Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 5.djvu/404

 394 PETER H. BURNETT. widow, and Miss Mary, sister of Mrs. Foster, and sub- sequently wife of Charles Coviland, one of the original proprietors of Marysville, so named for her. This little party left the cabins on snowshoes, with one suit of clothes each, a few blankets, one axe, one rifle with ammunition, and a small supply of provisions. The sum- mit of the mountain where they crossed it was about fifty miles wide, and was covered with snow to the depth of ten or fifteen feet, and they could only travel from five to eight miles a day. On the summit and for some distance beyond it, not an animal could be found, as the wild game always instinctively fled before the snows of winter to the foothills, where the snows are lighter, and they could ob- tain food and escape from their enemies in flight. In the spring the wild grazing animals ascend the mountain as the snows melt, to crop the fresh grass and escape the flies. For the first few days they made good progress ; but while they were comparatively strong they could kill no game, because none could be found, and their provisions were rapidly consumed. When they had reached the western side of the summit, they encamped, as usual, on the top of the snow. They would cut logs of green wood about six feet long, and with them make a platform on the snow, and upon this make their fire of dry wood. Such a foun- dation would generally last as long as necessary ; but on this occasion it was composed of small logs, as the poor people were too weak from starvation to cut and handle larger ones ; and there came up in the evening a blind- ing, driving snowstorm, which lasted all that night and the next day and night. New snow fell to the depth of several feet. They maintained a good fire for a time, to keep themselves from freezing ; but the small foundation logs were soon burnt nearly through, so that the heat of the fire melted the snow beneath, letting them down grad- ually toward the ground, while the storm above was falling