538 



Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



saddle and pack animals to get the ad- 

 venturer into back country, carrying 

 his outfit, and bring him back with his 

 kill. Or a planned and guided visit to 

 wilderness country from ranch, resort, 

 or dude ranch, with less definite ob- 

 jectives in mind, may have taken a 

 family or a group of friends into one of 

 those priceless and unspoiled parts of 

 America, set aside to maintain their 

 own precious values and usually lo- 

 cated in the national forests or national 

 parks. 



In all of those early forays, from the 

 days of Jim Bridger and the exploring 

 expeditions in the Yellowstone to the 

 one-night-out trip from today's most 

 expensive resort, certain features are 

 common. 



Primitive modes of transportation; 

 penetration of wild and infrequently 

 visited country; camping and cooking 

 with limited equipment and the sorts of 

 foods that can be easily carried or that 

 can be captured daily; sleeping under 

 the stars; gathering in close and 

 friendly companionship at the camp- 

 fire, with the singing, the tall stories, 

 the banter, and the long moments of 

 dreamy silence; the flood of ques- 

 tions on the trail and in the camp; 

 the grist of minor adventures with 

 horses, storms, yellow- jackets, moun- 

 tain climbing, and fishing; the amateur 

 but serious nature study; the photog- 

 rapher, in the role of pest or friend; 

 the distinctive dress ; the understanding 

 that develops between horse and rider; 

 the color and culture of the local peo- 

 ple who go along as guides, cooks, and 

 wranglers all these in the mountain 

 trips make up the daily program, and 

 the record in thousands of diaries, 

 hearts, and photographic collections. 

 Added to these, from the canoe coun- 

 try, may be the many ways of getting 

 wet, the portage, the fast-water inci- 

 dents, and a good bit more under the 

 heading of "the big fish." 



But left to the American Forestry 

 Association was the development of the 

 trail ride as an expedition of 15 to 30 

 persons from all parts of the country, of 

 all ages, and of widely varying back- 



grounds, brought together with only 

 their duffel, clothing, personal effects, 

 and anticipations, to ride together with 

 competent guides and helpers, for 10 

 days to 2 weeks, deep into the wildest 

 parts of the country. No service of sup- 

 ply, no quartermaster's department, 

 and no long-organized travel service 

 with its established connections figured 

 in those bold ventures, which were 

 launched in 1933. 



The first trip left from Helena, 

 Mont., for the South Fork Wilderness 

 (now a part of the Bob Marshall Wil- 

 derness area) on July 1 1, 1933, with 22 

 riders, from 10 different States and the 

 District of Columbia. There were two 

 guides, two cooks, a boss packer, and 

 four wranglers. Fifty-five horses and 

 mules were required. The first day's 

 ride was 18 miles, and the party spent 

 6 days in the wilderness. They called 

 themselves the "Pioneers." All returned 

 safe and enthusiastic. As their telegram 

 at the end reported, the venture "was 

 a complete success and through coun- 

 try we never dreamed existed." 



The log of that trip, kept by the rep- 

 resentative of the association, is punc- 

 tuated with references to frost on the 

 sleeping bags, seas of wild flowers, ac- 

 counts of meals that make one hungry 

 to read, songs to banjo accompani- 

 ment, battles with wary trout, and, 

 over and over, references to the sur- 

 prise and wonderment as the journey 

 proceeded. The second trip that year 

 went into the Sun River country in the 

 same general region; it was successful, 

 but a severe August snowstorm turned 

 the party back short of the Great Wall, 

 its objective. It was no soft expedition, 

 however, for only when travel became 

 unsafe did the members turn back. The 

 riders treasure not only the joys of this 

 ride but memories of the touch of hard- 

 ship and the conquering of obstacles. 



Since that year the American For- 

 estry Association has arranged and car- 

 ried out 75 expeditions, in which more 

 than 1,000 riders explored 19 wilder- 

 ness areas in 9 States. More than 200 

 of the riders have repeated the ride; a 

 score or more have been on 5 to 12 of 



