AN OVERLAND OUTFIT.
The organization of a full-fledged train for crossing the plains
consisted of from twenty-five to twenty-six large wagons that would
carry from three to three and a half tons each, the merchandise or
contents of each wagon being protected by three sheets of thin ducking,
such as is used for army tents. The number of cattle necessary to draw
each wagon was twelve, making six yokes or pairs, and a prudent
freighter would always have from twenty to thirty head of extra oxen, in
case of accident to or lameness of some of the animals. In camping or
stopping to allow the cattle to graze, a corral or pen of oblong shape
is formed by the wagons, the tongues being turned out, and a log chain
extended from the hind wheel of each wagon to the fore wheel of the next
behind, etc., thus making a solid pen except for a wide gap at each end,
through which gaps the cattle are driven when they are to be yoked and
made ready for travel, the gaps then being filled by the wagonmaster,
his assistant, and the extra men, to prevent the cattle from getting
out. When the cattle are driven into this corral or pen, each driver
yokes his oxen, drives them out to his wagon, and gets ready to start.
The entire train of cattle, including extras, generally numbered from
320 to 330 head and usually from four to five mules for riding and
herding. The force of men for each train consisted of a wagonmaster, his
assistant, the teamsters, a man to look after the extra cattle, and two
or three extra men as a reserve to take the places of any men who might
be disabled or sick, the latter case being a rare exception, for as a
rule there was no sickness. I think perhaps there was never a set of
laboring men in the world who enjoyed more uninterrupted good health
than the teamsters upon the plains. They walked by the side of their
teams, as it was impossible for them to ride and keep them moving with
regularity. The average distance traveled with loaded wagons was from
twelve to fifteen miles per day, although in some instances, when roads
were fine and there was a necessity for rapid movement, I have known
them to travel twenty miles. But this was faster traveling than they
could keep up for any length of time. Returning with empty wagons they
could average twenty miles a day without injury to the animals.
Oxen proved to be the cheapest and most reliable teams for long trips,
where they had to live upon the grass. This was invariably the case.
They did good daily work, gathered their own living, and if properly
driven would travel 2,000 miles in a season, or during the months from
April to November; traveling from 1,000 to 1,200 miles with the loaded
wagons, and with plenty of good grass and water, would make the return
trip with the empty wagons in the same season. However, the distance
traveled depended much upon the skill of the wagonmasters who had them
in charge. For if the master was not skilled in handling the animals and
men, they could not make anything like good headway and success. To make
everything work expeditiously, thorough discipline was required, each
man performing his duty and being in the place assigned him without
confusion or delay. I remember once of timing my teamsters when they
commenced to yoke their teams after the cattle had been driven into
their corral and allowed to stand long enough to become quiet. I gave
the word to the men to commence yoking, and held my watch in my hand
while they did so, and in sixteen minutes from the time they commenced,
each man had yoked six pairs of oxen and had them hitched to their
wagons ready to move. I state this that the reader may see how quickly
the men who are thoroughly disciplined could be ready to "pop the whip"
and move out, when unskilled men were often more than an hour doing the
same work. The discipline and rules by which my trains were governed
were perfect, and as quick as the men learned each one his place and
duty, it became a very pleasant and easy thing for him to do. Good moral
conduct was required of them, and no offense from man to man was
allowed, thus keeping them good-natured and working together
harmoniously. They were formed into what they called "messes," there
being from six to eight men in a mess, each mess selecting the man best
fitted to serve as cook, and the others carrying the water, fuel, and
standing guard, so that the cook's sole business when in camp was to get
his utensils ready and cook the meals.
We never left the cattle day or night without a guard of two men, the
teamsters taking turns, and arranging it so that each man was on guard
two hours out of the twenty-four, and sometimes they were only obliged
to go on guard two hours every other night. This matter they arranged
among themselves and with the wagonmaster. The duty of the wagonmaster
was about the same as that of a captain of a steamboat or ship, his
commands being implicitly obeyed, for in the early stages of travel upon
the plains the men were at all times liable to be attacked by the
Indians; therefore the necessity for a perfect harmony of action
throughout the entire band. The assistant wagonmaster's duty was to
carry out the wagonmaster's instructions, and he would often be at one
end of the train while the master was at the other, as the train was
moving. It was arranged, when possible, that no two trains should ever
camp together, as there was not grass and water sufficient for the
animals of both, and thus all confusion was avoided.
The average salary paid the men was $1 a day and expenses. Most of the
traveling in the early days of freighting was done upon what was called
the Santa Fé road, starting from Independence, Mo., and unloading at
Santa Fé, N. M. The rattlesnakes on that road, in the beginning of the
travel, were a great annoyance, often biting the mules and oxen when
they were grazing. At first, mules were used altogether for traveling,
but they would either die or become useless from the bite of a
rattlesnake, and the men would sometimes be sent ahead of the caravan
with whips to frighten the snakes out of the pathway, but later on, the
ox-teamsters, with their large whips, destroyed them so fast that they
ceased to trouble them to any great extent. It has been claimed by men
that the snakes and prairie-dogs, who were also found in great numbers
upon the plains, lived in the same houses, the dog digging the hole and
allowing the snake to inhabit it with him; but I do not think this is
correct. Men came to this conclusion from seeing the snakes when
frightened run into the dog-holes, but I think they did it to get out of
the way of danger, and they lived, too, in the houses that had been
abandoned by the dogs. It is a fact that the prairie dogs would only
live in one hole for about a year, when they would abandon it and dig a
new one, leaving the old ones to be taken possession of by the
rattlesnakes and prairie owls. As far as I have been able to find out,
there is no creature on earth that will live with a rattlesnake. They
are hated and feared by all living animals.
The following are the names of the men who were employed on our trains,
in one capacity and another, and a number of them are still alive:
Dr. J. Hobbs,
Jim Lobb,
Alex Lobb,
Aquila Lobb,
Joel Dunn,
Mitchell Wilson,
Hank Bassett,
George W. Marion,
N. H. Fitzwater,
George Bryant,
Tom A. Brawley,
Peter Bean,
James L. Davis,
William Hickman,
A. W. Street,
Joel Hedgespeth,
Charles Byers,
Nathan Simpson,
R. D. Simpson,
Ben Tunley,
Hiram Cummings,
John Ewing,
Rev. Ben Baxter,
A. and P. Byram,
Frank McKinney,
John T. Renick,
John D. Clayton,
William Wier,
Frank Hoberg,
Gillis of Pennsylvania,
David Street,
Joel Lyal,
Albert Bangs,
Elijah Majors,
Aquila Davis,
Samuel Poteete,
William Hayes,
George A. Baker,
James Brown,
William Dodd,
Mr. Badger,
Green Davis,
John Scudder,
Jackson Cooper,
Samuel Foster,
Robert Foster,
Chat. Renick,
John Renick,
Mr. Levisy,
Dick Lipscomb,
James Aiken,
Johnson Aiken,
Stephen De Wolfe,
Linville Hayes,
Sam McKinny,
Ben Rice,
Ferd Smith,
Henry Carlisle,
Alexander Carlisle,
Robert Ford,
Joseph Erwin,
Daniel D. White,
Johnny Fry,
Alexander Benham,
Luke Benham,
Benjamin Ficklin,
John Kerr.