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

ing up that ] was buried alive, and 1t was
an awful thing to think of. The hermits
clock was an old-fashioned one, with
loud tick tack, and after the cabin got
through settling under the weight of the
snow every tick sounded almost as loud as
the blow of a hammer. 1t was so warm
that | needed only the smallest fire, and
when went to bed at o'clock there was
no need of even single blanket for cover.
was up at an early hour next morning,
having slept like log all night, and while
eating breakfast was startled by sounds
which ! believed to be the voice of
human being / thought ] could hear
groans and means and cries for help, and
when opened the door the sounds came to
me more distinctly. 1t might be that the
hermit, caught under the snow, had sue
ceeded in tunneling his way to a point
from which ] could rescue him by digging,
and l had no sooner dispatched my
breakfast than ! set about making me
shovel to dig with. l found Ratchet, and
with this sharpened board, and the snow
| dug from the doorway | heaped up in
the fuel room. ! had not been digging
over half an hour when | made the discov-
cry that the first rush of the avalanche
had brought down great lot of small
trees, bushes and rocks, with here and
there large tree. They had been piled
up heller SHELTER, but they held up the
mass Of snow so that with little digging
| could run tunnel in almost any direc-
ton Great care was necessary, however,
as the burden above was very heavy, and
the displacement of a support might bring
down great weight of snow.
After had run the tunnel straight out
from the door about twenty feet, turned
TO the right, made my way under lot of
rubbish, and after going about thirty feet
came upon the body of an Indian. Here
the limbs and sticks made sort of bower,
under which he lay, and knew that it
was his voice | had heard calling There
were no Indians about us except hostiles,
and Just before the snow came they had
killed two men belonging to our camp. We
had no fear of them after winter set in,
knowing that they stuck close to their vii
lagos Here was red-skin, however and
in full war-paint but | had no sooner
found him than | saw that he was dead
though his body was still warm. He had
been mauled in a terrible manner, both
legs being broken, his head all bloody from
an injury, and his right arm doubled under
him as if broken. | could see the butt of
his rife sticking out of the snow, but when
| pulled at ii found the barrel missing.
1t had been wrenched off. | got his tom
ahawk and knife, however, together with
powder horn and bullet pouch, and when
had pulled the body along and crept be-
hind it, caught sight of moccasin in
ba nd ~ II tnol-
unearth the body, which was that of
second warrior. The life had been crushed
out of him in a second. The mass of rock
which had come down with him had
broken every bone in his body, and a great
share of his face had been ground off.
His rife l could not find, while both knife
and tomahawk were broken. While search
ing his cold and battered body found a
buckskin bag containing about $500 worth
of small nuggets of gold, and this gave me
a hint to overhaul the other. | also got
from him bag containing about $500
worth of dust and nuggets, and in the
search found attached to his belt white
mans scalp, which had not been off the
victims head over two days They must
have been in ambush part way up the
mountain, intent upon taking the hermit's
scalp, and but for the avalanche they
might have had mine as well.
The day had gone by the time l had
overhauled the second Indians body. Be
ing at work. the hours had passed swiftly
away, and had not given myself any time
to brood over the horrors of the situation.
After supper l sat in front of the fire for
awhile, then wrote up my daily journal,
and when | went to bed | left the door
wide open. 1t seemed TO me that the air
was getting foul down there and by open
ing the door the room was greatly puri-
fed. 1t was midnight, as / afterwards
came to know, and the fire was all out,
when some noise in the room startled me.
/ sat up in bed and was soon convinced
that some one or some living thing beside
myself was present. | could hear labored
breathing, together with sounds of some
one pulling himself along the floor, and |
climbed over the foot of the bed and
lighted the candle What was my amaze
ment to find third savage in the cabinl
He had quite reached the side of the bed,
and had | got out that way he would
have at least wounded me, for he had his
naked knife in his hand and was bent on
murder. The Ratchet was at hand, but !
did not need weapon. The warrior had
been dreadfully hurt, and, as investigation
proved, had been buried Just beyond the
other two. When | left the bodies he had
dug his way to my tunnel, and then pulled
himself along to the door, intending to
have my life as / slept. When baffied in
this, he stared at me with all the hate a
human heart can betray. He was crushed
a. the hips, and none but savage could
have accomplished what he did. | could
have killed him at a single blow, but the
horrible work was spared me. Death was
already beside him, and as | stood and
looked down upon him, candle in hand, he
uttered faint war-whoop and fell over
dead. When | was sure that life had de-
parted / dragged him into the tunnel and
shut and barred the door, and so upset had
my nerves become by the adventure that /
did not sleep again that night.
In the morning l excavated hole near
where the three bodies lay and pushed the
three into it and packed the snow over
them. Then i began running tunnel to
the ledge in front of the cabin, and had
gone about twenty feet when the second
night came. Early in the third day had
10 ABANDON InlS tunnel on account OF q
cave-in which nearly smothered me. Then
l turned to the right, to come out down
the valley, and | was still at this work
when the first week closed. Early in the
second week | was stopped by bank of
rocks and earth, and when the second week
closed | was drifting tunnel to the left.
1t was slower work than you would think
for. The snow was packed very solid, and
all ] dug out had to be thrown behind me,
and eventually carried off and scattered in
some hole under the tree tops. Every few
feet met with big rock or the trunk of
tree, and it was hard work to get around
such distractions. Again cave would
take place to hinder further progress for a
day or two, and finally came to the con-
clusion that | could never get out by tun-
neling.
started in on the third week more to
be at work than from any hope of escape
All that week | tunneled to the right
again, and at o'clock on Saturday after
noon, l broke into my own tunnel. In
other words / had done as man does
when lost in the woods. / made half
circle and came back on myself, while all
the time l felt sure / was going straight
ahead. The fourth week was spent mostly
in the house. | was now becoming much
weaker, and was ready to give up. 1t was
~, y gal. l., ~ =, aol,,, H.