Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-12-08

/ party, CONSISTING OIL w. L.. oatlll, w
l.. III. Himmelwright and j. Harvey
Pierce, of New York; Martin Spencer
guide, and William Kelley, trappcr
arrived 1T kendrick, Idaho, yesterday
under the care and guidance Leuten-
ant Elliott's relief party, which more
than three weeks ago started into the
mountains to save them and but for
whose energy and bravery they would
now be lying dead in the snowdrifts
with the winds of the Bitter Root
whistling 4 requiem iovcr their re-
mains.
| The party was met Il few miles from
Kendrick by General Carlin, who had
been there for week awaiting their
arrival. The meeting of father and
son cannot be described. Although
Worn and fatigued, the party were in
comparatively good condition, having
been carefully nursed by Lieutenant
Elliott.
/ AS anticipated, Cook Colgate was
abandoned, and is by this time dead,
every effort to save him proving un-
availing He was unable to walk, and
|
pitiful parting was necessitated that
| the lives OF the remainder might be
! saved. A more pathetic story of part
ing has never been related and not
one Of the little band can recount it
| without bursting into tears.
| Colgates home is 1T Post Falls, ldl-
no. where he has IL wife and -four
>1-l,n
that his bleachcd bones may be found
in the spring and given decent inter
| uent.
THE GUIDES STORY.
| in talking OF the hardships cncount-
cred by the party from the time they
attempted to get out of what promised
to be at one time their snowy tomb,
Guide Spencer says:
I'VE arrived at VAIN Springs,
which is on the North Fork of the Mid,
die Fork Of the Clearwater , sixty
miles from the mountains, on Septent-
Der %. We had been here bat four
days when l began to see snow at Il
distance on the mountains, and | ut
once advised the party that we lad
better start back, but they declined,
| having been there so short Il time and
killed scarcely any game. 1t was their
desire to stay longer, 50 we stayed
| until Oct. 10, when we started ahead
| to find the trail. After going fifteen
| miles we came to four feet of snow
Colgate then became unable to walk,
and as we could not use our snow
shoes we went back and struck the
river. Our predicament now fully
dawned upon us, and while we did
not yet lose courage we readily rcaliz-
ed the fact that only the greatest OF
luck could pull us out of thu noun
tains alive. We spent four days in
constructing two RATS and loading
everything possible on tfcm.
I'VE started with Carlin, Hemmel
wright, Pierce and Colgate Oh the first
raft and Kelley and myself OH the
engaged to accompany us down. We
brought all the provisions he had, and
but for those provisions we would
have all persisted, Kelley included, and
| the self sacrifice that the noble old
man made in giving us all of his sup
piies and riSking his life for us VIC shall
remember with gratitude to our dying
day We had gone cut about half q
mile when the first raft SWlmpcd
striking Il rock, and throwing Pierce
and Colgate into the river, and it was
only by the most periIous efforts that
either was saved. We finally straight
ened up the RATS and started again
| We worked without much food CT SleeI
for five days and got twenty miles
further, when we struck swift rapids
which we could not possibly get
through Here we landed our RATS
with great difficulty, but ON the wron@
side of the river. This forced us to
fell a large tree, five feet through
across the river, and finally we ferrieC
! ourselves across.
During all this time Colgate was
/ getting worse. His limbs were 81
badly swollen that he could not walk
and he had been delirious for somt
time. After getting across the rive
we knew we could do nothing more fol
him, and it meant death to stay Will
him longer. Fixing him as comfort
ably as possible and dividing our pro
visions equally with him, which con
sisted of forty pounds of flour, tel
pounds of beans and three pounds O
bacon, with plenty of tea, we knel
beside him and in fervent prayer w
babe him good-by. The snow fell pitt
lessly and the weather was becomin;
extremely cold. We made a fire
placed wood within his reach and cam
away, Colgate moaning and, amid sobs
making us promise to tell his famil
,, that he died like a man. He begge'
of lis that we should go and save ou1
selves. And 50 we left. THIS wa
on Nov. Is. We resumed our jcurne!
,, abandoning RATS and going overland
The trip was as perilous as one Of
water, for we constantly came in COL
tact with boulders and jagged rock
and the embankments were SO abrupt
often from two to three hundred fee
above the river-that to miss our foo
| ing meant sure death. One OF tn
hardest days travel we had we accom-
plished only one mile.
: During our travel we killed fiy
2 grouse and caught eleven small trou
4 On the seventeenth day our provision
. were all gone We could no longer S.
f cure game nor fish and were gettin
too weak to travel. In the next thre
. days we had nothing to eat but a fe'
< huckleberries and tea leaves. On til
: twentieth day T was ahead of the mart