THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL by COLONEL HENRY INMAN (best fiction novels of all time .TXT) 📕

The Grave Is

          Piled stones, If Any Are Convenient, To Prevent The Wolves

          From Digging It Up.  Just As Mcness'S Funeral Ceremonies

          Were About To Be Concluded, Six Or Seven Indians Appeared

          On The Opposite Side Of The Cimarron.  Some Of The Party

          Proposed inviting Them To A Parley, While The Rest, Burning

          For Revenge, Evinced a Desire To Fire Upon Them At Once.

          It Is More Than Probable, However, That The Indians Were Not

          Only Innocent But Ignorant Of The Outrage That Had Been

          Committed, Or They Would Hardly Have Ventured to Approach

          The Caravan.  Being Quick Of Perception, They Very Soon Saw

          The Belligerent Attitude Assumed by The Company, And

          Therefore Wheeled round And Attempted to Escape.  One Shot

          Was Fired, Which Brought An Indian To The Ground, When He

          Was Instantly Riddled with Balls.  Almost Simultaneously

          Another Discharge Of Several Guns Followed, By Which All

          The Rest Were Either Killed or Mortally Wounded, Except One,

          Who Escaped to Bear The News To His Tribe.

 

 

 

          These Wanton Cruelties Had A Most Disastrous Effect Upon The

          Prospects Of The Trade; For The Exasperated children Of

          The Desert Became More And More Hostile To The "Pale-Faces,"

          Against Whom They Continued to Wage A Cruel War For Many

          Successive Years.  In fact This Party Suffered very Severely

          A Few Days Afterward.  They Were Pursued by The Enraged

          Comrades Of The Slain Savages To The Arkansas River, Where

          They Were Robbed of Nearly A Thousand Horses And Mules.

 

 

 

The Author Of This Book, Although Having But Little Compassion For

The Indians, Must Admit That, During More Than A Third Of A Century

Passed on The Plains And In the Mountains, He Has Never Known Of

A War With The Hostile Tribes That Was Not Caused by Broken Faith

On The Part Of The United states Or Its Agents.  I Will Refer To

Two Prominent Instances: That Of The Outbreak Of The Nez Perces, And

That Of The Allied plains Tribes.  With The Former A Solemn Treaty

Was Made In 1856, Guaranteeing To Them Occupancy Of The Wallola Valley

Forever.  I. I. Stevens, Who Was Governor Of Washington Territory

At The Time, And Ex-Officio Superintendent Of Indian Affairs In

The Region, Met The Nez Perces, Whose Chief, "Wish-La-No-She,"

An Octogenarian, When Grasping The Hand Of The Governor At The Council

Said: "I Put Out My Hand To The White Man When Lewis And Clark

Crossed the Continent, In 1805, And Have Never Taken It Back Since."

The Tribe Kept Its Word Until The White Men Took Forcible Possession

Of The Valley Promised to The Indians, When The Latter Broke Out,

And A Prolonged war Was The Consequence.  In 1867 Congress Appointed

A Commission To Treat With The Cheyennes, Kiowas, And Arapahoes,

Appropriating Four Hundred thousand Dollars For The Expenses Of

The Commission.  It Met At Medicine Lodge In august Of The Year

Mentioned, And Made A Solemn Treaty, Which The Members Of The

Commission, On The Part Of The United states, And The Principal

Chiefs Of The Three Tribes Signed.  Congress Failed to Make Any

Appropriation To Carry Out The Provisions Of The Treaty, And The

Indians, After Waiting a Reasonable Time, Broke Out, Devastated

The Settlements From The Platte To The Rio Grande, Destroying

Millions Of Dollars' Worth Of Property, And Sacrificing Hundreds

Of Men, Women, And Children.  Another War Was The Result, Which

Cost More Millions, And Under General Sheridan The Hostile Savages

Were Whipped into A Peace, Which They Have Been Compelled to Keep.

Chapter IV (Trains And Packers)

As Has Been Stated, Until The Year 1824 Transportation Across The

Plains Was Done By Means Of Pack-Mules, The Art Of Properly Loading

Which Seems To Be An Intuitive Attribute Of The Native Mexican.

The American, Of Course, Soon Became As Expert, For Nothing That

The Genus Homo Is Capable Of Doing Is Impossible To Him; But His

Teacher Was The Dark-Visaged, Superstitious, And Profanity-Expending

Mexican Arriero.

 

 

 

A Description Of The Equipment Of A Mule-Train And The Method Of

Packing, Together With Some Of The Curious Facts Connected with

Its Movements, May Not Be Uninteresting, Particularly As The

Whole Thing, With Rare Exceptions In the Regular Army At Remote

Frontier Posts, Has Been Relegated to The Past, Along With The Caravan

Of The Prairie And The Overland Coach.  To This Generation, Barring

A Few Officers Who Have Served against The Indians On The Plains

And In the Mountains, A Pack-Mule Train Would Be As Great A Curiosity

As The Hairy Mammoth.  In the Following Particulars I Have Taken

As A Model The Genuine Mexican Pack-Train Or Atajo, As It Was Called

In Their Spanish Dialect, Always Used in the Early Days Of The

Santa Fe Trade.  The Americans Made Many Modifications, But The Basis

Was Purely Mexican In its Origin.  A Pack-Mule Was Termed a Mula

De Carga, And His Equipment Consisted of Several Parts; First,

The Saddle, Or Aparejo, A Nearly Square Pad Of Leather Stuffed

With Hay, Which Covered the Animal'S Back On Both Sides Equally.

The Best Idea Of Its Shape Will Be Formed by Opening a Book In

The Middle And Placing It Saddle-Fashion On The Back Of A Chair.

Each Half Then Forms A Flap Of The Contrivance.  Before The Aparejo

Was Adjusted to The Mule, A Salea, Or Raw Sheep-Skin, Made Soft

By Rubbing, Was Put On The Animal'S Back, To Prevent Chafing,

And Over It The Saddle-Cloth, Or Xerga.  On Top Of Both Was Placed

The Aparejo, Which Was Cinched by A Wide Grass-Bandage.  This Band

Was Drawn As Tightly As Possible, To Such An Extent That The Poor

Brute Grunted and Groaned under The Apparently Painful Operation,

And When Fastened he Seemed to Be Cut In two.  This Always Appeared

To Be The Very Acme Of Cruelty To The Uninitiated, But It Is The

Secret Of Successful Packing; The Firmer The Saddle, The More

Comfortably The Mule Can Travel, With Less Risk Of Being Chafed

And Bruised.  The Aparejo Is Furnished with A Huge Crupper, And

This Appendage Is Really The Most Cruel Of All, For It Is Almost

Sure To Lacerate The Tail.  Hardly A Mexican Mule In the Old Days

Of The Trade Could Be Found Which Did Not Bear The Scar Of This

Rude Supplement To The Immense Saddle.

 

 

 

The Load, Which Is Termed a Carga, Was Generally Three Hundred pounds.

Two Arrieros, Or Packers, Place The Goods On The Mule'S Back,

One, The Cargador, Standing On The Near Side, His Assistant On

The Other.  The Carga Is Then Hoisted on Top Of The Saddle If It

Is A Single Package; Or If There Are Two Of Equal Size And Weight,

One On Each Side, Coupled by A Rope, Which Balances Them On The

Animal.  Another Stout Rope Is Then Thrown Over All, Drawn As Tightly

As Possible Under The Belly, And Laced round The Packs, Securing

Them Firmly In their Place.  Over The Load, To Protect It From Rain,

Is Thrown A Square Piece Of Matting Called a Petate.  Sometimes,

When A Mule Is A Little Refractory, He Is Blindfolded by A Thin

Piece Of Leather, Generally Embroidered, Termed the Tapojos, And

He Remains Perfectly Quiet While The Process Of Packing Is Going On.

When The Load Is Securely Fastened in its Place, The Blinder Is

Removed.  The Man On The Near Side, With His Knee Against The Mule

For A Purchase, As Soon As The Rope Is Hauled taut, Cries Out "Adios,"

And His Assistant Answers "Vaya!"  Then The First Says Again, "Anda!"

Upon Which The Mule Trots Off To Its Companions, All Of Which Feed

Around Until The Animals Of The Whole Train Are Packed.  It Seldom

Requires More Than Five Minutes For The Two Men To Complete The

Packing Of The Animal, And In that Time Is Included the Fastening

Of The Aperejo.  It Is Surprising To Note The Degree Of Skill

Exercised by An Experienced packer, And His Apparently Abnormal

Strength In handling The Immense Bundles That Are Sometimes

Transported.  By The Aid Of His Knees Used as A Fulcrum, He Lifts

A Package And Tosses It On The Mule'S Back Without Any Apparent

Effort, The Dead Weight Of Which He Could Not Move From The Ground.

 

 

 

An Old-Time Atajo Or Caravan Of Pack-Mules Generally Numbered from

Fifty To Two Hundred, And It Travelled a Jornado, Or Day'S March Of

About Twelve Or Fifteen Miles.  This Day'S Journey Was Made Without

Any Stopping at Noon, Because If A Pack-Mule Is Allowed to Rest,

He Generally Tries To Lie Down, And With His Heavy Load It Is

Difficult For Him To Get On His Feet Again.  Sometimes He Is Badly

Strained in so Doing, Perhaps Ruined forever.  When The Train Starts

Out On The Trail, The Mules Are So Tightly Bound With The Ropes

Which Confine The Load That They Move With Great Difficulty;

But The Saddle Soon Settles Itself And The Ropes Become Loosened

So That They Have Frequently To Be Tightened.  On The March The

Arriero Is Kept Busy Nearly All The Time; The Packs Are Constantly

Changing Their Position, Frequently Losing Their Balance And

Falling Off; Sometimes Saddle, Pack, And All Swing Under The

Animal'S Belly, And He Must Be Unloaded and Repacked again.

 

 

 

On Arriving at The Camping-Ground The Pack-Saddles With Their Loads

Are Ranged in regular Order, Their Freight Being Between The Saddles,

Covered with The Petates To Protect It From The Rain, And Generally

A Ditch Is Dug Around To Carry Off The Water, If The Weather Is Stormy.

After Two Or Three Days' Travel Each Mule Knows Its Own Pack And

Saddle, And Comes Up To It At The Proper Moment With An Intelligence

That Is Astonishing.  If An Animal Should Come Whose Pack Is

Somewhere Else, He Is Soundly Kicked in the Ribs By The Rightful Mule,

And Sent Bruised and Battered to His Place.  He Rarely Makes A Mistake

In Relation To The Position Of His Own Pack The Second Time.

 

 

 

This Method Of Transportation Was So Cheap, Because Of The Low Rate

Of Wages, That Wagon-Freighting, Even In the Most Level Region,

Could Not Compete With It.  Five Dollars A Month Was The Amount Paid

To The Muleteers, But It Was Oftener Five With Rations, Costing

Almost Nothing, Of Corn And Beans.  Meat, If Used at All, Was Found

By The Arrieros Themselves.

 

 

 

On The Trail The Mule-Train Is Under A System Of Discipline Almost

As Severe As That On Board Of A Man-Of-War.  Every Individual

Employed is Assigned to His Place And Has Certain Duties To Perform.

There Is A Night-Herder, Called the Savanero, Whose Duty It Is

To Keep The Animals From Straying Too Far Away, As They Are All

Turned loose To Shift For Themselves, Depending Upon The Grass Alone

For Their Subsistence.  Each Herd Has A Mulera, Or Bell-Mare,

Which Wears A Bell Hanging To A Strap Around Her Neck, And Is Kept

In View Of The Other Animals, Who Will Never Leave Her.  If The Mare

Is Taken Away From The Herd, Every Mule Becomes Really Melancholy

And Is At A Loss What To Do Or Where To Go.  The Cook Of The Party,

Or Madre (Mother) As He Is Called, Besides His Duty In preparing

The Food, Must Lead The Bell-Mule Ahead Of The Train While Travelling,

The Pack-Animals Following Her With A Devotion That Is Remarkable.

 

 

 

Sometimes In traversing The Narrow Ledges Cut Around The Sides Of

A Precipitous Trail, Or Crossing a Narrow Natural Bridge Spanning

The Frightful Gorges Found Everywhere In the Mountains, A Mule

Will Be Incontinently Thrown Off The Slippery Path, And Fall Hundreds

Of Feet Into The Yawning Canyon Below.  Generally Instant Death

Is Their Portion, Though I Recall An Instance, While On An Expedition

Against The Hostile Indians Thirty Years Ago, Where A Number Of Mules

Of Our Pack-Train, Loaded with Ammunition, Tumbled nearly Five Hundred

Feet Down An Almost Perpendicular Chasm, And Yet Some Of Them Got

On Their Feet Again, And Soon Rejoined their Companions, Without

Having Suffered any Serious Injury.

 

 

 

The Wagons So Long Employed in this Trade, After Their First

Introduction In 1824, Were Manufactured in pittsburgh, Their Capacity

Being about A