The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1903-11-21

Hftu lubl' ll'@''N lll'll 'll' lhf'I ~
10000. She is hfly-liye years old, and
has been II participant in enough ex-
element TO fill columns Of n newspaper.
She was born in Cleveland, Ohio. and
went to Colorado with her parents
when a girl fifteen years old. IL was
at the time of Pixies Peak gold excite
mcnt, when desperate characters
hocked TO the new diggings from every
part of the border. one night in camp,
near where the town of La Junta, Col,
has since grown mp, when the snow
was falling and the weather was bit
terly cold men came hurrying into
camp with the news that the Kiowas
were coming to massacre the whole
camp. Mrs. Garner and her parents
hltchcd the mules on the wagon and
drove madly away. while the whole
camp scattered in the snow storm. AS
they fed they heard pistol shots and
the exultant shouts of the Kiowas.
The wind blew hurricane, and the
family almost died of cold and their
intense fright at the attack by the In
dams and the murder of their friends
and companions. The next day the
family reached Trinidad, and there the
news of the Indian attack was given,
and fifty MeXicans went back TO gather
up the dead and to inform the troops.
Mrs. Garner was married when she
was but seventeen, and removed to
Santa Fe, n. NJ. -Four years after her
marriage her husband went on n min
ing expedition among the friendly Nav
ajoes and never came back. Searches
were made over the mountains and
through the canyons, but no trace of
him was ever found.
For two years the young widow
cooked in n mining camp Mt Esmer-
aida, N. NJ. She was one of four wom-
en- among AGO men. There was a shoot
ing there every week. Once she was
pouring coffee for boarder when an
enemy popped his head in the door and
shot the man dead before he could pick
up his tin cup of coffee. Afterward the
shooter felt so chagrined that he should
have killed his man while endangering
the life of the widow that he gave her
$500 or $500 IN bullion, and offered his
heart and hand. At another time two
OF the widows boarders got in row
about domino game, and while the
little woman fastened in TO calm the
troubled waters each man fell with q
hole in his chest.
At the age of twenty four Mrs. Gar
ner married Mr. Smelling. The couple
started to go to Salt Lake in October,
hoping to get through before the snow
became too deep in the Rocky Mount
tains. There were fourteen men and
two women and Mrs. Snelling's little
girl In the party that set out for Utah.
On the way down the western slope OF
the Rockies the miners visited placer
diggings and found very rich dirt to
wash. Men and women worked to-
gether with pans, getting out 81 and
SIS each in gold every day. The Nava-
joes came around and warned the
campers that II they remained all win
ter they would be buried in snow. The
men We're making a lot of money and
did not heed the warning. The first in
timation of trouble was the failure of
the last pack train to arrive. In Novem-
Der, and they began to 30 short on ra-
tons. Some of the miners became
alarmed and returned to Santa Fe,
leaving Mr.. and Mrs Smelling and their
little girl and eight men in camp.
The Indians We're right. for the snow
fell as It had never before fallen in
that region. a German mail carrier
lost his way and wandered around in
drifts until his feet were frozen. He
was found unconscious by one Of the
men. The mans feet and legs were
frozen so badly that amputation was
necessary. The victim fingered on for
a few days and died. Another miner,
in going down the range, fell upon the
pole used to guide himself with and
ran II almost through him, so another
death was added to the camp. Then
veteran miner and an old friend of
Snelling's was laid low with scurvy,
and Smelling was frozen TO death. BY
that time provisions had run so low
that absolute starvation stared them in
the face, and Mrs. Smelling made mp
her mind that perishing on the divide
was better than starving to death in a
cabin covered with twelve feet of snow.
She therefore announced that she
would take her girl and start for Santa
Fe. The miners said they would go
also, and the mail carrier. who had not
yet died, and the old man with the
scurvy, and one or two others who
were too i'll to travel, were left to die
In the cabin.
The party started on January 2 1860,
for Santa Fe, leaving almost all the
food, including little dog, with the
wretches In the hut. The snow was
twenty feet deep and more was falling.
The first night was spent In Ute gulch
trying to keep from freezing. The next
day fresh start was made without
food. Mrs. Snellng's luggage consisted
of two blankets, change OF clothing
for herself and child and a shotgun.
There was enough flour in the party
to keep them from starvation. After
untold suffering the men reached
cabin at the bottom OF the range. Here
they made fire in one corner and
fixed Mrs Smelling and her little girl