Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-08-22
Mike dno
the BanShee.
An Incident of Logging Camp
Life In the Sierra
Nevada.
BY JOHN HAMMOND HAMLIN.

! mountains are numerous sawmills, which
! are making extensive inroads upon the
magnificent tracts of timber land. The
! chain OF mountains abounds In pictur-
| esque 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 sawmills are perhaps
as well known as any other on the
TTuckee river, stream that runs a
dozen or more like institutions along
the eastern slopes Of the sierras. For a
matter OF convenience the site OF the
State Line mills Is situated on the banks
OF the Truckee and within a few hundred
feet OF the Southern Pacific railway, in
suring an abundance of water power and
d ready means of shipping lumber. But
the logging camp is perched way up near
the snow line. and access to it Is impos-
sible by vehicle on account of the steep,
broken contour OF the mountainous dis
trict OF course it is very essential that
the logging camp be kept well supplied
with provisions, and, as there are never
: fewer than 80 hearty and vigorous men
employed at their various tasks prepar-
ing the virgin forests for the saw, you
can imagine what q quantity Of food Is
required to keep the larder well stocked.
The mode Of conveying all kinds OF
supplies to the airily located camp is by a
train Of seven pack mules-small, wiry
creatures that are strong and agile and
quite capable Of carrying a burden equal
to their own weight up the arduous noun
tain trail that coils In a tortuous fashion
from the mill up the high mountains to
the rough log cabins which constituted
the loggers' domain. A sight long to be
remembered are these donkeys, laden
with cumbersome pack saddles, piled high
with miscellaneous goods, carefully pick
ing their way up the dizzy trail. You
wonder that such tiny creatures can stag
ger under the loads, let alone their climb
ing an almost perpendicular ascent.
1t Is no easy thing to pilot train Of
mules up a narrow mountain trail. They
cannot be hurried out Of slow, slow
walk. frequently coming to a 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
Bplenddly as muleteer Of the State Line
pack train-a big, cheerful man, with q
deep, sonorous voice that each individual
donkey had grown to understand. His
Hello, jimmy" rang out IKE r1cn tone0
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 20 head Of oxen and as many horses
to be supplied with provender. One day
the superintendent Of the logging camp,
while down on visit TO the mills, hap
pened to observe a drove Of pigs roofing
about the boarding house. He suggested
to bis employers that it would be an ex-
cellent idea to have few OF them up at
camp, as there was plenty of refuser
from the tables to keep them fat 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 was next to impossible to drive pigs
along a wide, level roadway. 1t was ut
tsrly impossible to drive them up the
| mule trail. How, then, could these ten
fat young porkers, weighing from 90 to
rs pounds each, be- transported from
their present field TO the logging camp?
i The men gave 1t up as an unsolved rid
die. Just then French Joe's voice sang
out loud "Holloa, jimmy" and the su-
perintendent exclaimed: THE pack mules!
That's the thing. Box the pigs up and
load 'em on Joe's donkeys. What could
be simplerW
Easily said, but the weary corps Of
men that caught and boxed those slip
perry, noisy shotes declared that 1t was
the hardest days work they ever expert
enced. French Joe wore a look Of dis
gust. "Morbleu! l neyair before see re
pig packed re mule on. Neyair, by gar"
Nevertheless the Grated porkers were
hdisted upon the pack saddles, two for
each mule. Barring an occasional grunt
or faint squeal, the pigs, tired out after
their valiant struggles against capture,
gave no signs Of displeasure at their PEE
culiar position. The funny little donkeys,
accustomed to burdens varying from
fresh meat to cord wood, seemed quite In
different to the oddness Of their live
freight.
French Joe's good natured smile
wreathed his broad face once more as he
beheld the comical array Of pig laden
mules. 1T ees vera funny, Zis ting, but
II ees again like what nevair see before.
Ze mule will not pleased be il ze pig
pqueal In re ears"
The afternoon was well advanced when
Joe sang out his "Holloa, Jinnyl Come,
, Cayusev' which started the mule train
on its difficult climb up the mountain
trail The trail zigzags beneath tower
Ing pines up very steep slope, then II
winds along a canyon for q mile, ascends
another pitch and finally trayerses
broad. wooded plateau, comparatively
level, at the extreme end Of which, on a
slight rise, 10 the logging camp,
French Joe always rode In the wake OF
/ the train on mouse COiored donkey. The
narrowness of the trail prevented him
! from passing the burdened animals. SO he
! had to content himself with shouting
vociferously at the mules as they slowly
moved over their daily route. In spite
OF all his precautions one beast calmly
! laid down a the steepest part OF the first
| pitch. Joe was compelled 10 remove the
! pig freight and clumsy pack saddle before
the crring mule could regain an upright
| position. In the first place the train had
started late This delay and the uncom-
mon delibersteness Of the whole string OF
mules consumed a great deal more time
! J0e's stock OF patience began to ebb. His
ready tongue poured forth a surprising
mixture Of French and English interjec
tions as tho twilight threw gloomy shad.
uws throughout the silent forest When
the lead mule topped the final declivity
and passed beneath the great pines which
studded the plateau, II was quite dark
Now Joe thought II ample time TO use
other means than his voice TO urge the
Ill IL II
from his riding animal, gathered a pock
etful Of rocks and mounted again. He
had practiced this method before and
knew that a stinglng blow from a stons
had Its effect.