Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-12-30

al was
"'Do you remember the three boys
you put ashoreT
Yes | said, still In doubt as TO
what he was getting az.
"'Well. am one of those boys.
"of course | had forgotten the man,
but the facts he brought up convinced
me that he was telling the truth. just
forty years. lacking mouth, had pass
ed since tho night l put those home
sick boys ashore. This man told me
they had sccreted themselves In a brig
and thus managed to get away from
st. John. He had had many adven-
lures since. finally settling in san jose,
where he heard of me and decided that
l must be his former shipmate. His
chief object In the calling on me was to
ask for an easier job than he was then
holding. and when i return to Cali
fornia | shall see II 1 can't do some
thing for him. l never before was so
Impressed by the flight Of time as l
Nts when this old sailor stood before
me and recounted our adventure of
forty years ago
a large map Of the Dakotas hangs
on the wall OF Senator Roach's com
mittee room. There are two points
marked on It which recall for him
memories OF hardships such as few
men are ever called upon to endure.
one Is Grand Forks and the other
Fort Totten, and they mark the ex-
tremities OF the post route over which
he carried the mail for several years,
ut was in the winter Of lS79.' said
Mr. Roach. when / was a 'tenderfoot
that had the most trying experience
OF my life. / had gone to Dakota to
seek my fortune. and had secured a
contrnct to carry the malls over the
routes marked by those two points on
the map. Grand Forks was then but
q struggling village, and Fort Totten
was in the Devils Lake reservation.
There was no trail when | first be-
gan my work. and 1 found II necessary.
in order TO prevent getting lost. to
erect at intervals. mounds along the
trail 1 broke. The region IL a
great, treeless. undulating plain, with
few landmarks for the guidance Of
the traveller. The mounds were COM
posed Of sods, and. although they
were only two or three feet high in
reality the rarihed air of that WONDER
full region made them look like noun
tains at a distance Of ten or fifteen
miles.
II employed a blackboard and two
horses, and at first drove fifty miles
Il day, and then encamped for the
night. rolling myself In my blankets
and sleeping underneath the wagon
The second day out l would reach
Fort Totten. After a while l estab-
lished n half way station, with an
old man as keeper. so that was rea-
sonably sure Of a fire and something
to eat, and, best OF all. somebody to
talk TO at the close Of each day. My
custom was 10 leave Grand Forks
every Tuesday. Before the first win
ter was far advanced 1 engaged a man
to start from Fort Totten once a
week with the mail and meet me
at the half way station. About 20
miles east of the station the Turtle
river had to be forded. In the tim
Der adjoining the stream a Norwegian
had bulk himself shanty and taken
up claim, 80 that. under the new
arrangement the trip was shorn of
some Of Its original disagreeable fea-
lures.
zone day l started out from Grand
Forks when light snow was falling.
l had my blackboard. and although
l was certain that would have trouble
/ pushed on as rapidly as / could.
the trail continually getting worse by
reason Of the snow. The air was quite
clear. however, and | could see the
mounds looming up ahead OF me. When
darkness came, ] was still some dis
lance from the half way house. and
but for the fact that the keeper had
the fore thought to hang out a Lam
tern, ! undoubtedly would have been
obliged to stay out AIN that night, for
when l saw the light | was mile
out OF the road. All that might the
snow continued to fall. and by morn
Ing genuine blizzard was blowing.
81 doubt IL the average Eastern read
err knows anything about blizzard.
1t is caused simply by the violent wind
setting In motion the light snow which
covers the ground. the air becomes
dense with the whirllng flakes, SO that
one cannot see foot in front OF him.
one who Is caught out In such bliz-
card is In great danger, for Ne may
pass within arms length of house
without knowing Of Its proximity and
keep wandering about until oyertaken
by cold and fatigue.
My assistant from Fort Totten did
not appear the next day, nor the next.
nor the next, and the storm continued
to rage. Saturday night 1t cleared up,
and determined to start back, in the
hope that / might reach Grand Forks
in time TO take out the mail on the
following Tuesday. The snow was
about two feet deep on the ground,
but the alr was perfectly clear. 1t
was impossible to use the buck board.
SO l mounted one horse aud led the
other. All that day 1'proceeded slowly
eastward, the horses not being able to
move faster than walk. While l
was yet some distance from the Turtle
river, l could see the timber along its
banks and the particular point which
i aimed to strike. In spite OF all my
efforts, however, l could not get with
In ilve miles of the stream before night
came on. Not star was to be seen,
and there was absolutely nothing 10
guide me. | was all alone on that
boundless prairie. with the mercury
20 degrees below the freezing point
Although I was familiar with the tiniI,
the snow was so deep that could not
see it, and even the horses were at
fault. We plunged along in the gen.
eral direction of the river. and finally
reached the timber. but the spo,
where we halted was entirely unfa-
mlliar to me. For long time con-
sldered the question whether 1 should
20 TO the right or to the left In search
of the ford and the Norwegian's house
When had made up my mind to turn
TO the left, the horse / had been riding
refused TO bulge. 1 coaxed and pound
ed him, but to no avail. He was ut
terly used up.
'pespairlng Of getting further that
night, / made a clearing at the hase
OF big tree, blanketed the horses
built a fire, and settled myself TO mass
tedious night. / did not possess n
mouthful Of food, and had no fodder
for the horses. In tramplng aro,rd
the bank Of the river / discovered n