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THE BULL-TEAINS IN DIFFICULTIES. 27 



force wHcli was applied to pull it out. The oxen from two of 

 tlio wagons wMch. had passed safely across would be attaclied 

 to the one in difficulties^ making a continuous string of from 

 eighteen to twenty yoke. To accomplish even this, usually 

 required an amount of swearing and torturing on the part of 

 the drivers which would be startling to the nerves of most men 

 not reared on the plains. When all was ready, and a dozen 

 " bull- whackers " had taken theu- places along each side of the 

 line of oxen, a frightful shout would fill the air, followed by the 

 fierce cracking of whips on the devoted hides, and the usual 

 chorus of endearing terms. The poor oxen, thus goaded on 

 to madness, would give one tremendous tug, the usual finale 

 of which used to be, not in the least to move the wagon, 

 but to break the thick iron chain which fastened all together. 

 As we retired out of sight over the brow of the next undula- 

 tion of the plain, we would usually leave our Mexican friends 

 trying in vain to stop the loosened string of oxen (who could 

 not be persuaded they were not dragging something), pre- 

 paratory to going through the whole process again. 



Our general coui'se lay in the valley of the Smoky Hill 

 Fork. Our destination was Fort Wallace, 216 miles from 

 Salina, at which point our survey was to commence. 



The rule was to breakfast at 5 o'clock, and start at about 

 6.30, so as to get over as much as possible of the road before 

 the heat of the day.' The rains, however, having cleared the 

 air, there was no necessity to break the march by a mid-day 

 halt, while the cool breeze from the far-distant mountains, 

 springing up usually near noon, made travelling even in June 

 and July by no means disagreeable. On the afternoon of the 

 10th we camped at Fort Harkcr, thirty-six miles from Salina, 

 a well-built, three-company post, with spacious storehouses 

 filled with munitions of war, but, like all these military 



