366 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES 



animal's side some distance, with the idea of keeping 

 the pack off its ribs. The "cross trees" are simply the 

 cross pieces which are bolted to the "bars" or flat parts 

 which bear on the animal's back. In the improved form 

 they come down below the bars about eighteen inches 

 but do not touch the blankets at all, being curved to 

 follow the lines of the barrel or ribs and hang clear of 

 the animal. The effect is much the same as that gained 

 by the use of the Basque hitch, mentioned under the 

 head of "hitches." 



Double-Rigged Pack Saddle. The Shape of the Tree Keeps Load 



Off a Horse's Ribs. 



The cross tree or sawbuck saddle in the hands of a 

 careless man is undoubtedly about the most satisfactory 

 and ingenious method of torturing a poor animal that 

 has ever been invented. I have seen pack trains in the 

 Sierras and in Nevada packing cordwood down a steep 

 mountain trail day after day, each mule with a sixth 

 of a cord of heavy pitch pine on its back, with the saw- 

 buck saddle used by careful humane packers, without a 

 mule in the train showing a sore back. I have also seen 

 similar trains where one could not walk on the lee side 

 of the mules in the corral, so offensive was the odor 

 from sore backs. I have also seen a tenderfoot packer 



