USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > Incidents in White mountain history, fourth > Part 9
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The calmness and reasoning of my father almost entirely reassured and convinced us that the rumors must be entirely
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incorrect. We sat some time conversing, and the evening was considerably advanced before we left for home.
It was quite dark, and very still. Our minds still occu- pied with the recent storm, and its terrible ravages, we were suddenly startled by a sharp, shrill voice, coming apparently from the river below us on the right, and saying, as we thought, " They are there." Breaking so suddenly upon the still night, it was like the shrill cry of some bird of prey piercing the darkness. It was many minutes ere we could collect ourselves to come to any satisfactory conclusion con- cerning the voice. Being nearly opposite Mrs. Lovejoy's, the mother of my brother's wife, we at length concluded that the family had had additional tidings from the Notch, and that one of the sisters was informing some one on our side of the river of the safety of the family at the Notch, and that they were all in their late home.
As we learned afterwards, we were correct in the conclusion at which we arrived; but not in the words of the speaker. It was "They are not there," instead of "They are there."
Much relieved by the contradictions of the first report by later news, as we supposed, we hastened home. Though we had seen on every hand the terrible ravages of the storm, --- the mountains scathed and torn by the torrents, and the waters running in floods at our feet, before and behind us on all sides wasting destruction, - yet, so anxious were we that it should not be true, and so strangely forgetful of the awful danger which must have threatened our brother, that we retired to our beds almost entirely relieved of our anxiety.
But that delusive impression did not remain long. It did not continue through the night. The dawn of another day had scarcely come, when renewed tidings from the Notch made it quite certain that my brother and his family were
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destroyed. The manner in which these tidings were trans- mitted to us, at a certain point of their progress, it may not be uninteresting here to present. It shows how in all respects the whole scene of the Notch disaster was filled up with the most thrilling and soul-stirring incidents.
As I have said, my father was comparatively little moved under the first heavy tidings that came from the Notch. He reasoned them all down with his usual tact and calmness, and made them the occasion of little serious alarm to himself and others. But he must be corrected. He had come to a wrong conclusion, and a messenger was already on his way that would correct him. This messenger arrived in the adjoining neighborhood of my father about midnight, to which we have already referred, when that shrill female voice was heard in the darkness. He was there stopped by the Saco, swollen still with the effects of the recent storm. But he carried important tidings which must be communicated. He was sent for this very purpose. So, to get ears to hear them, he stood on the river's brink, the nearest possible point to my father's, and sounded a trumpet. It was a shrill blast, and startled all my father's neighborhood from their repose.
The startled sleepers, soon gathered on the river's bank, learned the sad tidings, but too truly confirming the reports of the previous evening; and then started most of them on their way to the Notch.
I did not hear that blast of the trumpet, - or those blasts, for the first was often repeated, -but those that did, say they never heard anything so impressive and solemn. At any time they would have been startling, pealing as they did through the darkness of midnight. But, under the circum- stances before us, they were peculiarly impressive. The sad tidings of the evening before, though not generally credited,
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had yet left a deep impression and sadness on the minds of all in my father's neighborhood. With these feelings they had retired. Whether sleeping or waking, dim images must have been floating through their minds, from the evening's conversation, when suddenly they were roused by repeated trumpet-blasts, raising echoes from mountains in almost every direction.
" Bursting suddenly, it calls and flies, At breathless intervals, along the skies, As if some viewless sentinel were there, Whose challenge peals at midnight through the air."
My brother, who heard these trumpet-calls, has often said he never heard anything to be compared with them for what was awe-inspiring and even dreadful in its character.
The confirmed reports soon reached all the relatives of the destroyed family. By daylight the news was spreading in all directions, and people were starting for the Notch. We went generally on foot, there being a few horses in the train until they were intercepted by the swollen river. We passed this river in boats and on trees fallen across it, the bridges being mostly carried away. With little of interest to diver- sify our way, save some additional reports that my bro- ther's family were destroyed, we approached the scene of destruction, entering the opening a hundred rods perhaps below the Notch House, which was still hidden from our sight by an intervening ascent. We met the first great slide, which had crossed our path on level ground, and even ascending some, so great was the force which propelled it from the base of the mountains. After passing this, which consisted of large rocks, and trees, and sand, and which was impassable, except by footmen, and reaching the elevation,
f ..... .
WILLEY SLIDE.
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we came in full view of the Notch House, and all the ruins that surrounded it. On our right stood in lengthened prospect the precipitous mountain, which had been riven by the fires and tempests of many succeeding years. On our left and in front, the mountains, though once covered with a wood of pleasant green, now presented their sides lacerated and torn by the convulsions of the recent storm. The plain before us appeared one continuous bed of sand and rocks, with here and there the branches of green trees and their peeled and shiv- ered trunks, and old logs, which, from their appearance, must have long been buried beneath the mountain soil. With these the meadow which stretches along before the Notch House was covered, and so deep, that none of the long grass, nor alders that grew there, were to be seen. Moving on from this site, we came upon the next large slide, which continued till it met that of another, which came down below the Notch House, and within a rod of it. Thus far it was one continued heap of ruins, and, beyond the house, the slides continued many rods. The one back of the house started in a direc- tion, in which it must have torn it away, had it not been arrested by a ridge of land extending back of the house to a more precipitous part of the mountain. Descending to this point, the slide divided, and sought the valleys, which lie at the base ; one part carrying away in its course the stable above the house, and the other passing immediately below it, leaving the house itself unimpaired.
Over this crude and extended mass of ruin we reached the house about noon. Many persons had already arrived there from both above and below the Notch. Some search had already been made for the bodies in that part of the slide, just described, which came down below the house. That not availing anything, there was a pause in this direction about
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the time our party arrived. The slide which we have referred to above as dividing back of the house, again united directly in front of it, and flowed on in the bed of the Saco, down the valley. Following down this slide, the accidental moving of a twig disclosed some flies which prey usually upon infected animal matter. Search was immediately commenced about this spot. This search soon disclosed one of the bodies. Im- mediately the news came to us, and we were soon crowding to the spot. It was no long time before the body first dis- covered was fully uncovered, and another not far off. These were the bodies of my brother's wife, and one of the hired men, David Allen. They were dreadfully mangled, especially my brother's wife. Scarcely a look of her, as seen in life, could be perceived about the remains. The body of my brother was soon found, near where those of his wife and hired man had been discovered. This was injured less than those of the two preceding. It could be recognized easily in any place by an intimate acquaintance.
All these bodies, after suitable time to make coffins from materials such as could be obtained there, were made ready for burial. It was decided to bury thein near the house of their recent habitation, and let them remain there till they could be more conveniently moved to Conway the succeeding winter. One common wide grave was dug for them, and they were placed in its margin, to remain till the befitting and ac- customed prayer at burial was performed. That prayer was made by a personal friend of my brother, and one who often ministered in holy things. The prayer was suited to the occasion, coming from a kind, sympathizing, pious heart. It was impressive as it came from the good man's lips ; and then its impressiveness was greatly increased from the circum- stances under which it was made. In the echoes that were
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awakened by his voice, the very mountains around us seemed to join with him in describing the majesty of God, and im- ploring his mercy on our stricken hearts. When, with slow and distinct utterance, the minister, at the commencement of his prayer, referred to the magnificence of the Deity, as described by the Prophet Isaiah, saying, "Who hath meas- ured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance," the echo gave back every word of this sublime description in a tone equally clear and solemn with that in which they were first uttered. The effect of all this was soul-stirring beyond description. I shall never forget the tears and sorrows that marked the faces of many that stood around that open grave, on that solemn occasion. The minister who made that prayer was Elder Samuel Hasaltine, then of Bartlett, now living in Bethel. After the prayer we buried the bodies, -
" And then, one summer evening's close, We left them to their last repose."
It was dark before the burial was completed, and we were compelled to spend the night in the house so lately left by the buried family.
The next day the most of us left for our homes. Some remained to make further search for the bodies yet undis- covered. In the course of the day, the body of the youngest child, about three years old, was found, and buried near those of its parents, without any special religious service. Search was continued still the succeeding day, and the body of the eldest child, a girl of twelve years of age, and the other hired man, David Nickerson, were found and buried in the
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same manner. The bodies of the remaining children, two sons and a daughter, have never been found. They were covered so deep beneath the piles of rubbish, that no search has ever come at them. From the magnitude of the slide, and the amount of matter thrown into the valley, it is more remarkable that so many of the bodies were found, than that these were not found.
The destruction was complete; no living creature about the premises escaped it, except my brother's dog, and his two oxen. He had two horses, which were crushed beneath the falling timbers of the stable. These had been dragged out and exposed to view when the party I was in first arrived on the fatal spot. The oxen were imperiled by the disaster, but escaped without any material injury. One of them was crushed to the floor by falling timbers, but not killed. The other, standing by his side, being more sturdy, resisted them, so that they broke over his back, and, when found, he stood upright amid the ruins about him. In this condition, one crushed to the floor, and the other standing, they remained from Monday night until the next Wednesday morning.
They were then released by a Mr. Barker, the man who first visited the scene of ruins after it transpired. Coming down through the Notch, from the north, he reached the spot about sunset on Tuesday, and took up his lodgings in the vacated house for the night. When the hush of stillness and desertion, he first found about this house, became more settled, as he lay in his bed trying to compose himself to sleep, being weary, he heard a low moaning, as from some living crea- ture. Under circumstances to interpret this most darkly, as being perhaps the suppressed wail of one of the family still living, - and, yet, not able to accomplish anything by rising, on account of the deep darkness in the house and about the
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premises, and unable to get any light to reliev eit, -- he lay terror-stricken and sleepless till the dawn of day. With the first ray of light he arose, and, after a little search, found the cause of his excitement. It was the crushed ox we have referred to, moaning under the pain and uneasiness of his situation. He immediately released him from his confinement, and soon proceeded on his way down toward Bartlett and Conway. This was the man that brought to us the first tidings respecting the great disaster.
So far we have sought to bring out somewhat minutely the points in the great destruction of my brother and his family, so richly deserving a record and the lasting remembrance of all who survive them. Here we might cease, perhaps ; still there may be lingering inquiries, with some, demanding atten- tion. How were the family destroyed ? What were the main circumstances pertaining to the great event of their destruction ? In what manner did the great slide from the mountain, directly back of the house, which was certainly the agent of their destruction, come to bear upon them so as to produce their deaths ?
In attempting a reply to these queries there is obviously nothing to aid but conjecture. There is no definite knowledge within our reach to bring to such a work.
" Sire, mother, offspring - all were there ; Not one had 'scaped the conqueror's snare, Not one was left to weep alone ; The ' dwellers of the hill ' were gone ! Say, whither are those dwellers gone ? Bird of the mountain, thou alone Saw by the lightning from on high The mountain-torrent rushing by ; Beheld, upon its wild wave borne,
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The tall pine from the hill-top torn.
Amid its roar, thine ear alone Heard the wild shriek - the dying groan - The prayer that struggled to be free, Breathed forth in life's last agony ! In vain - no angel form was there ; The wild wave drowned the sufferers' prayer ;
As down the rocky glen they sped, The mountain-spirits shrieked and fled !"
CHAPTER IX.
THE SLIDES, CONTINUED.
THE FAMILY DOG. - THE FIRST CONJECTURE IN REGARD TO MANNER OF DE- STRUCTION. - SECOND CONJECTURE. - THIRD CONJECTURE. - THE DREAM. - WIIY ALL WERE DESTROYED. - THE MUTILATION OF THE BODIES. - DAVID ALLEN. - THE GREAT RISE OF WATER. - THEIR TERRIBLE SITUATION DURING THE STORM. - THE EFFECT OF A STORM UPON A FAMILY IN THE SAME HOUSE A YEAR AFTER. - THE STORM.
THEY all perished together, and this was rather remarka- ble. Some one or more of the children, since the moving of their parents to the Notch House, had generally been with their relatives in Conway. That they should all have been at home, then, at the time of the disaster, and all have perished together, may be deemed as giving a peculiar aspect to the whole matter. Friends might have wished it otherwise, on some accounts, and yet, we must say, it was best as it was. No one survived to endure the deep anguish that must have come from the destruction of all his nearest kindred.
We have said if one of the family had survived we might have had some information about it. If even the family dog could have spoken, he would have told us more about the sad event than we now know. He would have described one of the most heart-rending scenes ever witnessed. He probably accompanied the family, as they commenced their march to
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death from their dwelling, but escaped by his superior sight and agility. We infer this from some contusions on his body discoverable when first seen after the disaster. This dog, to the best of his power, did try to inform some friends of the destroyed family of what had happened. Soon after this disaster, and before any news of it had come to Conway, this faithful dog came down to Mr. Lovejoy's, and, by moanings and other expressions of deep inward anguish around the persons of the family, tried to make them understand what had taken place ; but, not succeeding, he left, and after being seen frequently on the road between the Notch House and the residence of the family just referred to, sometimes head- ing north, and then south, running almost at the top of his speed, as though bent on some most absorbing errand, he soon disappeared from the region, and has never since been seen. He probably perished through grief and loneliness combined with exhaustion of body.
In the absence of any exact information, then, from any quarter, respecting the manner of the destruction of the fam- ily, we are shut up entirely to the force of conjecture, as we have said. That most commonly indulged is this :
The family, at first, designed to keep the house, and did actually remain in it till after the descent of most of the slides. From the commencement of the storm in its greatest fury they were, probably, on the alert, though previously to this some of them might have retired to rest. That the children had, was pretty evident from appearances in the house when first entered after the disaster. My brother, it is pretty certain, had not undressed; he stood watching the movements and vicissitudes of the awfully anxious season. When the storm had increased to such violence as to threaten their safety, and descending avalanches seemed to be sound-
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ing " the world's last knell," he roused his family and pre- pared them, as he could, for a speedy flight, trembling every moment lest they should be buried under the ruins of their falling habitation.
At this hurried, agitating moment of awful suspense, the slide, which parted back of the house, is supposed to have come down, a part of which struck and carried away the stable. Hearing the crash, they instantly and precipitately rushed from their dwelling, and attempted to flee in the op- posite direction. But the thick darkness covering all objects from their sight, they were almost instantly engulfed in the desolating torrent which passed below the house, and which precipitated them, together with rocks and trees, into the swollen and frantic tide below, and cut off at once all hope of escape. Amidst the rage and foam of so much water, filled, as it was, with so many instruments of death, they had no alternative but the doom which was before them.
Others have supposed that, as the storm increased during the night, thinking the stable a safer place than the house, being constructed of stronger materials, they went into the stable before the destructive slide came down which carried them away; and there they met death by the part of it which fell, and the mingled current of sand and timber which produced the fall, and were borne along on its course to where they were afterwards found. This conjecture arose, probably, from the fact that the remains of such of the family as were discovered were found very near the timbers of that portion of the stable which was carried away.
There is still another conjecture respecting the manner of the great disaster, suggested by a dream of my eldest brother, James Willey. In his dream he thought he saw the brother that was destroyed, and asked him why he and his family
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left the house, as they did, and thus exposed themselves to dangers abroad, when they might have been more safe at home. This has often been asked. In reply to this, my brother remarked that they did not leave the house until the waters rose so high in front, and came up so near, that they found they would carry away the house ; so, to avoid being drowned, they took some coverings for shelter against the storm, and went out to the foot of the mountain back of the house, and from thence, soon after, were carried away by the great slide that came down in that direction.
This is an explanation of the manner of the disaster of which we might never have conceived but for the dream. But, when taken up from this source, it adjusts itself better to the great facts in the case than either of the theories we have heretofore considered. It explains why a bed was found on the ruins near the body of the eldest daughter. That bed was needed as a shelter from the storm, in the retreat the family made to the base of the mountain.
The theory of the dream, too, explains why the family were all destroyed, and some did not escape. On the supposition of the first theory, that the family fled precipitately from the house when they heard the crash of the stable, and were soon engulfed in the part of the great slide that ran below the house, it has always seemed strange to me, at least, that such as were in the rear of the fleeing party did not pause, or re- cede, even, when they found those in the advance carried off by the moving mass, and, perhaps, giving a sudden outcry that there was danger in the way. But, on the supposition before us, the family, just previous to the slide, were grouped together at the foot of the mountain. In this situation they would be an easy prey to the massive slide, coming upon them in its force, and be carried away before it in a body.
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So, too, in regard to another point in the history of the great event ; the great mutilation of all the bodies that were found after the disaster. The theory before us explains that better than either of those previously named. Under the idea that these bodies started from the base of the moun- tain on their way to death, we can better understand why they were so mangled, than if we conceive them just starting from the house on such a destiny. In this case, they would have a longer course over which to pass, and that course full of instruments suited well to disfigure and mar their bodies. We refer now particularly to the stable and its falling tim- bers, as furnishing those instruments. This stood in the path the bodies would naturally travel in passing from the base of the mountain to the place of their discovery after the disaster. It may be clearly seen, then, how the facts in the case sustain, so far, the theory of the dream, since, by means of that, we can much better conceive why the bodies were so mutilated, than why they should be so on the supposition that they started from the house, less distant from their deposit in death, and that less distance not so pregnant with instruments of mutilation.
In speaking of the disfigured condition of the bodies, we may properly refer to that of Allen, the hired man, first found.
This man, in life, was distinguished as one physically pe- culiar among all his race ; earnest-looking, full and muscular in body, quick and strong in motion. In death he exhibited just the appearance those characteristic features would natu- rally give him. He was found near the top of a pile of mingled earth and broken timbers, with head rather elevated, and hands clenched hard, and full of broken sticks and small limbs of trees.
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" The fragment in whose clenched hand told How firm on life had been his hold."
In these hands, and the position of his body, he gave clear evidence that before his death he had had a fierce struggle with the elements of ruin about him, and that at last he was overcome, and perished only in circumstances of peril, where no amount of bodily strength or agility could avail him, and from which no mortal could escape.
How long, it might be queried, now, was the conflict which this man had with the elements of ruin about him, before he finally perished ? Was it commensurate with the signal marks of energy and firmness in the conflict itself, such as were stamped on every part of him in death ? A solution of this query is certainly desirable. If, as suggested by the first conjecture, his course of contention with the elements of death were considered as extending only from the house to where he was found, such a course might be deemed too short for displaying such fierce encounter with the elements as he did, or exhibiting such marks of injury upon his per- son as were presented at the time he was found. But, if we consider his course to be from the base of the mountain to the bed of death on which he was found, then he had ample space to display all the energies of his strong physical nature. Commencing the struggle at the very onset of the slide, bat- tling with the rocks and trees as they came upon him, trying to retain his hold on the ground at the foot of the mountain by grasping the small twigs and plants there, and then being torn away from them or with them in his hands, and carried down to the falling stable, and then again, if still alive, grasping its timbers, for relief, but finding some rather heavy beatings and bruisings on various parts of his body when he passed down to the end of his course he would be thoroughly
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