The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1896-01-23
persisted IN THE SNOW.

A sad but thrilling story Of adsen-
ture, suffering and death IN tiie M y-ho
| lies at the Hospital of the Sacred he az
| in Spokane, with shockingly frozen rect
and hands. ,- c.,,,der /
4 whose home is in Spokane, JoihI $50 80
/ and started on a trapping eXpeoltlon ~ /
| the mountains six miles northwest %
| Athol. which is on the Northern Paeiic
railroad. forty-two miles east Oh this
city. ,ast tho
camp with a lot of furs to be dlsposeu
of and the proceeds invested IN TRAPS,
IT was understood that the others were
to go out to meet him on New eaL >
day and assist in bringing in the traps.
| on New Years day Bronkins, who
| vas the elder and more experiehce1 III
| mountaineering, took the lead; lhey
had proceeded only a snort ulstahcS
when a binding snowstorm set IN anu
they could not see their way. f5Iohhliis
became confused and instead of going
In the direction of Athol took the OPP
posite course along the mountain upon
which they had been camped ana up
on another. - -. -.
TEMPTED to build a fire by pulling bark
off the green trees with their myers,
| having neglected to provide themselves
with a hatchet. They succeeded IN edtn-
ering enough bark to keep alive niue
blaze all night, and at daypTeak Iou ill
that IL had melted the snow down TO the
2 hare ground and they were henmed III
with a wall of snow eight feet hlsh.
| Bronkins still insisted that they had
; not Travelled in a wrong dlrectloh' put
when the sun came up ne NaS coi ~
? yinced and yielded the leadership 70
e snyder They retraced their steps, de-
= touring to make shorter cut over the
t mountain and Travelled until O'Clock
e In the afternoon over the deep SNOW
| fallen logs and concealed faVlnes'
s BY this time Bronkins had become
G wholly exhausted from hunger, Iatsue
G and cold. For hours he had been
i drowsy and wanted to lie down and
/ sleep. Snyder dragged him and en-
couraged him the best ne coulu, al
though himself nearly on the verge OF
!, At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon
and when within mile and halt OF
10 their camp Snyder realized that II
q would be impossible for them poth u
get through. Bronkins saw this, too
q and urged him to go into camp alone
"A and send assistance for him ana some
thing to eat.
~ u want one more good meal before
g die" were the last words of the trappe
as his friend bade him goodbye ant
bounded forward with determination t
y make one more mighty effort to saw
~ both their lives. ~,
as snyder. plunging, stumbling, fallin
IN over down trees into seemingly fath
IL omless depths of snow struggled brave
re ~ on until about O clock in the morn
e ing. when he found he could procee
~ no further. In that time he had coy
~ Il | cred an actual distance of only thfes
~ quarters of mile. TO lie down woul
~ be to fall asleep, and one minute
X sleep meant eternity. With thes
~ thoughts crowding upon his brain !
y half fell against small tree; throw
10 ing his right arm around 1t ne move
" slowly around the trunk and decide
% to continue that movement the halahS
- of the night. Frequently he caugi
-, himself in the act of doing ana ie
ay the death-sleep creeping over mn
Then he would swallow tobacco, al
= the retching relieved him
'hs When daylight came he started
an and was three hours covering the di
ee' lance of 200 yards to the camp. As
Al neared the house his shouts were hea
oeI by Rouse, who had safely returne
~ Rouse, with Mr.. Llewellyn ara MI. C'
=; Inns, two mountain ranchers, hasteh
- to Snyder's assistance AS soon as
~ heard them answer his call ne sal
az down, unable to move another ste
a. alone.
II After working with Snyder for
~ hour the other men started TO scar
VIZ for Bronkins. They had progressed OF
about IIIbPn SltpH liOii 49,
~, where Snyder left MIN. He mad
cry moved his snowshoes and thrown TN
aside, made one leap, sunk into y
ted of snow and fallen asleep forever.
~ The three men were occupied elghte
~ hours in bringing the body down
nv the house The coroner was nouheu
nv. Couer d Alene City and gave dlfeGti
10, % that the body be buried there, Whl
~ was done The dead trappef was fol
ors in his blankets and placed III si i1
~ near that of the. wife OF Mr.. LieWel! |.
ny ON the ranch. He left wagon ana |
'sli- horses. which the coroner gave
ses Rouse as compensation for burylng
~, remains.
'uhi Walter Snyder. a younger brother
90. the surviving hero of this terrlple
has venture, resides IN Spoka lna,, ai st,
itls employed at the Novelty grocery ste
at He was advised of the occurrence
iee' telegram from II. G. Thompson,
uls Athol and Immediately went TO
~ rescue on the day preceding ms
oan rival at Athol the people had cut
con 1G0 trees to make trail for the YOU
ores man to go in with a sleigh 1t
ohe. with extra difficulty that he forced
- - way through, but he succeeded
so 81 ~ bringing his brother out.
80 Mr.. Snyder's feet We're frozen as >
our as rocks. but 1t is possible that am
hper tation will not be necessary. The II
WIN hand suffered most, while cl1nglns
llces the tree during the last night out,
~ i!ote three fingers will have to be taken
80 at the first joints. .
..olu Rronkins came to this country 1
use use New York City, where he often sta
~ that he had two brothers, VINO v
~ quite wealthy. His wife came y
him, but owing to bad health she
turned to their relatives five years
and has since died 49,
Rouse is a single man, living @
have ranch, one and half miles from u
also kins's place, in the mountains.
pas Snyder is a single man, ana pes
ho,lt his brother, Walter. has two sisters
ostiv siding in Spokane. Their parents
o0''' side at Mt. Hope, Wash. The IA
came to this country in December,
,ush. from Bland county, southwest Old
from ginia. They are intelligent, industi
lived people. esteemed by all who know
done This outline of the account OF on
ways the most remarkable adventures II
ming history of mountaineering In the NJ
goes west may therefore be relied upo
E, tits absolutely correct-Spokane Re'
list to Jan. 10th.
hing.