Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-03
PACK TRAINS In THE ROCKIES.
ssgacity OF the Mules Composing Them-Follow.
ing the Leaders Bsll--Interesting
Incidents.

Incidents.
The bell in the pack train is an instru-
ment OF the greatest Importance. The
whole crowd of animals respect nothing
but its sound. 1t is never taken off the
beast that wears it. and it seems to in
vest him with strang attraction. Where
the bell mule goes, the rest go, and
without it sometimes they cannot be
made to bulge. They follow it on the
road, Craze about it at night, and the
Indians, when they undertake to STAN
pede pack train, which they frequent
~ do. always take the greatest care to
get the bell mule. On one occasion a
train was run off and the bell mule
happened to fall and be killed. The
Indians succeeded in keeping the rest
with them without stopping, but the
bell was afterward found by the men Of
the train. One night they reached the
Indian camp, and suddenly they set the
bell ringing. Then the whole train of
mules, which the Indians deemed safe
y corralled, fled, through all opposition,
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 sharp lookout on
the packs, for the ropes are apt to stretch
especially if they get wet during the
night. A train is counted on to make
from two and half to three miles an
hour.
Accidents are not rare among pack
animals. They often have to pass over
old Indian trails where the road goes
up seemingly impossible hills and
around the edges of cliffs that for foot
way have only sloping slippery 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 crumb-
ling debris of some cliff far above has
tumbled, till the whole hillside is lot
of small, loose stones, of which great
masses may be set in motion by sin
gle touch. On such place as this,
only poor footpath can be made; and
although such roads are not impossible,
it is impossible to tell when the crumb-
ling bed may give way. If an animal
is thrown off his balance, so that to re-
gain it the slightest struggle is neces-
sary, the probability is that the whole
part of the path on which he makes
the effort will go like an avalanche. He
must go with it, and, being top-heavy
with his pack, he will inevitably be
thrown over and rolled down the hill
head over heels, and the result will be
a wreck of both mule and pack at the
bottom. Several falls often occur with
out serious injury. Ii the bottom of
hill is not too rocky, mule may roll
down fifty or sixty feet as if shot from
a catapult, and bring up all sound, and
with his pack intact. A tired mule has
been known to deliberately seat him.
self and roll down bank thirty or
forty feet high just to see if he couldn't
roll his pack off.
1t is wonderful to see the wisdom of
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 own resources.
As rule the whole train marches in
Indian file, but when the road lies
across a smooth and even prairie, the
train is apt to scatter little, and five
or six animals go side by side. The
moment that q ford is reached, how
ever. or difficult passage of any sort,
they instinctively fall back again into
rank, and each passes in turn. In going
up or down steep hill, if there is
trail, it will not be diverged from; but
If there is none, the greatest freedom
of progress is taken. And yet the whole
train will ascend or descend on the
same principle; that is, they will all fol-
low zigzag path. They may approach
the hill in perfect order, but the mo-
ment that is reached they scatter along
its sides, crossing back and forth
among themselves, making only short
tacks, and thus passing over SEEM
ingly impossible hill with little greater
effort than would be required for
gentle slope. Sometimes, however, the
only trail goes straight up hill, SO
steep that each mule must have a lariat
fastened around his neck and be helped
up by men standing on the top; not
that the mule could not carry the weight
up so steep place, but because at such
an angle his pack would unbalance him
and pull him over backward.
Pack animals become exceedingly
skillful 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 is enough space for their packs
to 60 through or not, or whether an
overhanging bough is high enough for
the pack to go under; aud, strange to
say, they seem to learn whether tree
or bough that will inevitably interfere
with their passage can be brushed aside
or whether an attempt TO pass it will
result in carrying off tho pack In a
pack train recently, travelling in the
Rocky Mountains, mule that carried
pack rather wider than the others was
seen to stop before two strong trees,
and, although several animals had al
ready passed through without difficulty,
he carefully examined the distance
from one tree TO the other, and, after
deciding that they were too close for
his load, he turned from the trail,
plunged down steep and rocky bank,
and came round on the other side rather
than try to force his way through.
Another mule, right behind him, march
ed steadily along between these trees
without trouble, but on finding himself
confronted by bough hanging across
the path, SO that it seemed likely to
strike the top of his pack, he plunged
aside into the forest, Notwithstanding
the fact that it looked thick and tangled;
and, by route of his own choosing, he
reached the trail again beyond the
bough that threatened to stop him.
Wherever any one will lead, pack
mule will follow. Without the guidance
of bride rein or the touch of a whip,
over the plains or through the noun
tains, up hillsides, crumbling or rocky,
through furious torrents, and along the
treacherous edge of precipices thousands
of feet high. these wise and patient
beasts will follow the bell from morning
until night, and carry their loads into
regions where no man could live with