210 MARKING THE BOUNDARY LINE. 



we had to feed the animals entirely on barley ; 

 so thick was the underbrush that it was impos- 

 sible for the mules to get into it from off the 

 trail. 



If ten mules started for the far-away camps, 

 five had to be loaded with barley, to feed them- 

 selves, and the other five packed with rations. 

 The cost was enormous, as the grain had to be 

 obtained from Chili, our consumption sometimes 

 amounting to 1,000 Ibs. per day. 



This difficulty was greatly enhanced by the 

 mosquitoes, the grass lands being so infested 

 with these pests as to render grazing impossible. 

 East of the Cascades we needed grain only in 

 wintering, the timber being open and grass 

 abundant. 



It would take a volume to describe the cutting 

 and marking the 'Boundary line.' The illustration 

 drawn from a photograph of one of the camps, 

 east of the Cascades, shows the tangle we had often 

 to work in. The line is cut through the timber, 

 from the coast to the eastern slopes of the Rocky 

 Mountains ; marked by an obelisk of faced 

 granite at its commencement, then for a short 

 distance by iron posts, the remainder by stone 

 cairns placed at varying distances but in con- 

 spicuous places. The working staff was generally 



