Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-05-18
Falls Over Cliff

Falls Over Cliff
The closest call he ever had was a fall
over a 60-foot cliff. AS he started to
fall, his back struck a projecting piece of
rock which sent him whirling over. AS
he fell, he says, he remembered a say
ing that a drunken mar never hurt him.
self in falling because he let his body
go. timber. Ramnael tried to put this
into practice and was further fortunate
enough to strike a slope where he man
aged to catch hold of some grass and
finally some shrubs by which he checked
his fall and finally stopped just above
another drop of rs feet. Besides a
sprained wrist, he was not injured. In
the few seconds of his fall it was literally
true Mr.. Ramnael says that his whole
past life flashed before him.
Mr.. Ramnael was in Cooke City in
1884 or 1885 at the time when the earth
quake toppled over a great segment from
the pointer of Index peak. He was
Sitting in a saloon at the time and re-
members how White the faces of his
companions got as the buildings shook
and a roar went through the mountains.
Shortly afterward he went with a num-
Der of men to observe the fall of rock on
Pilot and Index. While crossing an icy
slope, Mr.. Ramnael slipped and started
down an icy slope. Seeing a large rock,
he managed to steer himself toward 1t.
The rock stopped him but took away the
seat Of his trousers.
The fastest trip he ever took on skis
was during the winter of 1888 while
working on location on the north side of
Sheep mountain. There was a crust on
the snow and in a spirit of adventure h
started down the steep slopes from near
the top. So steep was the slope that
now and then he lost his breath which
more or less automatically caused him
TO slow down.
Sails 100 Feet
With his eyes blinded with snow, he
did not notice a steep sag and found
himself sailing through the air. He
dipped toward the snow and finally got
one foot and then the other back again
He had gone nearly a hundred feet In
the air, the men who were with him
estimated, which was close enough to @
record to satisfy him.
With a comrade named Tom Chris
topherson, Mr.. Ramnael made n of the
earliest visits to the famous Grasshopper
glacier about 1885. The prospectors about
Cooke knew of the glaciers but they
thought they were only huge snowbanks
and did not realize their r nature,
On their trip around the glacier, they
found q number of traces OF prospecting
C-hristopherson was a man Of gigantic
size and great strength, n at one place
he lowered Ramnael down about rs feet
in q crevice SO that he could examine
the walls. At another place they came
to q wide crevice which Christophersor
jumped over with a foot or two to spare
When Ramnael jumped. he fell short
about a foot but as his body fell forward
Christopherson grabbed him and pulled
him to safety. They continued through
the rocky gorges around Granite peak
and then came back to Cooke City.
A year or two afterward, the two mer
accompanied a Bozeman party which in.
cluded Professor Traphagen, the geolo'
gist; Professor Reid, Peter Koch, the mer.
chant, and Matt Anderson, Who was guide
The party spent several days studying
the formations.
For a number of years Mr.. Ramnae
was a guide In Yellowstone park ane
met many of the early notables. During
a visit of Roosevelt to the park, one o.
the principal guides was Jack Woody
one OF the first prospectors at Cooke anc
after whom Woody mountain is named
Stood OFF 300 Indians
Woody, Ed Hubble and q man named
Wilson had at one time stood of q forct
Of 800 Indians. Woody never spoke o.
his experiences. One day Roosevelt. wht
had heard something of the story, asked
Woody to tell about it Blu Woody re
fused. Later. Ma. Ramnael told Roose,
welt that If he would get Woody OF
alone, he could probably get the stor,
from him. Roosevelt adopted the sug'
gestion with results to his satisfaction
Mr.. Ramnael came to Montana in 1888
about a year after he came to this coun
try from Norway. All his life mas beer
spent in lands of snow and
A number of years ago he took up
ranch on Crandall creek, still within
sight of the peaks around which HI
prospected and mined in his more ACTIVE
days. and where he expects to pass nj
declining years.