The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-01
PIONEER OF THE WEST.
Death Of Thomas Breckenridge, One Of FremOnts
PathfinderS.

into soup in a quart cup. After 10
days of such suffering and nothing to
eat except one otter, one crow a few
dried berries, two rabbits and four
pairs of old boots. Williams thought
he discerned the smoke of an Indian
camp about 10 miles away. This hope
gave them some strength. and they
started 10 cover the distance. All this
time a sharp lookout was kept for
game, but none was seen. When
within a quarter of a mile of the
camping place for that night King
said he could go no farther, and
urged the rest of the party to go on,
and as soon as ne had rested he would
follow. He was asked to go on, but it
was TO use, and he lay down in the
snow. After the fire had been started
in camp Creutzfeldt went back to help
him to camp. An hour or so later he
returned alone, saying, King is dead"
not having stirred from where he sank
exhausted in the snow.
The circumstances affected Creutz-
feldt's mind and ne seemed unable to
talk OF anything else but the death Of
their CCmHade. A little while after
they broke camp the next morning
Cr6utzfeldt also gave out and said he
was done for \ fire was built and he
was rolled over in q, comfortable posi-
lAb-A 1IGdA IL NHETG w lIIdDlS ana
breckenridge decided 10 leave him, as
it was evident that he could not live
through the day. 1t was agreed that
Williams should stay with him until
he fell asleep. and then he would
quttely steal away from him and Join
breckenridge, who went on ahead. Co
ing to the river Breckenridge crawled
on his hands ard knees in the hope Of
seeing some game. He had become
snoWblind and could see only a few
rods ahead. Putting snow on his in
I tanned eyes for a few seconds to cool
/ them, he looked up cautiously and saw
a group of five deer standing a few
yards away. His sensation on seeing
/ this prospect of food was indescribabIe
and was supplemented by the realiza-
ton that the consequences would be
fatal to himself and comrades if he
missed them
Carefully raising his rifle. his hand
trembling slightly from excitement. he
pulled the trigger. and when the smoke
had cleared away he had the satisfac-
ton of seeing one deer down. Hasten
iHg to it he found it dead. For a mo-
ment he was almost insane with joy
Then tearing the animal open he cut
out its liver and devOured it raven
ously. Cutting off a piece of the meat
he haste2ed back to his comrades
When they received the meat their
happiness was supreme, and without
stopping to cook it or to ask any dues-
tons they devoured it with eagerness.
Creutzfeldt was nearly dead when re-
lief came. but quickly recovered after
eating the raw and bloody meat. and
that night the three gathered around
the camp fire and cooked and ate veni-
son until nearly midnight.
The next morning, as they were pre-
pairing to depart, they saw a party OF
I fFTr7- firasr
They proved to be Fremont with three
of his men, but they were hardly rec
Ognizable, so great had been their suf-
fer1cgs. They had met a party of six
Ute Indians, with their ponies and pro-
visions. and had sent them back to the
relief of the men who were in the
mountains. It was 40 miles to the
nearest camp of civilization and it
took ten days to reach this point, owing
to the fact that their feet were so frozen
that they were obliged to crawl over
the ice and snow. The place was known
as Red River settlement. and there
they were kindly treated by the Next
can women, who did everything TO al
leviate their distress. During u next
three weeks the survivors of the expe-
Gltion We're brought in, several of them
in critical condition. Out of the SO. IL
had died of exposure and starvation.
Years afterward a friend asked
Breckenridge what enabled him to keep
UP his courage during all this suffer-
ing. He hesitated a moment. and then
said: There was a young girl back in
st. Louis L wanted to see. [ fell in love
with her after my first trip with Ere
, mont in 1916. 1t was the desire to see
her again that kept me alive. L was
thinking Of her when 1 aimed at that
deer as the last chance to save us from
snow-blinded eyes to make a true
Shot
After he had recovered from this ex.
petition he returned to st. Louis. and
on jan. 81. 1851, was married to Miss
! Harriet Ritner. They had several chill
dren. all of whom are married. One
/ daughter lives in Hannibal. Mo-. where
I the old pioneer died. and the others i've
| near Telluride. Colo. which Brecken-
ridge for many years claimed as his
home.
!