Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1911-04-15
THE BLACK HILLS PIONEERS.
A Narrative Of the John Gordon Stock.
ade Party in 1874.

/ CONTRIBUTED TO THE CUSTER CHRONICLE
By DAVID AIKEN, voNA, COLO.
lContinued from last week.
After breakfast we began the construc
ton of q stockade. 1t was located neal
the center of the main park and close t.
the bank of a small stream known al
French Creek. 1t was fine location
for a construction of this kind, being or
smooth fat about 400 yards from the
nearest timber or point of rock. The
stockade was 80 feet square in the cleal
with bastions at each corner, so thai
those on the inside could shoot alons
the outside wall from either corner. Il
was made by digging ditch four fee,
deep and standing pine logs on end.
These logs were smooth aud straight
and were from IL to IA inches in diam
eter at the small end and when com.
pleted stood IL feet above the ground,
while on the inside smaller timbers were
fitted in the cracks and held to their
places by double ribs firmly pinned on.
A double gate made of l0inch hewn
timber opened on the side toward the
creek, being the south side. Two rows
Of post-holes completed a fortification
behind the walls of which we felt quite
secure and almost invincible.
One day while busy at work phenom-
enon occurred that, under ordinary sur
roundings and conditions, would have
been considered very remarkable if not
quite strange. But owing to our pscul-
lar surroundings it was quite startling
and almost savored of the supernatural.
About noon, on a clear cold day, an
awful rushing roaring sound was heard
above and to the north of US. 1t was
almost directly over our camp. Every
one Immediately looked in that direction
and saw an object rushing through the
air from east to west, not more than one
half mile above the hill-tops and SEEM
ingly not more than three-quarters of
mile distant from us. 1t seemed almost
white, and looked as if it might be at
least 80 or 40 feet in diameter, although
its size could not be ascertained with
any degree of accuracy. AS it seemed
surrounded by steam or smoke, it did
not appear to be falling but continued in
horizontal course. Three or four sec.
onds after having passed out of our sight
in the west, a report was heard that
fairly shook the hills, while along its
track clouds of smoke were left that
could be seen for 20 minutes after.
1t was one of the grandest sights l
ever witnessed, and few of the party
were inclined to regard it as bad omen
as a mark of displeasure of our Heay-
emily Father, coupled with the Indian
legend, that these hills were sacred
ground and called the home of the Great
Spirit, it is quite natural that human
imagination should become slightly COL
ored under our present conditions and
surroundings, and that their reasoning
faculties pertaining to a phenomenon of
this character should become slightly
obscured with veil of superstition.
There is one thing that was very evil
dent. Immediately after this the
weather began to grow colder and con-
tinued to increase in intensity each day
for about three weeks. We had no
thermometer, but am sure it was the
coolest weather l ever experienced be-
fore or since, by many degrees. We
were still living in tents and had no
stoves of any kind, We usually hauled
up heaps of dry pine logs in front of our
camp in the evening. This pine is full
of pitch and burned like oil, making a
roaring fire until bedtime. But the
great heat did not seem to warm the
atmosphere Immediately surrounding
US, for on turning one side of the face
from the fire for only moment it would
become covered with frost. Thus roast
ing one side while freezing the other.
As soon as the Stockade was COM
pleted most of the messes were reorgan-
ized-those going together or forming a
company that experience had shown to
be the most congenial companions and
best fitted to work together to the best
advantage and in the most agreeable
manner. Each mess built it's own cabin
and six good substantial houses were
built during the extreme cold weather
inside of the Stockade. Each had good
fireplace made of stone laid in mud.
The roofing was made by splitting log
about foot in diameter and following
each of these halves out like trough.
A course of these were laid out over the
roof with the hollow side up. Then an.
other course was reversed covering the
Ijointings. Grass and mud was used to
stop all cracks. A couple of the mssses
went so far as to make puncheon floors,
while others were content with Mother
Earth. No nails were used in the
entire construction of the Stockade or
cabins.
| As soon as our cabins we're completed
we turned our attention to prospecting
and hunting enough to keep the camp
supplied with meat. There was an
abundance of deer, few elk and among
the rocky cliffs of the foothills a few
mountain sheep. There were also three
or four species of wolves and quite few
mountain lions.
Our camp wasslocated within IL miles
of Harney's Peak, the highest point in
the Hills and about IL miles from the
foothills on the east. Inside the eastern
foothills it is quite rocky and precipit-