Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1920-01-02
TWO PERISH IN VERNAL SNOW
Continued from first page.)

AFTER Jne uedIn OF Jne nOTSei iliChS
in his determination to get out and
find food, and save his loved ones,
asked the rest Of the party to follow
him and he would break the road.
Mrs. Hicks, however, with her steady
nerve and good judgment, remonstrat-
ed with her husband, and begged him
TO 20 back to the mill, and take a new
start the next morning, but he insisted
on continuing the journey for help.
Tie did not want to 90 alone, so San
FOL- volunteered to 90 with him. It
was finally agreed that the Mexican,
Mrs. Hicks and her son should return
to the mill and wait for the help they
looked forward to coming for them as
a result of her husbands efforts.
Bidng them goodbye, Hicks took
the horse and leading him broke the
way for the old man to follow. This
is the last sad, lonely picture that
is burnt into the memory Of the wife
as she stood there in the cold and
watched them fade away in the dis
lance. She turned into the tent, with
doubt and fear in her heart as to the
outcome Thus the rs--ue party found
her anxiously waiting for them to
come, not knowing but what they had
been sent by the loved ones, who had
gone to secure aid.
"The rescuers, while holding out
hope to Mrs. Hicks, advised her to
prepare for the worst. IL was decided
that the next morning Fetch would
take mother and son to the Freestone
ranch and Massey and Hamrick should
take the trail on skis in their search
for Hicks and Sanford, agreeing to
report that night.
"Going to where the trail started,
they followed along except where the
wind had filled it with snow, but by
making circles they picked up the
trail again and followed in a zigzag
course in an easterly direction to
about ten miles from the mill, trav-
cling in all about eighteen miles.
Down in deep canyon, not over 200
yards from where they had set a
poison bait Friday morning, Deem
Der IL, they came upon the final rest
ing place Of Hicks and Sanford, where
the last desperate struggle for life
ensued.
"Hicks and Sanford had lost their
way, for this was about miles from
the Jack Girt. ranch, almost in an
opposite direction from that which
they should have travelled.
"They had run across cat and
shepherd puppy which had been lost
by a Mexican sheep herder, few
days before. Hicks, dressed as thin a.
he was, took his outer pair of overall'
and made bag which he hung arount
the neck of the horse in which h
carry the puppy, so that it would no
delay the progress Of the party.
"To appreciate fully their awful
suffering it must be remembered tina
it was during this week that tn
temperature in Vernal had droppe'
the lowest in its history, having reg
istered nearly 30 degrees below zero
On the wind-swept mountain, there |
is no knowing how cold it did get
possibly ten degrees lower. Thursda
night, when they persisted, wa
probably the coolest night of ther
all. Hicks was only dressed wit
summer underwear, and two pairs Q
overalls, with a jersey sweate
jacket and coat, hardly sufiicier
clothing for the cool nights Of sun
mer on the mountain, let alone tn
freezing blasts Of the coolest weatht
on record in years, in this section.
"When the bodies were found,
looked as though the poor fellow
had endeavored to dig a place in I'll
snow to get shelter, or else that ii
horse or the old man had fallen
and Hicks had dug them out with II
shovel they had carried with them.
"Here they must have stopped IL
consultation and last words, as II
tragic positions mutely testify. Fac
body lay not over six feet apart, wit
the faithful horse lying frozen Il
same distance away. Struggled I
between the hind legs of the hor'
was the frozen body of the cat, viii
close to the body and front legs Z
the horse was the stiffened body
the shepherd dog, as though to a
sorp the last bit of heat from the pc
ishing animal. Thus was written Il
tragedy of Diamond Mountain.
III. g. 4 WI q