The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-05-23
THE REDSKINS.
A Party of Hunters Owe Their
ScaIps to a Timely Rain
storm.

proceeded up the Laramie River VALLEY
ABOUT fifty miles There we're twenty
one of US. including three or four cili
zens. We had been out for about
week. and had seen no sign Of redskins
when one morning We awoke to find tina
we we're in for disagreeable day TIT
clouds hung low. fine drizzle was fall
ing. and we knew that it was useless tc
look for any change for the better be-
fore midnight.
a gentleman named David Mills. al
tached to some eastern college as tsxi'
dermist. and who was also an enthusi-
asst on the subject Of mineralogy. was a
member Of the party. and great favor
ite. When breakfast had been dis
patched, he donned his waterproof and
EXPRESSED his intention OF scouting NJ
the valley a short distance after sPeci-
mems. | offered to accompany him,
and after canyassing the project for a
few moments, We concluded TO take our
horses and inspect canyon we hau
passed two or three days before, ABOUT
six miles up the valley. de TOOK a
double-barreied shotgun, aud l my
Winchester and a haversack, with a
lunch strapped TO my saddle.
I'VE got off about 9 o clock, with the
rain coming down in a steady drlzzle.
and we reached the canyon without in
cident worthy Of record. Il was known
TO the camp that unexpected o. be gone
all day. The entrance 20 the canyon
was a sort of basin, perhaps half an
acre in circumference, with enough
grass TO keep our horses eating for.tWo
or three Eours. We unsaddled and
hobbled them, tucked the saddles I'M
der an oVerhanging rock. and then
started to explore the canyon. At the
back end of the basin, and Just before
the real split in the mountain began,
was a tremendous rock which had fallen
down from above. Its crests was at
least twenty feet higher than the floor
of the basin, and its broken and jagged
sides offered q climber an easy way up.
We stopped for awhile to survey the
great mass, and to imagine what a
crash ii must have made when l. came
down, and then passed ii the canyon
proper. Just about this time the rain
began to pour down with great vigor,
and our enthusiasm for exploration
was good deal dampened.
mills gathered various specimens of
rock as we stumbled along the rift, and
at q spot where a 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
as the terrific rain was send
ing streams of water down the centre of
the rift. This streem kept growing In
size until il had become q respectable
creek as it reached the basin. There it
took a sweep to the left of the big rock
which stream made a bend toward US
Just in front of the basin, and was only
three hundred feet away.
Il never saw il rain harder. The
roar of the falling drops on the rocks
was enough toprevent all conversation,
ard our sole aim was TO find some sort
OF shelter. We got it under one side of
the big rock L have spoken OF. A shelf
projected out Ear 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 a finger. wave
of water flooded in on us and literally
washed US out. As we went out from
under the shelf, we found the basin to
be lake, with the water waist deep.
The big rock was our only hope. and we
had 10 drop our guns as we pulled our
selves up. The waters followed US. and
we paused not until we reached the
top. From there we looked down on a
strange sight. The Laramie River was
pouring INTO the basin from one side
and the canyon was sending a river in
from the other. and by the time we
gained the crest, the water around rs
was twelve or fifteen feet deep.
I'VE had not vet spoken when we
being whirled around in the basin, and
the next moment we saw the heads OF
half dozen Indians dottng the water.
The two rivers flowing into the basin
created a sort OF whirlpool, and though
the redskins were swimming bravely,
they could not break out of il. At one
point, where the current swept past the
rocky side. they would clutch and hang
in the most desperate manner, but only
10 be swept along again in a moment.
They made the most tremendous efforts
to break through the circle and reach
our rock. but it was in vain. We looked
down upon them until the last warrior
gave up the unequal fight and sank
from sight. Shortly after the last one
disappeared the water in the basin
suddenly went out until We could see
the rocky bottom again. and soon after
that the fierce rain was replaced by a
steady drizZle.
ut took US some little time to figure
out how everything had occurred.
Soon after we left the basin. band OF
proving Indians had come along.
They had seized our horses and re-
moved them out of sight, and had then
gone in ambush TO wait our return.
The fierce storm had produced land
slide just below the basin. and the
Laramie river had been temporarily
damned up. This threw all its waters
into the basin, and the overflow had
been 50 sudden that the redskins could
not escape. When the dam broke away,
under the great pressure, The basin was
soon emptied.
"The results of specimen-huntine
were the loss of our FIRE arms and
horses; but we did not complain. But
for the flood we should have lost Just as
much and cur scalps besides. New