The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1886-11-05
DEER LODGE MONTANA NOVEMBER B. 1886.
AN UNSHACKLED FURY.
VIVID DESCRIPTION OF AWlND STORM
za2zaS ... ON THE PRAIRlES.


VIVID DESCRIPTION OF AWiND STORM
sstz5 ON THE PRAlRlEs.
A Hurricane Rushing Over the Plains
in Search of Victims--Men Suffocating
Reached. 80 ~ -=.
We were camped on the open prairie,
seventy miles from the nearest range of hills,
with not q tree or bush in sight as far as the
eye could range. A few rods to the east was
dry ravine, perhaps six feet deep. 1t was
eDna of those queer freaks of the prairie,
aaS4 .s!9 nyhere, ending nowhere, and not
=, III one rode into it. 1t crooked
and turned like the trail of a serpent, but one
looking across the prairie saw nothing but
dead level.
Night shut down as soft as whisper, and
the stars came out and looked cheerily down
on the faces Of the mon who rested after
hard days work. There was not wind
enough to turn feather. There was no sign
in the heavens that danger nenaced. At mid
night the wakefiil sentinel felt gentle puff of
wind lifting his long hair, and from distant
point the bark of O coyote was waited to his
ears. Ten minutes later the grass about him
was bending to a breeze, and the unsecured
flaps of the tent began to whip. One Of the
sleepers was aroused to make things secure,
and he was mono too soon. Away off in the
west was heard Il mighty rushing as the grass
swished in the wind, and dozens of dark forms
skurried past the tent in the ravine. The ami
NAL life of the prairie had become aroused.
THE WIND FROM THE WEST.
Not in puffs, but with a front like wall,
the wind came out of the west, increasing in
strength every moment. An hour after mid
night the sentinel could no longer stand
against it, and the seepers had been aroused
to hold the tent in place by main strength. A
quarter of an hour later it was picked up as
the human breath blows a feather away.
Men shouted aid screamed at each other, but
the wind took the words from their lips
and whirled them away unheard. Blown
along like SO many puppets the band fell into
the ravine for shelter, followed two IAinutes
later by all the horses The alarmed animals
crowded up close to their human friends and
they all lay down for further security The
wagons were heard rushing away to tumble
into the ravine further down. and now and
then saddle or blanket Or cooking utensil flew
over the rayine or fell among the fugitives.
Afar up the mighty mountains vial of
wrath had been uncorked. Through the
gloomy canyons-down the awful precipices
over the pine-clad slopes rushed hurri-
cane in search of victims 1t leaped down
from mountain to foot hills with the roar of
an angry sea, and it left the foot hills for the
level prairie bent on terrible destruction.
Across the seventy miles of level it dashed at
US with its fury, and at o'clock no living
thing could have faced it. At 8 the storm
swept prairie kept up continuous trembling,
as if a volcano was about to break forth near
u.s. At 4, when daylight broke, the air was
choked with grass torn up by the roots, and
the roar was appalling. Men clung to each
other and to the grass, and now and then, as
the roaring died out for a few seconds, the
frightened horses neighed their terror. When
the wind blows sixty miles an hour it is
hurricane. 1t was blowing harder than that
to te1r up the strong prairie grass out of the
soil When the wind blows seventy miles an
hour great trees are uprooted and barns are
blown down. 1t was blowing harder than
that to swoop up and carry off our heavy
picks and axes. More than seventy-more
than eighty-more than ninety-aye, that
mighty wrath was dashing over the prairie
at the rate of 100 miles an hour.
A DESPERATE STRUGGLE.
We felt suffocated for the want of air. We
were deafened by the continuous roaring.
We were exhausted by the desperate struggle
10 prevent being scooped up bodily and car
ried out of the ravine. II it with us,
sheltered from the fury as we were, how must
it have been with those exposed to its full
forces A great wolf, from whom life was
beaten out, rolled down among us. The bodies
Of dozens of coyotes and rabbits, i'll which
every bone seemed broken, dropped into the
ravine The wagons were caught up at day
light, whirled in the air for moment and
then disappeared forever Even the iron axles
were not to be found. Two or three objects,
which no one could make out, tumbled over
the bank below the horses Some hours later
we found them to be mauled and pounded and
bone-broken bodies of buffaloes.
At o'clock the climax was reached 1t ap-
peared as il the earth rose and fell under us.
One of the horses struggled to his feet, and
The next instant he vanished to the east. Tho
force of the wind bruised and panied A rock
weighing tons, blown, perhaps, from the foot
hills, ploughed down one bank and rushed
up the other to continue plaything for the
wrath Our breath came by gasps. The air
thickened until it became twilight. Half an
hour later the wind begun to lull, the roaring
to die away and the sky to Tighten up, and at
7o'clock we were searching the prairie in
hopes of recovering some one article belonging
to what had been well stocked camp. On
the prairie we found absolutely nothing. In
the ravine a couple of axes, two or three sad
dies, an iron kettle and portions of harness.
The mighty wrath had hungered for our lives,
and failing to get them, had vengefully
sought TO rob us of our all.-Detroit Free
Press.