, 1922-01-03

The star asked a mum
Der OF men in public life for a story
of a Christmas vividly impressed upon
their memory. Tho following Is the
story related by Frank w. Mondell,
member OF congress from Wyoming
and Republican floor leader Of the
house:
A vigorous Christmas "reminiscences.
chock-a-block full Of daring hnrdships
and stubborn fight TO the very last
against encouragement. in the days
When the west vas young and he wal
searching for one OF the biggest coal
mines in the country. is told by Repre-
tentative Frank w. Mondell of Wyc.
ming, the house leader. as follows:
81 am reminded of our celebration
in the Black Hills of Wyoming that
winter in the ate soc. which viii
be long remembered by stockmen as
the coolest and most disastrous in
their experience"
1.-The winter began in the early fall
and my E.tle prospecting party OF
sly, which started In late October
from Buffalo Gap for the hundred-mile
trip across the Black Hills to our
destination In wyoming. encountered
a snowstorm on the slopes Of Elk
mountain. We floundered through
heavy drifts and beyond the L. A. X.
ranch. over dim and obscure trails.
finally pitching camp-cold. worn and
weary.
"Our original party increased to
about a dozen after we went into
camp. including Big Mike Norsk,
master of woodoraft, and Levi Dodd.
an old-time p~rospector. both natives
of tho hills and as familiar with the
country as though they had made IT.
Our only neighbors, nearer than the
distant cattle ranchers. were Vantine
and Miller and their families. ed
venturous small ranch people.
Ordinarily we might have expected
a month or more OF good weather in
which to establish permanent winter
camp, bringing in supplies, and do the
preliminary prospecting necessary to
determine the point OF permanent win
ter drifting on the mineral vein. but
the bottomless trails resulting from
the rapid melting Of h heavy early
snow. followed by days Of storm and
intense cold, rendered travel to dis
tant supply points exceedingly diff
cult. and weather conditions seriously
interferred with the work on the win.
ter cabins and hampered prospecting.
The middle OF December found us
with cabins half finished n work on
the permanent drift only fairly under
way. with food supplies OF all kinds
prcatically exhausted. Tho tobacco
user, who constituted most Of the
personnel of the party. were FESTIVE
and almost mutinous.
"Curley. the invincible, with our
| splendid four-horse team. was started
over the 55-mile road to Custer for
supplies. But tour days later. in the
midst of a bowling brizzard Curley
and his four staggered int Camp
plumb beat out Hell's canyon rs
miles on the DAD to Custer. almost i'm
passable at any time. choked with ice
and snow, presented q barrier that
even Curley and his sturdy outfit could
not surmount
'.The next morning . cowboy from
the Y. 7. ranch rode into camp to do
liver mail which he had been good
enough to bring in from Sundance a
few days before. The only letter that
interested mo added to the gloom of
the general situation. It indicated
that through an unfortunate combi-
nation of circumstances it was quite
probable that the funds on which we
had been depending for our winter
campaign wouid not be forthcoming.
at once raising the question whether
we would work on n hope for the
best or get out before the roads were
entirely blocked.
"On the heels Of the mail carrier
came Big Mike. from the job on the
cabins. believing that some damn
tief' had stolen all our nails and
spikes. Such. on Investigation. proved
to be the case. The kegs and boxes
containing these supplies so essential
to finishing the cabins had been placed
under q bough shelter near the main
cabin. Not mor than a dozen of our
entire nail supply remained. And sc
the work on the doors. the floors and
the windows md the remaining por
tion OF the o o OF the main cabin
stopped. Vantine tried to get through
TO Sundance on horseback for a few
nails and some tobacco. hut the snow
around the base Of Inyankare was toe
deep.
"Curley thought he could gel
through to Deadwood with Yanuns'i