As they passed on down this canon they found it very brushy and on the dry leaves under the wide-spreading trees they saw signs of bear and perhaps other animals.  There were some swampy places where it was grassy, and into these the cattle rushed with great eagerness for the food they had so long suffered for.  Some of Mr. Brier’s cattle went in, and in tramping around for food sank deep into the mud and could not be coaxed out again.  Mrs. Brier threw clubs at them but they did not seem inclined to pay much attention to her attacks so she was forced to go in after them herself, and in so doing also sank into the mud and could not get out without assistance.  All this time her reverend husband sat outside on the hard ground at a safe distance, but did not offer any help.  Probably if an extended and learned lecture on the effects of gravitation would have done any good he would have been ready with prompt and extended service to one whom he had promised to love and cherish.

About this time L.D.  Stevens came along and seeing the condition of the unfortunate woman, at once went to her assistance and helped her to dry land.  Brier himself never made a move nor said a word.  Stevens looked terribly cross at him and remarked to his companions that if the preacher himself had been the one stuck in the mud he would have been quite inclined to leave him there for all of helping him.

The canon grew narrow as they descended, and the brush thicker, so that to follow the bed of the stream was the only way to get along.  The cattle seemed to scent a bear and stampeded in terror through the brush in various directions, all except one which was being led by a rope.  They tried to follow the animals in a desperate effort to recover them and a few blankets they had upon their backs, but could only make slow progress.  Tom Shannon and two others found a fresh bear track and determined to follow it awhile in the hope of having revenge on the cause of their mishap with the oxen.  They took their blankets and kept the trail till night when they camped, but were at so great an elevation that a snowstorm came with six inches of snow so they could no longer follow the track.

They were very hungry and on the way back came across some wild cherries which had dried perfectly dry as they hung on the bushes.  These they picked and ate, cracking the seeds with their teeth, and declaring them to be the best of fruit.  Good appetites made almost anything taste good then.  They got back to the creek next day pretty nearly starved, and with neither a bear nor runaway oxen to reward them for their two days’ hard work.