| Description |
couldn't possibly get back before dawn and that would be too late." Lovingly the two men, Brother Cheney and Brother Mower, tucked the available blankets around their companion, Lars P. Madsen. Here, on the "big hill" that dropped down from Cottonwood Canyon into the valley of Fairview, the three men had been guiding their horse-driven wagons loaded with coal from the Huntington mine, hoping to arrive hone before dark. An afternoon thunder storm had left the road slick and set, and the horses hi gh*"S trung and nervous. As Bishop Madsen's wagon followed the muddy tracks of his friends, the horses became frightened as the wagon struck a rock and lurched to the right, throwing the occupant from the spring seat into the path of the wagon's front wheel which passed over his body. As the hind wheels were locked, the victim was dragged some distance before they too passed over him. His injuries were critical, a broken back and multiple bruises. The two men tenderly cared for their companion. They built a fire and adjusted a make-shift tarp over him as a protection from the wind and chill of the evening. Bishop Madsen was conscious and immediately aware of his precarious condition. "Oh, my God, hear me," he cried. "Ity heart sorrows for my dear wife and my little girls. Oh, comfort them." After the first cries of pain and anguish were expelled, and his companions had made him as comfortable as possible, he asked that they might write down some messages he desired to send to his family. As Brother Cheney scrounged bits of paper from his personal pack and a charcoal stick, Brother Mower kept the campfire burning and the patient covered and comforted. 61 |
