The Portland daily press., 1895-05-25
SLIDING ON A SHOVEL.
Four Miles Down the Upper Slope of
The Rocky Mountains.

The Rocky Mountains.
A Thrilling Experience in the Life of
Sheriff P1ummer-A Winter Trip of "a
Miles Over a Mountain 1900 Feet High.
He was Only 21 Years Old at the Time.
Sliding two miles down Pleasant
mer, ''why that's nothing! 1 slid four
miles down the Rocky mountains, once, on
a shovel. -
Since it is an undeniable fact that if
you relate a thrilling story Of sport or
adventure to our genial sheriff, he is very
only it is bigger and BETTER and since his
supply of such stories seems to be always
equal to the demand and since to outstrip
the fleet and fascinating Norwegian snow
shoe, with a vulgar, commonplace long
handled shovel was naturally trifle har-
rowing to a devotee of the skee, it is not
to be wondered at that his one, who is
now addressing the readers of the
PRESS, should have demanded few
facts and figures in regard to the afore-
said victorious shovel
And the facts and figures were forth
coming. There actually was such a
shovel. And it actually did slide down
the Rocky mountains, with young
man named Plummer upon it, but the
shovel was ony of ordinary size, not near
ly SO big as the story, and therefore you
must know, if you know the sheriff, that
this all happened good many years ago.
In the spring of 1880, Sheriff Plummer
was in Georgetown away up in the
mountains of Colorado. He was then 21
years of age. 1t was in the month of
April, but winter still maintained a
strong grip upon everything in that high
altitude. Young Plummer had occasion
to go over the mountains by way of the
Loveland Pass the most direct route to
Leadville. Nobody had been over that
pass since the previous fall, the mail
the winter.
From Georgetown to camp down the
other side of the mountains, kept by
man named Elwood, was distance of
"a miles. Despite the warning of friends
in Georgetown, the young man from
Maine decided to start in the morning
with the intention of passing the next
night in Elwood's camp. He began his
journey at about s clock. He was laden
with pack made up of six blankets an
extra pair of heavy stockings and pick
xe-handle with rock breaking hammer
on one end of it. In his hand he carried
a long handled shovel, with flat, round
ing blade, like those used in digging
post-holes. On his feet were snow-shoes.
The first eight or ten miles was up
through the timber where the snow was
soft
1t was four O. clock in the afternoon
when he reached the top of the mountain,
at an altitude of 12, 600 feet. He had been
carrying his snow-shoes on his pack for
some miles, because above the timber
line, the snow, solidified by the perpetual
gales and the intense cold was as firm
under his feet as brick sidewalk. The
tip-top- house was about halfway from
Georgetown to Elwood, and at p m. ON
the bare mountain, it was about as cold
and bleak and lonesome place as there
is anywhere below the arctic circle.
He had been climbing up the steep
mountain steadily for eight hours and on
the way up had made the alarming dis
covery that he had neglected to roll up
his luncheon in his pack and was entirely
destitute of any kind of food
Wearied by the long climb heated by
the exertion of it, with clothing wet
with perspiration and almost ravenous
with hunger he threw down his pack at
the door, or rather at the roof of the lit
tie hut. The snow was so deep that he
had to break his way down through it to
get to the door. 1t was dark inside and
cold as dungeon. He hunted desperately
for some morsel of food and finally dis
covered few raw, hard Mexican beans.
He pounded these into powder and
never before or since that time had. any
thing tasted sweeter than that Mexican
bean dust.
He had thought at first to spend the
night in the hut, but he had recovered
from rheumatic fever but six weeks be-
fore and he found that his joints were
getting so stiff and lame that he con-
cluded that it would be safe for him to
keep moving while he could, lest in the
morning he might not be able to move
at all.
Of course the journey down would be
much easier than the journey up, but
when the idea occurred to him to slide
down over the hard snow to the timber
line on his shovel, the journey down de-
veloped into more or less pleasurable
sport. The top of the mountain was a
succession of terraces and the level places
were very welcome after the dash down
the steep slopes. They made the extra
ordinary slide a possible feat. Had the
slope been continuous even a shovel
might have been dangerous runaway
steed.
He had been over the route during the
previous fall and knew that as he APP
preached the timber line, there were two