CLIMATE. 41 



inches of snow. The men were made to dismount, and 

 each, leading his horse, to take turns in opening the way 

 through the snow. The cold and suffering were so intense 

 and the toil so great, that some of the men refused to do 

 more, and, throwing themselves into the snow, declared 

 their intention of dying there rather than make another 

 effort. Orders, entreaties, and threats, all proving alike 

 unavailing, the captain finally fell upon them with the flat 

 of his sabre, belaboured them into the ranks, and brought 

 all in safety to the post. 



In the winter of 1865-6 a considerable command was 

 caught on the Cimarron, and barely escaped total destruc- 

 tion. An officer who was with it describes the sufferings 

 as most fearful. Many men were more or less frosted, and 

 about 600 animals frozen or starved to death. 



The recent sufferings of a command sent into the Black 

 Hills are fresh in the minds of all. It is easy, seated in 

 a comfortable office, and by a good fire, to give orders for 

 a winter campaign or movement of troops on the plains, 

 but it usually means death to somebody. This is of 

 course a part of the soldier's bargain, and it is the pride of 

 our soldiers to obey orders, whether they lead to death 

 by the cold of , a plains storm, or by the heat of the 

 Indian stake. But such men deserve that there shall 

 always be a necessity. 



The reports published yearly by the Surgeon-General 

 give the accurate facts relative to the thermometric varia- 

 tions of the plains. I mention one or two simply as 

 illustrations. At Fort Lyon, on the Arkansas River, on 

 the second plain, at an altitude of about 4,000 

 feet, the daily variation in summer is not unfrequently 

 40 ; and on one occasion, in winter, the maximum ther- 

 mometer at 11 o'clock A.M. was about 65, while the 

 minimum sometime during the same night was 15 below 

 zero a variation of 80 in twenty hours. 



The city of Omaha, on the third plain, and not 

 exceptionally blessed or cursed with variation, had the 



