MANUAL OF PACK TRANSPORTATION. 17 



Spanish ditty when visiting friends in some near-l)v liamlet; a man 

 who never turned his back on a foe or forsook a friend in moments 

 of peril, honest and honorable in all his dealings with his fellow- 

 men, kind to animals in his care, with a love for his calling, and 

 thoroughly imbued with an "esprit de corps" for the pack service. 



On the discovery of gold in California the adaptability of the pack 

 mule for carrying supplies into the mining camps, not accessible by 

 wagons, was readily recognized by the Americans. The mule and 

 aparejo w^ere in constant demand, and the employment of pack trains 

 became a source of profit to many individuals. 



In Mexico, on the road from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, a 

 stone-paved road (Calzada), laid out by Cortez, and nearly 300 miles 

 long, I have seen before the advent of the railroad, in 1873, pack 

 trains loaded with coffee, sugar, and spices. These packs were made 

 up to weigh from 100 to 125 pounds each, and were \\Tapped in coarse 

 matting made from the fiber of the agave and other indigenous plants. 



Rates for freighting, ranging from 30 to 75 cents per ton per mile, 

 or for the service of the animal for the trip from $18 to $25, com- 

 pared favorably wdth the rates charged after the discovery of gold 

 in California, wdien pack trains, controlled by Americans, dotted 

 the hills, carrying provisions, furniture, mining supplies, etc., to 

 the mining towns in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, 

 and California. 



In the early fifties and sixties on the trail from The Dalles to 

 Umatilla Landing, Walla Walla, Lewiston, Kootenay, Salmon River, 

 Frazer River, etc., could be heard from hill to hill the tinkle of the 

 pack-train "bell horse." The "bell" was ordinarily a sheep bell 

 attached by a strap to the neck of the horse. The latter is termed 

 the "bellhorse," and is alluded to as the "bell," in such expressions 

 as "lead the bell, " "stop the bell, " etc. 



The service rendered by civilian aparejo pack trains employed by 

 Gen. George Crook, after the close of the civil war, in operations 

 against the hostile Paiutes, Shoshones, and Bannocks in Nevada, 

 Oregon, and Idaho was so satisfactory that he caused the purchase 

 of tliree of these trains by our Government, so that General Crook 

 may well be called the "father" of modern pack service in the United 

 States Army. 



On the assignment of General Crook to the Department of Arizona, 

 these trains were transferred with him and others organized for the 

 campaign against the hostile Apaches, known as the "Tonto Basin 

 war," 1871-1875. These trains were under the supervision of Thomas 

 Moore as chief packer and Dave Mears, assistant chief packer, and 

 the names of Hank and Yank, Jim O'Neil, Harry Haws, Chileno 

 John, Frank Monack, Sam Bo^^^nan, the two Crooks ("Long" and 

 "Short" Jim), Bill Knight, Nat Noble, Charley Hopkins, Bill Duklm, 

 Manuel Lopez, and Lem Pyatt are inseparably connected with those 

 campaigns. 



In 1875 a number of these trains were transferred to the Depart- 

 ment of the Platte, taking station at Camp Carlin, Cheyenne, Wyo., 

 under Maj. J. V. Furey, depot quartermaster, and still others organ- 

 ized for the expedition of 1876, known as the "Sioux campaign." 

 These trains w-ere likewise under the supervision of Thomas Moore, as 

 chief packer, and Dave Mears, assistant chief packer; and the names of 



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