The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-13
TWO DAYS UNDER THE SNOW.
A DAKOTA RANCHMAN IN BLIZ-
ZARD IN THE OPEN PRAIRIE.
sleep Came Under "a snowdrIft-The
Indian Fashion OF WeRthering
Snowstorm when Caught Far

ut seemed q hard show for my life
when the blizzard struck me in the open
prairie, ten miles from my house. If ii
hadn't been for old Black Eagle, the Crow
Indian chief. the coyotes would have had
the picking of my bones after that storm"
said S. d. Ermentrout, who was a ranch
man in Dakota before the territory was
organized into two states. 1T was in Feb
ruary, 1881, and l had ridden in the morn
ing of that day from my ranch
on Snake creek to Marston sta
ton, twenty-one miles away. to get
some picks sharpened. There was a high
wind from the south in the forenoon, which
shifted sharply round to the northwest at
about ? o'clock in the afternoon, about the
time | started on my return, so that got
the wind in my face both going and COM
ing. The morning had been warm and
sunny, but with the change of wind the
sky began 10 thicken and the air grew
piercingly cold. About eleven miles from
ranch / overlook Black Eagle plodding
along on foot carrying the skin and hind
quarters of an antelope ON his shoulders.
He had been hunting and had lost his horse
though. that a ranchman had seized il as
stolen property. knew the old man. and
told him he could stay at my ranch over
night Then l FASTENED on. for ! had be-
gun TO feel little anxious about the
weather. The wind had increased so that
ID was hard work to force my horses pace
beyond a walk, and il was so bitterly cold
that / had to bend my head down TO keep
my face from freezing. The trail lay
across open prairies, rising i'm low-swells.
| climbed to the top of one hillock, and
from it could see my ranch, plainly. stand
ing against what looked like a white cloud
that filled the whole northern sky. AS /
came to the crest of the next emlnence. a
quarter of a mile beyond, the cloud had
closed about the ranch, shutting IL from
my sight, and the mist drew nearer me,
hiding the distant landmarks one by one
while looked. recognized the fact that
hard snow squat, If not an out and out
blizzard, was coming my way fast, and
my first thought was to run before ii for
Marston; but could see by the speed With
which it was advancing that it would over
take me in a few miputes fine snow
like mist was already coming with the
wind, and filed my eyes and nostrils when
/ tried to look to the north From the top
of the prairie swell behind me saw Black
Eagle signaling me to come to him. /
turned my horses head and gallopped to
where the old man was waiting, standing
with his blanket muffied round his head
and his back to the storm. AS / drew
alongside him and stopped, he caught the
horse by the bride and ran with him back
few steps down the slope, which took
us little out of the full sweep of the
wind
Get off quick! Take saddle Off he
said, his voice half drowned in the roar
of the wind. His fingers were unfasten-
ing the bride strap as he spoke. we stay
here. Let UNI horse go. Now
THE horse was restless and trembling
with fear. AS lifted the saddle and blan-
ket from his back the Indian slipped the
bride from his head, and the horse, re-
leased from restraint, vanished from our
sight in the flying snow that now hid ev-
cry object forty feet away. Off on our
right a moaning sound came to our ears,
and the forms of two or three cattle part
of bunch running south before the
storm. appeared Had we been in their
way they would have run straight over
us, not turning to right or left. The In
dian did not delay to look at the cattle. He
was spreading the antelope skin on the
ground, and that done, he stood on Ii to
mold 1t down. He ciutched the two blan-
kets, the one he had worn and my saddle
blanket, tightly by the edges to keep the
wind from blowing them out of his hands
Take your saddle. There:
Il had heard of the Indians way, when
overtaken by a blizzard, of rolling them
selves in a blanket and lying down on the
open plain to let the snow drift over them.
making a coverlid shield them from the
storm and cold The thing had never
struck me as inviting, or Safe, for white
men, at least, however it might be for In
dians Now had to try it, for there was
nothing else 10 he done I thraxu ynvaa1F
down on the antelope skin, arranged my
| saddle behind me for pillow and wind
break, and the Indian lay down beside me-
We pulled the blankets over our heads and
tucked them closely about our feet and
| bodies.
'Umv grunted Black Eagle from his
pillow formed by the two antelope quar-
ters Let UNI blow: blow himself outl
! We stay here till he stopr
THE relef from the driving wind with
! its singing cold and suffoca ting snow was
/ great, now that we were fiat on the
ground beneath our blankets. AS the snow
| drawn over the crest of the ridge behind
fell in showers upon us the blanket be-
came heavy with its weight My benumb-
ed toes and fingers began to ache and
Jingle now, and after this came a pleas
ant warmth. The old Indian seemed 20 go
| to sleep at once. The relief from the cold
| was so grateful that very soon I found
myself growing drowsy. With that feel
| ing came a great fear-the fear of the
sate which l had heard and read that
/ people met who let themselves be over
ZONE by sleep out in the winter cold,
/ sleep that passed into death by freezing.
| Then there was the consciousness that
we were being buried alive-by snow, in
1 deed, but who could tell how deeply IL
would drift above us. The blankets soon
! were packed and loaded above and around
4 us, so that ! felt as IL we were in a mold;
and the roaring Of the storm now sounded
| like a far-away zephyr in my ears.
| fought off the drowsiness for a while bur
/ it grew stronger, and the way old Black
/ Eagle was sleeping beside me gave me
1 confidence-and the end was that dropped
/ off to slumbers as sound as his l slept
! a long while, and It must have been high
/ morning when / awoke. 1t was dark ana
| the snow was all about us, though II did
/ not lie heavily on US or Cypress US and l
found ! could move my legs and arms
/ Kite in every direction There was no
/ sound Of any kind to be heard or breath
! OF wind that could feel. turned over on
/ my back and stretched my legs and arms
our the best / could to give relief 20 my