The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1889-12-13
sAisCellancnus.
OLD SPOT.

AS late as 1871 the United States mail was
carried by dogs during the winter season
over considerable part Of the Northwest.
This primitive method of transportation
seemed then TO be the only one practicable, Ms
The drifting snow filed the ravnes level with
the prairie, and made it dangerous if not i'm
possible to drive horses across the country
The carriers duties were both irksOme and
perlGus. He WAS paid one hundred dollars
for single trip between Fort Totten 0nd
Fort Stevenson, a distance of only hundred
and fifty miles; but even at these figures there
were few bids for the contract, and Mr.
Blown kept it, almost or quite without com
petition, for several years.
He was supposed to make the trip once n
fortnight; but severe weather sometimes
hiDdcred him for five or six weeks together
This lack Of communication with the out
side world was perhaps the worst hardship
that frontier recruits had to undergo. In the
autumn Of 1870, for instance, a rumOr some
how reached us at Fort Stevenson that Chi
cagO was burned. Some of our number were
natives of that city and their eagerness for
news may be imagined. But Just then a
storm blOCkadcd the mail, and it was not till
late IN January, 1871, that we received the
first newspaper account of the catastrophe.
In such state of affairs the mail-carrier
naturally came TO be decidedly important
parsonage. Shut in as we were during the
long winter months, when the mer Jury irOZe
IN the bulb and we could venture out only
for wood aud water, we were than ior
anything to break the monotOnv of garrison
life. A struggling Indian, lucky hunter,
quarrel in the quarters, any incident, how
ever slight, furnished matter for a weeks
conversation.
But the msil-carrier He was the topic of
topics.
When he arrived or went away the most
taciturn man in the garrison found his tongue
Besides the infrequency of his apprararc e,
every one Of his trips was more or less dan
geruus Once the Indians attacked him, set
fire TO his wagon, and burned up part of the
mail In summer there was the risk of the
burning prairie; in winter the greater risk
of bliZzaIds.
The movements of such man take on
kind of romantic interest, and to us they
were perfect godstnd, as we needed scarce
ly anything else so much MS something to
think of or talk about. 1t is hard to see low
we could ever have whiled away time, but
for Mr.. Brown and his eighteen dogs.
Each trip was made with two sledges and
six dogs One sledge carried the mail; the other
the provisions for the twO men and The six ami
mails. OF the other twelve dogs, six were al
ways at Fort Stevenson, and six at Fort Tot
ten.
The drivers wore snow.shoes, and with
whip and voice urged the teams on at the
rate of about thirty miles day. At night,
as there was seldom any timber in which to
camp, they commonly bundled up together
on the prairie, dogs and men, and slept under
the stars. A wild and lonesome life, surely.
During the winter of 1869 mails had
been delayed for five weeks, and the COM
manding officer ut Fort TOtten became anXi-
Gus for Mr.. Brown TO get off, in spite of the
weather. None of the hat-breeds about
the fort could be persuaded TO accompany
him, and finally he determined to make the
journey alone. 1t was hard, and slow work,
driving the two teams; and to make matters
worse there came on blizzard OF extraOrdi.
nary length and fury.
He made such progress as he could under
the circumstances, but at the end Of five days
walked up to the fact that he was lost. There
were no landmarks to guide him, but he set
tied upon what he thought most likely to he
the right course, and pushed on for two days
longer.
The country was still strange and the dogs
were fast firing out. Another day, and one
VI Nutu tl'ts Ii'NlSlbho NtIC htull1
spent and the dead body was cut up and
served out to the other five.
On the next day two more of the dogs
died and their bodies likewise werefed to the
survivors, after Mr.. Brown himself had eat
en- what he could. This WAS early in the
afternoon, and the party tfoundered on till
night Progress was by this time exceeding
ly slow. Mr.. Brown was badly frozen, ard
the glare Of the sun had made him almost
blind, besides torturing him almost to mad
ness.
At sunset the few survivors lay down to-
gether upon the buffalo robes, but when
Brown awoke in the morning, only one dog
was alive He and his master breakfastcd
upon cre of the bodies and then the man sal
down to consider what to do next
Benumbed with cold, hopeless, and all but
sightless, he reused himself for one last ef-
fort.
"Spot, old fellow, come here"
Spot was the last of the six dogs; rough
haired, wolfish-looking, surly creature, with
a bad reputation as thief and brawler, but
withal large and powerful. He was no doubt
heartily sick Of the journey, the unusual
length of which he could see no reason for.
When his master spoke to him, he seemed on
the point of starting hOmeward by himself
The fort was the place for him 10 such wealth
er as this, however Mr.. Brown might chouse
to go driving over the prairie day after day,
for no purpose that any dog could appreci-
ate.
He obeyed the word of command, however,
and stood still while the harness was put on
him. He must draw the sedge alone after
this. The carrier threw off the mail-bags,
took his place upon the empty sledge, wrap
ped the bnffalo robe about him, threw him
selfupon his back, and told Spot to go on.
Spot went on, and having no longer either
hand or voice 10 guide him, took his own
course FatiPued and halffroZen, Mr.. Brown
very soon fell asleep.
Ii was about noon when the sentry in the
watchtower at Fort Stevenson cried out,
sergeant of the guard, post number one"
The sergeant FASTENED up into the tower
TO see what could be the matter.
Something is coming over the hills to the
northwest !" said the sentry.
The sergeant raised his tield-glass and ex-
claimed:
"Why, it's dog drawing sledge |"
At that moment the drummer was In the
guardroom to sound the dinner call. This
he did, and then flew to the quarters to
spread the exciting nsws A dog hrched to
sledge was approaching the fort from the
northwest
The cookhouses were emptied In mo.
ment, and the men, donning overcoats and
shoes, hurried to the northwest corner of the
fort. What could the strange sight mean
No trail approached the fort from that quar-
ter. Everyone was mystified.
Meanwhile the sledge drew nearer and near
er and by and by it became apparent that the
dog was heading for the mail-dops corral
The crowd pushed that way, and awaited
Ills coming up. Soon somebody shouted:
"Why, It's old Spot !"
How could that beH Spot, as we all knew,
had gone 10 Totten on the trip before the last
and Totten was due east from us.
Slowly and painfully the dog drew near,