The Old Santa Fe Trail: The Story of a Great HighwayInman, Henry
History
The Old Santa Fe Trail: The Story of a Great Highway
Inman, Henry
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); New Mexico -- History; Santa Fe National Historic Trail
Sometimes when far away from camp a blizzard would come down from the
north in all its fury without ten minutes' warning, and in a few seconds
the air, full of blinding snow, precluded the possibility of finding
their shelter, an attempt at which would only result in an aimless
circular march on the prairie. On such occasions, to keep from perishing
by the intense cold, they would kill a buffalo, and, taking out its
viscera, creep inside the huge cavity, enough animal heat being retained
until the storm had sufficiently abated for them to proceed with safety
to their camp.
Early in March, 1867, a party of my friends, all old buffalo hunters,
were camped in Paradise valley, then a famous rendezvous of the animals
they were after. One day when out on the range stalking, and widely
separated from each other, a terrible blizzard came up. Three of the
hunters reached their camp without much difficulty, but he who was
farthest away was fairly caught in it, and night overtaking him, he was
compelled to resort to the method described in the preceding paragraph.
Luckily, he soon came up with a superannuated bull that had been
abandoned by the herd; so he killed him, took out his viscera and
crawled inside the empty carcass, where he lay comparatively comfortable
until morning broke, when the storm had passed over and the sun shone
brightly. But when he attempted to get out, he found himself a prisoner,
the immense ribs of the creature having frozen together, and locked him
up as tightly as if he were in a cell. Fortunately, his companions, who
were searching for him, and firing their rifles from time to time,
heard him yell in response to the discharge of their pieces, and thus
discovered and released him from the peculiar predicament into which he
had fallen.
At another time, several years before the acquisition of New Mexico by
the United States, two old trappers were far up on the Arkansas near the
Trail, in the foot-hills hunting buffalo, and they, as is generally the
case, became separated. In an hour or two one of them killed a fat young
cow, and, leaving his rifle on the ground, went up and commenced to skin
her. While busily engaged in his work, he suddenly heard right behind
him a suppressed snort, and looking around he saw to his dismay a
monstrous grizzly ambling along in that animal's characteristic gait,
within a few feet of him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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