Mexico weekly ledger., 1885-10-08
THE LEDGER.
A RACE WITH WOLVES.
A Thrilling Story of the Frontier
Sixty.nine Years Ago.

By Dr.. Fl. Scott, Lancaster, Ohio.
The following tragic occurrence
took place not far remote from where
my father lived when 1 was a small
boy. In after years the particulars
were detailed to me by some of the
parties interested.
The winter of 1915-16 was unusu-
ally severe. A deep snow fell about
the first of January, which lay on the
ground until about the first OF
March, with repeated additions of a
few inches from time to time. A
strong crust formed on the surface
by the fall of rain, followed by severe
freezing; so that the sharp hoofs of
deer penetrated it when they ran,
while wolves and dogs ran on the
surface, and thus q great many OF
these animals We're captured and de-
voured. But Notwithstanding, the
wolves, of which there were thous-
ands filing the forests everywhere
from the long severity of the winter
came into a furnishing condition, and
swarmed in around the improvements
SO that they were see almost daily.
There was a tract of uninhabited
country of twenty miles in width
stretching off cast of the settlement
along the creek, and which, at that
time, and for years afterwards, WAS
known as 1.-THE wilderness" Five
miles out from the crossing of the
creek a Virginia family by the name
of Dearduff settled in about 1910.
MIR. Dearduff erected a double two
story hewed log house of considera-
BILE capacity, and the place was known
as the Wilderness house. There
were several young people belonging
to the family, and Mr.. and Mrs.
Dearduf were jolly and social, and
the Wilderness house became the
headquarters for dancing parties and
other frequent social gatherings of
the young folks from the settlements
along the creek. There was a good
country road from the crossing of
the creek out to the Wilderness
house, all the way through a dense
woods.
Three-quarters of a mile above the
crossing lived Mr.. FL. His was a So
cial family, and a place Of considera-
bic resort. There were three young
ladies in the family, of whom Lizzie
was the youngest. On a certain ev-
ening during the winter referred to,
twenty or more sIeds and jumpers
left the house of Mr.. H., at about
shutdown, bound for the Wilderness
house for a dance, and conveying in
all some fifty persons. By arrange
ment a rousing fire was to be kept
burning for the return party in the
latter part of the night, who would
stop to warm, as the night was Sc
yerely cold. At 2or3 o'clock they
began to arrive, but half an hour
later it a discovered that they were
all there except Lizzie and Anci
Bates, who occupied a single jumper
1t vas thought strange, as there wer.
several who remembered seeing then
equipped ready to start. Time pass
ed, and they did not come, and Mrs
I'll. became alarmed. Two young
men took a jumper and drove bacl
to the Deardutf house, but only t,
learn that Mr.. Bates and Lizzie hat
left with the company and had beer
the last to drive out of the gate
This only mystifed the affair, as i
was not thought possible they would
have driven anywhere else than home
Upon the return of the young mel
horns were blown and guns fired, un
til daylight. In the meantime two o
three of the nearest houses were Wis
!, tied, but all with no result. At tn
setting in of daylight q number o
men started back on the road in tn
direction of the Wilderness house t.
make a thorough search. At abou
one-third of the distance the discov
cry was made that the horse had lief
the road, turning to the right up
glade through which was q SINAI
stream. An inch of fresh snow hat
fallen in the fore part of the night
which enabled the men to discover
to their horror, on both sides of til
trail, thousands of wolf tracks
Following the track they soon foun'
sprinkles of blood on the snow
which increased as they proceeded
At the upper end of the glade, an
some three hundred yards from tn
point of leaving the road, they cam
upon the fragments of the jumpe
that had been dashed to piece
against m oak, and the plunges Q
the horse showed that he had dashe'
into a dense plum thicket. A littl
further on they came IN sight of
hundred wolves scampering ava
from the bare skeleton of the horse
but there was nothing to indicate tn
fate of the special objects of th
search.
Returning to the wrecked jumper
they presently discovered the singh
track of aman in the light snow tina
had fallen, and pursuing it rapidly
couple of hundreds yards, it was los
at the entrance to a kind of cav
formed by projecting rock on tn,
bluff that formed the south bank of
o.,rall1 oo E