Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-11-06

lance in the Blowouts yer done, be
cause once yer git beWildered yer
might cross the straight trail 100
times an not know it, if yer have no
one ter tell yer. No use of climbing
er hill ter take points, fer they are
all the same heit an shape an all
look alike. All yer ken see is hill
arter hill runnin away in all direL.
lions, with impossible canyons be-
tween. Worse than bein' lost on the
desert.
Take trail. Yer find a we'll
beaten, well-defned trail, runnin'
round the hill ter the right 1t looks
fer all the world like the straight
trail, but in a few minutes it brings
you up ter the brink of an awful
canyon. One more step an yer'Il be
dashed to pieces on the rocks below.
AS yer looks across yer see the trail
continued on the opposite side, but
the great canyon is between. An as
yer git down on yer knees ter peer
over TIE edge, in the hope of finding
some way across, yer notice how deep
1t is; an when yer think what er fall
over its edge would mean yer git
skert an huMy away.
Soon yer strike another trail goin'
straight down the valley parallel with
the canyon. 1t turns ter the right,
leads yer around er narrow shelf, lets
yer down over sum slidiu' rock.
around sum great giant bolders, down
inter the canyon below, an yer begin
ter think yer have found the crossin',
an that yer on the straight trail fer
sure, Ell yer start ter find yer way
out ct the other side, but everywhere
yer go yer find a great impossible
wall of rock, an yer turn back time
after time, till finally yer reach the
same trail as brought yer in. Then
yer notice fer the first time that it
is a great basin, an that the trail
has been made by stock travelin' up
an down to an from water Yer
Obliged ter go out at the same place
as yer came in, an yer make up yer
mind that yer straiht trail wouldn't
bring yer gack ter the startin' point
y
big bOlders, creep back over the slid
ing rock an round the narrow shelf.
You'd give most anything ter find
the straight trail as crosses all the
canyons and leads out Soon yer
find another trail that seems ter
start off straiht, an looks so like the
one yer huntin' that yer heart grows
lighter an lighter till yer find yer
self almost singing in yer belief that
yer on the right track. But stop!
The trail suddenly disappears in the
earth not 10 feet aheau. Just comes
ter a sudden stop right before yer
face.
What does it mean? There is no
turning to right or left. The trail
apparently loses etseIf right in the
solid earth. Els yer look around yer
notice that fer some distance the
grounds covered with a white sub
stance, an then yer know yer right
on the very verge of an alkai bog
If yer push yer horse off the end of
that trail it will be good-by Chicago
fer sure. Why? Because it has no
bottom, an one plunge in it will fill
yer eyes, nose an mouth with pure
alkali mud almost as thin as water
an strong enough to strangle an.
blind yer in just one plunge. an if
there is no one ter toss yer a rome
nothin' less'n er miracle II save yer
En- ye in the Devils Blowouts nOwq
ct me tell yer, yer can't help yerself
because yer lost, an lost in the worst
place on earth; so jest stop where We
are an keep calm I'm LOST O
mister, I'm LOST" an some one ridin'
the straight trail II hear yer an guide
yer to it. An once yer strike if
never turn ter the right er left till
We have left the Devils Blovouts so
fer behind that yeIl never see um
agin in this world or the next.
Yes, | reckon I'm about as we'll
qualified ter take the bench as any
cow-chaser yer keen skeer I'D. when
it comes down ter renderin' a verdict
in er case of badlands, washouts.
alkaf boys, ETC., by one who's been
there. An I'm inclined ter think that
this wouldn't be such a bad world
after all if the B1owouts were the
only badlands the devil could skeer
up. Come ter consider it, I'm of the
opinion that the devil has some
worse places in this world than
them Blowouts, though l never was
there
Whenever 1 see a man actin the