But as the season advanced, the cold became increasingly severe, until at last it was more intense than the trappers had ever before experienced.

Still the trappers, with their rousing fires and abundant clothing, found no difficulty in keeping warm.
But the animals suffered terribly.

Snow covered the valleys to such a depth, that they could obtain no food by grazing.

It was with the utmost difficulty they kept the animals alive.

They cut down cottonwood trees and thawed the bark and small branches by their fires.