The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1910-12-20

near where the town or LIE Sueur is
now located, it was decided to I'M
load the oxen, drive them across
country and connect with the Tiger
again, at point above where New
Ulm now is. The space between
decks was contracted and the tenn
perature high. on account of the
boilers and furnaces and crowded
conditions and the oxen were not
doing well.
In the outfit there was a huge
marsh wagon, so called because
the tires of the big vehicle were six
inches broad and the rear wheels did
not follow in the same track as the
front wheels, so that in crossing soft
or marshy land the wheels were less
liable to sink deep and the wagon
mire and stick fast. There was a
bed Of six inch timbers and heavy
blanks, with row of heavy stakes
six feet long along the sides and
across the ends. On this wagon we
loaded camping outfit and sacks of
meal and corn enough to feed the
oxen for a number of days, and at
early morning we started due west
and the Tiger steamed on up stream.
The men were given the choice of
routes and all but our cook decided
to make the change and go with the
oxen. We Travelled slowly, on &C
count Of the condition Of the oxen
and for the reason that we did not
care to reach the river ahead Of the
Tiger, which had long distance to
go around by the great south bend.
About noon of the second day we
came to a slough that must be
crossed. 1t did not look difficult or
dangerous, and the procession start
ed in fearlessly. The seventeen
yoke of oxen were hauling the wag-
on, and by the time the leaders were
were nearing the shore and the wag-
on about forty feet beyond the
plunging in place their 1856 feet had
so thoroughly mixed the mud and
water of the slough, that they could
get no farther. To add to the
trouble, there was immediate dan
ger of many of the oxen drowning
as the struggling animals in their
yokes and chains, quickly became
dangerously tangled. The men were
all on the wagon, but at once had to
jump into the water and mud to save
the oxen.
Two of the men armed with hatch
cts waded as rapidly as possible on
either side of the struggling oxen.
cut the how pins and drove the bows
from the yokes. which released them
and allowed them to go to the shore.
The condition of things was ap-
palling. A mired wagon loaded
with ton at least, seventeen OK
yokes strung together with heavy
log chains archoring many of them
to the bottom, thirty-four OK bows
floating on the currentless surface
of water over two feet in depth that
concealed an unknown depth of
mud. One can hardly imagine the
almost hopeless mixture of trouble
that confronted US and made every
last one of US regret that he did not
stick to the Tiger.
At that moment of our plunge
from the wagon, five mounted In
dians, coming from we know not
where, appeared on the bank of the
slough. I said to Cummings there
is help providentially sent" He
laughed heartily, as he responded,
"A tender foot may think so but the
Indians know better" shall never
forget the look of blank amazement
on the faces Of the Indians. They
surveyed the scene a moment in 81
lence, but the iudicrous tangle was
too much for them, and springing
from their ponies they swung their
arms and laughed long and loud at
the white mans mix-up. At such
an unusual demonstration by Indians
Cummings was greatly astonished,
assuring me that he had never heard
Indians laugh aloud before, and add
ed that possibly they may be induced
to do another unheard of thing and
help US out and sent me to see what
I could do. | explained to them that
we were on the way to Redwood to
fix for the coming of ship loads of
supplies for the Indians and I had