Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-06-05
LOST ON THE MOUNTAIN.
Only Five Men Out of Twenty-one Brought
Rack to Life.


We had been cutting road over o spur
Of the Beaver Trcd mountains, 90 SOL
diers of us r.. :. >*rt Owen, Montana. AS
our work Wa, 81 ned and we were packed
up to mako th, descent and the return q
trapper came into camp and offered to
guide us by a short cut, which would save
miles of weary travelling. 1t was n Sep
TENDER day. Down in the valley the flow
ers were still in bloom and the butterflies
darting hither and yon. Up there we had
two snowstorlns, and the pools had been
covered with ice.
The sun shone bright, and there wasn't
a cloud in the sky as wc started, but two
hours later the blue was blotted out of the
heavens and the snow4akes whirled about
till no man could see five feet ahead OF
him. Then it was that our guide led us
astray, although for hours after we were
ignorant of it. The storm only lasted two
hours, but the snow blotted out every fa-
miliar landmark and changed the face of
nature. At o'clock in tho afternoon we
came to halt at tho junction of two great
ravines. We had no compass, and down
there in the gloom there was no east,
north, south or west. One looking up
could realize that the sunshine lay on the
mountain top, but down there it was twi
light, had been twilight for 10, 900 years.
The trapper and the lieutenant stepped
aside for brief conference, and presently
the latter turned to us and said:
Men, it is evident that VIC have taken
q wrong direction and are lost in the noun
tain. We will build fire and cat and
rest
We had provisions and blankets, and
there were so many of us that it seemed
idle to fear disaster, and yet that word
lost" had a curious effect on everybody.
I saw men look about them and shiver, as
If wondering if their bones were to be left
there Others became silent and pensive,
and others still sat down as if their strength
had gone from them. We managed to start
fire, but no ono seemed to care for food.
After an hours rest the trappcr left us to
get his bearings. Night came and he had
not returned. We moved to n better camp
ing spot, built two or three fires, and for
hours there was scarcely u word spoken.
No man felt fear. There arc no towards
among the soldiers at the frontier posts,
1t was distrust, solitude, oppression. We
were lost. That night heard men sigh
ing and moaning in their sleep. At mid
night I sat up and looked around me and
saw that the officer had not yet been
asleep. AS the Pickering flames lighted up
his face was surprised at the change. 1t
looked pinched and drawn, as If he had
been i'll for month.
Morning came, but no trappcr. Noon
came, and then we knew that he would
not return to us. We packed up without
orders, almost without speech. When
words were passed, it was in whispers, as
if men lay dead around us When we were
ready to go, e. officer led the way into
the right hand vine. Wchad boon STUN
bling along fC hour when it was dis
covered that | men were absent. They
had drowned he column to tako an
other route, they believed moro Ger
tain to lead to tho valley, but yet without
| saying a word. The selfish spirit which
| crops out when men are in peril together
had como to the surface.
Down the big ravinc till the way was
blocked up q small one to the left, down
another to the right, always n ravinc,
| always n stream of water babbling along,
| always slime and cold and twilight. At
noon we rested for an hour 1t was only
"a hours since we lost our way, and yet
| saw two or three men smiling in n pecul-
| lar manner and counting on their finger
ends. At night we found that two more
men had remained behind. Some had
| thrown away provisions and blankets, but
| they did not ask their comrades to share
with them. They seemed neither hungry
nor cold. Twice that night was awak-
| ened from sleep by mon babbling or laugh
| ing in their dreams. Whom we were ready
| to move on next morning, two men still
| sat on the rocks. The officer spoke harshly
| to them, and vet there was a note of fear
| in his tones. He ordered them to fall in,
| but when we moved away they did not
! follow. l saw them counting their fingers
| as looked back.
This 5aN- NJ of hn ~ -
| among the pines and cedars and powders
| Sometimes wc had to creep under the
| limbs, sometimes pull each other up the
| rocks. No one knew which way we were
| going. We simply toiled along and ut
| sunset were in a ravino again. Some one
| built fire, Three or four men cooked
and ate some bacon. The lieutenant sat
| by himself, moody and taciturn, and that
| night as the men began to stretch out for
sleep he spoke for the first time for hours
| He stood up and looked us over and said:
Hero arc only IL men. What has be-
| como OF tho OtherS?"
No one answered. What was it to us?
| That night Private johnson went crazy
| and wandered away We did not look for
| him when morning came. We simply rose
| up and moved on again. So that day
! passed, and the next and the next, and so
| passed six days and nights. On the morn
| ing of the seventh day they found us-fve
ragged bruised and starving men-sitting
| together on n great rock, but no one hold
ing speech with his colnrade. They cheered
us but we made no reply. We saw them
| coming, but no man was glad. They
| asked for the officer and the 90 others, but
| no ono pointed into the heart of the noun
tain, where they had fallen and died, with
never u trace of them to be discovered by
man. Tho stupor which falls upon the
lost after the fright has passed was heavy
upon us, and we counted the buttons on
| the soldiers overcoats time and again as
they carried US along to the valley and
across it to the fort NJ. QUAD.