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Show 'PERILOUS DEMI TRAIL 11 SOUTH PART OF UTAH John Kin:; the big cattleman of rOpcalonte and Boulder, has naturalh met with many thrilling experiences, but none other to compare witn one that happened on the Deadman trail, King has a cozy home In I "sealant0 and a larpe ranch well stocked at Boulder. This settlement occupies a fertile valley ten miles long and six-wide, six-wide, on a creek that drains southward south-ward Into Bscalante creek, and thence into the Colorado, near the Arizona line. This settlement is 100 miles southwest of Green River and equally distant from Marysvalc, the terminus of the Rio Grande's San Pete branch. Boulder is also thirty-five miles northeast north-east of Bscalante, also an inland point, but rather the commercial center of eastern Garfield county. This road is not only indirect, but it Is also so poor that the enterprising citizens in "taking In ' such articieB necessary to culture as pianos, have to walk beside the wagon and hold it on the rock ledges, while a threshing machine ma-chine has to be steadied with guy ropes. Observant Ogden Overcomes Obstacle. Escalante and Boulder would have been only little over half as Ear distant dis-tant by a more direct route, but Dead-man Dead-man canyon, about midway, was considered con-sidered impassable. By frequent swing-backs, swing-backs, the west canyon wall could be descended or scaled, but the east wall seemed an absolute barrier to man or beast Ogden, with a pack burro, camped one night in the canyon, and the next morning was surprised to see his companion com-panion ascending the eastern wall. By following the animal, he also gained the mesa, and thus a burro, hobbled solved a problem that had baffled men for years. Even after such improvement work, as the few who would use the trail regularly reit they could expend) the trail could not be considered a safe one. At the bottom of the canyon one can look up and see 3000 feet above, a yellow pine whoso boughs extend over the abyss, and It is anything any-thing but reassuring to learn that, in ascending, he must swing buck on the canyon wall between his present position and that pine. Although no human life has been lost on this trail, the bones of many horses are seen at the bottom of the gorge, mute me-mentoa me-mentoa of the faithful animals which tried to follow (heir masters on the! sloping ledge, on which, in places j steep ascents or descents must be made, One man. in hastening to the bottom to learn the fate of a saddle horse found that it had been divested of Lot h saddle and bridle by the impact im-pact and was completely disemboweled Faithful Horse Saves King's Life. On one of King's trips over the trail the ledge w as j , and although his saddle horse had been sharp shod before starting, he himself wore a paid of arctics on which the corrugated corrugat-ed soles had been worn smooth. Dismounting, Dis-mounting, as usual, for the fearsome ledge, he cautiously proceeded leading lead-ing the horse by the bridle. Suddenly, without warning, King's feet slipped from under him. and down the incline in-cline on his back he slid toward the fateful precipice, his only hope his hold on the bridle rein ' Hcfore feeling feel-ing the check of the rein," relates King, "I experienced all the feelings of death at the bottom of the canyon." Fortunately the horse had thrown up his head, which helped to offset the shock, else ho also might have lost his footing. Let one imagine, if he can, the feeling of a man on his back, ready to slip over the brink of such an abyss. Carefully King turned over and slowly pulled himself up until un-til he was able to grasp the horse's nearest front foot. He then pulled himself up further until he gained the stirrup. His confidence In his j steadfast steed had risen to the point that he risked his own footing no far-1 ther but mounted the horse at once. No Egg Omelets With This Mule. The Deadman trail, while the most dangerous part of this route, is, unfortunately, unfor-tunately, not the only point of danger The crossings of Sand creek and Sand hollow are also treacherous, and on the Pine creek hiU it is necessary for an animal to brace itself and slide down on its haunches. Mules, espe j daily, become adept at sliding down the rocks in this fashion. At numerous numer-ous places the floods have scooped out large holes in the sandrock, and these are termed "tanks.' by the local lo-cal stockmen, vho turn them to good use for watering purposes. King, who keepb a large flock of hens at the ranch, packed two 2-DUSh-el sacks full of oats with eggs and loaded them on a pack mule for transportation to Escalante. Again It was winter, and the mule, not so well shod, lost his feet, Down the mountain moun-tain side he went, a hundred and fifty or two hundred yards, struggling to regain his footing, but without avail Finally he struck one of the "tanks," some twenty feet down the iuclina, and broke the ice Presuming that the mule was dead. King started to remove the saddle, when the animal showed signs of life, and in a short time was able to resume the journey, and did not prove to be seriously injured. in-jured. But the point of the story is that only two eggs were broken. Ledge Widened by Rangers. During the past autumn the rangers of the Powell forest used L'50 pounds of powder and with picks widened the trail at the most dangerous points, providing a level pathway of two feet or more. Xo one will appreciate this improvement improve-ment more than the mall carrier, who uses this route and pack animals in carrying the Boulder mail, parcel post and all. Prior to July 1, Boulder enjoyed two mails a week, but on account ac-count of parcel post business bids were so high that the department reduced re-duced its frequency to weekly service. serv-ice. oo |
