The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1901-07-12
Mike Qn0
the BanShee.
An Incident Of Logging camp
Life In the Sierra
Nevada.
BY JOHN HAMMOND HAMLIN.


"
Scattered throughout the Sierra Nevada
mountains are numerous sawmills. which
are making extensive inroad, upon nj.
magnificent tracts Of timber land. tn.
cham Of mountains abouuds in pictur
es.ue scenes, evergreen trees, gigantic
all medium sized. and fuzzy little thick
cts Of diminutive saplings clothe tho en-
tire range, barring the bald snow canned
peaks and the acres cleared Is the hand
Of man.
The State Line Sawmills are perhap,
as well known as any other on tIr
Truakce river, n stream that runs d
dozen or more like institutions nlDu,
the eastern slopes of the sipuus For m
matter Of convenience the site of tlr
State Line mills is situated on the BANKS
of the Truckee and within q few hundred
feet of the Southern Pacific RAILWAY. iu.
surfing an abundance of water power and
a ready means of shipping lumber But
the logging camp is perchcd way up near
the snow line, and access to it is imIu--
sibIc by vehicle on account Of the str.p.
broken contour of the mountainous dis
trict. OF course ii is very essential r.af
the logging camp be kept well Supplirl
with provisions, and, as there are never
fewer than SO hearty and vigorous mon
employed Mt their various tasks prouar-
ing the virgin forests for the saw. WON
can imagine what quantity of food rs
required to keep the lardcr well stocked
The mode of conveying all kinds uf
supplies to the airily located camp is hy 81
train Of seven pack muleS-smai, W.ry
creatures that are strong and agile and
quite capable of carrying a burden equal
To their own weight up the arduOuS NOM
tain trail that coils in a t0rtuous fashion
from the mill up the high mountains IT,
the rough log cabins which constituted
the loggers' domain. \ sight long to be-
remembered are these doukcys. adcu
with cumbersome pack saddles. piled his'
with miscellaneous goods. carefully uic!,
Ing their way up the dizzy trail. You
wonder that such tiny creatures can stag
ger under the loads, let alone their climb
ng an almost perpendicular ascent
Il is no easy thing to pilot train uf
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
aggrayating, 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
spleudidly as muleteer of the State Line
pack train-a big, cheerful man, with a
deep, Sonorous voice that each individual
donkey had grown to understand. His
Hello, jimmy rang out like rich toned
bell and urged on the mules when lash
would not have awaited 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 a visit to the mills, hap
pened to observe a drove of pigs roofing
about the boarding house. He suggested
10 his employers that it would be an ex.
celIent idea to have a few of them up at
camp, as there was plenty of refuSer
ron the tables to keep them fat and his
men would appreciate fresh pork now and
then. The mill owners agreed with him,
ana so begins the real motive of this tale.
II was next to impossible to drive pigs
along wide, level roadway. 1t was mt
erly impossible to drive them up the
mule trall How, then, could these ten
Ia young porkers, weighing from 30 to
70 pounds each, be transported from
.aelr present field to the logging camp?
Inc men gave it up as an unsolved rid
de Just then French Joes voice sang
out loud "Holoa. jimmy" and the SUI
perhtendent exclaimed: The pack mules.
mats the thing. Box the pigs up and
oad EN- on Joe's donkeys. What could
be simpler?"
Easily said, but the weary corps of
men that caught and boxed those slip
pery' noisy shotes declared that il was
ule hardest days work they ever expert.
euced' French Joe wore a look of dis
gust Morbleu! nevair before see ze
pg packed re mule on Nevair by gar."
nevertheless the Grated porkers We're
aOlS'ed upon the pack saddles. two for
sa'n mule Barring an occasional grunt
~ i"lht squeal, the pigs, tired out after
aa n valiant struggles against capture,
sar uo Signs of diSpleasure at their Pc
.auar position. The funny little donkeys.
..NuStomed to burdens varying from
%S meat to cord wood. seemed quite in
freight.
French Joe's good naturcd smile
S,va'hed his broad face once more as he
n.y., MY" me comical array of pig laden
It ees vera funny, zis ting, but
g'@ again like what nevair see before.
,on mule VIII not pleased be if re pig
Sueal in ze ears"
iae afternoon was well advanced when
c1e sang out his "Holloa. jimmy! Come.
n, "aSe. which started the mule train
hail dllhcult climb up the mountain
h, Inc trail zigzags beneath tower
MI P"les up very steep slope, then ii
,n,I "lohg a canyon for mile, ascend9
tupde pitch and finally traverses
kyol =. "ooded plateau, comparatively
sIyh. ~ y! the extreme end of which, on
! Fas rise, Is the logging camp.
! french Joe always rode in the wake Of
n,r IAN on mouse colored donkey. The
hom' ness of the trail prevented him
bad passing the burdened animals so he
,o,o"s content himself with shouting
nOre ,5tOuSly at the mules as they slowly
h all over their daily route In spite
hd J ms precautions one beast calmly
ptcb SO"h at the steepest part of the first
pg fro,1 Soe was compelled to remove the
Ge arr and clumsy pack saddle before
postion mule could regain an upright
Start In the first place the train had
bon da,a iate. This delay and the uncom-
perateness of the whole string of