Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-03-17
UNDER THE SNOW.

was coming out of the mountains to
the north of Virginia City with a lot of
miners mail strapped on my back There
was no regular mail route there then, but
about once a month some one took the
letters down and returned with any mail
found at the postoffice. | was on snow
shoes. The winter had been severe, and
the snow was five or six feet deep on the
level. The 9th of January had been
very balmy day, with warm sun and
wind and on the morning of the 18th |
started.
l had to make my way along the base
of range known to us then as Bills
Thumb, and for this twelve miles there
was only one settler. He was an old
bachelor who had built himself snug,
stout cabin under the caves of the Thumb.
He was hunter, miner, prospector, tax
idermist, naturalist, and | DON know what
else. Some of the boys who had met him
had an idea that he had soured on the
world, and had come out there to live
himself, and would not allow any one to
question him. got along very well for
the first five miles, but then realized that
was in danger of snowslides. The thaw
had continued through the night, and it
needed only jar to send the great masses
of snow lying on the mountain rushing
down the slope with force which nothing
could stand. One took place behind me
b,1,o e.
as / pushed my way forward all my senses
were on the alert for the first signal of
danger
When | had approached within pistol
shot of the hermits cabin / saw the man
himself about mile down the valley. He
was coming toward the house, but had
burden on his shoulder and was moving
slowly. Therefore, as | reached the cabin
| stood at the door to wait for him, think
ing he might wish me to take letter or
do some errand. He was still half a mile
away when | heard dull, heavy fall away
up the mountain above my head. | knew
it was mass of snow tumbling off the
rocks, and that it was the seed of an
avalanche. The sound mad scarcely
reached my, ears when l wheeled to the
door, lifte1the latch, and the next instant
every pound of snow on a mountain side,
1000 feet high and quarter of mile
long, was in motion for the base. 1t came
with n terrible roar and succession of
crashes as rocks and trees were caught up,
and | held my breath fer what was to hap
pen The house trembled and rocked.
thousand empty wagons seemed to rush
over the roof, and then all was midnight
darkness, and the stiffness of the grave set
tied down upon me.
The house had been buried under an
avalanche. 1t was Gods mercy that it had
not been swept away and torn log from log
There was only small fire on the hearth,
and before ] moved | struck match to see
my way. After looking about bit found
a candle, and then | began to investigate
the situation. On opening the door found
the snow packed solidly in front. Going to
the single window | found every ray of
light shut out. In the room was bundle
of rods about as large as my finger and
nine feet long. There were six of them
| seized one and thrust it upward from the
door, but it did not go through the drift
| dashed another to it, and yet the length
was not sufficient. | lashed on a second,
and now had at least twenty -five clear feet
of pole to probe with, and | believed the
upper end found daylight In front of the
cabin, and about 200 feet away, was great
mass of bare rock forty rods long by fifty
feet high. This would stop the avalanche,
and it was more than likely that solid
mass of snow forty rods long and twenty
four feet deep lay above me.
What had become of the hermit There
was not one chance in a thousand that he
had escaped. The avalanche would block
the trail for weeks, and at the very best it
would be some days before any one at our
camp would know that | was in the hut.
If the hermit escaped he would carry the
news. If he was buried under the snow |
might as well make up my mind to remain
prisoner until spring. | was in a bad
box, and for the first half hour | quite lost
my courage. Then, having every reason
to believe that | must be prisoner for
many long days | began to take an in
ventory of stock as it were. There was a
good bed of skins and blankets several
cooking utensils, table and several rough
stools. n clock, n dozen or more books,
about thirty candles, with tea, coffee, sugar,
pork and -four in quantities to last me sew
eral weeks. | could not have been better
provided for had / planned for the ava
lanche to come. There was leanto at the
back end of the hut, and ] looked into this
to find it full of fuel. | felt much more
hopeful after | had taken the inventory,
for could not help but feel that it would
be long before | saw daylight again.
For several hours after the accident the
cabin sent forth suspicious sounds. The
snow was settling and packing above it,
and rafters and logs cracked and snapped
in way to keep me on thorns. If the
weight on the roof proved too great /
should be crushed or smothered the mo-
ment it fell in. 1t was after 8 o'clock in
the afternoon before | felt safe. But very
little snow had come down the chimney.
l reasoned from this that it had been COW
cred by rocks or limbs. If such was the
case and the fire refused to burn, | should
be hard pressed with plenty of raw pro-
visions at hand. l felt all the gravity of
the situation as | threw on some light
wood and made blaze. 1t was hard
fight for half an hour. Some of the
smoke certainly found a way to escape,
but some was driven back. However,
after time the heat of the fire brought
down great deal of water-so much that
could scarcely keep a fame going-and
about $50 o'clock the cabin was cleared of
smoke. While | could not for an instant
believe that the mouth of the chimney
showed above the snow, | was satisfied
that some way had been opened for the
smoke to drive away. | may explain here
that great mass of tree tops lodged on
the roof before the bulk of that snow
came, and these held the snow up so that
the smoke went sailing about in hundred
channels
got myself some supper, wound up the
clock, ansd sat down for a smoke and
think. The hermit had two pipes and
large stock of tobacco, and, lonely as was
my situation, feeling of gratitude to God
for the comforts at hand was uppermost in
my mind. | was now perfectly satisfied
that | was buried deep under the snow,
and that my rescue would be matter Of
weeks. The first move was to write out