The hut was occupied by a man, who, with his wife and family, had been settled in this remote region for several years. As there was no timber to be obtained in the neighbourhood, he had built the walls of his house with wide, thick slabs of turf, which made a good protection against the storms of winter. He possessed one hundred and fifty acres of land, of which he only cultivated the small portion he had been able to preserve from the ravages of prairie fires. The difficulty of guarding the homestead against this danger, had caused him to feel much anxiety, but he said that he had, at last, discovered an effectual method of preventing any damage being caused, as far as his crops and buildings were concerned.
He saw upon one occasion, that the grass was burning on the verge of the southern horizon, and the flames appeared to be advancing rapidly in the direction of his farm. It occurred to him to try the plan of running two plough furrows in parallel lines between the edge of his land and the approaching fire. He made them about twenty yards apart, and then burnt the grass, thus leaving a bare space of blackened earth. The flames advanced upon their onward course, destroying everything before them until they reached the outer furrow, when they were stopped by there not being any grass for fuel, and as they could not leap over the intervening space, the fire passed to the right and left, leaving the farm in the centre untouched. The prairie around this squatter’s home, was wild and dreary.
The track led us over a region which had been shaped into hollows and undulations, caused by the action of numberless streams and rivulets which had cut their way in all directions. There were also many small depressions which contained pools of water. We observed in all these ponds numerous erratic boulders of various sizes. The majority of them were small, but others were of considerable magnitude, and must have weighed from fifteen to twenty tons. They were usually composed of red, green, and dark grey granites, similar to those I had seen on the surface of the country to the south-west of Lake Superior.
The boulders were usually standing detached on the ground near the edge of the water, but sometimes they were heaped together in a pile in the middle of the pond. Upon an examination of the positions of the strange aggregations of stones which had been moved from their original place in the north to this plateau, the impression was conveyed to the mind that these smaller boulders may have been dropped during the period when icebergs were floating over the land. It seemed to be probable that some of the icebergs were stranded, and had left on these spots the cargo they had carried away from higher latitudes.
Upon other parts of the level prairie where the land was dry, there were many isolated masses standing up in their places upon the surface, in the same manner as the Spirit rock near Mendota. It was remarkable that these boulders, which were often very large, were not embedded in the soil, but appeared to have remained in the positions in which they had been deposited. Some of the larger ponds contain quantities of wild aquatic plants, which yield a kind of rice—the same which was frequently mentioned by the French exploring missionaries in the seventeenth century—by the name of La Folle Avoine. This wild rice was gathered by the Dakotas and Chippewas, and stored by them for food in time of scarcity.
As we approached the boundaries of North Iowa, we found that the winter had set in earlier than usual, and the prairies were covered with several inches of snow. The aspect of the country, upon which the only marks of life were the footprints of animals, was exceedingly desolate. The horizon was sharply defined by the white edges of the land against the sky, and the curvature of the earth was thereby made distinct. The land seemed to fall away from the eye at a distance which looked very near. On plains of this perfectly level character in these latitudes, the actual true distance of the horizon—as seen by a person of average height standing upon the ground—would be about three miles; but in consequence of the conditions of light upon the surface of the snow, it appeared to be less, and the borders of the round line of horizon seemed to confine us within a small circle. This effect was particularly noticeable when the sun rose and touched the eastern parts of the curvature, the sky at that time in the morning being clear and cloudless.
The weather became daily more severe, and at last we had to encounter a hard gale of wind from the north-west. Suddenly one afternoon, a sweeping snow storm overtook us, and in a few hours all vestiges of the track were lost. Our position became perilous, as nothing could be seen which would help us in the slightest degree as a guide, and enable us to steer a straight course. The sky was gloomy and dark with snow clouds, and the prairie was as bare as the open sea.
The night was approaching, and matters were beginning to be serious, when the coach was stopped by striking against some concealed obstacle, and the horses swerved round. After gazing upon the fresh snow for a few seconds, the driver said that it was practically useless to attempt to follow the track, as it was impossible to make out its direction. It was evident that there was not the slightest reason for making any endeavours to follow one way more than any other, and we had the dangerous prospect before us of having to pass the night under circumstances of great hardship.
Fortunately it was suggested, that we might try the experiment of maintaining a line of progress by attending to the point from which the wind came. It had been observed that, when we were going along the straight track, the wind was upon the right hand, nearly abeam, and it was considered possible that if we could manage to keep it upon that bearing, we ought finally to arrive at our destination. The driver thought that this plan did not offer much prospect of success, on account of the scattered boulders and the rough nature of the country. He however decided to do what was proposed, and started forward. An unforeseen difficulty soon arose. The horses having no track before them to follow, kept constantly swerving to the left to avoid the wind, and it required much skill and energy to keep their heads pointed in the right direction.
The obstructions we had to encounter, caused us much anxiety, for we were exposed to a bitterly cold gale, and the storm blew against us with a severity that was unendurable. It was with no slight pleasure that, just before the night, we saw upon the verge of the horizon ahead, the lights of the town where we intended to stop. When we arrived there, it was found that the roads had become almost impassable, in consequence of the great depth of the snow that had fallen in a few hours.