St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-01-22

haste about anything.
I'VE each carried gun. | had rifle
for large game and also carried six
shooter. We-Wip carried shotgun for
the purpose of getting what small game
we needed for the larder, such as part
ridges. etc. Our trip was uneventful
until we reached the Mamauken river.
We camped at night, packed during the
day, and shot at everything we saw. |
never felt as good before in my life. l
ate like savage, and l could feel my
lungs growing larger every hour with
the cold, brGcing air. One day | shot a
big bull elk, and we camped for two days
| by the side of the carcass. | cached the
antlers and hide, but | don't sup
pose that will ever see them again. L
will not go after them, I'll bet bottle
of wine. We-Wip filed himself so full
of elk that lie lay by the fire all the
time and would not even go after wood
for the fire. Lust let him lie there like
log. He would nottalk, and only re-
sponded with grunts to anything L said.
| guess he must have felt something
like felt after | got my first meal in
| Tower after my return TO civilization.
81 had with me the plats and deScrip-
| tons of the lands which | had come to
see, and after we had got to the Namau-
ken river | located some of it. There
was some farther up the river and on
the other side of Rainy lake, so we con-
| cluded to pack up the south bank OF the
river until we got to the lake where we
| could skate across. The river was open
| in some places and the ice Was bad so we
| could not skate up the stream. | sent
| We-Wip out on the Ice a number of
times to see if it was safe, but it was
not, as he fell in anG came near drown
| ing. | did not care to go myself for fear L
would fall in and then the dirty Indian
would have stolen my guns and pack.
| One night there were about $4,000
wolves around the camp, and they be-
| came so bold that | shot couple. We
| Wip said that it was no use shooting
| them, for if they wanted to eat us they
would do SO anyhow. He then turned
over and went to sleep and sat up all
night to keep the brutes away. L was
| seriously tempted to put out the fire and
move away so that they would get him,
but thought it would be so lonesome
] there all alone that did not do so.
"When we arrived at about the mid
| die of the Rainy lake, on the southern
shore. prepared to skate across. We
| Wip had pair of skates with the old
fashioned wooden tops, and he was an
| expert with them. There was consider
able snow on the lake, but 1t was not
difficult to skate through. The first
night we camped on the ice. 1t was
| terribly cold, as we had no shelter from
the wind but our toboggan, which we
set up OIL one edge to break the force of
the greater part OF the. night,
and had it not been for the
forethought of We Wip, who
had placed bundle of frewood on the
toboggan, we would have frozen to
death. AS it was we we're chilled to the
bone before morning. We ate some
frozen jerked elk's steak, washed it
down With some snow and, after fast
| ening our skates tightly, renewed our
journey. 1t was showing quite hard
and we could see but little ways
ahead of us. We-Wip was skating
about hundred yards ahead OF me.
| always sent him ahead so that if there
| was a hole in the ice he would fall in
instead of me. Suddenly he sWerved to
one side and started back towards me.
Hole i'll ice-open water he said.
Dangerous Passage.
"Then we stopped. In front Of US
was ragged line of blue from which
the steam was issuing as from simmer
| ing kettle. AS the snow cleared away
we could see that we had struck the
current of the river which flowed
through the lake. In the near distance
we could see a wooded island. and l
thought l could observe some Indian
tepees OH il. We-WIp also saw them
and he grunted out: mo smoke" In
| deed, there was no sign of life around
the island. 1t was, however, necessary
for US to get to the island or
we would perish with the cold.
| The atmosphere was getting colder,
and our exposure of the night before
had rendered us more subject to the
chill of the air. l suddenly thought of
an eXpedient. We had an immense ice
chiSel which we used for getting water
from the lake, and with which l eX-
pected to cut a hole tor fishing in case
we were kept out on the lake without
the opportunity of getting shot at
! some game. Near to where we were
standing a long point jutted out into the
current, 1t was some distance above
the island, and l thought that if we
could loosen it we could float down the
| current on it and push ourselves across
| to the island.
81 found a number of cracks in the ice
at the part which was attached to the
mainland, so to speak. and with the
chiSel we soon made an impression i'll
the crack. We got the toboggaE on to
the ice, and after chiseling hole drove
in an iron pin, to which we tied the
shivering dogs. We worked about an
| hour and a half. Then there was a
| creaking and grooming of the ice, the
mass slowly broke away from the main
| portion and we tloated out into the cur
| rent. The current set towards the
island. and with the assistance of shot
| gun stocks as paddles we were soon
bound for the island. The current was
| not swift, and we were not swept rap
idly down stream. In the course of a
half hour. by hard work, we had ar
rived within a few rods of
the island. We-Wip had united the
dogs from the iron pin and taken
off the toboggan traces SO
that in case we were upset they would
not be drowned. 1t was we'll that this
precaution was taken as the moment we
struck shallow water, still some dis
lance from the island, our raft careened,
swung to one side and we were soon
scrambllng in the water up to our neckS.
| The ice raft, freed from our weight,
swung out into the current again and
started down the river. BY the time we
had gained the shore and recovered our
| wits the raft was far away, and as we
looked at it we could see it strike the
shallow bottom and careen until every
thing on it had been dumped in the
water. The dogs crOuched Shivering at
our feet and the chill air pierced our
very bones. Our wet clothing rapidly
froze to our skins, and as we stood look
ing stupidity at the disappearing raft our
| limbs became numb with the cold.
1.-The Indian recovered himself soon
est, and with sharp word of admoni-
ton against the exposure we were sub
mtting to, he started on a run across
the island. Then thought of the In
dian teepees which we had seen from
the main body of ice and followed him
at a run.
s'All our possessions consisted of the
clothing on our backs. We had left
everything on the ice raft, and all had
gone to the bottom. But l was sure
that we would find some one in the IN
dian teepees, but as followed my guide
| could not but think Of the impression
which had been made on my mind by