The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-03-19
II wASHOUT.
The Yellowstone Demonstrate Its Abil-
ity to Tear Things up.

-" h"h'
ity to Tear Things mp.
Saturday afternoon the passenger
train which was held at Forsyth about
Is hours, on account Of the land slide
east OF that place, was again sidetracked
at this place. news having been received
that there was a bad washout between
Dixon and Shirley, IA miles east of this
city. and the train which arrived during
the night was also laid out.
Early Sunday morning Train Dis
patcher Potter came up from Glendive
to inspect the trouble. and walked over
the damaged section. reaching Miles
City on a handcar. Conductor Ander-
son. OF the first train. tool his engine
and ran down with Charles Werst to re-
establish telegraphic communication,
which had been totally DESTROYED. all six
wires being down. The engine returned
about 10 o'clock. and the passengers
were notified that they would be taken
down to the .washout and met at the
the other end 10y another train-that is
those of them who had no objection to
tackling a mile and a half Of mud of an
unknown depth.
Accordingly there was a general STAN
rede for gumboots, the merchants open.
ing up their stores to accommodate the
unlucky travellers. and 80 or 60 Of them
were soon well protected from the mud.
4 little train Of three coaches was made
up, and with all Of them crowded with
passengers. including six ladies and a
number Of city spectators. accompanied
by a JOURNAL reporter. Conductor Miller
gave the signal at l:lO o'clock for the
start. Half and hour later the end Of
the safe track was reached and then for
the first time the passengers realized the
EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE.
II was found that the track.for nearly
a mile and a half. extending across the
little valley about half way between
Dixon and Shirley. had been carried
completely from the fill. which varies
from 6 to Is feet 10 height across the en-
tire fiat. some Of it being removed only
a few feet. while other sections had beer
carried nearly 100 yards. Three culverts
from A. TO 100 feet in length were in
cluded in the distance. and the longest
Of them had been lifted up bodily and
deposited in a perfectly natural position
forty yards from its former resting place.
Strange TO say the west end Of the track
uad been taken TO the south side OF the
fill and the east end had been carried to
the north. The ill was also badly
washed and will require much work to
III il for the ties again. while vast guam
titles OF ice had been deposited over it.
The whole country was one monster ice
field, many VI the cakes being from four
10 five feet thick and 10 OF 30 feet
square. weighing many tons each. The
sight was a grand one. and one which
well repaid everybody for the hard work
OF the trip.
II took DO experienced eye TO see just
how the damage had been done. The
treacherous old Yellowstone had gorged
from a point just below the break fully
five miles up the stream, backing up the
water aud ice as high as the top OF the
telegraph poles on the south side Of the
track. being fully six feet deep over the
rails. and covering hundreds Of acres.
Suddenly the gorge gave way, and the
track could no more stand the strain
than could two lines of matches.
There was a novel scene when the
the pedestrians strung out along the
break. First there was a nice clear
piece of grade. with good footing, then
it was scaling barriers of ice. then walk.
ing the displaced ties at an angle of
nearly i5 degrees on the side Of the en-
bankment. and lastly and most numer-
ously oceans OF mud, from two inches to
two feet deep. Near the head Of the
van was the ever-popular mayor of Ana
conda. Hon. w NJ. Thornton, who cared
for nothing except getting stuck in the
mud and planting his foot minus the
gum boot in W feet OF gumbo; while
close to him, as a sort of body guard,
wallowed Hon. j. X. Toole and Tom Nc
Tague, a particularly jovial pair. About
the middle of the procession strobe the
stately Senator Mats. the Grey Eagle
Of the Rockies" his face beaming with
smiles: S. G.. Murray of Missoula and
and NJ. c. Harris of Butte bore them
selves most circumspectly during the
trying ordeal. Hon. Thomas c. Marshall |
OF Missoula, accompanied by his plucky
wife, declared that he actually enjoyed
the experience. These gentlemen are a
portion Of the delegation to the silver
convention at Des Moines. Iowa, and if
they display the same pluck there that
they did in the mud they will accom-
plish something. Passenger Agent Two
by and w. c. Tonkin Of Helena render