Let me give you some historical facts on quicksand:

• Buffalo Bill Invisible Quicksand
• Chisholm Trail Quicksand
• Swimming In Quicksand
• True Quicksand Survival

OK, let’s start with Buffalo Bill Invisible Quicksand.

Buffalo Bill Invisible Quicksand: William Frederick Cody had more than a few nick-names but the name that is recognized throughout the world is Buffalo Bill. He earned that name by easily killing (buffalo roam in very large herds and may not stampede even when buffalos are falling by gunshots – they’re sitting ducks) more than 4,000 buffalo single-handedly in one year. That’s an average of almost 11 buffalo every 24-hours for a year.

Buffalo Bill was born on 26 February 1845 near LeClaire in Scott County, Iowa. As a boy he admired the exploits of Kit Carson (mountain man – scout) and Jim Bridger (mountain man – scout). These two legends were instrumental in forming the legend Buffalo Bill.

As a boy, he got a good foundation of wilderness survival training from the Kickapoo Indians who lived on the Kickapoo Indian reservation near the Cody home. By the age of 10, he was paid $10 a month to herd cattle. At the age of 13, he joined a company of trappers out of Fort Laramie. By the age of 15, he was a Pony Express rider, one of the youngest riders ever being paid $150 a month (mega bucks in them days). At the age of 19 he enlisted with the 7th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. At 23 he became a government scout. On one adventure he covered 355-miles in 58-hours riding day and night. This is just a small sample of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West resume.

Buffalo Bill went on to live off his name – his legend with national and international Wild West Shows. His name – his legend grew from the dime books written by writer Ned Buntline. In his Wild West Shows he was associated with other legends and real Indians like Annie Oakley, Captain Jack Crawford, Chief American Horse, Chief Red Cloud, Chief Red Shirt, Flying-Horse, Has-No-Horse, High Heron, Kills-First, Major Frank North, Pawnee Bill (Gordon W. Lillie), Samuel Lone-Bear, Sitting Bull, Texas Jack, Two Bulls, Whirling-Hawk, Wild Bill Hickok,…

But the focus of this segment of the many Buffalo Bill survival tricks is surviving quicksand.

Buffalo Bill’s scouting party reached the Platte River. The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River at Bellevue, Nebraska. It travels west through Nebraska and separates at North Platte, Nebraska into the North Platte River and South Platte River.

Along the Platte Rivers are invisible patches of quick sand that can devour an entire wagon, its load, everything, and completely disappear. A scout named Charlie described patches that looked like regular hard sand with only 02-inches of water but are bottomless quick sand pits that could swallow anything that entered it.

How were these invisible patches of quick sand identified to avoid them? According to my research, back then, they had no way to identify unmarked patches of quicksand. No doubt there are many isolated patches of quicksand throughout North America. Whether these sites are marked are unknown. That’s another reason to NEVER NEVER NEVER, one more time – NEVER travel alone through the wilderness especially near water obstacles.

SEE True Quicksand Survival below.

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Chisholm Trail Quicksand: The famous Chisholm Trail was initially trailblazed and used by Indians for many years. It was called Shawnee Trail and ran from southern and southwestern Texas going northward. Texans called it the Kansas Trail as the trail ran from Texas thru Oklahoma and thru Kansas to Abilene, Kansas.

With the demand for beef increasing to markets in the north and eastward, the trail spread northward and finally called the Chisholm Trail, named after a Cherokee – Jesse Chisholm.

Approximately 35,000 to 55,000 cowboys worked the Chisholm Trail with approximately 20% of them being Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) and black cowboys.

The Chisholm Trail beginning of the end came with the invention and use of barbed wire. Lands were purchased along the Chisholm Trail and guarded with the proven barbed wire. The railroad also brought the end to the Chisholm Trail for cattle was railed to destinations from cattle ranches to their slaughter houses and markets.

However, while the Chisholm Trail was in use (1860s to 1880s), here are the survival tricks used by cowboys that spent months on the Chisholm Trail.

On the Chisholm Trail another unforgiving threat was quicksand. Quicksand is sand or muck held in suspension by water. It’s not only found in swamps but just off rivers like sandbars. Experts state quicksand supports the body better than water. Victims caught in quicksand are killed because of the following reasons:

a) Victim realized too late that they’re in quicksand.

b) Victim is overwhelmed by Fear & Panic.

c) Victim sinks because of incorrect body movements (lifting feet while vertical, struggling,…).

Many cattle and horses on the Chisholm Trail were swallowed whole real quick and never seen again in invisible quicksand traps. Herds arriving near rivers were not only threatened by the deep water and swift currents, but also by quicksand at its banks.

The only warning cowboys had that quicksand might be present is if the river level was low which creates quicksand at its banks. In 1869, one cattle drive avoided quicksand traps and had to travel 25-miles upstream before it crossed the river.

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• Swimming In Quicksand: Experts state potential victims should test for hardness to detect quicksand by:
• Throwing rocks on the sand
• If it sinks, it could be quicksand
• Avoid it.

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If caught in quicksand:

• The victim should go face down in the quicksand with their face to the side.
• Spread arms and pull your way across the quicksand.
• At all times, the body must be kept horizontal.

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True Quicksand Survival: Here’s true story as related to me (Summer 2015). An avid catfish angler, this angler was very successful at catching catfish no matter where he cast his fishing lines. He told me he always:

• Fished at night
• Used chicken liver for bait

He told one day he decided to fish during daytime hours. He was alone (1^st mistake) and was walking near the banks of the mighty Mississippi River (2^nd mistake) that borders Illinois and Missouri. He also told ne never learned how to swim (3^rd mistake).

Walking along the mighty Mississippi River with all his fishing tackle in both hands, he unexpectedly started sinking in the ground (4^TH mistake). He stepped into some unforgiving quicksand.

This man was 110% surely doomed to a drowning fate in the unforgiving quicksand. He was sinking and was now up to his waist in SURE KILLER QUICKSAND.

But SUPER SUPER SUPER LUCK blessed him that very exact moment. It was 01 in a BILLION shot, 01 in a BILLION shot, a US Coastguard boat was cruising along the bank of the Mississippi River exactly where he was located and he started waving and yelling at them. LUCKILY, one of the Coast Guard crew members was looking his way and alerted the rest of the crew. The Coast Guard crew went into quick action and SAVED HIS LIFE!!

I gotta tell you, what are the odds of that happening? His actions of fishing along the Mississippi River with him:

• Being alone
• A non-swimmer
• Near the banks of the Mississippi River
• Quicksand

I gotta tell you he was definitely ‘Asking For It!’ What if he tried to go fishing at night like he always did? I’m saying it’s a 390% chance he’d be DEAD DEAD DEAD!

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