Ex. Doc. No, 41. 521 



come very daring; one of our mules came into camp this inorning^ 

 with its fore-leg badJy bitten by them, and covered with clots of' 

 blood. 



Alter a march of twelve miles we encamped near the fort which 

 those men who were attacked last fall by^he Pawnees had built, 

 to protect themselves while they sent to Bent's Fort for assistance. 



February 1.— The sun shone forth with warfnth, and the melted 

 snow made the ground quite muddy. After proceeding five miles 

 we parsed the "Arkansas crossing." We marched all day with- 

 out seeing any good places to encamp- At length our mules be- 

 came so worn out that we could scarce go any further, nor was the 

 prospect of finding wood on this side of the river any better in ad^ 

 Vance of us. 



One of the men had just killed a fine buffalo; I sent out a*mule 

 ^to bring in the meat, and w^e encamped. The river was in such a 

 state that no one could cross without wading a good portion of the 

 ^ay, although the ice was in many places six inches in thickness. 



The wind had been fair all day; it suddenly changed to the 

 ^orth, and began to blow w^ith great violence, while dark clouds 

 Seemed in an instant to cover the sky. 



I now saw it w^ould be an eventful night for us. Our fires were 

 blown out by the tremendous violence of the wind, and we were 

 forced to get into our beds and there abide the fury of the storm. 



February 2. — All night the storm raged with a furv as awful as 



that of the ^^ tormentes'' of Mt. Blanc. The particles of snow 

 beat with wild rage against my tent, while the frail structure 

 quivered, and the poles that supported it creaked and groaned so 

 inuch that it was impossible for me to sleep. Such was the force 

 of the wind, that it drove the snow through the canvass walls of 

 *^y tent, and I found my bed and papers covered with it. Daring 

 ^he night I heard one of the men, who had got his feet wet in at- 

 tempting to cross the river, imploring some of his companions to 

 l^t him get into the wagon with them. The night was terribly 

 ^ol^d, and I feared that all of our animals would be frozen to death 

 hefore morning. At length morning came, but when I looked out 

 the snow was drifting along in dense clouds of hard icy particles^ 

 that flew along with thevelocity of lightning. As the sun. began 

 to appear the storm ceased, and it was most fortunate for us that it 

 ^id ceiise, I now forced my way out of the tent, which was 

 hanked- with snow- When I looked around, a scene of utter deso* 

 "tioa presented itself; most of my men had lain down on the 

 gJ^ound to sleep, but now not one of them could be seen. I called 

 *^loud; they heard me not, being covered beneath the deep snow. 

 I now went to the wagons; in one I found Pilka and Laing; in the 

 ^ther, two or three men, one of whom had been very ill ever since 

 leaving Bent's Fort. He came rushing towards me half distracte^^ 

 ^^s shirt covered with snow, his head bare, and crouching at my 

 ^^et, he implored me to take him to a house. " O, Lieutenant, 

 take me to a house! I shall freeze to death! I'm freezingf I'm 

 ^feezing!'' His arms were drawn up anrf stiffened, his body almost 

 paralyzed with cold. I took the poor fellow and put him ia my 



