TERRIBLE STORMS AND SNOW DRIFTS ON THE PLAINS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1083, 17 January 1872, Page 3

TERRIBLE STORMS AND SNOW DRIFTS ON THE PLAINS.

It will be remembered that the telegraph line was down east of Cheyenne for several days during the recent storms on the plains, and there were reports of the trains being snowed in, but the trains have arrived regularly without interruption. The following graphic account is taken from a special to the Omaha Herald : — Kansas City, Nov. 21. The express train on the Kansas Pacißc Road which left Denver on Wednesday last, encountered a heavy snow storm on Friday, between Carson and Fort Ellis. The storm continued to increase in power, and the snew drifts accumulated so rapidly that by night the train was completely snowed in. The storm increased to a hurricane. Telegraph poles were blown down and hurled across the track for miles, the wires becoming entangled in the wheels and machinery of the cars. The engineer and firemen were driven from their posts by the intense cold. Hundreds of buffalo gathered around the cars, seeking shelter from the hurricane. The train left Carson at 5.30 on Friday morning, but on arriving at Monument, 100 miles eastward, the telegraph announced the awful news that Carson had caught fire and was burning up in the terrible gale. This town is built entirely of wood, and was piled full of goods in transit for New Mexico. The wires were blown down soon after this despatch was received, hence no news has since been received from the burning town. The Western bound express arrived in spite of the snow drifts on Sunday morning, but was unable to get further. Sunday noon the drifts were higher than the tops of the cars. All the train has been abandoned excepting one Pullman car, one passenger car, and a baggage car, and by hard pushing and digging they were able to move a little bit on Sunday and reach a little shanty on the plains, where some food was obtained. They then telegraphed that they expected to reach Saline that night, as they could make about twenty miles a day by digging and pushing through the storm.