The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-04-21
WHEN A sNowsLIDE LET'S GO.
Hairbreadth Escapes of Mining Men
in the Mountains of Colorado.
fT0n,r-,~ De-


That's where my hair went-in a San
Juan snowsIide' And Thomas TuIley
one time miner, editor, governors pri-
Yate secretary and now deputy state
treasurer, rubbed hts bald pate refleC-
uEely. A reflective rub looks lust like any
otner Kind but the novels always cali
them reflective when they are followed
by a good story.
Don't tell me about cyclones or earth
quakes, or any such make-belieVe dan
gers. / can stand anything but that rip
ping, spnJting, cracking sound Of a snow
avalanche breaking loose from its moor
ings, and the swish and roar and boom
when II gets under way, and the swapping
OF trees and crashing of bOulders and
trembling Of the whole earth as il nears
the bottom of the mountain and the
sickness that comes over q fellow when
II flirts past within a few feet of him.
Kicking snow ~ his face and making
piaything of rocks as big as a house and
Telling whole forests at a time
4 was wrecked twice in one night by
snoWsildes ~ the san Juan and il was
Just for joke. I guess, that one or the
other didn't mash me into dust or pre-
serve me in ice. Worst night 7 ever put
IN on this earth, I can tell you It was
somewhere in February. 1891. along about
the time the big Saguache slide buried
the railroad under rocks and snow half
a mile long and hundred feet deep. We
were without any mail for fifty-two days
and It was seventy-three days before we
got train after that slide.
Same winter. too, that the big Idaho
slide came down from Kendall mountain
ana brought so many trees with it that
the whole town of Silverton was kept in
1iTeWOOd for two years. Piled il right
up IN the town limits. and smashed into
stove size. too. l was up on Kendall
mountain on my unCle's mine. the Titus
vile, We had a couple Of fellows up
there to look after the big stamp mill
through the winter. and every few weeks
Charley Price and ! would go up and see
how they were getting along.
1T was too far to tramp back and
forth to the bunk house. 50 Dave Purdy
and VIII Kane. the two fellows who were
guarding the mine, had fixed up the as
say office for a bedroom. That day
when we got to she mill it began to snow,
and we stayed all night. So we built up
a roaring fire IN the assay furnace and
piled back on our blankets in the other
end of the room.
The snow fell almost in blankets. il
seemed, ana the wind hOWled awfully.
Several times we heard the roar and
smash. and felt the building shake as a
snOWshde went down some other part of
the mountain. but we thought we were
safe. No slide had ever touched that
spot.
Il have looked over the ground since,
and ] know just how It happened. but II
was more than a surprise that night
when part of an avalanche stopped over
=
were just getting TO sleep when we
heard TINT Internal crack and boom
and roar right above us, ana smash.
bang, and away down the gulch it
went with half the assay office Took the
furnace and our fire and all the roof, and
just left us lying there in the snow with
our bedding. And scared That's when
my hair got up and stood on end, and has
never laid down peaceably since. Two or
three trees away up the mountain had
ffr arrF of a eli rF he e1f ma
the gulch, and had turned it over into
the little gulch where our assay office
stood. That's what caused our wreck
We'll, we held a council right quick.
dug up a lot of matches and some candles
and after we saw what had been done TO
our house we declared we couldn't stay
there any more We took our blankets
and candles and matches. an old sheet
iron stove and an old canvas tent and
moved up to the big mill fifty feet up the
side of the mountain. We climbed TO
the crushing room. near the top Of the
mill There we put up our tent TO keep
out the draft al We could. Ihen Ne
nailed a comforter overhead, got the
stove 10 going and fixed up pretty com
Portable. We were still scared half to
death. for we could hear every little while
slides going down the mountain- some
near by. some so far VIC could only hear
tire roar
Then we got To- telling stories. Purdy
was an old mule skinner and he used TO
tell the most bleod-curdlng stories 3 ever
heard he wouldn't hurt flea but ac-
cording to his tales he had killed and
skinned at least forty Indians. lie was
telling us about an Indian fight and he
had just killed two reds and was skinnlng
them when Kane who had been trying 10
see out at the window fell inside on the
floor and yelled.
Ny God, boys. here comes one from
abover
'Purdy commenced praying for torgiVc-
ness for being So mean 90 the Indians,
and the rest Of Us were too scared 10
speak or move The slide came down from
behind the mill and hit the bottom OF
the gulCh with q roar worse than any
thinE ever imagined. 1t slid part way
up the SIDE Of the other mountain. Slowed
around and started down on the creek
gulch, tearing out the whole lower nalt
Of the mill, boilers. engines ten OF the
stamps. and the whole blessed works
That old mill danced around Ike a paste
board box
Wei. We wouldn't stay there any long
Ct. Il was long past midnight, but We put
/ on every Gud We could find. tore up COM
forts and wrapped the strips round. US.
put on German socks and snOWShOes. and
/ set out into the night.
Il took an ak. in case we should have TO
I cut wood and build a fire. Kane had a
pick. and Price a shovel for fear some
~ Us SHOULD get buried. and Purify car
ried all the provisions We had saved
| bottle Of whisky and two salt Crackers.
wv - couldn't see three fncnfS- biIf T0