The Prairie Traveler - Chapters III-IV



CHAPTER III
Repairing Broken Wagons. -- Fording Rivers. -- Quicksand. -- Wagon 
Boats. -- Bull Boats. -- Crossing Packs. -- Swimming Animals. -- Marching 
with Loose Horses. -- Herding Mules. -- Best Methods of Marching. -- 
Herding and Guarding Animals. -- Descending Mountains. -- Storms. -- 
Northers. 

REPAIRS OF ACCIDENTS

   THE accidents most liable to happen to wagons on the plains arise from 
the great dryness of the atmosphere, and the consequent shrinkage and 
contraction of the wood-work in the wheels, the tires working loose, and 
the wheels, in passing over sidling ground, oftentimes falling down and 
breaking all the spokes where they enter the hub. It therefore becomes a 
matter of absolute necessity for the prairie traveler to devise some means 
of repairing such damages, or of guarding against them by the use of 
timely expedients. 

   The wheels should be frequently and closely examined, and whenever a 
tire becomes at all loose it should at once be tightened with pieces of 
hoop-iron or wooden wedges driven by twos simultaneously from opposite 
sides. Another remedy for the same thing is to take of the wheels after 
encamping, sink them in water, and allow them to remain over night. This 
swells the wood, but is only temporary, requiring frequent repetition; 
and, after a time, if the wheels have not been made of thoroughly seasoned 
timber, it becomes necessary to reset the tires in order to guard against 
their destruction by falling to pieces and breaking the spokes. 

   If the tires run off near a blacksmith's shop, or if there be a 
traveling forge with the train, they may be tied on with rawhide or ropes, 
and thus driven to the shop or camp. When a rear wheel breaks down upon a 
march, the best method I know of for taking the vehicle to a place where 
it can be repaired is to take off the damaged wheel, and place a stout 
pole of three or four inches in diameter under the end of the axle, 
outside the wagon-bed, and extending forward above the front wheel, where 
it is firmly lashed with ropes, while the other end of the pole runs six 
or eight feet to the rear, and drags upon the ground. The pole must be of 
such length and inclination that the axle shall be raised and retained in 
its proper horizontal position, when it can be driven to any distance that 
may be desired. The wagon should be relieved as much as practicable of its 
loading, as the pole dragging upon the ground will cause it to run 
heavily. 

   When a front wheel breaks down, the expedient just mentioned can not be 
applied to the front axle, but the two rear wheels may be taken off and 
placed upon this axle (they will always fit), while the sound front wheel 
can be substituted upon one side of the rear axle, after which the pole 
may be applied as before described. This plan I have adopted upon several 
different occasions, and I can vouch for its efficacy. 

    The foregoing facts may appear very simple and unimportant in 
themselves, but blacksmiths and wheelwrights are not met with at every 
turn of the roads upon the prairies; and in the wilderness, where the 
traveler is dependent solely upon his own resources, this kind of 
information will be found highly useful. 

   When the spokes in a wheel shrink more than the felloes, they work 
loose in the hub, and can not be tightened by wedging. The only remedy in 
such cases is to cut the felloe with a saw on opposite sides, taking out 
two pieces of such dimensions that the reduced circumference will draw 
back the spokes into their proper places and make them snug. A thin wagon-
bow, or barrel-hoops, may then be wrapped around the outside of the 
felloe, and secured with small nails or tacks. This increases the diameter 
of the wheel, so that when the tire has been heated, put on, and cooled, 
it forces back the spokes into their true places, and makes the wheel as 
sound and strong as it ever was. This simple process can be executed in 
about half an hour if there be fuel for heating, and obviates the 
necessity of cutting and welding the tire. I would recommend that the 
tires should be secured with bolts and nuts, which will prevent them from 
running off when they work loose, and, if they have been cut and reset, 
they should be well tried with a hammer where they are welded to make sure 
that the junction is sound.

FORDING RIVERS

   Many streams that intersect the different routes across our continent 
are broad and shallow, and flow over beds of quicksand, which, in seasons 
of high water, become boggy and unstable, and are then exceedingly 
difficult of crossing. When these streams are on the rise, and, indeed, 
before any swelling is perceptible, their beds become surcharged with the 
sand loosened by the action of the under-current from the approaching 
flood, and from this time until the water subsides fording is difficult, 
requiring great precautions. 

   On arriving upon the bank of a river of this character which has not 
recently been crossed, the condition of the quicksand may be ascertained 
by sending an intelligent man over the fording-place, and, should the sand 
not yield under his feet, it may be regarded as safe for animals or 
wagons. Should it, however, prove soft and yielding, it must be thoroughly 
examined, and the best track selected. This can be done by a man on foot, 
who will take a number of sharp sticks long enough, when driven into the 
bottom of the river, to stand above the surface of the water. He starts 
from the shore, and with one of the sticks and his feet tries the bottom 
in the direction of the opposite bank until he finds the firmest ground, 
where he plants one of the sticks to mark the track. A man incurs no 
danger in walking over quicksand provided he step rapidly, and he will 
soon detect the safest ground. He then proceeds, planting his sticks as 
often as may be necessary to mark the way, until he reaches the opposite 
bank. The ford is thus ascertained, and, if there are footmen in the 
party, they should cross before the animals and wagons, as they pack the 
sand, and make the track more firm and secure. 

   If the sand is soft, horses should be led across, and not allowed to 
stop in the stream; and the better to insure this, they should be watered 
before entering upon the ford; otherwise, as soon as they stand still, 
their feet sink in the sand, and soon it becomes difficult to extricate 
them. The same rule holds in the passage of wagons: they must be driven 
steadily across, and the animals never allowed to stop while in the river, 
as the wheels sink rapidly in quicksand. Mules will often stop from fear, 
and, when once embarrassed in the sand, they lie down, and will not use 
the slightest exertion to regain their footing. The only alternative, 
then, is to drag them out with ropes. I have even known some mules refuse 
to put forth the least exertion to get up after being pulled out upon firm 
ground, and it was necessary to set them upon their feet before they were 
restored to a consciousness of their own powers. 

   In crossing rivers where the water is so high as to come into the wagon-
beds, but is not above a fording stage, the contents of the wagons may be 
kept dry by raising the beds between the uprights, and retaining them in 
that position with blocks of wood placed at each corner between the 
rockers and the bottom of the wagon-beds. The blocks must be squared at 
each end, and their length, of course, should vary with the depth of 
water, which can be determined before cutting them. This is a very common 
and simple method of passing streams among emigrant travelers. 

   When streams are deep, with a very rapid current, it is difficult for 
the drivers to direct their teams to the proper coming-out places, as the 
current has a tendency to carry them too far down. This difficulty may be 
obviated by attaching a lariat rope to the leading animals, and having a 
mounted man ride in front with the rope in his hand, to assist the team in 
stemming the current, and direct it toward the point of egress. It is also 
a wise precaution, if the ford be at all hazardous, to place a mounted man 
on the lower side of the team with a whip, to urge forward any animal that 
may not work properly. 

   Where rivers are wide, with a swift current, they should always, if 
possible, be forded obliquely down stream, as the action of the water 
against the wagons assists very materially in carrying them across. In 
crossing the North Platte upon the Cherokee trail at a season when the 
water was high and very rapid, we were obliged to take the only 
practicable ford, which ran diagonally up the stream. The consequence was, 
that the heavy current, coming down with great force against the wagons, 
offered such powerful resistance to the efforts of the mules that it was 
with difficulty they could retain their footing, and several were drowned. 
Had the ford crossed obliquely down the river, there would have been no 
difficulty.

   When it becomes necessary, with loaded wagons, to cross a stream of 
this character against the current, I would recommend that the teams be 
doubled, the leading animals led, a horseman placed on each side with 
whips to assist the driver, and that, before the first wagon enters the 
water, a man should be sent in advance to ascertain the best ford.

   During seasons of high water, men, in traversing the plains, often 
encounter rivers which rise above a fording stage, and remain in that 
condition for many days, and to await the falling of the water might 
involve a great loss of time. If the traveler be alone, his only way is to 
swim his horse; but if he retains the seat on his saddle, his weight 
presses the animal down into the water, and cramps his movements very 
sensibly. It is a much better plan to attach a cord to the bridle-bit, and 
drive him into the stream; then, seizing his tail, allow him to tow you 
across. If he turns out of the course, or attempts to turn back, he can be 
checked with the cord, or by splashing water at his head. If the rider 
remains in the saddle, he should allow the horse to have a loose rein, and 
never pull upon it except when necessary to guide. If he wishes to steady 
himself, he can lay hold upon the mane.

   In traveling with large parties, the following expedients for crossing 
rivers have been successfully resorted to within my own experience, and 
they are attended with no risk to life or property. 

   A rapid and deep stream, with high, abrupt, and soft banks, probably 
presents the most formidable array of unfavorable circumstances that can 
be found. Streams of this character are occasionally met with, and it is 
important to know how to cross them with the greatest promptitude and 
safety. 

   A train of wagons having arrived upon the bank of such a stream, first 
select the best point for the passage, where the banks upon both sides 
require the least excavation for a place of ingress and egress to and from 
the river. As I have before remarked, the place of entering the river 
should be above the coming-out place on the opposite bank, as the current 
will then assist in carrying wagons and animals across. A spot should be 
sought where the bed of the stream is firm at the place where the animals 
are to get out on the opposite bank. If, however, no such place can be 
found, brush and earth should be thrown in to make a foundation sufficient 
to support the animals, and to prevent them from bogging. After the place 
for crossing has been selected, it will be important to determine the 
breadth of the river between the points of ingress and egress, in order to 
show the length of rope necessary to reach across. A very simple practical 
method of doing this without instruments is found in the French "Manuel du 
Genie." It is as follows:

[image - Diagram for Measurements]

   A man who is an expert swimmer then takes the end of a fishing-line or 
a small cord in his mouth, and carries it across, leaving the other end 
fixed upon the opposite bank, after which a lariat is attached to the 
cord, and one end of it pulled across and made fast to a tree; but if 
there is nothing convenient to which the lariat can be attached, an extra 
axle or coupling-pole can be pulled over by the man who has crossed, 
firmly planted in the ground, and the rope tied to it. The rope must be 
long enough to extend twice across the stream, so that one end may always 
be left on each shore. A very good substitute for a ferry-boat may be made 
with a wagon- bed by filling it with empty water casks, stopped tight and 
secured in the wagon with ropes, with a cask lashed opposite the center of 
each outside. It is then placed in the water bottom upward, and the rope 
that has been stretched across the stream attached to one end of it, while 
another rope is made fast to the other end, after which it is loaded, the 
shore-end loosened, and the men on the opposite bank pull it across to the 
landing, where it is discharged and returned for another load, and so on 
until all the baggage and men are passed over. 

   The wagons can be taken across by fastening them down to the axles, 
attaching a rope to the end of the tongue, and another to the rear of each 
to steady it and hold it from drifting below the landing. It is then 
pushed into the stream, and the men on the opposite bank pull it over. I 
have passed a large train of wagons in this way across a rapid stream 
fifteen feet deep without any difficulty. I took, at the same time, a six-
pounder cannon, which was separated from its carriage, and ferried over 
upon the wagon- boat; after which the carriage was pulled over in the same 
way as described for the wagons. 

   There are not always a sufficient number of airtight water-casks to 
fill a wagon-bed, but a tentfly, paulin, or wagon-cover can generally be 
had. In this event, the wagon-bed may be placed in the center of one of 
these, the cloth brought up around the ends and sides, and secured firmly 
with ropes tied around transversely, and another rope fastened lengthwise 
around under the rim. This holds the cloth in its place, and the wagon may 
then be placed in the water right side upward, and managed in the same 
manner as in the other case. If the cloth be made of cotton, it will soon 
swell so as to leak but very little, and answers a very good purpose. 

   Another method of ferrying streams is by means of what is called by the 
mountaineers a "bull-boat," the frame-work of which is made of willows 
bent into the shape of a short and wide skiff, with a flat bottom. Willows 
grow upon the banks of almost all the streams on the prairies, and can be 
bent into any shape desired. To make a boat with but one hide, a number of 
straight willows are cut about an inch in diameter, the ends sharpened and 
driven into the ground, forming a frame-work in the shape of a half egg- 
shell cut through the longitudinal axis. Where these rods cross they are 
firmly secured with strings. A stout rod is then heated and bent around 
the frame in such a position that the edges of the hide, when laid over it 
and drawn tight, will just reach it. This rod forms the gunwale, which is 
secured by strings to the ribs. Small rods are then wattled in so as to 
make it symmetrical and strong. After which the green or soaked hide is 
thrown over the edges, sewed to the gunwales, and left to dry. The rods 
are then cut off even with the gunwale, and the boat is ready for use. 

   To build a boat with two or more hides: A stout pole of the desired 
length is placed upon the ground for a keel, the ends turned up and 
secured by a lariat; willow rods of the required dimensions are then cut, 
heated, and bent into the proper shape for knees, after which their 
centers are placed at equal distances upon the keel, and firmly tied with 
cords. The knees are retained in their proper curvature by cords around 
the ends. After a sufficient number of them have been placed upon the 
keel, two poles of suitable dimensions are heated, bent around the ends 
for a gunwale, and firmly lashed to each knee. Smaller willows are then 
interwoven, so as to model the frame. 

   Green or soaked hides are cut into the proper shape to fit the frame, 
and sewed together with buckskin strings; then the frame of the boat is 
placed in the middle, the hide drawn up snug around the sides, and secured 
with raw-hide thongs to the gunwale. The boat is then turned bottom upward 
and left to dry, after which the seams where they have been sewed are 
covered with a mixture of melted tallow and pitch: the craft is now ready 
for launching. 

   A boat of this kind is very light and serviceable, but after a while 
becomes water-soaked, and should always be turned bottom upward to dry 
whenever it is not in the water. Two men can easily build a bull-boat of 
three hides in two days which will carry ten men with perfect safety. 

   A small party traveling with a pack train and arriving upon the banks 
of a deep stream will not always have the time to stop or the means to 
make any of the boats that have been described. Should their luggage be 
such as to become seriously injured by a wetting, and there be an India-
rubber or gutta-percha cloth disposable, or if even a green beef or 
buffalo hide can be procured, it may be spread out upon the ground, and 
the articles of baggage placed in the center, in a square or rectangular 
form; the ends and sides are then brought up so as entirely to envelop the 
package, and the whole secured with ropes or raw hide. It is then placed 
in the water with a rope attached to one end, and towed across by men in 
the same manner as the boats before described. If hides be used they will 
require greasing occasionally, to prevent their becoming water-soaked. 

   When a mounted party with pack animals arrive upon the borders of a 
rapid stream, too deep to ford, and where the banks are high and abrupt, 
with perhaps but one place where the beasts can get out upon the opposite 
shore, it would not be safe to drive or ride them in, calculating that all 
will make the desired landing. Some of them will probably be carried by 
the swift current too far down the stream, and thereby endanger not only 
their own lives, but the lives of their riders. I have seen the experiment 
tried repeatedly, and have known several animals to be carried by the 
current below the point of egress, and thus drowned. Here is a simple, 
safe, and expeditious method of taking animals over such a stream. 
Suppose, for example, a party of mounted men arrive upon the bank of the 
stream. There will always be some good swimmers in the party, and probably 
others who can not swim at all. Three or four of the most expert of these 
are selected, and sent across with one end of a rope made of lariats tied 
together, while the other end is retained upon the first bank, and made 
fast to the neck of a gentle and good swimming horse; after which another 
gentle horse is brought up and made fast by a lariat around his neck to 
the tail of the first, and so on until all the horses are thus tied 
together. The men who can not swim are then mounted upon the best swimming 
horses and tied on, otherwise they are liable to become frightened, lose 
their balance, and be carried away in a rapid current; or a horse may 
stumble and throw his rider. After the horses have been strung out in a 
single line by their riders, and every thing is in readiness, the first 
horse is led carefully into the water, while the men on the opposite bank, 
pulling upon the rope, thus direct him across, and, if necessary, aid him 
in stemming the current. As soon as this horse strikes bottom he pulls 
upon those behind him, and thereby assists them in making the landing, and 
in this manner all are passed over in perfect safety. 

DRIVING LOOSE HORSES

   In traveling with loose horses across the plains, some persons are in 
the habit of attaching them in pairs by their halters to a long, stout 
rope stretched between two wagons drawn by mules, each wagon being about 
half loaded. The principal object of the rear wagon being to hold back and 
keep the rope stretched, not more than two stout mules are required, as 
the horses aid a good deal with their heads in pulling this wagon. From 
thirty to forty horses may be driven very well in this manner, and, if 
they are wild, it is perhaps the safest method, except that of leading 
them with halters held by men riding beside them. The rope to which the 
horses are attached should be about an inch and a quarter in diameter, 
with loops or rings inserted at intervals sufficient to admit the horses 
without allowing them to kick each other, and the halter straps tied to 
these loops. The horses, on first starting, should have men by their 
sides, to accustom them to this manner of being led. The wagons should be 
so driven as to keep the rope continually stretched. Good drivers must be 
assigned to these wagons, who will constantly watch the movements of the 
horses attached, as well as their own teams. 

   I have had 150 loose horses driven by ten mounted herdsmen. This 
requires great care for some considerable time, until the horses become 
gentle and accustomed to their herders. It is important to ascertain, as 
soon as possible after starting, which horses are wild, and may be likely 
to stampede and lead off the herd; such should be led, and never suffered 
to run loose, either on the march or in camp. Animals of this character 
will soon indicate their propensities, and can be secured during the first 
days of the march. It is desirable that all animals that will not stampede 
when not working should run loose on a march, as they pick up a good deal 
of grass along the road when traveling, and the success of an expedition, 
when animals get no other forage but grass, depends in a great degree upon 
the time given them for grazing. They will thrive much better when allowed 
a free range than when picketed, as they then are at liberty to select 
such grass as suits them. It may therefore be set down as an infallible 
rule never to be departed from, that all animals, excepting such as will 
be likely to stampede, should be turned loose for grazing immediately 
after arriving at the camping-place; but it is equally important that they 
should be carefully herded as near the camp as good grass will admit; and 
those that it is necessary to picket should be placed upon the best grass, 
and their places changed often. The ropes to which they are attached 
should be about forty feet long; the picket-pins, of iron, fifteen inches 
long, with ring and swivel at top, so that the rope shall not twist as the 
animal feeds around it; and the pins must be firmly driven into tenacious 
earth. 

   Animals should be herded during the day at such distances as to leave 
sufficient grass undisturbed around and near the camp for grazing through 
the night.

METHOD OF MARCHING

   Among men of limited experience in frontier life will be found a great 
diversity of opinion regarding the best methods of marching, and of 
treating animals in expeditions upon the prairies. Some will make late 
starts and travel during the heat of the day without nooning, while others 
will start early and make two marches, laying by during the middle of the 
day; some will picket their animals continually in camp, while others will 
herd them day and night, etc., etc. For mounted troops, or, indeed for any 
body of men traveling with horses and mules, a few general rules may be 
specified which have the sanction of mature experience, and a deviation 
from them will inevitably result in consequences highly detrimental to the 
best interests of an expedition. 

   In ordinary marches through a country where grass and water are 
abundant and good, animals receiving proper attention should not fall 
away, even if they receive no grain; and, as I said before, they should 
not be made to travel faster than a walk unless absolutely necessary; 
neither should they be taken off the road for the purpose of hunting or 
chasing buffalo, as one buffalo- chase injures them more than a week of 
moderate riding. In the vicinity of hostile Indians, the animals must be 
carefully herded and guarded within protection of the camp, while those 
picketed should be changed as often as the grass is eaten off within the 
circle described by the tether-rope. At night they should be brought 
within the chain of sentinels and picketed as compactly as is consistent 
with the space needed for grazing, and under no circumstances, unless the 
Indians are known to be near and an attack is to be expected, should they 
be tied up to a picket line where they can get no grass. Unless allowed to 
graze at night they will fall away rapidly, and soon become unserviceable. 
It is much better to march after nightfall, turn some distance off the 
road, and to encamp without fires in a depressed locality where the 
Indians can not track the party, and the animals may be picketed without 
danger. 

   In descending abrupt hills and mountains one wheel of a loaded wagon 
should always be locked, as this relieves the wheel animals and makes 
every thing more secure. When the declivity is great both rear wheels 
should be locked, and if very abrupt, requiring great effort on the wheel 
animals to hold the wagon, the wheels should be rough-locked by 
lengthening the lock-chains so that the part which goes around the wheels 
will come directly upon the ground, and thus create more friction. 
Occasionally, however, hills are met with so nearly perpendicular that it 
becomes necessary to attach ropes to the rear axle, and to station men to 
hold back upon them and steady the vehicle down the descent. Rough-locking 
is a very safe method of passing heavy artillery down abrupt declivities. 
There are several mountains between the Missouri River and California 
where it is necessary to resort to one of the two last-mentioned methods 
in order to descend with security. If there are no lock-chains upon 
wagons, the front and rear wheels on the same side may be tied together 
with ropes so as to lock them very firmly. 

   It is an old and well-established custom among men experienced in 
frontier life always to cross a stream upon which it is intended to encamp 
for the night, and this rule should never be departed from where a stream 
is to be forded, as a rise during the night might detain the traveler for 
several days in awaiting the fall of the waters 

STORMS

   In Western Texas, during the autumn and winter months, storms arise 
very suddenly, and, when accompanied by a north wind, are very severe upon 
men and animals; indeed, they are sometimes so terrific as to make it 
necessary for travelers to hasten to the nearest sheltered place to save 
the lives of their animals. When these storms come from the north, they 
are called "northers;" and as, during the winter season, the temperature 
often undergoes a sudden change of many degrees at the time the storm sets 
in, the perspiration is checked, and the system receives an instantaneous 
shock, against which it requires great vital energy to bear up. Men and 
animals are not, in this mild climate, prepared for these capricious 
meteoric revolutions, and they not unfrequently perish under their 
effects. 

   While passing near the head waters of the Colorado in October, 1849, I 
left one of my camps at an early hour in the morning under a mild and soft 
atmosphere, with a gentle breeze from the south, but had marched only a 
short distance when the wind suddenly whipped around into the north, 
bringing with it a furious chilling rain, and in a short time the road 
became so soft and heavy as to make the labor of pulling the wagons over 
it very exhausting upon the mules, and they came into camp in a profuse 
sweat, with the rain pouring down in torrents upon them. 

   They were turned out of harness into the most sheltered place that 
could be found; but, instead of eating, as was their custom, they turned 
their heads from the wind, and remained in that position, chilled and 
trembling, without making the least effort to move. The rain continued 
with unabated fury during the entire day and night, and on the following 
morning thirty-five out of one hundred and ten mules had perished, while 
those remaining could hardly be said to have had a spark of vitality left. 
They were drawn up with the cold, and could with difficulty walk. Tents 
and wagon-covers were cut up to protect them, and they were then driven 
about for some time, until a little vital energy was restored, after which 
they commenced eating grass, but it was three or four days before they 
recovered sufficiently to resume the march. 

   The mistake I made was in driving the mules after the "norther" 
commenced. Had I gone immediately into camp, before they became heated and 
wearied, they would probably have eaten the grass, and this, I have no 
doubt, would have saved them; but as it was, their blood became heated 
from overwork, and the sudden chill brought on a reaction which proved 
fatal. If an animal will eat his forage plentifully, there is but little 
danger of his perishing with cold. This I assert with much confidence, as 
I once, when traveling with about 1500 horses and mules, encountered the 
most terrific snow-storm that has been known within the memory of the 
oldest mountaineers. It commenced on the last day of April, and continued 
without cessation for sixty consecutive hours. The day had been mild and 
pleasant; the green grass was about six inches high; the trees had put out 
their new leaves, and all nature conspired to show that the somber garb of 
winter had been permanently superseded by the smiling attire of spring. 
About dark, however, the wind turned into the north; it commenced to snow 
violently, and increased until it became a frightful tempest, filling the 
atmosphere with a dense cloud of driving snow, against which it was 
impossible to ride or walk. Soon after the storm set in, one herd of three 
hundred horses and mules broke away from the herdsmen who were around 
them, and, in spite of all their efforts, ran at full speed, directly with 
the wind and snow, for fifty miles before they stopped. 

   Three of the herdsmen followed them as far as they were able, but soon 
became exhausted and lost on the prairie. One of them found his way back 
to camp in a state of great prostration and suffering. One of the others 
was found dead, and the third crawling about upon his hands and knees, 
after the storm ceased. 

   It happened, fortunately, that I had reserved a quantity of corn to be 
used in the event of finding a scarcity of grass, and as soon as the 
ground became covered with snow, so that the animals could not get at the 
grass, I fed out the corn, which I am induced to believe saved their 
lives. Indeed, they did not seem to be at all affected by this prolonged 
and unseasonable tempest. This occurred upon the summit of the elevated 
ridge dividing the waters of the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers, where 
storms are said to be of frequent occurrence. 

   The greater part of the animals that stampeded were recovered after the 
storm, and, although they had traveled a hundred miles at a very rapid 
pace, they did not seem to be much affected by it.




CHAPTER IV
Packing. -- Saddles. -- Mexican Method. -- Madrina, or Bellmare. -- 
Attachment of the Mule illustrated. -- Best Method of Packing. -- Hopping 
Animals. -- Selecting Horses and Mules. -- Grama and bunch Grass. -- 
European Saddles. -- California Saddle. -- Saddle Wounds. -- Alkali. -- 
Flies. -- Colic. -- Rattlesnake Bites. -- Cures for the Bite. 

PACKING AND DRIVING

   WITH a train of pack animals properly organized and equipped, a party 
may travel with much comfort and celerity. It is enabled to take short 
cuts, and move over the country in almost any direction without regard to 
roads. Mountains and broken ground may easily be traversed, and exemption 
is gained from many of the troubles and detentions attendant upon the 
transit of cumbersome wagon trains. 

   One of the most essential requisites to the outfit of a pack train is a 
good pack-saddle. Various patterns are in use, many of which are mere 
instruments of torture upon the backs of the poor brutes, lacerating them 
cruelly, and causing continued pain. 

   The Mexicans use a leather pack-saddle without a tree. It is stuffed 
with hay, and is very large covering almost the entire back, and extending 
far down the sides. It is secured with a broad hair girth, and the load is 
kept in position by a lashrope drawn by two men so tight as to give the 
unfortunate beast intense suffering. 

   A pack-saddle is made by T. Grimsley, No. 41 Main Street, St. Louis, 
Mo. It is open at the top, with a light, compact, and strong tree, which 
fits the animal's back well, and is covered with rawhide, put on green, 
and drawn tight by the contraction in drying. It has a leather breast-
strap, breeching, and lash-strap, with a broad hair girth fastened in the 
Mexican fashion. Of sixty-five of these saddles that I used in crossing 
the Rocky Mountains, over an exceedingly rough and broken section, not one 
of them wounded a mule's back, and I regard them as the best saddles I 
have ever seen. 

   No people, probably, are more familiar with the art of packing than the 
Mexicans. They understand the habits, disposition, and powers of the mule 
perfectly, and will get more work out of him than any other men I have 
ever seen. The mule and the donkey are to them as the camel to the Arab -- 
their porters over deserts and mountains where no other means of 
transportation can be used to advantage. The Spanish Mexicans are, 
however, cruel masters, having no mercy upon their beasts, and it is no 
uncommon thing for them to load their mules with the enormous burden of 
three or four hundred pounds. 

   These muleteers believe that, when the pack is firmly lashed, the 
animal supports his burden better and travels with greater ease, which 
seems quite probable, as the tension forms, as it were, an external sheath 
supporting and bracing the muscles. It also has a tendency to prevent the 
saddle from slipping and chafing the mule's back. With such huge cargas as 
the Mexicans load upon their mules, it is impossible, by any precautions, 
to prevent their backs and withers from becoming horribly mangled, and it 
is common to see them working their animals day after day in this 
miserable plight. This heavy packing causes the scars that so often mark 
Mexican mules. 

   The animal, in starting out from camp in the morning, groaning under 
the weight of his heavy burden, seems hardly able to move; but the pack 
soon settles, and so loosens the lashing that after a short time he moves 
along with more ease. Constant care and vigilance on the part of the 
muleteers are necessary to prevent the packs from working loose and 
falling off. The adjustment of a carga upon a mule does not, however, 
detain the caravan, as the others move on while it is being righted. If 
the mules are suffered to halt, they are apt to lie down, and it is very 
difficult for them, with their loads, to rise; besides, they are likely to 
strain themselves in their efforts to do so. The Mexicans, in traveling 
with large caravans, usually make the day's march without nooning, as too 
much time would be consumed in unloading and packing up again. 

   Packs, when taken off in camp, should be piled in a row upon the 
ground, and, if there be a prospect of rain, the saddles should be placed 
over them, and the whole covered with the saddle-blankets or canvas. 

   The muleteers and herders should be mounted upon well-trained horses, 
and be careful to keep the animals of the caravan from wandering or 
scattering along the road. This can easily be done by having some of the 
men riding upon each side, and others in rear of the caravan. 

   In herding mules it is customary among prairie travelers to have a bell-
mare, to which the mules soon become so attached that they will follow her 
wherever she goes. By keeping her in charge of one of' the herdsmen, the 
herds are easily controlled; and during a stampede, if the herdsman mounts 
her, and rushes ahead toward camp, they will generally follow. 

   In crossing rivers the bell-mare should pass first, after which the 
mules are easily induced to take to the water and pass over, even if they 
have to swim. Mules are good swimmers unless they happen, by plunging off 
a high bank, to get water in their ears, when they are often drowned. 
Whenever a mule in the water drops his ears, it is a sure indication that 
he has water in them, and he should be taken out as soon as possible. To 
prevent accidents of this nature, where the water is deep and the banks 
abrupt, the mule herds should be allowed to enter slowly, and without 
crowding, as otherwise they are not only likely to get their heads under 
water, but to throw each other over and get injured. 

   The madrina, or bell-mare, acts a most important part in a herd of 
mules, and is regarded by experienced campaigners as indispensable to 
their security. She is selected for her quiet and regular habits. She will 
not wander far from the camp. If she happen to have a colt by her side, 
this is no objection, as the mules soon form the most devoted attachment 
to it. I have often seen them leave their grazing when very hungry, and 
flock around a small colt, manifesting their delight by rubbing it with 
their noses, licking it with their tongues, kicking up their heels, and 
making a variety of other grotesque demonstrations of affection, while the 
poor little colt, perfectly unconscious of the cause of these ungainly 
caresses, stood trembling with fear, but unable to make his escape from 
the compact circle of his mulish admirers. Horses and asses are also used 
as bell animals, and the mules soon become accustomed to following them. 
If a man leads or rides a bell animal in advance, the mules follow, like 
so many dogs, in the most orderly procession. 

   "After traveling about fourteen miles," says Bayard Taylor, " we were 
joined by three miners, and our mules, taking a sudden liking for their 
horses, jogged on at a more brisk pace. The instincts of the mulish heart 
form an interesting study to the traveler in the mountains. I would (were 
the comparison not too ungallant) liken it to a woman's, for it is quite 
as uncertain in its sympathies, bestowing its affections when least 
expected, and, when bestowed, quite as constant, so long as the object is 
not taken away. Sometimes a horse, sometimes an ass, captivates the fancy 
of a whole drove of mules, but often an animal nowise akin. Lieutenant 
Beale told me that his whole train of mules once galloped off suddenly, on 
the plains of the Cimarone, and ran half a mile, when they halted in 
apparent satisfaction. The cause of their freak was found to be a buffalo 
calf which had strayed from the herd. They were frisking around it in the 
greatest delight, rubbing their noses against it, throwing up their heels, 
and making themselves ridiculous by abortive attempts to neigh and bray, 
while the calf, unconscious of its attractive qualities, stood trembling 
in their midst." 

   "If several large troops," says Charles Darwin, "are turned into one 
field to graze in the morning, the muleteer has only to lead the madrinas 
a little apart and tinkle their bells, and, although there may be 200 or 
300 mules together, each immediately knows its own bell, and separates 
itself from the rest. The affection of these animals for their madrina 
saves infinite trouble. It is nearly impossible to lose an old mule, for, 
if detained several hours by force, she will, by the power of smell, like 
a dog, track out her companions, or rather the madrina; for, according to 
the muleteer, she is the chief object of affection. The feeling, however, 
is not of an individual nature, for I believe I am right in saying that 
any animal with a bell will serve as a madrina." 

   Of the attachment that a mule will form for a horse, I will cite an 
instance from my own observation, which struck me at the time as being one 
of the most remarkable and touching evidences of devotion that I have ever 
known among the brute creation. 

   On leaving Fort Leavenworth with the army for Utah in 1857, one of the 
officers rode a small mule, whose kind and gentle disposition soon caused 
him to become a favorite among the soldiers, and they named him "Billy." 
As this officer and myself were often thrown together upon the march, the 
mule, in the course of a few days, evinced a growing attachment for a mare 
that I rode. The sentiment was not, however, reciprocated on her part, and 
she intimated as much by the reversed position of her ears, and the free 
exercise of her feet and teeth whenever Billy came within her reach; but 
these signal marks of displeasure, instead of discouraging, rather seemed 
to increase his devotion, and whenever at liberty he invariably sought to 
get near her, and appeared much distressed when not permitted to follow 
her. 

   On leaving Camp Scott for New Mexico Billy was among the number of 
mules selected for the expedition. During the march I was in the habit, 
when starting out from camp in the morning, of leading off the party, and 
directing the packmen to hold the mule until I should get so far in 
advance with the mare that he could not see us; but the moment he was 
released he would, in spite of all the efforts of the packers, start off 
at a most furious pace, and never stop or cease braying until he reached 
the mare's side. We soon found it impossible to keep him with the other 
mules, and he was finally permitted to have his own way. 

   In the course of time we encountered the deep snows in the Rocky 
Mountains, where the animals could get no forage, and Billy, in common 
with the others, at length became so weak and jaded that he was unable any 
longer to leave his place in the caravan and break a track through the 
snow around to the front. He made frequent attempts to turn out and force 
his way ahead, but after numerous unsuccessful efforts he would fall down 
exhausted, and set up a most mournful braying. 

   The other mules soon began to fail, and to be left, worn out and 
famished, to die by the wayside; it was not, however, for some time that 
Billy showed symptoms of becoming one of the victims, until one evening 
after our arrival at camp I was informed that he had dropped down and been 
left upon the road during the day. The men all deplored his loss 
exceedingly, as his devotion to the mare had touched their kind hearts, 
and many expressions of sympathy were uttered around their bivouac fires 
on that evening. 

   Much to our surprise, however, about ten o'clock, just as we were about 
going to sleep, we heard a mule braying about half a mile to the rear upon 
our trail. Sure enough, it proved to be Billy, who, after having rested, 
had followed upon our track and overtaken us. As soon as he reached the 
side of the mare he lay down and seemed perfectly contented. 

   The next day I relieved him from his pack, and allowed him to run 
loose; but during the march he gave out, and was again abandoned to his 
fate, and this time we certainly never expected to see him more. To our 
great astonishment, however, about twelve o'clock that night the sonorous 
but not very musical notes of Billy in the distance aroused us from our 
slumbers, and again announced his approach. In an instant the men were 
upon their feet, gave three hearty cheers, and rushed out in a body to 
meet and escort him into camp. 

   But this well-meant ovation elicited no response from him. He came 
reeling and floundering along through the deep snow, perfectly regardless 
of these honors, pushing aside all those who occupied the trail or 
interrupted his progress in the least, wandered about until he found the 
mare, dropped down by her side, and remained until morning. 

   When we resumed our march on the following day he made another 
desperate effort to proceed, but soon fell down exhausted, when we 
reluctantly abandoned him, and saw him no more. 

   Alas! poor Billy! your constancy deserved a better fate; you may, 
indeed, be said to have been a victim to unrequited affection. 

   The articles to be transported should be made up into two packages of 
precisely equal weight, and as nearly equal in bulk as practicable, 
otherwise they will sway the saddle over to one side, and cause it to 
chafe the animal's back. 

   The packages made, two ropes about six feet long are fastened around 
the ends by a slip-knot, and if the packages contain corn or other 
articles that will shift about, small sticks should be placed between the 
sacks and the ropes, which equalizes the pressure and keeps the packages 
snug. The ropes are then looped at the ends, and made precisely of the 
same length, so that the packs will balance and come up well toward the 
top of the saddle. Two men then, each taking a pack, go upon opposite 
sides of the mule, that has been previously saddled, and, raising the 
packs simultaneously, place the loops over the pommel and cantel settling 
them well down into their places. The lashing-strap is then thrown over 
the top, brought through the rings upon each side, and drawn as tight at 
every turn as the two men on the sides can pull it, and, after having been 
carried back and forth diagonally across the packs as often as its length 
admits (generally three or four times), it is made fast to one of the 
rings, and securely tied in a slip-knot. 

   The breast-strap and breeching must not be buckled so close as to chafe 
the skin; the girth should be broad and soft where it comes opposite the 
fore legs, to prevent cutting them. Leather girths should be wrapped with 
cloth or bound with soft material. The hair girth, being soft and elastic, 
is much better than leather. 

   The crupper should never be dispensed with in a mountainous country, 
but it must be soft, round, and about an inch in diameter where it comes 
in contact with the tail, otherwise it will wound the animal in making 
long and abrupt descents. 

   In Norway they use a short round stick, about ten inches long, which 
passes under the tail, and from each end of this a cord connects with the 
saddle. 

   Camp-kettles, tin vessels, and other articles that will rattle and be 
likely to frighten animals, should be firmly lashed to the packs. When the 
packs work loose, the lash-strap should be untied, and a man upon each 
side draw it up again and make it fast. When ropes are used for lashing, 
they may be tightened by twisting them with a short stick and making the 
stick fast. 

   One hundred and twenty-five pounds is a sufficient load for a mule upon 
a long journey. 

   In traveling over a rocky country, and upon all long journeys, horses 
and mules should he shod, to prevent their hoofs wearing out or breaking. 
The mountaineers contend that beasts travel better without shoeing, but I 
have several times had occasion to regret the omission of this very 
necessary precaution. A few extra shoes and nails, with a small hammer, 
will enable travelers to keep their animals shod. 

   In turning out pack animals to graze, it is well either to keep the 
lariat ropes upon them with the ends trailing upon the ground, or to 
hopple them, as no corral can be made into which they may be driven in 
order to catch them. A very good way to catch an animal without driving 
him into an inclosure is for two men to take a long rope and stretch it 
out at the height of the animal's neck; some men then drive him slowly up 
against it, when one of the men with the rope runs around behind the 
animal and back to the front again, thus taking a turn with the rope 
around his neck and holding him secure. 

   To prevent an animal from kicking, take a forked stick and make the 
forked part fast to the bridlebit, bringing the two ends above the head 
and securing them there, leaving the part of the stick below the fork of 
sufficient length to reach near the ground when the animal's head is in 
its natural position. He can not kick up unless he lowers his head, and 
the stick effectually prevents that. 

   Tether-ropes should be so attached to the neck of the animal as not to 
slip and choke him, and the picket-pins never be left on the ropes except 
when in the ground, as, in the event of a stampede, they are very likely 
to swing around and injure the animals. 

   Many experienced travelers were formerly in the habit of securing their 
animals with a strap or iron ring fastened around the fetlock of one fore 
foot, and this attached to the tether-rope. This method holds the animal 
very securely to the picket-pin, but when the rope is first put on, and 
before he becomes accustomed to it, he is liable to throw himself down and 
get hurt; so that I think the plan of tethering by the neck or halter is 
the safest, and, so far as I have observed, is now universally practiced. 

   The mountaineers and Indians seldom tether their animals, but prefer 
the plan of hoppling, as this gives them more latitude for ranging and 
selecting the choicest grass. 

   Two methods of hoppling are practiced among the Indians and hunters of 
the West: one with a strap about two feet long buckling around the fore 
legs above the fetlock joints; the other is what they term the "side 
hopple," which is made by buckling a strap around a front and rear leg 
upon the same side. In both cases care should be taken not to buckle the 
strap so tight as to chafe the legs. The latter plan is the best, because 
the animal, sidehoppled, is able to go but little faster than a walk, 
while the front hopple permits him, after a little practice, to gallop off 
at considerable speed. If the hopples are made of iron connected with 
chains, like handcuffs, with locks and keys, it will be impossible for the 
Indians, without files, to cut them; but the parts that come in contact 
with the legs should be covered with soft leather. 

   "A horse," says Mr. Galton, "may be hoppled with a stirrup-leather by 
placing the middle around one leg, then twisting it several times and 
buckling it round the other leg. When you wish to picket horses in the 
middle of a sandy plain, dig a hole two or three feet deep, and, tying 
your rope to a fagot of sticks or brushwood, or even to a bag filled with 
sand, bury this in it." 

   For prairie service, horses which have been raised exclusively upon 
grass, and never been fed on grain, or "range horses," as they are called 
in the West, are decidedly the best, and will perform more hard labor than 
those that have been stabled and groomed. The large, stout ponies found 
among some of our frontier settlements are well adapted to this service, 
and endure admirably. The same remarks hold good in the choice of mules; 
and it will be found that the square-built, big-bellied, and shortlegged 
Mexican mule will endure far more hard service, on short allowance of 
forage, than the larger American mule which has been accustomed to grain. 

   In our trip across the Rocky Mountains we had both the American and 
Mexican mules, and improved a good opportunity of giving their relative 
powers of endurance a thorough service-trial. For many days they were 
reduced to a meagre allowance of dry grass, and at length got nothing but 
pine leaves, while their work in the deep snow was exceedingly severe. 
This soon told upon the American mules, and all of them, with the 
exception of two, died, while most of the Mexican mules went through. The 
result was perfectly conclusive. 

   We found that, where the snow was not more than two feet deep, the 
animals soon learned to paw it away and get at the grass. Of course they 
do not get sufficient in this way, but they do much better than one would 
suppose. 

   In Utah and New Mexico the autumn is so dry that the grass does not 
lose its nutritious properties by being washed with rains. It gradually 
dries and cures like hay, so that animals eat it freely, and will fatten 
upon it even in mid-winter. It is seldom that any grain is fed to stock in 
either of these territories. 

   Several of the varieties of grass growing upon the slopes of the Rocky 
Mountains are of excellent quality; among these may be mentioned the 
Gramma and bunch grasses. Horses and mules turned out to graze always 
prefer the grass upon the mountain sides to grass of the valleys. 

   We left New Mexico about the first of March, six weeks before the new 
grass appeared, with 1500 animals, many of them low in flesh, yet they 
improved upon the journey, and on their arrival in Utah were all, with 
very few exceptions, in fine working condition. Had this march been made 
at the same season in the country bordering upon the Missouri River, where 
there are heavy autumnal rains, the animals would probably have become 
very poor. 

   In this journey the herds were allowed to range over the best grass 
that could be found, but were guarded both night and day with great care, 
whereas, if they had been corraled or picketed at night, I dare say they 
would have lost flesh.*

* Some curious and interesting experiments are said to have been recently 
made at the veterinary school at Alfort, near Paris, by order of the 
minister of war, to ascertain the powers of endurance of horses. It 
appears that a horse will live on water alone five-and-twenty days; 
seventeen days without eating or drinking; only five days if fed and 
unwatered; ten days if fed and insufficiently watered. A horse kept 
without water for three days drank one hundred and four pounds of water in 
three minutes. It was found that a horse taken immediately after "feed," 
and kept in the active exercise of the "squadron school," completely 
digested its "feed" in three hours; in the same time in the "conscript's 
school" its food was two thirds digested; and if kept perfectly quiet in 
the stable, its digestion was scarcely commenced in three hours. 

SADDLES

   Great diversity of opinion exists regarding the best equipment for 
horses, and the long-mooted question is as yet very far from being 
definitely settled. 

   I do not regard the opinions of Europeans as having a more direct 
bearing upon this question, or as tending to establish any more definite 
and positive conclusions regarding it than have been developed by the 
experience of our own border citizens, the major part of whose lives has 
been spent in the saddle; yet I am confident that the following brief 
description of the horse equipments used in different parts of Europe, the 
substance of which I have extracted from Captain M'Clellan's interesting 
report, will be read with interest and instruction. 

   The saddle used by the African chasseurs consists of a plain wooden 
tree, with a pad upon the top, but without skirts, and is somewhat similar 
to our own military saddle, but lower in the pommel and cantle. The girth 
and surcingle are of leather, with an ordinary woolen saddle-blanket. 
Their bridle has a single head-stall, with the Spanish bit buckled to it. 

   A new saddle has recently been introduced into the French service by 
Captain Cogent, the tree of which is cut out of a single piece of wood, 
the cantle only being glued on, and a piece of walnut let into the pommel, 
with a thin strip veneered upon the front ends of the bars. The pommel and 
cantle are lower than in the old model; the whole is covered with wet raw 
hide, glued on and sewed at the edges. The great advantage this saddle 
possesses is in being so arranged that it may be used for horses of all 
sizes and conditions. The saddle-blanket is made of thick felt cloth, and 
is attached to the pommel by a small strap passing through holes in the 
blanket, which is thus prevented from slipping, and at the same time it 
raises the saddle so as to admit a free circulation of air over the 
horse's spine. 

   The Hungarian saddle is made of hard wood entirely uncovered, with a 
raised pommel and cantle. The seat is formed with a leather strap four 
inches wide nailed to the forks on the front and rear, and secured to the 
side-boards by leather thongs, thus giving an elastic and easy saddle-
seat. This is also the form of the saddle-tree used by the Russian and 
Austrian cavalry. The Russians have a leather girth fastened by three 
small buckles: it passes over the tree, and is tied to the side-boards. 
The saddle-blanket is of stout felt cloth in four thicknesses, and a layer 
of black leather over it, and the whole held together by leather thongs 
passing through and through. When the horse falls off in flesh, more 
thicknesses are added, and "vice versa." This saddle-blanket is regarded 
by the Russian officers as the best possible arrangement. The Russians use 
the curb and snaffle-bits made of steel. 

   The Cossack saddle has a thick padding under the side-boards and on the 
seat, which raises the rider very high on his horse, so that his feet are 
above the bottom of the belly. Their bridle has but a simple snaffle-bit, 
and no martingale. 

   The Prussian cuirassiers have a heavy saddle with a low pommel and 
cantle, covered with leather, but it is not thought by Captain M'Clellan 
to present any thing worthy of imitation. 

   The other Prussian cavalry ride the Hungarian saddle, of a heavier 
model than the one in the Austrian service. The surcingle is of leather, 
and fastens in the Mexican style; the girth is also of leather, three and 
a half inches wide, with a large buckle. It is in two parts, attached to 
the bars by raw-hide thongs. The curb and snaffle steel bits are used, and 
attached to a single head-stall. 

   The English cavalry use a saddle which has a lower cantle and pommel 
than our Grimsley saddle, covered with leather. The snaffle-bit is 
attached to the halter head-stall by a chain and T; the curb has a 
separate head-stall, which on a march is occasionally taken of and hung on 
the carbine stock. 

   The Sardinian saddle has a bare wooden tree very similar to the 
Hungarian. A common blanket, folded in twelve thicknesses, is placed under 
it. The girth and surcingle are of leather. 

   Without expressing any opinion as to the comparative merits of these 
different saddles, I may be permitted to give a few general principles, 
which I regard as infallible in the choice of a saddle. 

   The side-boards should be large, and made to conform to the shape of 
the horse's back, thereby distributing the burden over a large surface. It 
should stand up well above the spine, so as to admit a free circulation of 
air under it. 

   For long journeys, the crupper, where it comes in contact with the 
tail, should be made of soft leather. It should be drawn back only far 
enough to hold the saddle from the withers. Some horses require much more 
tension upon the crupper than others. The girth should be made broad, of a 
soft and elastic material. Those made of hair, in use among the Mexicans, 
fulfill the precited conditions. 

   A light and easy bit, which will not fret or chafe the horse, is 
recommended. 

   The saddle-blanket must be folded even and smooth, and placed on so as 
to cover every part of the back that comes in contact with the saddle, and 
in warm weather it is well to place a gunny bag under the blanket, as it 
is cooler than the wool. 

   It will have been observed that, in the French service, the folded 
saddle-blanket is tied to the pommel to prevent it slipping back. This is 
well if the blanket be taken of and thoroughly dried whenever the horse is 
unsaddled. 

   A saddle-blanket made of moss is used in some of the Southwestern 
States, which is regarded by many as the perfection of this article of 
horse equipment. It is a mat woven into the proper shape and size from the 
beaten fibres of moss that hangs from the trees in our Southern States. It 
is cheap, durable, is not in any way affected by sweat, and does not chafe 
or heat the horse's spine like the woolen blanket. Its open texture allows 
a rapid evaporation, which tends to keep the back cool, and obviates the 
danger of stripping and sudden exposure of the heated parts to the sun and 
air. 

   The experience of some of our officers who have used this mat for years 
in Mexico and Texas corroborates all I have said in its favor; and they 
are unanimous in the opinion that a horse will never get a sore back when 
it is placed under a good saddle. 

   A saddle made by the Mexicans in California is called the California 
saddle. This is extensively used upon the Pacific slope of the mountains, 
and is believed to possess, at least, as many advantages for rough 
frontier service as any other pattern that has been invented. Those hardy 
and experienced veterans, the mountaineers, could not be persuaded to ride 
any other saddle, and their ripened knowledge of such matters certainly 
gives weight to their conclusions. 

   The merits of the California saddle consist in its being light, strong, 
and compact, and conforming well to the shape of the horse. When strapped 
on, it rests so firmly in position that the strongest pull of a horse upon 
a lariat attached to the pommel can not displace it. Its shape is such 
that the rider is compelled to sit nearly erect, with his legs on the 
continuation of the line of the body, which makes his seat more secure, 
and, at the same time, gives him a better control over his arms and horse. 
This position is attained by setting the stirup-leathers farther back than 
on the old-fashioned saddle. The pommel is high, like the Mexican saddle, 
and prevents the rider from being thrown forward. The tree is covered with 
raw hide, put on green, and sewed; when this dries and contracts it gives 
it great strength. It has no iron in its composition, but is kept together 
by buckskin strings, and can easily be taken to pieces for mending or 
cleaning. It has a hair girth about five inches wide. 

   The whole saddle is covered with a large and thick sheet of sole-
leather, having a hole to lay over the pommel; it extends back over the 
horse's hips, and protects them from rain, and when taken off in camp it 
furnishes a good security against dampness when placed under the 
traveler's bed. 

   The California saddle-tree is regarded by many as the best of all 
others for the horse's back, and as having an easier seat than the 
Mexican. 

   General Comte de la Roche-Aymon, in his treatise upon "Light Troops," 
published in Paris in 1856, says: 

   "In nearly all the European armies the equipment of the horse is not in 
harmony with the new tactics-with those tactics in which, during nearly 
all of a campaign, the cavalry remains in bivouac. Have we reflected upon 
the kind of saddle which, under these circumstances, would cover the horse 
best without incommoding him during the short periods that he is permitted 
to repose ? Have we reflected upon the kind of saddle which, offering the 
least fragility, exposes the horse to the least danger of sore back. All 
the cuirassiers and the dragoons of Europe have saddles which they call 
French saddle, the weight of which is a load for the horse. The interior 
mechanism of these saddles is complicated and filled with weak bands of 
iron, which become deranged, bend, and sometimes break; the rider does not 
perceive these accidents, or he does not wish to perceive them, for fear 
of being left behind or of having to go on foot; he continues on, and at 
the end of a day's march his horse has a sore back, and in a few days is 
absolutely unserviceable. We may satisfy ourselves of the truth of these 
observations by comparing the lists of horses sent to the rear during the 
course of a campaign by the cuirassiers and dragoons who use the French 
saddle, and by the hussars with the Hungarian saddle. The number sent to 
the rear by the latter is infinitely less, although employed in a service 
much more active and severe; and it might be still less by making some 
slight improvements in the manner of fixing their saddle upon the horse. 

   "It is a long time since Marshal Saxe said there was but one kind of 
saddle fit for cavalry, which was the hussar saddle: this combined all 
advantages, lightness, solidity, and economy. It is astonishing that the 
system of actual war had not led to the employment of the kind of saddle 
in use among the Tartars, the Cossacks, the Hungarians and, indeed, among 
all horsemen and nomads. This saddle has the incontestable advantage of 
permitting the horse to lie down and rest himself without inconvenience. 
If, notwithstanding the folded blanket which they place under the 
Hungarian saddle, this saddle will still wound the animal's back 
sometimes, this only proceeds from the friction occasioned by the motion 
of the horse and the movement of the rider upon the saddle; a friction 
which it will be nearly impossible to avoid, inasmuch as the saddle-bow is 
held in its place only by a surcingle, the ends of which are united by a 
leathern band: these bands always relax more or less, and the saddle 
becomes loose. To remedy this, I propose to attach to the saddle-bow 
itself a double girth, one end of which shall be made fast to the arch in 
front, and the other end to the rear of the arch upon the right side, to 
unite in a single girth, which would buckle to a strap attached upon the 
left side in the usual manner. This buckle will hold the saddle firmly in 
its place. 

   "Notwithstanding all these precautions, however, there were still some 
inconveniences resulting from the nature of the blanket placed under the 
saddle, which I sought to remedy, and I easily accomplished it. The woolen 
nap of the cavalry saddle-blankets, not being carefully attended to, soon 
wears off, and leaves only the rough, coarse threads of the fabric; this 
absorbs the sweat from the horse, and, after it has dried and become hard, 
it acts like a rasp upon the withers, first taking off the hair, next the 
skin, and then the flesh, and, finally, the beast is rendered 
unserviceable. 

   "I sought, during the campaign of 1807, a means to remedy this evil, 
and I soon succeeded by a process as simple as it was cheap. I distributed 
among a great number of cavalry soldiers pieces of linen cloth folded 
double, two feet square, and previously dipped in melted tallow. This 
cloth was laid next to the horse's back, under the saddle-blanket, and it 
prevented all the bad effects of the woolen blanket. No horses, after this 
appliance, were afflicted with sore backs. Such are the slight changes 
which I believe should be made in the use of the Hungarian saddle. The 
remainder of the equipment should remain (as it always has been) composed 
of a breaststrap, crupper, and martingale, etc." 

   The improvements of the present age do not appear to have developed any 
thing advantageous to the saddle; on the contrary, after experimenting 
upon numerous modifications and inventions, public sentiment has at length 
given the preference to the saddle-tree of the natives in Asia and 
America, which is very similar to that of the Hungarians. 

SORES AND DISEASES

   If a horse be sweating at the time he is unsaddled, it is well to strap 
the folded saddle-blanket upon his back with the surcingle, where it is 
allowed to remain until he is perfectly dry. This causes the back to cool 
gradually, and prevents scalding or swelling. Some persons are in the 
habit of washing: their horses' backs while heated and sweating with cold 
water, but this is pernicious, and often produces sores. It is well enough 
to wash the back after it cools, but not before. After horses' backs or 
shoulders once become chafed and sore, it is very difficult to heal them, 
particularly when they are continued at work. It is better, if 
practicable, to stop using them for a while, and wash the bruised parts 
often with castile soap and water. Should it be necessary, however, to 
continue the animal in use, I have known very severe sores entirely healed 
by the free application of grease to the parts immediately after halting, 
and while the animal is warm and sweating. This seems to harden the skin 
and heal the wound even when working with the collar in contact with it. A 
piece of bacon rind tied upon the collar over the wound is also an 
excellent remedy. 

   In Texas, when the horse-flies are numerous, they attack animals 
without mercy, and where a contusion is found in the skin they deposit 
eggs, which speedily produce worms in great numbers. I have tried the 
effect of spirits of turpentine and several other remedies, but nothing 
seemed to have the desired effect but calomel blown into the wound, which 
destroyed the worms and soon effected a cure. 

   In the vicinity of the South Pass, upon the Humboldt River, and in some 
sections upon other routes to California, alkaline water is found, which 
is very poisonous to animals that drink it, and generates a disease known 
in California as "alkali." This disease first makes its appearance by 
swellings upon the abdomen and between the fore legs, and is attended with 
a cough, which ultimately destroys the lungs and kills the animal. If 
taken at an early stage, this disease is curable, and the following 
treatment is generally considered as the most efficacious. The animal is 
first raked, after which a large dose of grease is poured down its throat; 
acids are said to have the same effect, and give immediate relief. When 
neither of these remedies can be procured, many of the emigrants have been 
in the habit of mixing starch or flour in a bucket of water, and allowing 
the animal to drink it. It is supposed that this forms a coating over the 
mucous membrane, and thus defeats the action of the poison. 

   Animals should never be allowed to graze in the vicinity of alkaline 
water, as the deposits upon the grass after floods are equally deleterious 
with the water itself. 

   In seasons when the water is low in the Humboldt River, there is much 
less danger of the alkali, as the running water in the river then comes 
from pure mountain springs, and is confined to the channel; whereas, 
during high water, when the banks are overflowed, the salts are dissolved, 
making the water more impure. 

   For colic, a good remedy is a mixture of two table-spoonfuls of brandy 
and two tea-spoonfuls of laudanum dissolved in a bottle of water and 
poured down the animal's throat. Another remedy, which has been 
recommended to me by an experienced officer as producing speedy relief, is 
a table-spoonful of chloride of lime dissolved in a bottle of water, and 
administered as in the other case. 

RATTLESNAKE BITES

   Upon the southern routes to California rattlesnakes are often met with, 
but it is seldom that any person is bitten by them; yet this is a possible 
contingency, and it can never be amiss to have an antidote at hand. 

   Hartshorn applied externally to the wound, and drunk in small 
quantities diluted with water whenever the patient becomes faint or 
exhausted from the effects of the poison, is one of the most common 
remedies. 

   In the absence of all medicines, a string or ligature should at once be 
bound firmly above the puncture, then scarify deeply with a knife, suck 
out the poison, and spit out the saliva. 

   Andersson, in his book on Southwestern Africa, says: " In the Cape 
Colony the Dutch farmers resort to a cruel but apparently effective plan 
to counteract the bad effects of a serpent's bite. An incision having been 
made in the breast of a living fowl, the bitten part is applied to the 
wound. If the poison be very deadly, the bird soon evinces symptoms of 
distress, becomes drowsy, droops its head, and dies. It is replaced by a 
second, a third, and more if requisite. When however, the bird no longer 
exhibits any of the signs just mentioned, the patient is considered out of 
danger. A frog similarly applied is supposed to be equally efficacious." 

   Haunberg, in his Travels in South Africa, mentions an antidote against 
the bite of serpents. He says: "The blood of the turtle was much cried up, 
which, on account of this extraordinary virtue, the inhabitants dry in the 
form of small scales or membranes, and carry about them when they travel 
in this country, which swarms with this most noxious vermin. Whenever 
anyone is wounded by a serpent, he takes a couple of pinches of the dried 
blood internally, and applies a little of it to the wound." 

   I was present upon one occasion when an Indian child was struck in the 
fore finger by a large rattlesnake. His mother, who was near at the time, 
seized him in her arms, and, placing the wounded finger in her mouth, 
sucked the poison from the puncture for some minutes, repeatedly spitting 
out the saliva; after which she chewed and mashed some plantain leaves and 
applied to the wound. Over this she sprinkled some finely-powdered 
tobacco, and wrapped the finger up in a rag. I did not observe that the 
child suffered afterward the least pain or inconvenience. The immediate 
application of the remedies probably saved his life. 

   Irritation from the bite of gnats and musquitoes, etc., may be relieved 
by chewing the plantain, and rubbing the spittle on the bite. 

   I knew of another instance near Fort Towson, in Northern Texas, where a 
small child was left upon the earthen floor of a cabin while its mother 
was washing at a spring near by. She heard a cry of distress, and, on 
going to the cabin, what was her horror on seeing a rattlesnake coiled 
around the child's arm, and striking it repeatedly with its fangs. After 
killing the snake, she hurried to her nearest neighbor, procured a bottle 
of brandy, and returned as soon as possible; but the poison had already so 
operated upon the arm that it was as black as a negro's. She poured down 
the child's throat a huge draught of the liquor, which soon took effect, 
making it very drunk, and stopped the action of the poison. Although the 
child was relieved, it remained sick for a long time, but ultimately 
recovered. 

   A man was struck in the leg by a very large rattlesnake near Fort 
Belknap, Texas, in 1853. No other remedy being at hand, a small piece of 
indigo was pulverized, made into a poultice with water and applied to the 
puncture. It seemed to draw out the poison, turning the indigo white, 
after which it was removed and another poultice applied. These 
applications were repeated until the indigo ceased to change its color. 
The man was then carried to the hospital at Fort Belknap, and soon 
recovered, and the surgeon of the post pronounced it a very satisfactory 
cure. 

   A Chickasaw woman, who was bitten upon the foot near Fort Washita by a 
ground rattlesnake (a very venomous species), drank a bottle of whisky and 
applied the indigo poultice, and when I saw her, three days afterward, she 
was recovering, but the flesh around the wound sloughed away. 

   A Delaware remedy, which is said to be efficacious, is to burn powder 
upon the wound, but I have never known it to be tried excepting upon a 
horse. In this case it was successful, or, at all events, the animal 
recovered. 

   Of all the remedies known to me, I should decidedly prefer ardent 
spirits. It is considered a sovereign antidote among our Western frontier 
settlers, and I would make use of it with great confidence. It must be 
taken until the patient becomes very much intoxicated, and this requires a 
large quantity, as the action of the poison seems to counteract its 
effects. 

   Should the fangs of the snake penetrate deep enough to reach an artery, 
it is probable the person would die in a short time. I imagine, however, 
that this does not often occur. 

   The following remedial measures for the treatment of the bites of 
poisonous reptiles are recommended by Dr. Philip Weston in the London 
Lancet for July, 1859: 

    1. The application of a ligature round the limb close to the wound, 
between it and the heart, to arrest the return of venous blood. 

    2. Excision of the bitten parts, or free incision through the wounds 
made by the poison-teeth, subsequently encouraging the bleeding by warm 
solutions to favor the escape of the poison from the circulation. 

    3. Cauterization widely round the limb of the bite with a strong 
solution of nitrate of silver, one drachm to the ounce, to prevent the 
introduction of the poison into the system by the lymphatics. 

    4. As soon as indications of the absorption of the poison into the 
circulation begin to manifest themselves, the internal administration of 
ammonia in aerated or soda-water every quarter of an hour, to support the 
nervous energy and allay the distressing thirst. 

   "But," he continues, "there is yet wanting some remedy that shall 
rapidly counteract the poison introduced into the blood, and assist in 
expelling it from the system. The well-authenticated accounts of the 
success attending the internal use of arsenic in injuries arising from the 
bites of venomous reptiles in the East and West Indies, and also in Africa 
and the well-known properties of this medicine as a powerful tonic and 
alterative in conditions of impaired vitality of the blood arising from 
the absorption of certain blood-poisons, would lead me to include this 
agent in the treatment already mentioned. It should be administered in 
combination with ammonia, in full doses, frequently repeated, so as to 
neutralize quickly the poison circulating in the blood before it can be 
eliminated from the system. This could readily be accomplished by adding 
ten to fifteen minims of Fowler's solution to the compound spirit of 
ammonia, to be given every quarter of an hour in aerated or soda-water, 
until the vomiting and the more urgent symptoms of collapse have subsided, 
subsequently repeating the dose at longer intervals until reaction had 
become fully established, and the patient relieved by copious bilious 
dejections." 

   Cedron, which is a nut that grows on the Isthmus of Panama, and which 
is sold by the druggists in New York, is said to be an infallible antidote 
to serpent-bites. In the Bullet. de l'Acad. de Med. for February, 1858, it 
is stated that a man was bitten at Panama by a coral snake, the most 
poisonous species on the Isthmus. During the few seconds that it took him 
to take the cedron from his bag, he was seized with violent pains at the 
heart and throat; but he had scarcely chewed and swallowed a piece of the 
nut about the size of a small bean, when the pains ceased as by magic. He 
chewed a little more, and applied it externally to the wound, when the 
pains disappeared, and were followed by a copious evacuation of a 
substance like curdled milk. Many other cases are mentioned where the 
cedron proved an antidote.