The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-09-10
A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE i.
A Boy Lies Thirty-Six Hours on a
Bleak Hillside.

Particulars have just reached here of
the painful. but strikingly interesting,
experience of young man named VIM.
Durrant, of American Fork, son of John
Durrant, of that place, and nephew of
J. H Miller, of this city. About two
weeks ago young Durrant, who is 16 or
IL years of age, obtained a situation as
sheep herder, and he started 10 walk
up American Fork Canyon to where
the sheep camp was located. 1t APP
pears Tat the man who employed him
had two sheep herds, and the one the
young man reached first was the wrong
one. He was directed where to
tind the other, at distance of
several miles over the mountains,
and that evening he started out
afoot TO reach it. He had gone,
as he calculates, about four miles,
when he fell and badly hurt himself.
He attempted to rise, but found him
self unable to do so, and on examining
his leg, he found that it was broken just
above the ankle. He lay upCn the
hillside in the midst of drencbing rain
for thirty-sIX hours, suffering the most
eXcrucIating pain from his broken limb.
The night he passed brought fresh ter
rorS In the sounds of what he supposed
to be wild animals lowering about him
and to his horror, something ap
preached him and commenced smelling
of his body. bis relief may be i'm
az ned, when on putting out his hand
to defend himself, he found that the in
truder was a dog which had ap
parently wandered from some sheep
camp. The dog remained lying
at his side the entire nib ht, and
when any suspicious sounds were heard
in the brush, his barking drove the in
terlopers away. whatever they might
have been. He thinks that but for the
warmth the dog impaired to him he
should have frozen to death during that
terrible night The thoughts of having
to pass another night on the hillside
made him nearly desperate, and crawl
ing to a clump of brush near by he cut
two sticks, and using them as crutches
worked himself what he thought was
distance of four miles, to where some
uninhabited cabins stood. Dragging
himself into one of these, he fell almost
senseless upon the floor, and spreading
his handkerchief over his face aban-
doned himself to death. That night
team with load of campers was com
ing up the canyon, and proYidentIally,
just as they neared the cabins. a
heavy rain storm came up, and drove
them to seek shelter in the very cabin
where the boy was lying. They took
him to be some tramp or traveller on
his way to American Fork, and did not
pay any particular attention to him
The driver did attempt to speak to him
once or twice, but he merely ansWtred
in thick. droHsy way. and considering
that he had laid himself down for the
night, they went on and left him. Bu;,
SIS the driver relates, the more he
thousht about hat form lying SO still,
there in that deserted cabin, the more
he was inclined to think something was
wrong, and he had not gone
more than three-qusrters of mile
when he determined to turn back and
satisfy his mind. They found the boy
IN much the same condition, and ex-
aiming him discovered that he was
drenched TO the skin, that his arm and
sides were horribly lscerated from
using the sticks or crutches and that his
leg was broken. A fire was quickly
built and the ladies of the company
rous'ng the boy, attempted to feed
| him some morSels of bread. He was at
hrst too feeble to eat, but once having
swallowed a mouthful' he became al
most ravenous. His story was quickly
related, and bed being ImproviSed for
him IN the wagon, he was brought
Iown the canyon to his home, where
careful nursing promises to bring him
back to health and strength.