The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1893-03-03
SHOD WITH SNOWSHOES.
Horses of the Sierras That Wear
Strange FoOtgear.
They Are Compelled to Pull Heavy Loads
Across the Mountains-A Travellers
Interesting Description OF
His Trip.


'sWeU. | can't say that I've seen
horses skate. but I've seen them do the
next thing TO it-usc snoWshoes anu 90
th,ir vorl, with them on just as well as
IL they didn't have them on, or nearly
So" said a gentleman from California
the other evening to n New York Herald
man.
This is the way it was: About the
middle of April year ago, ! had busl-
ness up in Plumas county, California
and went by stage running from oro-
Vile to Quincy, the central point IN
Plumas county. We left Orovllle AT
seven in the morning in tour-horse
sicrliy.' "A sort of stage wagon specially
built for rough mountain work for
the first six hours the road was as dry
as a board, but after the noon chanSe
of teams we struck patches OF snow
which soon merged into solid and deep
snow going. Tom, our driver had
called my attention TO the new team as
it was being hitched up, saying:
.Them's our snow horses. Wen soon
have To leave the wheel and take the
.'sledders" when we get further up the
road
1.Though | had ridden behind and
upon many kinds of horses in the west,
vet had never been introduced TO the
snow breed before, and L looked at
them very closely.
.sThev were all four white or gray,
whether from age or natural disposition
| couldn't tell. but | was much i'm
pressed by their tremendous seif-con-
sciOusnesS their extremely slow mo-
tions. the deliberate way in which they
stepped straddling their legs as Tar
apart as possible, and their reluctance
to raise more than one hoOf off the
ground at "A time. Every one of the lot
was old enough To vote, and at rough
estimate twenty dollars head would
have been about fifteen dollars over
their value. At the end of the trip
thought twenty dollars apiece was fully
nine hundred and eighty dollars less
than they were really worth.
Don't think much of 'em, do you?
asked the driver of me as he started
them up with a click. No he cOntin-
ned. they're not much to look at, them
four old hide packers, but the company
wouldn't trade that lot for the best
cirht FLYERS in the crackest livery stable
in Sacramento. But for those invalua-
BILE critters the mails wouldn't get
through six months in the year on this
route They're snow horses, they are
ndwhen they strike the snow higher up
they'll put their snow moccasins on and
show You valley people how they earn
their oats
THAT old gray quartette plOdded and
worked its way along very wearily to
us until we got into the deeper snow
and drew up 10 large sleigh standing
alongside the road.
Change cars called out the driver
and gents will please shift their own
traps or they'll get left Unhitching
his team from the 'jerky,' Tom lined W
his horses in pairs in front of tn
sleigh and then took out of il coupl.
of gunny sacks. from which he pro
duccd sixteen pieces of wood having u
appearance Of flat dishes, which he saI.
were the SnOwShOes used by the -four
horses. / examined the shoes with
much curiosity.
The shoe was made of stout. sea-
soned, one-inch plank of tough hickory
wood. fourteen inches square, strength
ened on one side by covering of oil
cloth and two onc-inch wide STRIPS OF
hickory wood screwed on To the main
plate. So situated that when adjust
ed a horses foot would bc right in the
center of the shoe were three holcz
clear through the wood and oilclOtl
underneath One of the holes wa
large enough 10 let the heavy and very
high toe calll of the horses shoe pa.
through. while the two other holes
readily permitted the two hind callSS ca
the shoe 10 enter and come out rs die
the toe callI Then a wrought irur
band, separated in the center. Swun.
on hook and eye on either side of tn,
horse's hoof after he had been fitte,
with the snowshoe, by passing tn
calliS through, was brought together il
front of the hoof an inch below the cor
onct, and then tightly joined by a scrcv,
and nut passed through holes bored il
the projecting ends of the band Ev
erything fitted as snug aS possible. an.
when the screw was frightened up II,
amount of scraping or kicking coul
loosen it from a horses foot. The su0l
team understood the business perfect
and took it as a matter of course tina.
they should be thus decorated.
They actually seemed to know
Indeed, one old plug held up his off hin,
foot and knocked Tom on the arm wit,
his shoe as a hint 10 have the nu,
screwed a little tighter on the iron
band. Thoug' | never before saw
horses so queerly shod and apparently
anchored with these strange gearing,
the animals seemed TO consider il quite
the proper thing to have the shoes on.
The passengers having by this time
piled al their traps into the sleigh We
made another start for Quincy. but nj
snails pace as far as speed was con.
cerned. After we got under vav w
found the snow getting deeper every
yard, until in places, Judging by tn.
trees, it must have been at least fiftec-
feet deep. | became quite interested
in the sagacity of the four horses and
their singular cleverness in handlina
themselves on their unusual footing /
found out why they were SO slow in
moving and why they straddled SO
wide. Their slowness was to prevent
sinking too deep in the snow from The,
heavy treading and the straddling to
keep them from sllinning their legs or
cutting tendon with the edges of the
'snowshocs.'
a month later, on my return. when
the roads We're clear of snow, il only
took twelve hours to make the trip from
Quincy TO Oroville, though in coming
up nearly thirty-six hours were re
CURED"