One  day  on  the  Belle  Fourche,  when  on  the  re
turn  march,  we  were  struck  by  a  storm  of  unusual
severity.  General  Crook  hurried  us  into  camp,
under  the  bluffs  and  in  the  thickets  of  a  small
watercourse  which  was  fortunately  near,  and  under
this  cover  we  passed  a  good  night.  At  daylight  in
the  morning  the  wind  had  died  out,  but  the  ther
mometers  were  all  frozen.  After  taking  my  break
fast,  and  while  the  men  were  getting  ready  for  the
march,  I  held  my  thermometer  near  the  fire  to  thaw
it  out,  hoping  by  exposing  it  afterwards  to  arrive
at  some  approximate  idea  of  the  cold.  I  kept  it
there  until  the  mercury  was  above  freezing,  then
hung  it  on  a  bush  near  by  and  watched  it.  Though
the  sun  was  now  just  appearing  the  mercury  froze


508  HOT,    THOUGH    COLD.
again  in  less  than  five  minutes.  Many  of  our  ani
mals,  among  them  the  favorite  horse  of  one  of
General  Crook's  staff-officers,  froze  to  death  that
night.
