
time l found myself, horse and snow
shoes piled up together in the gorge. /
was not hurt, though l did net know
how to get a start again; but l finally put
the shoes in a tree, and, after getting my
horse. | got q fast grip on my shoes, and
this time I!held them fast.
"This trip l made on horseback, but
before l reached within twenty miles of
the Office, | found seven feet of snow.
| had left my horse on the top of the
mountain, where be stsid in a small sta-
BILE until spring. That trip up l had
about forty pounds of express matter, and
from what was called "Bin's Ranch" a
distance of about twenty miles from
town, l carried it on my back over from
soven to ten feet Of snow. The SNOW was
light and my shoes would sink down and
give me soma trouble, but l made the
trip all right. Mr.. w. A Atlee was our
agent at Orofino and ne received me
with due honor. That trip I carried
from Origne to a point on the Clearwater |
below the forks, O distance of %fitty-five
$1,000 In gold dust. l was three
days making this ffty-fve miles. The
snow was very light and gave me great
trouble. the first day l made Bald
and csmped in G. hole dug In
the edge of a bluff and covered over;
there was a miner stopping there by the
of Feirchil6; / saw the smoke of his
and by that means found him. The
next day l stopped with q band of Nez
Indians, that were killing deer In
the unow They had killed numbers as
came down the mountain to get out
of the deep snow. The Indiana treatedI
with great kindness. The war chief
Of the great Nez Perce nation was there
and entertained me in his lodge. l had a
line gupper of broiled venison, and laid
that night In his lodge surrounded by
red-faced warriors, not one
of whom could speak a word of English.
laid my head on my gold dust, but did
not sleep. At that time the Nez Perce
Indians were proud to say that they had
never shed the blood of q white man.
The next day when l started on my
two of the chief men ac:ompan
led me for seven miles. That night l
g point from which q horse could
and got sn Indian horse that car
Red me and my load TO Lewiston.
II made trips throughout the winter of
1882 3 in the same way, but will not de-
'ail the events that took place, and will
Jay that the last trip hat l made to the
nine, a new snow had fallen to the
of about twelve feet, and was 30
yery light that the shoe would sink down
md the enow would fall upon it, making
t exceedingly tiresome when a man had
load upon his back.
"When within twelve miles Ct the
mines, Orofino, | became tired out, and
employed a strong man named Hoten to
20 with me and carry half my load. We
Itarted out with twenty pounds apiece at
o'clock o. m. The mercury stood
.bout 30 below zero. We had no over
'oats or blankets. as we expec ed to make
he trip that day. All day we worked
lard and when darkness overlook us we
lad made only seven miles, and were ut