18 MANUAL OP PACK TEANSPOETATION. 



Dick Closter (better known as "Uncle Dick"), Johnny Patrick, Ed. 

 Delaney, John Jaycox, Frank Houston, Pat Nolan, Tom McCaulif, 

 Tom Mason, and Dave Young, packmasters, were inseparably con- 

 nected with the "Sioux campaigns." 



The success of General Crook in being able to cut loose from his 

 wagon transportation, rendering his command thoroughly mobile 

 by the aid of pack trains, led to their further employment by other 

 officers of the Army, viz. Generals Mackenzie, Howard, Terry, Custer, 

 and Miles, in the subjugation of the hostile tribes, notably the war- 

 like Sioux, Cheyennes, Nez Perces, and Arapahoes in the Northwest, 

 the fleet and vindictive Kiowas and Comanches through the Middle 

 West, and last, but not least, the wily, slippery, and bloodthirsty 

 Apache tribes who overran Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. 



Through all the arduous field service necessitated by campaigns 

 against these various tribes, the pack mule has borne its part, and 

 now may be regarded as thoroughly identified with our Army as an 

 essential means of transportation. 



As instancing a case in which pack animals have been employed for 

 continuous work, the Geronimo campaign, lasting from May, 1885, 

 to September, 1886, may be mentioned. Several pack trains followed 

 the troops, taking part in the various operations. These trains were 

 continuously on the move, traveling through the Territories of New 

 Mexico and Arizona, and through the States of Sonora and Chi- 

 huahua in old Mexico, crossing the Sierra Madre Mountains at their 

 highest and most precipitous part, from Opata in Sonora to Casas 

 Grandes in Chihuahua. Through such a country any other form of 

 transportation would have been utterly impracticable. 



The mules carried loads averaging 250 pounds; the average day's 

 march was 30 miles, except when climbing mountains, when about 

 15 miles per day was the rule. The mules subsisted entirely on the 

 grasses found in the country, and when the campaign was over were 

 returned to their posts in good condition. 



As embodying some of the results of this experience with these 

 trains for years, the present book aims to provide a system of instruc- 

 tion in the duties of a packer and in the service of a pack train. 



H. W. Daly, 

 Cliief Packer, Quartermaster's Department, 



United States Army. 



EVOLUTION OF THE APABEJO. 



The aparejos used by the Mexicans " may be divided into two classes, 

 having special uses — the first made of matting, from the fiber of the 

 agave or similar fibrous plants growing in abundance in Mexico ; the 

 second of leather, of Mexican tan and finish. The first is used exten- 

 sively by what we term in the United States "truck" farmers, who 

 may be seen in the small hours of the morning approaching the ham- 

 let, town, or city, driving before them a few donkeys laden with grass, 

 wood, live or dressed pigs, goats, chickens, and various commodities 

 under charge of a single native; the second in packing merchandise, 

 mining material, and product of the mines ; for this latter purpose the 



"See Mexican prototype of the American aparejo, without sticks. The writer is 

 indebted to Col. H. L. Scott, U. S. Army, Superintendent United States Military 

 Academy, West Point, N. Y., for this view. 



