Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-08-21

I my
as there had been no coaches running
for quite while and the provisions
at the station had been consumed in
the interval and the first night out
many of us had nothing to eat what
little food there was being reserved
for the wounded men and women and
| children. Three of us stood guard all
night and the next morning early we
pulled out for Dry Sandy, taking to
the hills and ridges as We had done the
day before, and early In the evening
| we reached the station having been
| miles; and at this station some of us
secured saleratus biscuit and cap OF
| coffee, the first we had had to eat
| in two days, and as tn" eleven of us
that had left Hams Fork were
| without bedding and there being but
barely room in the station for the
| wounded men, woman and children
| and delicate of our party, we had to
| seek shelter out doors. and | slowed
| myself away in the remains of the
| haystack working my way down feet
| foremost until under cover and in this
| position slept until morning when we
started for Green river arriving there
| late in the afternoon. having left the
| sleds at Dry Sandy, and at Green
river we had biscuit and cup of cof-
fee it being but the second time for
some of us in three days.
Early the next morning few Of us
| that were sleeping near the river We're
| awakened by the roar and swish Of
| the water and discovering that IL
| was rapidly rising we warned the
| guard and awakened the camp. when
| we harnessed up and crossed the river
| and even then IL was all the teams
| could do to ford It, the water running
| over the lead animals backs, and an
| other hours delay would have left us
| on the east bank OF the river. unable
| to cross IL and with a lot Of women
| and children and wounded men, and
| nothing for ourselves or animals to
| eat, the nearest provisions twenty-five
| miles away, with the river between US
and that and two hundred miles of
| abandoned road behind us. But we
| were fortunate in crossing in safety
| and ARRIVING at Changers station we
| ustonished him by the quantities of
| beef, bread and potatoes we caused to
| disappear, and his astOnishment was
| mixed with pleasure as he saw in this
| another figure in his quarterly vouch
| ers. But we could not stay here, SO
late IN the afternoon we hitChed up
and started for Bridger, taking the
| west side Of Blacks Fork as our
route, and we had gone but few
| miles when we came to what We took
to be the Muddy. 1t was swollen and
overlooked the greesewood flats
through which II ran. The teams would
| mire down before they could get to
the channel, and even II we could pull
through the submerged flats 1t was
considerable too much risk to attempt
to cross with the women and children
and wounded men, and 1t was deter
mined TO send the animals to Bridger
| and have some Caulked wagon boxes
and provisions sent down to enable
the outfit to cross the stream, and Mr..
Bromley called for volunteers to per
form this service, but 1t was evidently
viewed as a forlorn hope as none vol
| 10, 4Tr1Nf !, loo
of privation and hardship the eleven
from Hamm's Fork had experienced,
| hut when nine names We're called none
| declined. We drove the animals up
stream to background and forced them
in, and tieing our clothes to our sad
dies and catching our riding animals
by the tails, swan across with them,
| and by this time We were in a heavy
hail storm, but elated with the idea
| that we would soon be at the fort, we
urged the animals to faster gait and
| after going some two miles We came
| to the Muddy" the stream that we
| had crossed being an old bed or gulch
| swollen and overlooked from the main
| stream, and it sdll hailing and the
mules being cold, we had difficulty in
| getting them into the water the
second time, and we drove them up
| stream to where butte ended
abruptly on the bank before We could
| get them into the stream.
| BY this time It was darkand had be-
| gan to snow, aud when we had got
across and put On our clothes, the
| band Of mules had disappeared and
| we divided I'M to hunt them. some go
| ing down the stream, some going east
| towards Blacks Fork, some south to-
| wards Bridger. while L struck up
| stream and after riding several miles
| the snow had collected so ] could see
| their tracks had theycome that way,
| and | didnot know II ! was on the
| lower Muddy north of Elliots station
| or where l was, but ! knew that
was lost and had Il suspicion that none
of the rest of the boys had any ad-
| vantage OF me, and under these cir
| cumstances | called a halt and put n
| resolution 10 myself that / had lost
| no mules, which was carried unani-
| mously. / then turned to the east,
| knowing that II I rode far enough l
would come to the road or TO Blacks
| Fork, either of which would enable
| me TO find my way to Bridger, and
| after awhile l came TO the road and
/ when | reached IL having in mind
| that when | left the Muddy the south
was TO my right / turned in that dl-
| rection and being mighty glad to get
| out of the Wilderness l gave vent
to my elation at the top of my voice,
| and was answered by the refrain
"Wah you goln' Ephraim?" and
| Senigamblan came gallopng up TO me-
an although this descendant of Ham
was as black as gross darkness he
was an old hand ON the overland and
| of the kind TO have with one under
such circumstances and as we pro-
ceeded we were Joined by two more OF
the party. and about o'clock
| in the morning when we supposed we
were In the near vicinity of Brldger,
we were astonished at coming to a
stream which from its swollen and
raging appearance barred our further
progress, and we concluded that we
We're indeed lost
I was familiar with the country, but
this stream was not In my geography,
so I dismuunted tied my mule to a
scrub mahogany and waited for day
light, and when Il came there was
Bridger butte and here was an over
flowed ravine and low ridge between
us and the fort. and although the
stream was from the melting SHOWS,
II rushed down with n headlonE cur
rent that made 10 dangerous TO at
tempt to cross "a, but we plunged in
and one Of our party Joe Hurley, in
raising the opposite bank his mule
fell over with him, but he scrambled
out and although this was the third
duclSing that he had received during
the storm, he felt no had effects from
II. and in few minutes We We're In
the fort. gave our Instructions to the
proper persons. and all but one Of the
ma tstN .,F tod usfth Ia.