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Show Tales of the Old Prospector By JOHN AYRES Ml "I was ranging around the Wood river section for a couple of H years in the early 80's. They was lots of good prospects but the pay H streak didn't materialize in no amazin' quantities. In fact things be- H gun o look purty blue, and I begun to wonder where my next 'grubstake' was comin' from. "I'd tackled every friend 1 had, and a good many that wasn't H Incnds, all for the purpose of givin' me a leetlc leeway in my bloomin' H anxiety to uncover a ledge o' galena that'd make the Silver King look M '.ike a 'double o' on the green in a poker deck. "But things jest wouldn't brighten up. It got worse and worse, H and I got so bad that I thought seriously of getting a job on a single H jack or else muckin' in some of the mines that was lyin' around loose, M turnin out bullion by the ton, which was did, I believe, jest for the H purpose of makin' us poor prospectors feel cheap, and how dum foolish we was. "I was in Ketchum one winter day. It was coldcr'n the hot place M is hot, accordin' to my rcckonin'. In fact it was so cold there that H winter that they used to make moulds the shape of a seven-pound M sledge, and then pour water in 'em. The watcr'd freeze so hard them H blamed slcdges's last until spring. That's honest all right. You can H ask John Burke if it ain't. H "Well, as I was a sayin' I was standin' around Ketchum one of H them cold days, when Billy Goring come into town with the report H ot a big snowslide on tted Fish. Accordin' to him three men one H of them was named Warner and a dog was caught in a snowslide H that came down the canyon where they was workin' and buried 'cm M about a hundred feet deep. The supposition was they was all dead, H but anyway we got ready to start out to see what we could do. H ti remember korrect the distance was about eighteen miles. H 1 he snow was so deep we had to snowshoe all the way. Did you ever snowshoe? Well, we used the skies instead of the Canadian web. M The ski is from ten to sixteen feet long, four inches wide and is turned up on end. In about the center is the 'boot' or leggin' where H you catch your feet. Then you have a stick with which you support and guide yourself. H ti "When we started out, 'Happy Jack' English led the crowd. H Ihen there was Billy Goring and George Mctzler, and a whole bunch M of the boys. And while I think of it I might mention they is no more H whole-souled people on this yere yearth than the men of a mining M camp. They may be rough, and handy with shootin' irons, and chaw H and cuss, but when they hear the call of God come from the lips of M man, they is mighty quick at rcspondin'. So it was in this case. H They was merchants and saloon owners, and miners, and clerks and barkeeps and every class of people. 1 "Well, there we went, the whole kioodlc of us. We felt the H shadow of death more or less, but what is that to us, who is always H workin in clamp ground where they is blasts and cave-ins and other H things to tell us death is nigh all the time? "When we reached he old concentrator at the West Fork we H ?-jntl Van,cn Tt sccms wllc" c and his people was caught in the slide, they had all been carried down the side of the hill with the I cabin smashed to pieces. But a four by twelve oak plank, about ten feet long had lodged against the stove on one end while the other H end rested on the ground. Warner was pinned down under this M plank. Although he was held purty firmly, yet it saved his life for it H kept the snow and dabrees from smashing and killing him, beside H which the heat from the stove had melted the snow. So when he woke up again he was knocked a little silly by the concussion-and when he looked around he saw just how he was fixed. He had no means of gettin out, not a tool to work with, for when the slide struck the cabin they'd all been sittin' around ? . their shirt sleeves smokin'. H tt "f0!".1' artn,nd 5,1 his Pocket, Warner struck a little pocket knife He pulled tt out and begun sawing at the plank. It took fifty hours to get it cut in two, but at last he did it. ' H ,".T,h?"' Packin' the s""' under him as he went up. he began H workin his way through the snow to the top. It was purty near a hundred feet deep, filled with rocks and timbers, but at last he dumb H to the top and saw the sun shinin'. He thinks he must a' fainted, for when he looked around again the moon, was shinin' and it was cold as heck. So then, weak and hungry and gaunt he started down the hill. He rolled and wobbled,, and after sixteen hours of hard work at last reached the concentrator. When he got there he was about done for, but as it happened we got there just as he did, we took hold 2' , hls feet' his nosc antl his cars was froze. We rubbed ! .m with mow, then built a big fire and rolled him in blankets and M laid him in them and set him before the fire. He purty near died, j but we save him all right. "His story made a purty sad fcelin' come along in our sturnmicks, but we knew they was some others waitin' for us under the snow down where the moon was shinin' on the side of the hill, so we started r out. "Pardner, did you ever dig through a slide, lookin' for somethin' you know's under it? No? Never do it, unless every call of God and humanity makes you do it. It's heartrending business, it is, and it makes you feel like you hated the moon that shines down so cold and pitiless ; it makes you feel like they wan't no life nowhere an' that you was only a little insignificant worm and that you was a diggin' into the vitals of omnipotence. "With every shovelful of snow or dirt, you expect to feel your I shovel grate on something, and when at last you feel somethin' soft, your heart gives a quiver, and you gulp, and you turn to the other fellow and say: 'Here, you Bill, finish the job. I'm all in.' "We found 'cm, found 'em pardner, lyin' there under the snow. They looked so calm and peaceful, that we just took off our hats, and seemed to be gazin' at something greater than we'd ever know, even if we had to die to learn what it was. "One of 'em was a boy, not over seventeen, a frail little chap. He'd been sent out with his uncle for his health. He found rest and peace all right, but I couldn't help thinkin' as I stood lookin' down at his white, thin face that they was some people alive just then who God wanted morc'n he did the kid, for they needed good company and lie didn't. "We carried the boys back to the mill where Warner was, and then they and him was taken to town. "Goring and I was goin' back another way, for we was lookin' for cotton tails or grouse or somethin' of the kind. He had a 12 gauge shotgun along, while I carried the shells. I didn't know why lie made me carry the shells and he carried the gun, but I found out later that he knew me better'n I knew myself. "We was goin' along on our skis, me viewin' the scenery and thinkin' of anything under the sun but the sad events we'd just witnessed. All of a sudden I heard a 'woof off the side of the trail we was goin' down. Lookin' to my left I saw a pair of long, yellow animals. I called to Billy. He looked around to where I was pointin' and they says, 'koogars' and lit out for home. I made a dash for him, caught him and pulled the gun away from him. 'Drop the gun, you fool,' he yells as he sees me pointin' at the koogars. 'I'm goin' to have a nice new fur coat.' I replied. 'It's only loaded with bird shot,' lie yells back as he begins makin' tracks down the trail. 'All ani-mals ani-mals look alike to me,' I said, and let her go. "Say, talk of scatterin'. Why to see the way those koogars moved at me you'd a thought I'd started a menagerie. I could see wild animals on every bush and every one on 'cm was makin' a bee line for me. 'Home sweet home' thought I, and lit out. 'I could hear the 'patty-pat' of their paws on the snow, and let my old skis fly. I didn't stop to notice where I was or where I was goin'. The only thing I knew was that I was dodgin' trees and stumps and rocks and everything that ever grew on a hillside. I was goin' mighty fast, almost too fast to catch my breath. Goring was out of sight. But I wasn't half as much interested in him as I was in myself. "As I was rushin' along, suddenly I saw a deep precipice ahead of me. It was too late to stop, even if I wanted to. I let out a yell, then I felt myself flying through the air. The last thing I knew when I hit space so hard, was lookin' back. There stood the two koogars, lickin' their chops, their eyes red, their jaws open 'bout two feet, I thought, then I hit the snow bank and everything got dark. "When I saw daylight again, there was Goring standing over me, rubbin' and rubbin' trying to get the circulation back. He told me that when I hit the snow bank I went down about twenty feet and it took him five hours to dig me out. , "And then he said he knew that the Lord was merciful to fools and drunkards. Tn which I agreed." LAST YELLOWSTONE PARK EXCURSION. Sept. 3rd. Round trip from Salt Lake, $45.25, including stages and hotel for complete five dav tour. Phone 250 and make early reservations. City ticket office 201 So. Main Street. LAST YELLOWSTONE PARK EXCURSION. Sept. 3rd. Round trip from Salt Lake, $45.25, including stages and hotel for complete five day tour. Phone 250 and make early reservations. City ticket office 201 So. Main Street |
