The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1893-02-01
aannul gnkt,re 31n1norr.

IL was Jest arter noon when a woman
walked into our shanty. She was an
emigrant. Right here in this cove she
had LETT her husband and four children.
70 Try and find some help. He had bin
SICK lur three weeks, and was little better
tnan uead man, and she had bin drivin'
me team and takin' keer of things gen.
er ~. she orter to hev turned back long
peIore, but some fool of doctor had told
Inc man ned get we'll if they kept on
ihey mad got separated from the party
Ihey started with, and had made the last
hundred miles alone. They war out o.
grub, hadn't Il match left to build a fire.
ana the woman knowed change fur the
wuSs was blowin' up. She was a frail.
leetie woman, and she had gone through
win nun 10 down man, but she hadn't
loSt all hcr pluck yit. AS soon as she
toi9 US the story we got ready to go back
Win her an bring in the outfit. v made
start, but we never got thar!'
The blizzard prevented, eh?r
''She did. She came swoopin' down all
Oh a sudden, like some great bird drop
pm from the sky. A fine snow be0an
70 lall, the wind started right in to blow
| allVln' gale, and | believe the thermom-
| eter went from 45o above to IOo below in
slde OF half an hour We hadn't any with
US, pui the change was sudden and
ahlazin'. You couldn't face that gale to
save your life. 1t jest stopped us and
turned us around before we had got fif-
Teen rods from the house. AS to the cold.
IL jest paralyzed you. We had to 90
pack, and arter takin' a big drink o.
WHISKY all around, and putin on some
more clothes, we tried it agin. Me and
sam was tough as bars them DAYS. and
could have laid down in a pond of water
ana let 1t freeze up with us, but we
| couldn't buck agin that blizzard When
we made the second start we got about
nall way up here, the little woman lead
IN the way all the time. Then we had to
stop. Y on couldn't see three foot from
your nose, and all of us was freezin' to
death by inches.''
And you went back?p
I'VE did. The woman was determined
to push on, and we jest had to pick her
up ana carry her back. 1t was only nv
the Lord. 5 hand pintin' the wav that we
ever reached our cabin agin. We had our
ears, noses and fingers friz, and an hour
alter we got back water froZe solid in oIIr
capln within five foot of roarin' fire.
The woman prayed to God and aDDealed
to us, but we knowed it was no use. That
was the blizzard OF 81, and I've heard
men say 1t was forty-two degrees below
zero IN this valley that night. 1t friz 81
0VD head OF cattle to death in the Gallatin
valley, TO the west, and the ice on the
MISSOURI River was solid from top to
DO'IOhi. SCI IldI rock SpllC IN lalf2
Wall, the cold did that at that time. We
had lots of wood and big fire. but it
was clus shave that we didn't friz 10
death. The woman got nipped wuss than
we did, but her mind was on the family
back here. She was bound to come back
alone, but We stood her of till about
dark. Then she made bolt and rot
away"
And went to her death?,
Jest as sartin as ii she had Jumped off
that cliff. The blizzard shet us in fur
three days. When we got out we found
her within twenty rods of the cabin. She
had friz to death goin' that fur. OF course
we knowed how it would be up here.
The horses had been onhitched and
turned out. They lay over by that tree.
The folks in the wagon had crowded to-
gether and kivered up with all the
blankets, but all war stun dead and as
hard as rocks. They never saw that fust
night come down. Me and pard over
hauled the wagon but we couldn't find
anythin' givin' the name of the family.
and so, like hundreds of others out in
this kentry of mountain and valley, In
jun and wolf, we kivered 'em in TO sleep
till the Lord gifts ready to call 'em for
Judgment. Seems awful that a hull
family should be wiped out that way: but
they ar sleepin' thar together, and I
guess the Lord'll know the spot even if
thar IS no gravestun to mark it,"