Ancestor Story: Robert Gardner Almost Loses His Leg

I had broken one yoke of the young steers. In the winter time I went to the mountain on foot to slide some dry pine timber for firewood; the snow was very deep, and very cold. The place of sliding was about five miles off. When I reached the foot of the slide it was a narrow track in about five foot of snow up a very steep mountain. Not knowing that any one was up the slide ahead of me I ascended about one forth of a mile when a log met me. It was running like an arrow and struck under the knee on the outside of the right leg peeling all the flesh off a place about four by six inches clear to the bone. However, the mountain was very steep and my foot gave way on the snow and it did not break the bone. When I looked down at the blood and flesh I thought the first thing; "Will this prevent me from going on my mission?" So I took a hold of my leg with both hands and raised my leg and found the bone was not broken. I said; "All right I will go on my mission". 

My next thought was; "Get out of there or another log would come and take away the rest of me." So I crawled out of the track into the loose snow where I could not see myself any more. I crawled to a high place on my hands and knees where I could see the road below me. Two men had come up the canyon. I hollered and they heard me and came to my relief. I placed one above to watch for logs coming and to give an alarm and the other dragged me down the slide. But before we got half way down my pants were all worn out and my bare body was on the snow. And the snow ran up my back inside my shirt clear to my neck. I looked back at my track it looked like where a hog had been stuck and dragged through the snow. I sent the man down the canyon to get a team to haul me home. He hauled me on some dry logs that had been sliden down and left me alone. I began to hunt for the piece of my leg. I found it down in the boot. I took my handkerchief and tied it to my leg for it hung by the skin on the lower end. I had nearly bled to death and was very faint and could not get any water so I had to lick snow. I was wrapped in snow.

After a while a team came up with a sleigh without any box or bottom. So they rolled on a few logs and laid me on and we started home. When I got to the toll gate at the mouth of the canyon I got a drink of cold water. This, with the loss of blood, and still being wrapped in snow nearly took my life. It threw me into a chill.

When we got to father Neff's mill I sent a boy, one of Bishop Brinton's sons, to Neff's house to get me some liquor. Porter Rockwell was there and came with the boy and brought me a tumbler of whisky and molasses. I commenced to pour it on my leg, but Porter said; "Pour it inside." So I did both. He wanted me to go to his house where he would sew it up for me. But I did not want to go to anyone's house, covered with blood and snow. But I got him to go with me to my house and do the work there.

So he got me down before the fire and washed my leg and got a handful of fine salt and laid it on the bone and lapped the piece of skin in its place and commenced to sew it with silk thread. He put in a few stitches but his heart failed him. He could do no more and no one could help me. So they held me up and I sewed it myself. That is, I took the needle through, and he tied the threads, and we made a good job of it.

He then ordered chamber lye [chamber lye is urine] boiled down two quarts into one and soaked a flannel bandage in it and wrapped it around my leg. However, I forgot to tell my folks to loosen the bandage when my leg swelled, which it did. I came so near dying. I did not know anything [was delirious]. Someone thought about what was the matter and loosened the bandage in time to save me.

Sometime after that I came near losing my life through a mistake. I had built a new house and moved into it without painting it. An old country carpenter did the woodwork and made very tight joints. There came a thaw and a very damp time which swelled the woodwork so it was air tight. On one of these nights I had been very restless. All day long my folks closed the bedroom door, and kept everything quiet. My brother Archie was in that night. After a while they thought they heard some kind of a moaning sound. They came to my bedroom and found the door sealed so tight they could scarcely open it. When they did open it, they found I had nearly breathed my last. They tried to open the window but could not and soon found out what was the matter [lack of air/oxygen]. But I overcame that.

My leg began to heal up and I began to get better so that I could sit up. My neighbors were all very kind and would get up tea parties for me. They would come with buggies and take me and my family to their houses and bring us home again. The kindness I received often melted me into tears. I suppose their kindness was because I was President of the Branch of Mill Creek Ward, and had met with a very serious accident and was going off on a mission in the spring. They tried to make me as happy as possible and I appreciated their kindness very much and felt nothing but blessings in my heart.