The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-30


GREETED themselves in a brig and thus man
aged 10 get away from St. John He had
had many adventures since, finally set
Ting In San Jose. where he heard OF me,
and decided that ] must be his former
shipmate. His chief object in calling on
me was to ask for an easier job than he
was then holding, and when / return 10
California 1 shall see II can't do some
thing for him. ] never before was so
impressed by the flight of time as / was
when this old sailor stood before me ana
recounted our adventure Of forty years
ago."
A large map Of the Dakotas hangs on
the wall OF Senator Roach's committee
room. There are two points marked on
II which recall for him memories Of hard
ships such as few men are ever called
upon to endure. one is Grand Forks and
the other Fort Totten. They are a hun
dred miles apart, and they mark the ex-
tremities Of the post route over which he
carried the mail for several years.
1t was in the winter Of 1873" said Mr..
Roach, when I was a 'tenderfoot,' that l
had the most trying experience Of my life.
l had gone to Dakota TO seek my fortune,
and had secured a contract 20 carry the
mails over the routes marked by those
two points on the map. Grand Forks was
then but struggling village, and Fort
Totten was in Devils Lake Reservation.
There was no trail when / first began my
work, and found it necessary. in order
10 prevent getting lost, to erect mounds
at intervals along the trail The
region is a great, treeless, undulating
plain, with few landmarks for the gui-
dance of the traveller The mounds were
composed of sods, and although they
were only two or three feet high in reali-
~, the rarihed air Of that wonderful re-
gion made them look like monuments at
a distance Of ten or fifteen miles.
and at first drove fifty miles a day, and
then encamped for the night rolling my
self in my blankets and sleeping under
meath the wagon. The second day out 1
would reach Fort Totten. After awhile I
established a halfway station, with an
old man as keeper. so that L was reason
ably 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 to
leave Grand Forks every Tuesday. Be
fore the first winter was far advanced /
engaged man to start from Fort Totten
once a week with the mail and meet me
at the halfway station, where we would
exchange mail pouches. About twenty
miles east of the station the Turtle river
had to be forded. In the timber adjoining
the stream Norwegian had built himself
a shanty and taken up a claim so that
under the new arrangement, the trip was
shorn of some Of its original disagreeable
features.
zone day I started out from Grand
Forks when a light snow was falling. 1
had my blackboard, and although l was
certain that 1 would have trouble,
pushed on as rapidly as I could, the
trail continually getting worse by reason
OF the snow. The air was quite clear.
however. and 1 could see the mounds
looming up ahead Of me. When dark
ness came, ! was still some distance
from the halfway house, and but for the
tact that the keeper had forethought
to hang out the lantern, I undoubtedly
would have been obliged to stay out all
that night, for when l saw the light [
was mile out of the road. All that
night the snow continued to fan, and
by morning a genuine blizzard was blow
1 ing. ! doubt II the average eastern read
/ er knows anything about a blizzard Il
/ IS caused simply by the violent wind set
ting In motion the light snow which COW
ers the ground The air becomes dense
! with the whirling flakes, so that one can
not see a foot in front of him One who
| is caught out in such a blizzard is
in great danger. for he may pass within
| arms length of a house without know
ing its proximity and keep wandering
about until overtaken by cold and IA
| tigue.
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 il cleared up, and deter
| mined to start back, in the hope that 1
might reach Grand Forks in time to
1 take out the mail on the following Tues
day The snow was about two feet deem
on the ground, and the air was perfectly
clear. 1t was impossible to use the buck
board, so l mounted one horse and led the
other. All that day / proceeded slowly
eastward, the horses not being able to
move faster than walk. While l was
I vat 1T-t M
l could see the timber along its banks
and the particular point which / aimed
TO strike. In spite of all my efforts how.
ever, l could not get within five miles OF
the stream before night came on Not a
star was to be seen, and there was alb
solutely nothing to guide me- | was all
alone on that boun0less prairie with the
mercury 20 degrees below the freezing
point Although l was familiar with the
trial, the snow was so deep that ]
could not see it, and even the horses
were at fault. We plunged along in the
general direction of the river, and finally
reached the timber, but the spot where
we halted was entirely unfamiliar tc
me. For long time / considered the
question whether ! should go to the RICH,
or to the left in esarch of the ford and
the Norwegian's house. When l had made
up my mind to turn to the left, the horse
! had been riding refused to bulge.
coaXed and pounded him, but to no avail
He was utterly used up.
"Despairing of getting farther that
night, made a clearing at the base OF a
big tree. blanketed the horses, built a
fire, and settled myself to pass a tedious
night. l did not possess a mouthful OF
food, and had no fodder for the horses
In tramping around the bank of the river
l discovered a spot where the snow was
not very deep, and, on clearing it. found
some grass, which I fed to the horses. AL
that night 1 leaned against the tree
smoking my pipe at intervals, not daring
to so to sleep for fear that the fire would
go out and / would freeze. The wind be
gan to rise toward morning. and my heart
stood still, for I realized that if a biz
zard should catch me my chance of sal
walton would disappear.
las soon as it became light enough tc
see distinctly 1 made a survey of the re-
gion and saw the ford about a mile Il
my left. I got there as soon as possible
and routed out the Norwegian, who SUP
piled me with breakfast and my horses
with a good feed Then I started out
again for Grand Forks, which was still
about thirty miles away. proceeded per.
haps twenty miles when another biz
Yard came bowling about me There