The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-03-25
OUT IN A BLIZZARD.
Tho Trying Experience Of a Gov
eminent Contractor.
Forced to Camp ON Cold Dakota RlufE-
Whistling Wiads and Howiins Wolves
Made Life Mtserable-A Memoir
able Ride In tho Night.

| Able Ride In tho Night.
/ In the winter of 1871 a contract tina
had entered into with the United
States quartermaster's department fol
supplying wood to certain military
posts on the upper Missouri rendered il
necessary that should spend the
greater portion of the time in the
camps of my choppers, which were
scattered along the river between Forts
! Benton and Abraham Lincoln.
| On the Goth day of January, while
| was in camp eighty miles above For,
! Lincoln, warm snowstorm set in that
lasted for three days This storm was
| followed by "coid wave" that sen,
the shivering cattle to the corrals, the
choppers to the warmth of their camp
| fires and hardened the surface of the
SHOW until it would bear up the weigh,
of light horse anywhere.
Over this hard, smooth surface,
found myself skimming one morning
early in February on a light sled,
drawn by two of the widest bronchos
in the whole territory of 'Whoop-up."
as that section Of country was then
facetiously called.
1t was a glorious sunrise thai
turned my face toward that morning.
Far away to the eastward, the great
land pillows, white to the crest as the
veil of bride, glistened and grew
tremulous to the gaze. under the daz-
zling burst of sunlight. The choppers
Of Nd hn 81
that they dealt the tough elrns rang
out on the still air with a sound like
that Of scattering skirmish ERE and
awoke the mapping echoes far up and
down stream. Up hill and down, the
free-going bronchos logged along, I'M
til about four hours of daylight re-
manned. enough to show me the way to
Bill Meekers road ranch, twenty miles
away.
1 had just begun the ascent of the
western slope of q great divide, the
summit of which was fully four miles
away, when, happening to glance to
the northward, l was startled to be-
hold dense mass of leaden clouds
rolling up from the horizon. A resi-
dence of eleven years in the north
western corner of Dakota had familiar
lied me with the local sign language of
the heavens, and one glance toward
this surging cloud-mass told me that
blizzard was loose on the plains. Be-
fore l had completed one-half of the
ascent, tattered cloud streamers-
shorn off the front of the storm by the
Co. - Ia ind Iriu
the face of the sun, changing the
warmth and glow on the eastern hill
submits to the chill and panor Of
death. l had watched the advancing
front of many blizzard, but never
had seen one whose dark wings bore
it so swiftly onward as this was borne
Away to the left the snowy cone of a
lofty butte stood full against the
storms front, and the effect Of con-
trast was simply APPALLING. As looked
toward this well-known landmark its
outlines grew blurred and iDdistinct,
and in twin king it had disappeared
from view as completely as If the earth
had swallowed it up. Then there
came distinctly to tho>ear dull, hol-
low roar, such as the mariner some
times hears at midnight, when be-
Gained in West India seas, in the front
of hurricane. The bronchos heard
the ominous sound and broke into a
run, as / slackened the reins invol-
UNFAIRLY, while listening.
In order to avoid the deep coulees
which, on the eastern bank Of the
Great Bend of the Missouri, run well
back from the river, the road curved
sharply to the left, at the summit OF
the divide, which point l reached just
in time to catch the full force of the
first rush of the blizzard. The trend Of
the road sent me straight into the
teeth of the tempest l had small
hopes of being able to face the storm
for any considera BILE length OF time.
One minute OF it was enough That
my team was still running knew by
the Juggling at the reins and the bound
ing of the sled. for the rising blast
drowned out every sound and the
singing ice-needles that filed the air
limited my range of vision to the
length of the sled. Respiration, at first
difficult, soon became well nigh impos-
sib1e. SO to avoid being suffocated out
right / brought the bronchos around.
tail to the storm, and narrowly escaped
capsizing the sled in doing so. / knew
that down in the Missouri bottom,
about five miles away, lay Bob Flavin's
beef ranch, and while the prospect OF
finding it under present circumstances
81 I1y 10 h.
the attempt 1t was SIMPLY impossible
to travel in the opposite direction, and |
even the toughest cayuse must soon |
freeze to death, unless it were kept on |
the move. for the air had grown in |
cold. AS IL divining my inten- |
tons, the bronchos galioped off mile |
or so toward Flavin's while l was /
in my mind what was
the best thing TO do I let the |
hrutes have their heads while the |
daylight lasted and tho ground was 1
level, for | knew that near the river /
the country broke into coulees that /
in all directions except the one |
in which wished TO travel / struck /
q narrow one just as darkness was set /
ting IL 1t was half full Of drifted /
snow, and the bronchos sank mo ii |
till their ears were scarcely visible /
The little brutes fought out of it. but /
the struggle tanned them down and in
clined them for walking After about /
an hour OF cropping around in the dark
ness, during which time had not the /
slightest idea as TO KY whereabouts, /
the sled bumped into 6 narrow wash
out. in pulling on. OF which the fasten-
ing Of tAe sled tongue gave way. hold
ing together just long enough 70 drag