PACK TRANSPORTATION. 



GENERAL HISTORY. 



Primitive man in seeking; a mode of transportation other than that 

 of the personal burthen naturally utilized the most docile and tracta- 

 ble of the available animal kingdom. The elephant, camel, llama-, ox, 

 horse, mule, burro, reindeer, and dog, all by natural selection, have 

 paid tribute to assist him in his travels. 



There resulted necessarily pack saddles of various designs adapted 

 to the conformation of the animal employed. 



When man in an inventive mood introduced the ''wheel" and de- 

 veloped this wheel transportation progressively by animal draft, 

 steam, and electrical power, the employment of pack animals as the 

 only means of rapid transportation had been relieved to a considerable 

 extent; yet the occasion lias and will oftentimes be necessary to cut 

 loose from railroad and animal draft, when time, celerity, and free- 

 dom of movement becomes a prime factor in the success of an under- 

 taking, especially in the zone of active operations. 



The "crosstree" orsawbuckand the'^aparejo" are used by civilized 

 man, and it is a question which antedates the other. 



The crosstree may be said to be universal, as it has been in use in 

 European and Asiatic countries for centuries. It is believed that the 

 Romans carried it into Gaul (France) and Britain in the conq^uest of 

 these countries under Julius Caesar. The French and the British car- 

 ried it into Canada and the United States in the settlement of those 

 territories. 



In the mountainous portions of the British Isles and Switzerland 

 there may be still seen the original niethod of carrying marketable 

 supplies in "wicker" baskets fitted over the forks of the saddle and 

 strapped to the donkey by the cincha and tightening strap. It is not 

 unusual for the baskets to be unequally loaded, and often the loads are 

 balanced by the addition of a billet of wood or a few stones. I have 

 seen a sack of wheat en route to the mill balanced by a large stone in 

 the opposite basket; also, en route to market, all hobbled and alive, a 

 pig balancing a goat and a bunch of chickens. 



In Canada, United States, Mexico, and South America they use 

 "panniers" (Frenchfor basket) or pouches, made of canvas or leather 

 which fit over the forks of the saddle and are strapped to the aninial 

 with cincha and tightening strap. In the above-named countries 

 organized "burro" pack trains equipped with these panniers are em- 

 ployed to pack the ore from the mines to the stamp mills. 



the system of "slinging and lashing" the load by means of ropes 

 was seldom employed in the government service because of a lack of 

 pad protection for the animal's body. However, the system was used 



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