Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1886-12-30

preston that was SO very wise then.
wasn't. l was a harum scarum, careless,
reckless. improvident boy, and nothing but a
special providence carried me through.
had about me some of the grandest and
most beautiful scenery in the world, and OF
this change almost daily. One morning l
would breakfast almost on some mountain
summit overlooking forty or fifty miles Of
country. The next might be deep down in
dell or canyon, rivulet flowing at my feet
while overhead lowered walls of rock higher
than half dozen church steeples piled on
each other The third day might be in the
! heart of the forest, with every outlook shut in
by the dense foliage.
Breakfasting thus one morning in the
pines, coyote came trotting along, deliber'
ately squatted within about 100 feet and
watched me as ate. He seemed to know
had no powder and shot to waste on him, and
| probably when / left devoured the remains
Of my meal Put came at last to regard
these creatures as another breed of dog and
took little notice of them. Besides, had no
| quarrel with the coyotes, though l think one
did one night try to jerk my provision bag
from under the saddle, which l used as a
pillow. was awakened by the tug, was
very much frightened, yelled and saw inds-
tinctly something making for a swamp near
| by. On another occasion one of these ami
mails came barking and yelling down a
mountain side and SO followed the procession
| (my horse, dog and MYSELF for over half a
mile What he wanted never could make
out.
Grizzlies were plentiful, yet l never saw
one in his native forest, not even a grizzly
track. Some good luck kept me and the
| grizzly apart. One night l camped near a
sheep ranch. Seeing my fire, the proprietor
made me a visit. We'll" said he, you've
chosen not over nice place to spend the
night in. You're right in the track of the
bears. They've killed twenty six of my sheep
within the last two weeks. Guess you'd bet
ter come and sleep in my barn on the hay"
Which L did. A pile of loose hay, with a
blanket atop of it, was a luxurious exchange
from the hard ground with only blanket
atop of that.
Was / afraid in these solitudes? Yes, 1
was often. Inever rested securely at night,
dreaded the darkness and was very glad to
see the mornings light. What was l afraid
of! don't know exactly. Perhaps every
thing in general and nothing in particular
If my dog snuffed and growled, which he
would at times do during the night, was in
dread of whatever he was snufling or growl-
ing at, were it beast, reptile Or Indian. Were
Indians about? Yes, but deemed friendly.
These were the Utes. They had been hostile
to the whites few years previous, and what
was easier than for a wandering party Of
them to make away with lone wanderer
like myself for the sake of my horse,
gun, blankets, kit and pocket moneys?
Many a skeleton, to be found years
hence, lays to-day where the robbers,
either white or copper colored, left it, l al
ways gave Mr.. Indian a wide berth when
saw the smoke of his camp fire, though in
reality there was no more to dread from him,
perhaps not so much, as from the white
skinned desperadoes liable to be met in the
territory of Nevada at that time. What boy
or man need most to guard against in camp
ing out is taking cold from sleeping on the
damp ground. People accustomed all their
lives to warm, dry and comfortable beds can
not safely make the change to nights rest
in one or even two pairs Of blankets on or
near the ground with safety. So much damp
ness near you will draw the heat from your
body at the time when it is most easily
drawn away and is most needed-that is
during sleep. SO by all means follow the In
dian fashion and sleep with your feet as near
the fire as possible. was careless and igno-
rant then Of the proper manner of taking
care of myself and suffered good deal. l
often slept cold and woke up at or in the
morning chilled through. Next day | would
find myself without strength, dull and lack
ing spring in my muscles That meant had
lost more strength than L had gained during
the night. It's marvel to Inc now that l
lived at all through this long continued and
ignorant abuse of myself. Once | became so
weak as not to be able to stir for three days
from camp ground. made sort of shell
ter of one pair of blankets, built my fire at
one end of it and staid there. The wind
changed about fifteen times day, blowing
the smoke from my fire through the shelter.
/ would then crawl out and build the fire at
the other end. Hardly had done SO before
the wind would again Shift blowing the
smoke and ashes in upon me as before. This
was during June. There was a snow squall
every day-a common occurrence in that
high altitude. My perch in that camp was
about 5000 feet above the sea level. Very
warm weather never came there.
L suffered also, and lSnorantly, from the
poor food was obliged to live on. A con-
slant diet of bread, bacon, beef or game
without fruit or vegetables is another source
of dullness and heaviness to the body, and
campers out are very apt to live mainly on
such food. You can't do so and be very we'll
This is not picturesque phase of life under
the trees, but the sooner boy learns to take
some thought about what he eats and how it
affects him, the sooner is he on the right road
to get the most good out of life.
PRENTICE MILFORD