Show i j M fi f t Echoes i from the dust Burning sands thirst and panther r perils runaway boy age 9 in 1890 Echoes from the Dust bust feature is selected from the files Ciles of the Vernal Express and printed as they appeared on the date noted at the top of each feature Oy By Earl A Linderman In the year 1890 1090 I was nine years old and I 1 was staying with my grandparents the well well- known Fairchild family in Ashley Valley three miles from Vernal Utah They lived on a ranch and had had- cattle horses pigs and chickenS I was helping to do the chores and went to school My mother Ilene Jones was left a widow with nine children five boys and four girls I was the youngest boy Mother and andall andall andall all the rest of her family had moved to Rangely Colorado on the White River miles away Ashley Valley and the surrounding country was really a wild and tough place at that time There were many miles of open range and many cattle were grazing on it Our nearest railroad town was Price miles away Everything was freighted in from there with horses The Ute Indians would break out now and then and kill some of the settlers settler before the soldiers could get t them em rounded up again I 1 I grew up in this wild country and although I was very young then I had learned to tough it with the rest of them I had slept out in the open many times in inthe inthe inthe the winter when sometimes it was from 30 to 40 below zero In Inthe Inthe Inthe the summer we boys slept out every night except when it rained So I was stout and healthy and had so mu much h energy sometimes that I did not know what to do with all of it I WOULD work hard all day then at night after supper I would go outside and play If I couldn't find anything else to play with I would take the old wheelbarrow and see how fast I could make it run around and around the house for an hour or so Grandpa would say How can do that after w working hard all day A few i miles il s from us was a boy whose name was Clide He would come to see see see- me quite often Clide was two years older than me I was nine and he was 11 but he was quite large for his age I liked him real well Then every time he came to see me I would neglect my work for a awhile awhile awhile while and we would play then after he left Grandfather would say One boy is a boy two boys boysa a half a boy and three boys no boy at all Then in July I began to get homesick I wanted to see my mother and be with my brothers and sisters I knew if I told my Grandfather that I wanted to go home he wouldn't take me or orlet orlet orlet let me go so I decided to run away So every time Clide came cameto cameto cameto to see me I would coax him to torun torun run away and go with me But I couldn't get him to say he would go He was afraid of the Indians Indians Indians In In- wild bulls and animals I Iwas Iwas Iwas was determined to go even if I had to go alone For I was awfully homesick So the next time Clide came I told him If you will go with me well we'll sure have a lot of fun when we get there WE WILL go in swimming every day in the river and we can fish and hunt rabbits and just have lots of fun I aint afraid of the Indians they wont won't bother us because we are just boys and I know how to sneak around the wild bulls so they wont won't see us and we can learn to tobe tobe tobe be tough like the cowboys Well he said alright Ill I'll 11 go So we p planned to hide our clothes out in a sack each and meet at a certain place early the next morning Everything worked out all right so we met and slung our sacks over our and were on our way We had seven or eight pounds of clothes in each sack At the lower end of Ashley Valley about 20 or 25 miles was wasa a ferry on Green River and my greatest worry was how we could get across the river for neither of us had a cent The ferry was owned by a man whose real name was Jensen but everybody called l him m Old Mabee lie He was a tough man to todeal todeal todeal deal with if you didn't have any money I told Clide we might have to make a raft if U we could borrow an axe and find some wire I knew how to make one Well we got to the ferry about 4 or U 5 o'clock in the afternoon It was about the middle of July and it was awfully hot and our shirts were w wet ft t with sweat Old Mabee said Where re In the world are you boys going I 1 TOLD him we were going to Rangely Colorado to my home and asked him if he would take us across the river but we hav haven't nt any money to pay but some of my brothers will pay you the next time you ferry them across He asked me what their names were after I told him rum he said Oh yes I know them well all right but I dont don't think I should You boys are too young to hike through this wild country But he took us across in a little row boat Now from there ther on there were only two places where anyone lived The first was Rolston's Ralston's Cattle Ranch seven miles from the ferry and we got there just before dark I wasn't tired but Clide was about all in They were very nice to u us and the lady got us a fine Cine supper and of course asked us where we were going and where we had come from But we did not tell her we had run away Then the cowboys began to come in from out on the range and they had a great time joking with us One cowboy told us we were the youngest he had ever seen and the bravest for you aint even got a shooting iron What sha gona Bona do if ya meet up with some Well I told him we would talk nice to them and maybe they would let us go He said We cowpokes ride fast horses so we can outrun and wild bulls WELL TilE THE lady got us an early breakfast and gave us a lunch to take with us and two beer bottles of water and warned us to be very careful with our water and make it last for we wouldn't find any water until we got to the K Ranch about 15 miles This was another cattle ranch They told us we would have to walk through about eight miles of fine Cine sand and it is so hot that it will burn your feet So we left there just at the break of day After we had gone a few miles we struck the sand and now the sun w was s' s sr r really ally pouring d down wn on onus on onus onus us us and our feet felt like the they were were burning up Every step the sand would give away under our feet and we would slip back a little Clide had drank almost all of l his s water I kept telling him to take Just a tiny swallow only when he thought he had to for forwe forwe forwe we had got to make it last or orwell orwell orwell well we'll peri perish h and it is getting hotter Then Clide began to complain and said If I had known it was going to be like this I sure wouldn't of come I tried to encourage him and told him we will soon soon get through this sand and then we will beOK be OK BUT nUT BEFORE we had got through that hot sand Clide had drunk all of his water and part of mine He lie laid down and said he was give out ut and couldn't go any further and would die if he did not have water So I gave him the last I had which was only a tiny swallow and I said Clide you are two years older than me and you have drunk a alot alot alot lot more water than I have You have got to learn to be tough We can only g go without water just so long and we have got to keep going Now get up and I will pack your clothes and that will make it easier for you for I am not tired I wasn't tired but I f sure was suffering for water and from the heat but butI I wouldn't admit It it So we moved on and soon were out of the sand and what a relief it was to walk on firm ground OFF TO the right we could see a little clump of box elder trees They looked so healthy pretty and green and I told Clide surely there must be water there So we started to go over to them I said Glide Clide you stay here and rest and if there is water there I will fill the bottles and will soon be back But I had to come back with empty bottles there was no water Now our tongues were swelling and we could hardly talk But we on Clide would lay down every few hundred yards and I would have havea a hard time to get him up I could see that he couldn't go much farther and I 1 knew that I 1 couldn't either without water I told Clide to take hold of my arm and maybe that would help him lm some Just then we came to the top of a little l hill bill ll and what we saw just a little way beyond was sure a delight to us for it was was' the K Ranch a big cattle ranch We could hardly talk our tongues were swollen and our feet feel hurt so bad that we could hardly walk Well now we had got to the spring just a little ways from the house and that water looked more precious than gold or anything that we had ever seen before I told Clide we will have to be careful and only drink just a afew afew afew few swallows then wait walt a while and then drink a little more For if Ife we drink too much all at once it might kill us or make us sick We stayed at the spring quite a awhile awhile awhile while and washed our feet hands and faces Then we went to the house We were about starved so they got us a lunch but they didn't treat us very good there which was very unusual at that time especially on a ca cattle tHe ranch I looked a at t the time and it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon THERE WE WERE three women and one tine man at the house the cowboys were all out out outon on the range They didn't even give usa us usa usa a lunch to take with us and there was not another place where anyone lived until we got home at Rangely Well anyway we thanked them for our lunch and went out in the shade to rest I told Clide that we would take a good long rest and start out again when it got cooler and we would try to get to Willow WillowCreek WillowCreek WillowCreek Creek 12 miles from t there ere and then tomorrow night we would be home At Willow Creek there was just an old deserted house and the creek was dry in the summer There was no more water except some poison water until we got to Rangely I had been over the trail once before in a wagon and knew the way There wasn't any road just wagon tracks through the sage brush Sometimes you wouldn't see a wagon traveling through for two or three months at a time We had a good long rest now and we found two more bottles and filled them all with water and were on our way again We were almost sure that we wouldn't have another bite to eat until we got to my home We w were ere in Colorado now and about half way of our ow journey WE SAW some Indians quite a distance from us Gosh Clide said do you think they see us Well I said If they do they wont won't harm us but I wasn't too sure about it We had to sneak around wild steers and bulls several times Then in the distance was seen a team and wagon coming toward us and when we met he said For the love of mike where in the world did you young scouts come from and where are you going I 1 TOLD him I was going home to Rangely on the White River He said Dont you know a man isn't safe going through this wild country on a horse or in a wagon let alone little boys on foot with these on the war path and wild bulls and steers and wild animals everywhere I am going to put you right in this wagon and take you back Well I said if you do I will only come came right back again for I am not afraid Indians wont won't bother us for we are just boys and I know how to sneak around cattle so they wont won't see us I am used to them for I have been raised among them So when he saw that I was so determined to go on he said Well I just dont don't feel right about letting you go You had better change your mind and go goback goback goback back with me I could see that Clide sure did want to go with him but I didn't give him a chance to talk Well anyway he let us go on Now it was getting dark and Clide would sit down every few minutes to rest I had to keep urging him on and told him we will soon be to Willow Creek But pretty soon he laid down and said he ho couldn't go any farther so I said Well lets let's get out of the road for someone might come along and run rUl over us But there wasn't a spot anywhere around that was free from rocks we spread our clothes on them and laid down for the night Just at the break of day I got up and went a little ways and looked over the hilland hill hilland hilland and there was the old deserted louse house We had gotten to Willow WillowCreek Creek So I went back and woke up Clide CUde and told l him m we had gotten there and now we we could make it to my home sometime today We didn't have a thing to eat but we had water so we hiked on and saw some Indians at a distance Then we went down a along a along long loog steep hill to 10 the bottom of a adeep adeep adeep deep gulch t tny y called it Stinking Water Gulch It had a little tUe seepage of poison polson water here and there and now and then an old sign which read Do not drink this water it will kill you The road followed In Inthe Inthe inthe the bottom of this gulch for miles THEN N WE heard a scream just a little way behind us and It sounded just like a woman in distress Then we heard it again and we sure thought it was a woman So we started to go and see sec then we heard it again This time I knew what ft was so I Isaid Isaid Isaid said to Clide a panther and he is following us Well Vell that was one animal that I was really scared of for Cor I 1 knew what they would do Sometimes they would lay for you and then spring onto you So we sure got in high gear for several miles and that tha t thing followed us for at least ten miles for we could hear him scream now and then Sometimes he was close to usand us usand usand and then farther away then finally we didn't hear him any more We were getting weak now and we were awfully hungry I had packed Clides Clide's clothes all the way from the hot sand and also my own So we would sit down and rest quite often Then after we had gone a few more miles Clide began to complain again and I said Dont you know these kinds of hardships are what makes us tough Well Well 1 I said you like to be real tough like well like some fellows we hear about He said Not if I have to keep walking through eight miles of sand so hot you could fry eggs on it and have to go without water until your tongue hangs out and you have to pant like a dog and cant can't talk and then expecting some old bull to gore you or some Indians to get your scalp then at night lay down on sharp rocks and try to sleep get up at the break of day and start hiking without my breakfast Then have an old cougar follow you for about 10 miles and you thinking any minute how you will make him hima a nice meal Then on top of all that you have to go more than a whole day and night without Ii a a bite bitto to eat at and keep hiking If If you have to keep doing all of those things to get tough I dont don't want to be tough Well we hiked on and soon we could see the old White River winding its way down through that barren country I said It wont won't be long now and my mother is a fine cook and we can soon eat now and then eat some more That man we met metin metin metin in the wagon wagon that wanted to take us back was the only person that we met on our journey th that t is from the ferry Well we got to my house just a little while before sundown and my mother sure sur was surprised to see me She said If I had known that you boys were on the road coming a foot and alone I would have worried myself sick but I would have sent some of your brothers to meet you WELL WE got fed up and rested up in about two days Then I was making my promise good to Clide and we were having a swell time But it did not last very long Early one morning a man on a horse and leading another horse rode up to the house and he was tired hungry and mad It was Clides Clide's father He lie had rode all day and andall andall andall all night and had to leave his tired horses at the K Ranch and take fresh ones and come on oa He said If I 1 had more time I would make Clide walk all the way back So I said Mr it wasn't Glides Glide's fault it was all my fault |