CHAPTER V. 



MARCHES AND LOADS. 

 1. WHAT MAY BE REQUIRED OF THE PACK MULE. 



Sec. 81. Under ordinary conditions, the pack mule carrying a load 

 of 250 pounds will travel from 20 to 25 miles per day, and maintain 

 a rate of speed of 4^ to 5 miles per hour. 



With occasional days of rest lie may be expected to perform this 

 amount of work steadily; and this, too, without the aid of grain or 

 hay. 



It must be remembered, however, that except on extraordinary 

 occasions pack mules should never be tied to a picket line, but should 

 be herded as much as possible. In bivouac they should be taken to 

 graze at night as well as day, packers being detailed as herd guard. 



The "bell" horse being hobbled or picketed in the vicinity, there is 

 no danger of the mules stampeding, as they will not leave the "bell. " 



If allowed to graze, mules will always keep in average condition, 

 and on nutritious grasses will stand a twelve months' campaign and 

 keep fat. 



Sec. 82. Mountainous country. — In rough and mountainous coun- 

 try, the pack mule will carry the same load (250 pounds), and travel 

 from 10 to 15 miles per day. He should not, however, be forced 

 when traveling up or down a mountain, unless the occasion is very 

 urgent. Uphill work is hard on man and beast. 



Sec. 83. Forced inarches. — In forced marches the pack animals 

 should not be loaded in excess of 200 pounds. 



If travehng with cavalry, the pack mule may not be able to spurt 

 off at a 10-mile gait, but he will be pushing the horse before 30 miles 

 are covered, and he has the horse at his mercy in a march of 75 to 100 

 miles in twenty-four hours. 



The following instances, out of a great many, may be briefly men- 

 tioned: 



In the campaign of 1881, under Colonel Buell, Fifteenth Infantry, 

 against Chiefs Victoria and Nana, of the Warm Spring tribe of 

 Apaches, a company of Indian scouts and one pack train made a 

 march of 85 miles in twelve hours, loaded 200 pounds to the pack 

 animal. 



Later, in pursuing Indians of the same tribe, a company of Indian 

 scouts and one pack train marched from old Fort Cummings to Fort 

 Seldon, on the Rio Grande, about 60 miles, from sunrise to sunset ; then 

 went by rail to Fort Craig, N. Mex., loaded 250 pounds to the mule; 

 marched across the valley, some 30 miles, to the San Mateo Range; 

 struck the trail of Chief Nana and party; and, without making an 

 all-night camp, followed the hostiles into old Mexico, south of the 

 Hatchet Mountains. 



This was a running fight the entire way. A distance of about 300 

 miles was covered in about four days. 



During the "Loco" outbreak from San Carlos Agency, Ariz., in 

 1882, one company of scouts and one pack train, loaded 200 pounds 

 to the mule, made a forced march of 280 miles in three days. 

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