The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-07-31

nat Il, we lnlnk IL s SOmeNf
haven't the least idea just W
ranch not many miles south o
The wind was still blowing when
we showed off this morning. but its
direction had changed just enough
for us TO make a little Roadway.
So, not wanting us TO leave South
Dakota so soon, the river promptly
changed its course so that We had
10 cruise right into the teeth of
the gale. And gale il was. Ten
miles Of wind retards us one mile
an hour. With the current run
ming between four and five miles
an hour we had to paddle fast and
steadily in order to travel three
miles an hour. That sounds some
what involved but. anyway, the
wind was steady at 80 miles with
stronger gusts-and those aren't
our figures. Those are straight
from the weather bureau.
There was one consolation, how
ever. the wind was cooling and ii
blew all the mosquitoes away, but
1t didn't seem to bother the flies
ut all. They followed us all day
and made life miserable in the
canoe with their incessant biting
and buzzing. These flies, with
their long spears, are so fast that
Il is next to impossible TO smack
them. They aren't as polite as
mosquitoes, who bite once and call
1t day. These flies will bite three
times in a row without giving their
first meal a chance to settle.
Prayed for Rain
A weather eye was kept on the
sky because the report promised
rain and the presence of so many
flies was another indication. And
we wanted that rain. For the first
time on the voyage We prayed for
a storm. 1t would not only break
up the oppressive heat but, in all
probability, it would cause the wind
TO turn around and blow down the
river for a change. These winds
were only supposed to hold one way
for three days, but this head wind,
though not so strang as the last
two days, had been blowing for
nearly five days and nights.
Shortly after noon both of us
were pretty well tired out and
ready to call it a day. Stuck on
an island side of the river 1t was
out of the question to try another
crossing on that surging Missouri,
so, seeing the roof of cabin far
back on the island, we put ashore.
Two families lived on that little
island. Three generations of one
family, grandma and grandpa,
daughter and son-in-law, and the
latter's two children. Tired and
hot and badly bitten, we had plan
ned to ask them If they had a
spare corner where we could throw
our bed rolls for the night. But
one look at those two cabins and
the people in them caused us to
change our minds. Nowhere on
this trip have we seen such filth
and squalor. Though the cabins
were in fairly good repair, exter-
nally-they had to be with the
extreme Dakota winters - inside
there was nothing but old. broken
down furniture, and beds that had
not seen a sheet laundered all sum-
mer. Or, perhaps. it was the sleep
ers who had not laundered them
selves often enough. The sheets
weren't the well-known tattle-tale
grey, they were greyer. In fact,
they looked more like dirty canvas
than sheets. And IL a broom had
been pushed over those floors for
a year 1t must have had mighty
few whiskers. There were still
ashes scattered around the stove
from last winters fire. BY the
amount of spider webs in the cor
ners they must have regarded
them as pets. During the short
time we were there we saw several
other varieties of pets. We didn't
have much doubt but that the beds
were also populated.