The morning call., 1893-12-02
ARE PAST PERILS.
Arrival of the Rescued
Hunters.
ALL SAFE BUT THE COOK.
Terrible Hardships Endured by
the Party.
DOWN THE RIVER ON RATS.
An Extra Month of Suffering Caused
by the Attempt to Save Col
gates Life.

hENORlCh, IudHps DcC. l. uo SdElIu
party. who were supposed TO have been
lost in the Bitter Root Mountains of
Idaho, and whose rescue has excited so
much interest during the past few weeks.
arrived here safely, with the exception of
George Colgate. the cook, who fell sick
and was lett to die IN the mountains. The
party consisted of w. E. Carlin. son of
Brigadier- General William 2. Carlin; j.
Fl. Pierce, brother-in-law Of Mr.. Carlin.
and A. l.. A. Himmelwrigbt, secretary Of
the Columbia Granite Company of New
York City.
Himmelwright gives the following ac-
count Of the party's experience: The party
organized last summer and started from
Spokane. Wash, where they engaged
Martin Spencer as guide and George Col
gate of Post Falls as cook. They pro-
ceeded by train to Kendrick. Idaho. and
with ten cayuses and five weeks pro-
visions started out from that point on
September 49, The route was by the way
of SnelPs Mill. Weiffe. Browns Creek.
Mussel-sheIl Creek and thence via Lo-lo
trail to what are known as the Indian
postoffices, fifty-five miles from Mussel-
shell Creek. At this point the trail
branches from the Lo-lo trail and leads to
Warm Springs. on the Clearwater River,
| the destination of the party, which was
| reached on September 26. Although it
rained steadily for thirteen days. which
interfered considerably with the pleasure
of the hunting party. they met with great
success. and on October 10 started on the
| return trip over the Lo-lo trail.
After reaching the top of the first ridge.
parallel to the Clearwater River. two and
half feet of snow was found. and the
guide estimated that the snow would be
four feet deep on the higher portions of
the Lo-Lo trail. and should the horses be-
come exhausted from lack of food the party
! would be ompelled to walk the balance of
the distance TO Musselshell Creek, and az
the cook was sick and unable to walk his
| position in that case would be very seri-
Gus. 1t was consequently decided to re-
| turn to the old camp on the Clearwater
and build RATS. II by the time the RATS
| were completed the cook was still unable
to walk an attempt would be made to float
down the river to the south fork. near
which several ranches were known TO be
located. Fifteen days were consumed In
building two RATS and two DAYS more
| were devoted to the final examination OF the
LO-Lo trail and securing meat for the pro-
posed trip down the river. Spencer found
the trail impractcable after laborious
trip in the snow. The cook in the mean
time had been growing feebler every day.
A trapper, Ben Kelley, was engaged to
accompany the party.
With the supply of provisions equally
divided on RATS, so as to avoid the possi-
bility of losing all their provisions in case
either of the RATS were lost, the party en-
barked and began the journey down the
| river on November 3. Two upsets and
delay caused by the necessity of examining
the river in advance of the RATS made
progress slow, and by the 18th of Move m
ber only twenty-five miles had been accom-
plished. At this point the river was found
to be full of projecting powders, and the
water was very swift. Further examina-
tion resulted in the discovery of several
other impossible places in the river. which
made rafting impracticable. 1t was there
fore decided to abandon the RATS and pro-
ceed the remaining distance of about
thirty-eight miles on foot.
The cook at that time was In semi
unconscious condition. modification having
set in in his legs below the knees. Only
eight days provisions were left, and as
the cook could not possibly live but
few days longer and was, besides,
| perfectly helpless. he was made as CON-
Portable as possible and the rest of
the party continued their journey on
foot. The shores of the river were a mass
of rugged rocks. on which one could get at
best only an uncertain foothold. FIRE.
quently a large projecting rock would
hang over the river and an hour or more
would be consumed in surmounting it.
| On the third day after abandoning the
RATS the party reached Black Canyon,
which proved to be eight miles in length.
The river there has almost vertical walls,
varying from 200 to 1000 feet in height.
Clinging to bushes and small saplings,
with the footing sometimes only a few
| inches in width, and often many hundred
feet above the river, the progress of the
party was necessarily slow and extremely
hazardous. Three days were consumed in
passing through the canon. without shelter
OF blankets, and sometimes harassed by
rain and snow. Very little sleep could be
secured, aH~ when on the eighth day
the supply of -four was exhausted, there
was ample cause to feel discouraged. But
enfeebied as they were from the loss of
sleep and the scarcity of food, the party
pushed bravely on.
On the tenth day of their tramp. No.
vember %, after having subsisted for two
days on tea, three fish and a few berries.
while slowly moving down the river and
when within five miles of the nearest ranch
the party was fortunate enough to meet
Lieutenant Elliott. who was in charge Of
one of the relief expeditions sent out from
Vancouver Barracks. Mr.. Elliott imme-
diately made camp and cared for the hum
cry men. As soon as the party were able
to travel they were hurried onward by
boats ON the river to Indian Ferry on the
north fork of the Clearwater River. twenty
four miles from Kendrick; thence by
wagon to Smells Mill and thence to Ken
drick. where they arrived safely on No
yember 80. and were met by Brigadier-
General William p. Carlin. The route by
trail was abandoned. The party was CON-
PEELED to rely on its own resources. as the
| guide was not familiar with the river or
the management of small craft in swift
water. They certainly would have gotten