Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1920-05-04
Lost in a SnOWStOrm While
En- Route to the KlOndike
BY +. X. KLUSiB

get ready to move.
l took the lead guided by Weiss
for a while. travelling over the trail 7
We had previously made. As long
as We were on this trail travelling
was made easy, but when we came /
to the end of It, or rather to the place |
where We had made the stop when
| became exhausted. there was
different phase to things. asked
| Weiss TO take the lead, but he was
too much fatigued by his previous
! travelling. He pointed out the direc-
ton as near as he could remember,
and then after some deliberation /
plunged out into the deep snow, keep
ing my face to the wind and my eyes
open as much Of the time as the beat
ing snow would permit me. Very
slow progress was made, as the snow
was soft and varied in depth from
one to four feet.
Sometimes / would be walking
through it with ease, then all of a
sudden / would go down into it waist
deep, but l kept on and on, never
looking back for fear of losing the
direction. The dog team followed
close behind me, hauling the woman
and the little girl. Then came the
others in single file and changing
places ever few moments to make it
easier for them to move along. After
an hour of this wallowing and tumb
ling and plunging through the snow
some began to get weary and want
ed rest, but I knew it would be sui
cidal to sit down for any length of
time in the condition we were in,
so kept the procession moving along,
although just to sit down and rest
few moments would have afforded
great relief to my tired limbs.
After passing over what seemed to
be high knoll the wind became less
furious, making objects more dis
cernable should we be fortunate to
see any.
strained my eyes to catch
glimpse of something which might
give us a little hope, but could see
nothing but snow. snow everywhere.
} Slower and slower became our
progress while weaker and weaker
} we became physically, until our move
ment was like that of snail.
} Two of the men were determined
to stop to rest and they probably
would have. done SO had not those
behind them kept them in line and
, forced them to keep moving along
} slowly
}, Suddenly l gave a shout of joy,
for in the distance could see tent
which. 4 knew. was near the trail.
} passed the glad news to the others
, and it acted like an electric shock
on their energy. We knew now we
: were safe, and almost by superhuman
/ effort we pushed along for another
half hour or three quarters OF an
| hour, when we reached the tent, ex-
poCtluS tucIc " ACliOoh OuASOA'S'
with cup of coffee and something
t to eat. Imagine our surprise on
/ opening the tent to find not the slight
: est sign of fire, and about eight men
: rolled up in blankets to keep them
; selves warm. Their wood had all
, been burned during the night and
! they had employed the go-to-bed
t scheme to keep from freezing. All
the food with the exception of some
: rolled-oats had been eaten by the
occupants a number of hours before
J our arrival. Some Of our party were
t so hungry that they actually ate the
| oats by the handful and seemed to
r relish the food very much. The diet
) did not satisfy me, so struck out on
! the trail in search Of the sleds we
| had abandoned the night before. and
: IN which were some corned beer, some
/ cheese and some bareback.
followed the trail towards the
t summit about quarter OF a mile,
when off to the right side about
t hundred yards ! saw two heaps OF
2 snow and on digging into them
found the loaded sleds as we had
! left them And just to think, there
! we had been a few hundred feet from
4 the trail which would have led us
Y to our tent home and comfortable
f quarters the night before.
S In our bewildered condition during
e the storm we had wandered directly
t awav from the trail, thus showing II
= the party had done as my plan had
suggested when we discovered we
4 were lost, the long nights suffering
e and the two weary tiresome marches
t probably would never have been
= mart of our memory history
s From the sleds ! procured all tha'
e was eatable and hurried back to the
e tent to appease the appetites or the
i hungry party. After the scanty repas'
I everybody felt much better, botf
fu1 and were