Re: MtMan-List: Fitzpatrick

[Casapy123@aol.com]

Steve,

That story was reported by William Marshall Anderson on August 9, 1834.  He
was retelling something that Fitzpatrick told him.  The information you read
in Leroy Hafen's "Broken Hand," (Old West Publishing, Denver, 1973 pg. 81), is
from Anderson's diary, written while on the trail.  Anderson also made two re-
writes of his diary, one referred to as a narrative and one referred to as a
journal.  The journal covers his entire trip while the narrative covers only a
portion of the trip.

The journal entry for the same date reads "When Mr. Fitzpatrick was encamped
at the forks of the Wind River he experienced a simoom (sic) or something
similar - On 20th June the sun became red, the atmosphere was substantialised
and bore a dull, hazy appearance, and the heat was so intense that his eyes
felt as if they would have melted out of their sockets - Where the gusty wind
touched the unprotected skin it crisped or blistered - His lungs
notwithstanding the hot air circulated, laboured as tho he were gasping in an
empty receiver." ("Rocky Mountain Jounrals of William Marshall Anderson: The
West in 1834," Dale Morgan and Eleanor T. Harris, Huntington Library, San
Marino, CA, 1967. pg. 176 -77)

WORLDBOOK encyclopedia describes a "simoom" as a hot, dry wind that blows in
desert regions carrying great clouds of sand and dust.  It rises suddenly and
people or animals may suffer from heat stroke when they are exposed to one.
Simooms may pass in ten minutes or last for days.  Simooms are caused by the
overheating of the soil and the layers of air nest to it.

David Jackson had sent Fitzpatrick, presumably by himself, to find William
Sublette in order to direct Sublette to a meeting with Jackson farther west.
This hot wind storm cropped up near where the Wind meets the Bighorn.  While
not exactly desert, this is a fairly flat, dry region.  My opinion (for what
it may be worth) is that Fitzpatrick experienced a localized wind storm
similar to the funnel-cloud-like "dust devils" frequently seen in flat open
areas and he embelished the tale a bit for his greenhorn audience.  This would
also explain why no one else (that I've seen) has recorded any general
atmospheric disturbances for that date.

Jim Hardee, AMM#1671
P.O. Box 1228
Quincy, CA  95971
(530)283-4566 (H)
(530)283-3330 (W)
(530)283-5171 FAX
Casapy123@aol.com