Lost for Days, 'Scotty' Crawls Out of the Metaline Woods
A young hunter loses his way near Sullivan Lake and survives on luck, hunters, and sheer endurance—shoes worn through and fingernails down to the quick.
A young man known as "Scotty" had a severe experience in the Metaline country last week. He started out hunting and, losing his way, wandered for several days in the woods. Finally, when nearly dead from exposure, he stumbled onto a party of hunters in the neighborhood of Sullivan Lake, who cared for him and brought him to Metaline. When rescued he was in a sorry plight: his clothes almost torn off, his rifle and hunting knife lost, shoes worn through, and his finger nails worn down to the quick from clambering over the rocky hills. He was also slightly demented, but is now recovering his mind and health.
“When rescued he was in a sorry plight, his clothes almost torn off, his rifle and hunting knife lost, shoes worn through and his finger nails worn down to the quick from clambering over the rocky hills.”
The Metaline country was still wild enough in 1908 that a wrong turn while hunting could mean days of exposure. Today the same landscape draws hikers and hunters who rely on cell service and search-and-rescue teams—but the woods can still turn a routine trip into a fight for survival.
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