America 1883: The Western Homeland

Chapter 149 Chiseling Ice to Obtain Water and Building an Igloo

In December, the cold wind in Paradise Valley, Montana, is like a wild horse that has broken free of its reins, galloping and roaring wildly through the valley.

Only a curtain of blizzard remained between heaven and earth, enveloping everything in a biting, silvery-white blanket.

This awful weather! It's so cold it feels like the air itself is about to crack from the cold.

Tom has been diligently recording the weather changes these past few days, each stroke a record of experience he's accumulating for the future.

But today, bad news came: the well is frozen!

James and his men knocked on every single well, and finally could only confirm with a grim face that the water was completely blocked.

Fortunately, the livestock shed still had some river water stored up during the summer, which would last for a while.

The well dug inside the shed, warmed by the fireplace, stubbornly still teems with life for the time being.

"Use the one in the shed first!" James made the decision.

Tom didn't say anything, turned around and called Zack, and braved the wind that could blow a person away, stepping onto the frozen surface of the Yellowstone River.

"Tom! In this awful weather, are we going to starve on this ice?" Zack's teeth chattered from the cold, and his voice trembled.

He stared at the thick snow and the bottomless ice beneath his feet, his heart pounding. He remembered the icy water that had seeped into his sleeves when he broke the ice to get water last winter, and he couldn't help but shudder.

Tom ignored his complaints, picked up a shovel, and quickly shoveled away a patch of snow to reveal a solid, dark blue ice surface underneath.

He stomped his foot, and the ice made a dull "thump-thump" sound.

"Zack, do you think this ice is thick enough?"

Zack was stunned, a sense of foreboding rushing to his head: "Tom! You—you don't mean to break the ice to get water, do you?"

"!" He raised his voice.

Tom's lips twitched slightly, a tacit agreement: "How about it?"

"Not good at all!" Zack almost jumped up, his face contorted in a grimace. "This job could freeze a person to death!"

Tom didn't waste any more words and directly called all the cowboys who were sheltering from the wind on the riverbank to come down.

Time to get to work!

Tom wants to build an igloo.

In the freezing cold, choosing a location is the first step to survival.

Tom directed the men: measuring the thickness of the ice, several cowboys grabbed heavy iron awls and started chiseling holes in the ice with clang! clang! clang! ice shards flying everywhere.

The depth must exceed twenty inches (about half a meter)!

This is the bottom line; if the ice is too thin, falling in is no laughing matter.

You have to choose a section of the river with a gentle current; if the current is too strong, the ice will freeze over in the blink of an eye.

Far from the riverbank, the ice on the shore, heated by the ground temperature, is thinner than that in the middle of the river, making it unsafe.

Once the location was chosen, it was time to build a house, but the material was ice.

First, clear out the selected ice surface to reveal the hard, transparent "old ice" underneath.

Two or three cowboys would set up a double hacksaw, which was more than a meter long, and shout in unison as they pulled and cut large, neat blocks of ice (about 6040.30 centimeters) back and forth on the ice.

Use an ice axe to trim the edges and a mallet to hammer them in, ensuring a perfect fit.

To begin building the igloo, first draw a large circle with a diameter of three meters on the ice; this will be the foundation.

The first layer of ice bricks was carefully stacked along the round edge, and the gaps were sealed with "ice mud" mixed with snow water. Once frozen, it became a single piece.

Then, layer by layer, each layer of ice bricks is tilted slightly inward (about 15 degrees).

The wooden mallet kept striking to adjust the angle, the icy mud filling the cracks, which froze solid with the cold wind.

They built it to the top, leaving a skylight the size of a washbasin, and covered it with a carefully cut thick slab of ice as a light-transmitting roof.

Finally, pour water all over the outside of the igloo!

The water freezes instantly upon contact with the cold wall, forming a smooth, hard outer shell that is both wind-resistant and sturdy.

The igloo was built; it provided enough protection from the wind, but the water was still trapped in the thick layer of ice beneath our feet.

At the water intake, in the very center of the igloo, one meter away from the wall, there was a circle with a diameter of sixty centimeters.

They grabbed steel picks and wooden mallets, and with a clang, they chiseled spiderweb-like cracks into the ice, then used ice axes to pry up large chunks of ice.

Switch to a long-handled ice axe and carefully chisel at an angle to avoid smashing through the water layer with too much force, which would cause the icy river water to gush up.

The most difficult part is coming!

They used thick hemp ropes to tie heavy stones (icebreakers), and like ramming a ram, they swung them up and down, shouting slogans, to smash them deep into the ice cave.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!" The dull thuds echoed in the igloo until the ice was finally broken through, and the icy river water, carrying a chill, rushed up!

Immediately insert a pre-prepared hollow pine log (55cm in diameter and 80cm in height) with bark vertically into the ice hole, making sure it protrudes above the ice surface.

The inner wall of the wooden cylinder was coated with a thick layer of sticky grease beforehand, making it slippery and preventing ice from sticking easily.

The outside was completely covered with dry moss for insulation.

At night, they would cover the mouth of the wooden tube tightly with a double layer of bison hide (hair side down), and weigh down the edges with large stones to keep out the cold air!

The remaining task is to solve the problem of obtaining water.

What's the easiest and safest way to get water?

Tom directed the cowboys to erect a sturdy wooden frame next to the igloo.

A thick log was tied horizontally to the frame.

The log was firmly tied to the bucket for drawing water at the end closest to the ice hole; a heavy counterweight was attached to the other end.

The principle is simple yet ingenious: press down on one end of the log, and the bucket sinks into the icy river water; release your hand, and the other end, the counterweight, drops down, and the bucket full of water is easily lifted up!

It saved them the strenuous work of pulling the rope by hand and also avoided the icy water.

The igloo was completed.

James brought his family to visit with great enthusiasm.

"Only three people can come in at a time!" Tom stood guard at the door, his tone leaving no room for argument. "No matter how thick the ice is, it can't withstand too many people trampling on it. If it collapses, it's no joke."

This reasoning was compelling, and no one refuted it.

When James and his companions emerged from the igloo, their faces were filled with wonder and amazement.

James immediately gave Tom a new task: "Tom, not bad! Build a few more!"

What could Tom say? His father had spoken; he had to do it!

Fortunately, he's now the commander; the real ones pulling the strings are the cowboys.

He turned to Zack and ordered, "Go tell Jonah to slaughter a deer! Give the brothers an extra meal tonight, plenty of hot soup!"

"Alright!" Zack grinned, even more motivated.

After the initial excitement, the cold reality set in: they still had to continue building the remaining igloos in the freezing wind.

Once all the igloos were erected, Tom gathered everyone on the ice.

The cold wind whipped snowflakes against his face. He raised his voice, issuing a stern warning that carried far across the vast, icy river: "Listen up! There are only three rules. Anyone who breaks them, don't blame me for turning on you!"

"No fires allowed inside the igloo!" Tom's gaze swept over everyone, his expression stern and unwavering. "If you want to warm up, go back inside and get on the heated floor! The igloo is stuffy; lighting a fire there is suicidal!"

"Each igloo can only hold a maximum of three people!" He stomped his foot on the solid ice. "Even the thickest ice has its limits. If too many people collapse it, and people fall into the ice hole, no one can pull them out!"

"Check every day! Take your daggers and poke the ice walls one by one!"

He made a probing motion with a dagger, "If you find any ice that's soft or makes a hollow sound, immediately pour water on it and freeze it! This is a life-saving job, don't slack off!"