Just Now The Garrison Seems To Have
Gone Cotillon Crazy, And Not Being Satisfied With A Number Of Private
Ones, A German Club Has Been Organized That Gives Dances In The Hall
Every Two Weeks.
So far Faye has been the leader of each one.
With all
this pleasure, the soldiers are not being neglected. Every morning
there are drills and a funny kind of target practice inside the
quarters, and of course there are inspections and other things.
FORT ELLIS, MONTANA TERRITORY,
January, 1879.
IT is still cold, stinging cold, and we are beginning to think that
there was much truth in what we were told on our way over last
fall - that Fort Ellis is the very coldest place in the whole
territory. For two days the temperature was fifty below, and I can
assure you that things hummed! The logs of our house made loud reports
like pistol shots, and there was frost on the walls of every room that
were not near roaring fires. No one ventures forth such weather unless
compelled to do so, and then, of course, every precaution is taken to
guard against freezing. In this altitude one will freeze before
feeling the cold, as I know from experience, having at the present
time two fiery red ears of enormous size. They are fiery in feeling,
too, as well as in color.
The atmosphere looks like frozen mist, and is wonderful, and almost at
any time between sunrise and sunset a "sun dog" can be seen with its
scintillating rainbow tints, that are brilliant yet exquisitely
delicate in coloring. Our houses are really very warm - the thick logs
are plastered inside and papered, every window has a storm sash and
every room a double floor, and our big stoves can burn immense logs.
But notwithstanding all this, our greatest trial is to keep things to
eat. Everything freezes solid, and so far we have not found one edible
that is improved by freezing. It must be awfully discouraging to a
cook to find on a biting cold morning, that there is not one thing in
the house that can be prepared for breakfast until it has passed
through the thawing process; that even the water in the barrels has
become solid, round pieces of ice! All along the roof of one side of
our house are immense icicles that almost touch the snow on the
ground. These are a reminder of the last chinook!
But only last week it was quite pleasant - not real summery, but warm
enough for one to go about in safety. Faye came down from the saw-mill
one of those days to see the commanding officer about something and to
get the mail. When he was about to start back, in fact, was telling me
good-by, I happened to say that I wished I could go, too. Faye said:
"You could not stand the exposure, but you might wear my little fur
coat" Suggesting the coat was a give-in that I at once took advantage
of, and in precisely twenty minutes Charlie, our Chinese cook, had
been told what to do, a few articles of clothing wrapped and strapped,
and I on Bettie's back ready for the wilds.
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