The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-10-12
tirstthere ls the carea-

dor or charger. He is the master of the
tr In. Besides him there is an assistant
cargador and two savanneros (herdsman,
who have the special duty of looking af
ter the animals; and q cook. In a good
country. a days journey rarely exceeds
twelve or fifteen miles, and where the
way is rugged and difficult it is less, Of
course. In such regions as New Mexico
or Arizona, where the heat is very OPP
pressiye, the march begins very early
sometimes at 8 o'clock in the morning:
and it may end before noon. The first
man up is the cook, and he begins to be-
stir himself, or as they say in the Wes'
to rustic" soon after midnight. Their
the two savanneros round up the mulet
and bring them into camp, where theil
halters or jaquimas are put on, and they
are ready for their appsrejos.
A well.trained. mule knows his owr
appRrejo, and will come up to 1t and
stand OF his own accord. These all fast
ened before a single load Is touched,
the cargador, who always packs on the
near side, being assisted by one savan.
nero, and the assistant corgador by the
other, the cook, after he has washed and
packed his dishes. lending a hand where.
ever he is needed. Every animal. while
his load is being adjusted, has his eyes
covered by a leather strap so that he
may hot move, and when this is finished
the strap is taken off, his jaquima fast
encd around his forehead, and he is
turned loose again to wander by himself
until the tram is ready to start. 1t takes
two or three hours to load the whole
train. Then the packers mount thea.
horses, and one of them sets out with
tho 1nrIn thpf yusao NC f1n hall ~ =, III ;nta r
behind him. Just as soon as that ami
nal 8 arts, all the other mules that now
are scattered around feeding, lift their
heads and fall into marching order.
The bell in the pack train is an instru-
ment Of the greatest Importance. The
whole crowd of animals respect nothing
out It's SOUND. 1t IS never taken OFT the
beast that YEA it, audit seems to in,
vest him with a strange attraction.
Where the bell mule goes, the rest go,
and without it sometimes they cannot DO
made to bulge. They follow it on the
9 Craze about 1t at night, and the In.
dlaps, when they undertake to stam-
pede a pack train, which they frequently
always take tho greatest care to get
the bel! mule. On onesoecasion a train
was run off and the bell mule happened
fall and be killed. The Indians sue
ceeded in keeping the rest with them
without stopping, but the bell was after
ward found BY the men of the train.
One night they reached the Indian
camp, and they set the bell ringing.
Then the whole train of mules, which
lie Indians deemed safely corralled,
lied, through Saatopposition to the sound
OF their former guide, and once more
returned to duty in the hands of their
owners.
Behind the train come the other
men; These have to keep a sharp look
out on the packs, for the ropes are to
stretch, especially if theygot wet during
The night; and frequently the cargador
must disnount, leaving his horse stand
ing on the plain, and with one of his as
slstants tighten up the load. A train is
counted on to make from two and q half
to- three miles an hour.
Accidents are not rare among pack an
lmals. They often have to pass over old
Indian trails where the road goes up
seemingly impossible hills and around
the edges or cliffs that for afootway have
only slop'ng slippety rocks on which
one would think no animal could get
any hold at all. Or it may 90 up a path
down which for years the crumbling de-
bris of some cliff far above has tumbled
till the whole hillside is a lot of small,
loose stones. of which great masses may
be set in motion by q single touch. OF
such a place as this, only a poor foot
path can be made; and although such
roads are not impossible, itisimpossible
tell when the crumbling bed may
give way. If an animal is thrown off his
balance, so that to regain it the slightest
struggle is necessary, the probability is
that the whole part of the path on which
he makes the effort will 90 like an
avalanche. He must 20 whit, and, be-
top-heavy with his pack. he will in
.vltably be thrown, over and rOlleddown.
b hill head over heels, and the result
will be a wreck of both mule and pack
the bottom. Severe falls often occur
without serious injury. If the bottom
of q hill is not too rocky, a mule may
roll down fifty or sixty feet as if shot
from u catapult, and LIng up all sound
and with his pnnlt TACT. A tired mule
has been known to deliberately seat
himself and roll down a bank thirty or
forty feet high just to see if he couldn't
roll his pack OFT.
It is wonderful to see the wisdom Of q
pack mule on the march,. Except that
a man, followed by the bell mule, rides
in front of the train to lead the way, he
is left to his W AS a rule
the whole train marches in Indian file,
but8hensthe road lies across a smooth
and even prairie, the train is apt to scat
ter a little, and five or six animals go
side by side. The moment that Il ford
is reached, however, or a difficult pas
sage of any Sort they instinctively fall
ack5again into rank, and each passes
~ flyrn n III IN ~, x31tr-r n fn1 -
hill, if there is a trail, it will not be d.
yerged from; but if there is none, the
greatest freedom Of progress is, taken.
And.ye the whole train will ascend or
descend on the same principle; that
is, they will follow all a ziszag
path, They may approach the
hill in perfect order, but the moment
that it is reached they scatter along
its sides, crossing back and forth among
themselves, making only short tacks,
andthus passing over a seemingly inn
passable kill with little greater effort
than would be required for a gentle
slope. Sometimes however, the only
trail 0 straight up a hill 50 steep that
each mule must baye q lariat fastened
Round his neck and be helped up by
men standing on the top; not that the
mule could not carry the weight up SO
steep q place, but because at such an
angle his pack would unbalance him
and pull him over backward. fi5..lai Z
Pack animals become exceedingly skill.
full in threading their way through a
heavily timbered country, where the
trails have been poorly cut out and little
Travelled over. They learn to Judge the
distance apart of trees between which
they must pass. They can tell whether
there isenough space packs to &c
through or not, or whether an oyerllang.
ing bough is high enough for the pack t
go under; and, strange to say, they seem
to learn whether q tree or bough that
will inevitably Interfere with their pas
sage can be brushed aside, or whether
an attemptto passit will result in carry
ing off the pack. In a pack train regent
lY travelling in the Rocky Mountains. 1