The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1916-02-18

steel. Not only was the snow Of great
depth, but sleet had made the surface
a glare Of ice, and walking was eX.
tremely difficult. Some conception can
be formed of the depth of the snow on
the railroad track when it is stated
that in many places we clung to the
telegraph wires while slowly and
painfully moving along.
A rather amusing, if somewhat sur
prising and exceedingly unpleasant
accident occurred to us the second day
out, well along toward evening. The
party had taken to the ice on the Co.
lumbia river as easier going than on
| the land, or where the land ought to
be. We were in the lead. Suddenly the
ice gave way and we took an invol-
untary bath. We were able to scram-
Bile out, with the assistance of our
companions, very much surprised and
decidedly moist. Our clothing was
frozen stiff the moment we regained
our feet. Further travel was out of the
question. After considerable search, a
stovepipe was discovered sticking out
of the snow, and upon investigation
tunnel was found leading into a
track walkers cabin. There were but
two rooms and small lean-to to
accommodate the family, but the hos
pitable native gave us cordial well
come. That night the four travellers
slept in one bed in the lean to, retir-
ssa~ l. ~os,, H.,
cluded, and awOke IN the morning
with the bed and the inside of the
shack completely covered with new
fallen snow.
The entire trip was repetition of
adventures, but two incidents in par
ticular may be mentioned in order to
convey some idea of the hardships of
that long tramp. In many places the
snow, a glare of ice from sleet, ex-
tended from the hill top at an acute
angle down to the river, which was
generally open along the shore.
Crossing these slides was dangerous
and delicate work, for in places fly
could not have retained foothold,
and a misstep meant shooting the to-
boggan into the river. There was no
way of getting around above, and the
open water at the foot could be passed
only by swimming. At one place we
came to stretch of this icy barrier
that there seemed no possible way
of passing. The distance across to the
softer snow was not great, probably
Is or Is feet, but it might as we'll
have been a mile. The party stood on
the edge of that icy slide trying to
figure out what to do, until the men,
bers were almost frozen stiff We no.
ticed a small branch Of tree, a foot
long and some two inches in diam
ater, protruding from the ice about
half way across the chasm and lower
down than where we were standing.
We figured out if one could make
sliding jump and grasp the projecting
root he could swing on across to
safety. 1t was a desperate expedient,
for if the jumper missed the stick, or
if the stick broke, nothing could save
him from watery grave. However,
it was make the attempt or freeze to
death. We made the dive, the stick
held and drawing ourself up on it to
a standing position, another lunge car
ricd us safely across. The Portland
and Pendleton men were equally as
successful. The cattleman carried con-
siderable flesh, and he hesitated long
before taking the chance. The others
of the party walked out along the
waters edge as far as they dared in
order to catch their companion in
case he failed to connect with the
snag. At last he summoned up cour-
age to make the attempt. He caught
the stick all right, but his weight
snapped it off, and with Shrek he
shot downward. The impetus of his
lunge carried him far enough over so
that his companione caught him be-
fore he hit the water. We have often
wondered what would have become of
the residue of the party had the cat
tleman made the first attempt.
At another place we came to an ice
slide fully 100 feet wide, and this was
was passed a few minutes before. He
was induced to bring his AK and cut
notches in the ice by which means the
slide was negotiated This crossing
was made at least 100 feet above the
open water with the searching wind
blowing almost gale. The least mis-
step, the loss of balance would have
been followed by tightening like
passage down the smooth declivity
into the river, from which there was
little chance of rescue. Few mountain
travellers have ever taken more des-
perate chances than did that quartet
of pilgrims on the memorable occas-
ion during the hard, very hard, win
ter of 18SA-5.
Why protract the narrative. Enough