16 MANUAL OF PACK TKANSPORTAXION. 



by Gen. R. S. Mackenzie after the civil war in his Indian canipaigns 

 against the Kiowas and Comanches in the Southwest. The individual 

 trapper, miner, and prospector packed with this system his few wants, 

 consisting of his grub stake and mining tools. 



The aparejo (pronounced "ap-pa-ray-ho"), a pack saddle, is be- 

 lieved to be of Arabian origin, the Arabs being a nomadic and pas- 

 toral people, employing the camel, horse, burro and its cross descend- 

 ant, the mule, indigenous to Asiatic countries. The origin of the 

 aparejo dates back to the employment of these animals as beasts of 

 burden from remotest ages. 



The aparejo was introduced into Spain by the Moors (see footnote) 

 on the conquest of that country in the eighth century, and on the 

 discovery of the western continent (America) the Spaniards carried 

 it into South America and Mexico. Irving in his Conquest of Gran- 

 ada" records that Isabella of Spain, in 1486, organized, equipped, and 

 maintained pack trains for the conquest of Granada, aggregating 

 14,000 mules and burros, which carried supplies and munitions of 

 war for her army of 13,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry. In the 

 retinue of many nobles of note (Don Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, Duke 

 of Infantado) * the sumpter (pack) mules had housings similar to 

 those of the cavalry, of rich cloth embroidered with gold, and others 

 of brocade with halters of silk, while the bridles, headpieces, and all 

 the harnessings glittered with silver. An imitation of this feudal 

 custom was made in the United States Government service prior to the 

 Spanish- American war, 1898, when the "arrieros" (packers) would 

 spend odd hours of loving toil upon the "grupera" and "corona" 

 (crupper and saddle cloth), working the representation of some ani- 

 mal, bird, insignia, or legend with silken thread of various colors; the 

 saddle, stock or cowboy, costing, when "full rigged," from $75 to 

 SlOO, with its full skirting, sweaters, toe fenders fitting over the stir- 

 rups, from 12 to 18 inches long, and cantinas (saddle pockets) over 

 cantle and pommel, the pommel being provided with the customary 

 horn or cap (cabeza de silla), a necessary holdfast when throwing 

 the lasso and various other uses known to western men. The whole 

 beautifully stamped or engraved by hand, was trimmed with beaten 

 silver dollars (Mexican), cut, and chased in various designs to suit 

 the "arriero;" the bridle in similar manner with bit and spurs (Span- 

 ish) chased and inlaid with silver and gold, the spurs having a bunch 

 of tiny spangles which were made to tinkle in the strut of the packer, 

 who would thv s affect the garb of his Spanish brother, wearing high- 

 heeled top boots, with silken banda (sash) wrapped two or three times 

 around the waist, embroidered shirt front, and conical sombrero 

 (Mexican hat) with silver snake around the crown, the under side of 

 brim being trimmed with silver braid. 



Note. — Prior to the expulsioii of the Moors the Moriscos of Spain practically con- 

 trolled all the inland (pack) transportation. Many of their merchants became very 

 wealthy and contributed very largely to the revenues of the Spanish Crown. Over- 

 taxation, the improvidence of the Spanish princes, and the expulsion of these frugal 

 and industrious people may be said to have led to the decline of Spain as a world 

 power. 



Such was the holiday costume of the packer of thirty-five or forty 

 years ago, when, mounted on his favorite mule, he would sing some 



a Irving, Conquest of Granada, chap, lxx, p. 383. 

 b Conquest of Granada, p. 225. 



