The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1901-08-24
Mike and The BanShee.
An Incident Of Logging.Camp
Life in the Sierra Nsvada.
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OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Scattered throughout the Sierra Ne.
vada Mountains are numerous saw-mlll:
which are making extensive inroadS up
en- the magnificent tracts of timber-land
The chain of mountains abounds in pic
turesque scenes, evergreen trees, gigantic
and medium sized, and fuzzy little thick
cts of diminutive saplings clothe the en-
tire range, barring the bald, snow capped
peaks, and the acres cleared by the hand
of man.
The State Line Saw Mills arc, per-
haps, as we'll known as any other mills
on the Truckee River, stream that fur
nishes power to dozen or more like IN
sttutions along the eastern slopes of tho
Sierras. For a matter Of convenience
the site of the State Line Mills is situat-
ed on the banks of the fruckee, and
within few hundred feet of the South
ern Pacific Railway, insuring an abund-
ancc of water power and ready means
of shipping lumber. But the logging
camp is perched way up near the snow
line, and access to it is impossible by vc-
hcle, on account of the steep broken
contour Of the mountainous district. OF
course it is very essential that the log
ging camp be kept we'll supplied with
provisions, and as there are never fewer
than thirty hearty and vigorous men en-
ployed at their various tasks preparing
the virgin forests for the saw, you can
imagine what quantity of food is re-
quired to keep the larHer we'll stocked.
The mode of conveying all kinds of
supplies to the airily located camp is by
a train Of seven packmules-small,
wiry creatures that are strong and agile
and quite capable of carrying burden
equal to their own weight up the ardu-
Gus mountain trail that coils in tortu-
ous fashion from the mill up the high
mountains to the rough log cabins which
constitute the loggers' domain. A sight
long to be remembered are these donk-
eys, laden with cumbersome pack-sad-
dies, piled high with miscellaneous
goods, carefully picking their way up
the dizzy trail. You wonder that such
tiny creatures can stagger under the
loads, let alone their climbing an almost
perpendicular ascent.
1t is no easy thing to pilot train Of
mules up narrow mountain trail; they
can not Be- hurried out Of slow, slow
walk, frequently coming to halt, and
occasionally lying down in the middle Of
the trail. This last act is exceedingly
aggravating, as the pack has to be re-
moved before the donkey can arise again.
With all the trials and tribulations con-
nected thereto, French joe got along
splendidly as muletcer Of the State Line
pack-train- big, cheerful man, with a
deep, sonorous voice that each individual
donkey had grown to understand. His
"Holloa, Enny!" rang out like rich
toned bell, and urged on the mules when
lash would not have availed in the
least.
Every day the trip had to be made;
besides the provisions for the men, there
were twenty head of oxen and as many
horses to be supplied with provender.
One. day the superintendent of the log
ging- g-camp, while down on visit to the
mills, happcred to observe drove of
pigs roofing. about the boarding house.
He suggested to his employers that it
would be all excellent idea to have few
OF them up at camp as there was plenty
of refuse from the tables to keep them
tat and his men would appreciate fresh
pork now and then. The mill-owners
agreed with him, and so begins the real
motive of this tale.
1t is next to impossible to drive pigs
along wide, level roadway; it was
utterly impossible to drive them up the
mule trail How, then, could these ten
tat young porkcrs, weighing from fifty
to seventy-fve pounds each, be trans
ported from their present field to the
logging camp? The men gave it up as
an unsolved riddle; just then French
yoe's voice sang out loud "Holloa,
jimmy! and the superintendent exclalm-
ed: The pack mules That's the thing
Box the pigs up and load 'em on Joes
donkeys. What could be more simpler! =
Easily said; but the weary corps OF
men that caught and boxed the slippery,
noisy shoats declared that it was the
hardest days work they ever expert
enced. French Joe wore look OF dis
gust. "Morblex! l nevair before see &c
pig packed ze mule on. Nevair J!
Nevertheless, the Grated porkers were
hoisted upon the saddles, two for
each mule. Barring an occasional
grunt, or a flint squeal, the pigs, tired
out after their valiant struggles against