The Alaska daily empire., 1921-03-09
OF INTREPID NJ! B DIES
Tragic Suferings Borne by Forty-niners Recalled by
 Stephens Death.

February H..
 Tragic, bitter suffering borne by the Jayhawkers in crossing DeIth Valley were recalled by the death of Stephens. The experiences of the party closely paralleled those of the illfated Donner party, AZ of whom starved, frOze and died in the Lsnows of Placer County, Cal, in the fwinter of 1S46-47. ..
 The Jayhawkers, without chart or guide, anna zed the daring men of their perind by forcing their way across Death Valley by sheer pluck and perseverance. Four of them died of thirst. starvation and ex- haustion i'll their three months strug gle across earth baked so hard that the feet of their oxen made no imprint amid rocks that tore their feet and forced them to aban- don wagons and in shifting sands that sucked down their feet and scorched their bodies.
 There were thrty-oae young and vigorous men in the original Jay hawkers' party. Driving slow-footed oxen to covered wagons, they started from Galesburg, Illinois. April 3 1 1S49 to scoop fablcd riches from i the grass roots.
 Arrive At Salt Lake 1 In the late summer their ponder | ous oxen drew their creaking wa gons into Salt Lake City, Utah i There they. were called upon to make a momentous decision, as they were told the regular mountain route to San Francisco would lie beneath twenty feet of Sierra Nevada snow | before they could reach the passes. They were warned too, of the awful fate which had befallen the Don ner party, and were told to wait in Salt Lake three or four months. when the trail would be cleared Impatient, they sought an alterna- tive and joined other argonauts 107 wagons started in the late fall for Los Angeles under guidance of John Hunt who contracted to take them over the the old Spanish trail through San Bernardino. Hunt was in no hurry and dissatisfaction became rampant at the slow, prog ress. Much was said of short cut leading West that would illuminate 300 miles from their journey.
 Hunt could not dissuade them and about the first of November 100 wagons turned from the trail to at tny mt ho ing him with but seven wagons.
 Three days later those taking thel short. cut came to precipice above a plain, and discouraged most of them turned back to the original trail to follow Hunt.
 ,. Jayhawkers Press On
 But the 31 Jayhawkers pressed on. not knowing that the short cut was to take them across the region afterWards appropriately named Death Valley. The record from this point is one of continuous hardships and sufferings almost beyond imag- ination and of dogged determination to live, tempered with self sacrifice for comrades.
 Early on the journey, a man weak ened by consumption, succumbed Once the Jayhawkcrs were saved by a snowstorm after six days with out water. The oxen, weakened by lack of water and grass on the arid barren region, became too weak to draw the s wagons up the rocky slopes. Wagons were abandoned, men and oxen taking the burdens upon their backs. Fighting their way through the sands they came to al water hole in the desert, and were joined by the Rev. J, w. Brier, his wifeI and three children who had been members of Hunts original party. They brought their num- Der up to thirty five, one having died. -
 The weeks that followed were largely repetitions of what had gone before. They were saved again and again after days without water by finding scant supply, After sev- eral days thirst, William Icham, ex- hausted, lay down and begged his companions to leave him. Hours later, they found trickling stream in the sand and hastened back to him, but he was too weak to swal- | low. and died in their arms. Oxen | lean and weak, were killed and | eaten. their blood drunk to allay. thirst.
 Alkaline Lake Mocks
 On the shores of an alkaline lake that mocked them, a man by the name of Fish, gasped out his life. William Robinson died with his face to the West just as the scouts re- ported water a mile away.
 It was the end of January that snow was reached on a rising slope and juniper and oak trees were seen far away to the South. With re- newed hope came more speed, and on February 4 1850, fat cattle were seen grazing. Two of these were shot, attracting Spanish horsemen of the San Francisquito Rancho. They treated the weary. emaciated