Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/469



we made another vain effort to cross, and had to return to the cabin, oppressed with the conviction that not one of our companions could survive until morning. But soon after dark three of the men came to the cabin and reported the command safe.”

Governor Carpenter tells how they managed to save themselves.

“We took the covers from the wagons and some tent canvas and stretched them over the wheels and made a rude shelter. We then put all of the blankets together on the snow and crowded in, lying down close together in our wet and frozen clothing, where we remained from Saturday evening until Monday morning, with nothing to eat until we reached the Shippey cabin Monday noon. We had waited until the ice was frozen over Cylinder Creek hard enough to bear up our loaded wagons and teams. I have since marched with armies from Cairo to Atlanta and up to Richmond, sometimes traveling continuously for three or four days and nights with only a brief halt occasionally to give the exhausted soldiers a chance to boil a cup of coffee. Under burning suns, through rain, sleet and snow, we endured great suffering; but never in all the weary years could our suffering be compared with that of the two terrible days and nights we endured on the banks of Cylinder Creek.”

Lieutenant Mason says:

“How we survived those fearful nights I do not know, when the mercury sunk to 34 degrees below zero the last night. The poor boys were slowly freezing, and many of them were insane; I think all of us were more or less insane the last night. The tongues of many of the men were hanging out, and the blood was running from the mouth or nose as we got up the last morning.”

The command now broke up into small parties and spread out over a wide range of country. In no other way could they find food in the scanty supply the few settlers had who lived along the river. The sufferings of some of the small parties reached the last degree of endurance as they traveled on homeward. But for the help of the settlers many must have perished. All at last reached their homes, however, except Johnson and Burkholder, though many were severely frozen.