The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-06-02
ALEXANDRIA, LOUISIANA, WEDNESDAY,, JUNE

twenty feet higher than the floor OF the
basin, and it's broken and jagged sides
offered climber an easy way up We
stopped for awhile to survey the great
mass, and to imagine what crash it
must have made when it rolled down,
and then passed into the canon proper.
Just about this time the rain began to
pour down with great vigor, and our
enthusiasm for exploration was q good
deal dampened.
"Mills gathered various specimens OF
rock as we stumbled along the rift and
at spot where d large slab OF sand
stone offered opportunity we stopped
and cut our names in the soft rock. BY
and by the way became so gloomy that
we decided to turn back, the more espe-
cially as the terrific rain was sending a
stream of water down the center OF the
rift. This stream kept growing in size
until it had become respectable creek
as it reached the basin. There it took
sweep to the left of the big rock and
rushed out to Join the Laramie, which
stream made bend toward us just in
front of the basin, and was only three
hundred feet away. q. -"
II never saw it rain harder. The
roar of the falling drops on the rocks
was enough to prevent all conversation,
and our sole aim was to find some sort
of shelter. We got it under one side of
the big rock / have spoken of. A shelf
projected out far enough to shelter our
bodies, and we drew our legs up and sat
there for the next half hour as dumb as
oysters. All of sudden, with no more
warning than snap of the finger, a
wave Of water flooded in on us, and
literally washed lis out. As
we went out from under the
shell we found the basin to be a
lake, with the water waist deep. The
big rock was our only hope, but we had
to drop our guns as we pulled ourselves
up. The waters followed us, and we
paused not until we reached the top:
From there we looked down on strange
sight, The Laramie river was pouring
into the basin from one side and the
canon was sending river in from the
other, and by the time we gained the
crest the water around us was twelve or
fifteen feet deep: aa -
awe had not yet spoken when we
caught sight of the bodies of our horses
being whirled around in the basin, and
next moment we saw the heads Of half a
dozen Indians dotting the water. The
two rivers flowing into the basin created
sort of whirlpool, and, though the
redskins were swimming bravely, they
, could not break out of it. At one point
where the current swept past the rocky
side, they would clutch and hang in the
most desperate manner. but only to b
swept along again after a moment
They made the most tremendous efforts
to break through the circle ant
reach our rock, but it was il
+ vain. We looked down upon then
until the last warrior gave up tn
! unequal fight and sank from sight
/ Shortly after the last one disappeared
). the water in the basin suddenly wen
i, out until we could see the rocky bottom
i again, and soon after that the fierce rail
: was replaced by steady drizzle.
q eft took us some little time to figur
? out how every thing had occurred. Sool
i after we left the basin band of prow]
q ing Indians had come along. They ha
= seized our horses and removed them on
r of sight, and had then gone into am
: bush to await our return. The ferc
e storm had produced q landslide just be
a low the basin, and the Laramie rive
r had been temporarily damned up, Thi
. threw all its waters into the basin, an
4 the overflow had been SO sudden, tha
:, the redskins could not escape. Whe
: the dam broke away, under the gres
a pressure, the basin was soon emptieo
n "The results Of our specimen huntin
= were the loss of our firearms an
4 horses; but we did not complain. Br
!. for the flood we should have lost just q
n much and our scalps besides. N
N San. H.,