The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1895-06-27

| men, horses, wagons and bundles Of
beding; then came a cloud OF dust which
| obscured everything. Presently a pair
of wheels came tumbling in TO the riv-
err the dust raised revealing one Of
J the men standing near where the wagon
tipped, two more about a hundred feet
| lower down. and the fourth some dis
lance below them holding two horses.
the other two having run some distance
from them. There was not enough left
| Of the wagon to make wheelbarrow
| and the party's effects We're scattered
| all the way down the hill Evidently
none Of them were hurt and they APP
peared to take their disaster very phil
osophically, as the last we saw OF them
they were making their way slowly over
the hill with their outfit loaded on a kind
of sled which they had improvised out
Of willows which grew along the bank
Everyone was glad 10 leave Strgill
bar. as the work here had been of the
| most laborious kind, and the men,
working in the hold nearly night and
| day, were well nlgn worn out We
| passed the mouth Of Powder river a
few miles below Sturgll, this appear
| ed n muddy, sluggish looking stream
about "a hundred feet wide at its mouth:
an old gentleman ana two young la
dies were noticed standing near a cabin
evidently their home; the current here
was cranky and the captain would not
stop. short distance below snow be
gan to show in the mountains At in
tervals Of three or four miles old miners
cabins appeared on the banks, at some
Of which a bewhiskered oVpralled min
err woman, two or three ragged child
rem and few dogs would present them
selves, but oftener they were unlnhabit-
ed and going to decay.
About 1880 we arrived in sight Of
| Brownlee Ferry, passing the Indian
cave which Is natural hollow in the
| rocks about 20 feet square, and across
the face of which stone wall with a
door in 1t has been built; smoke Issuing
from this indicated that someone was
making temporary residence of the
cave. Near here. on the opposite or
Idaho side, is a hot sulphur spring. in
which 1t is said. man once took a bath
ana died from the clfectsPof doing so.
but whether his death was caused by
| the character of the water or the novel
W or BATH the tradition does not
state
Arriving at the ferry proper. we
round that the steel wire which holds
the ferry boat would have to be lowered
INTO the water In order to allow us to
pass over II, ana, although Captain
Gray sent four men ashore to assist
the FERRY men. SO crude We're the fast
enlngs and arrangements for handling
the wire, that we We're unable to pro-
ceed until nearly O'Clock, when we
droped into an edy a mile below the
tery ana tied up for the night.
Ihere Is something of a break in the
mus around Brownlee's. making an eX-
cellent range for stock. with which the
country Is quite plentifully sprinked
hefeabouts The natives were lavish
with their information regarding BOX
canyon and this In fact has been the
case All the way down the river. We
nave had all kinds from the man who
mad walked across IT dry shod al low
water, To the one who assured us it was
boiling chaldron in which no boat
could i've minute and run 40 miles
IN hour Tor 10 miles. at pitch of 40 de
srees' ana wanted to bet $40 none of us
would go through alive: the boys DUBBED
the latter the forty man."
owing to the conflicting nature of
the reports and lack of reliable infor-
nation, there was considerable sup
pressed anxiety among the crew when
we pulled away from BrOwnlee's al 6:3O
IA. M, and those who were looking for
adventure We're soon to get what they
| We're looking for About three miles be-
low our starting point wild Horse creek
emptles into the Snake. This is a beau
tiful mountain stream, and as it's crystal
waters intermingle with the muddy
murky Snake 1t makes one think he
would be willing to give any price for
Just one cupfull of spring water. We
nave no time, however to admire this
Sparkling brook for as we round the
behd Wlld Horse rapids come in sight.
lhese rapids are described ON our chart
as very dangerous FOR all kinds Of craft.
ana the chart Is right but it don't put 1t
quitestrohs enough. The riyerapproach-
ing hls point narrows to about two
\ thlrds It's FORMER width; the fall is very
RAPID ana To make matters much worse.
| MAKES three abrupt turns, the contour
OF the stream forming letter u. When
we Shot INTO THESE rapids and the surg
ihs' tWlsflhB' roaming water began to
pound over weakened bulllheads and
Wash over our deck, Captain Gray fell
several notches IN my estimation. The
reason Tor this was that there was no
tne while we were running the rapids
that couldn't see projecting rock
right ahead and within 20 feet of us that
he was sure to strike and smash to
pieVes On ana tne assraVatlng part OF
was ne uiun seem TO care. We didn't
SuiAe any 'hins' thoush, ana AFTER we