The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1889-10-09
Ten DAYS I'm the Snow.

The Indianapolis journal reports an
interview with a soldier recently Ie-
turned in a sorry plight from Fort
Keogh, Montana Territory. AS the
Journal expresses it, the man took
liberties with n Montana winter in
other words, he with four other soldiers
went out on hunt in the middle of
January. The party had with them
two mules and wagon-load OF sup
plies, and thought themselves well
provided for, as perhaps they would
have been had they kept together.
After travelling about seventy mines
they made permanent camp on Pump
kin Greek, and not long afterwards Mr..
Pruden, the man whose adventures the
JOurndlreports, saw number of deer.
He mounted a mule, gave chase, and
followed them for four hours without
getting shot, and then TO his dismay
blizzard came on. He had depended
upon the mules tracks to guide him
back to camp, but the falling snow OBJ
liberated them entirely. His position
was dangerous, not TO say desperate,
and as he had had eight years expert
ence in the country, he was fully alive
to the fact.
He believes that he travelled at least
ten miles through the deep snow that
afternoon after the blizzard struck him.
At midnight he came upon some cattle
in ravine, and having driven them out
took shelter in their place. There he
slept, as he saws, uuder four feet of
snow, with his rifle under his head.
In the morning he saw in the dis
tance-tive miles or more away-a clus-
ter of pines which looked like his camp.
He ploughed through the snow to them,
but found only deserted lumberman's
hut. This he made his headquarters,
wandering from it in all directions in
search of the trail. Thus he spent ten
days-without fire and with nothing to
eat or drink except the snow. The
mercury was far below zero, and he
had no covering but the torn blanket
of the mule.
"As for the mule himself" he says,
Il had tied him with lariat, but he
had broken away, and, though he
stayed near by and was company TO
that extent, / could not catch him.
About the sixth day l froze my left
foot and the fingers of both hands.
"On the afternoon of the eleventh
day of my solitude heard a step out
side the hut. 1t proved to be an Indian
scout, who, with eight other Indians,
had been sent out by the post COM
mander in search of me. In four hours
after he came to the original camp this
Indian found me.
at is wonderful how he did it. When
found l was in a state of coma. He felt
me all over to see if / was alive; then
he carried me out, placed me upon his
pony, got up in front and tied my arms
to his body so that i could not fall off.
wrapped his coat about me and started
for the camp, two hours away"
Here the poor man was brought back
TO life, as it were, but he suffered ter
ribly as the frozen hands and feet
thawed out; then he was put into a
wagon and carried to Fort Keogh, a
two days journey.
MY fingers were saved" he con-
cluded, "but all the toes on my left foot
were amputated, as you see. While L
was lost | felt hungry only during the
first five days.
1T is pretty hard to come out of the
service in this way disabled for life;
but 1 suppose ought to be thankful
to have got off alive. l am; and I'm
grateful to old Fire Wolf. Here's his
picture, with a rifle bought him-the
best Winchester that mony could buy.
"The picture doesn't do him justice,
though he put on his war bonnet of
eagle feathers and all his porcupine
quilts for the occasion. That's one good
Indian know of, and he isn't dead
Indian neither"