Fitting out for a Journey —
Rules to be observed in the choice of Pack Animals — Geldings preferable to Mares — Mules Killed by 
Magpies and Blowing flies — Beware of Crupper Cuts — What a Hoof ought not to be, and what it ought 
to be — Shoeing advisable, it possible — How to examine the Eyes — Mules with Defective Vision 
dangerous to a degree — Prevalence of ' Cataract' — The way to examine the Teeth — Parrot-Mouthed 
Mules always lose condition — Never work Pack Animals thin — 'Points' of a good Pack Mule.

The general equipment of a mule-train, or pack and saddle horses, if mules are not to be procured, forms by no 
means the least valuable part of the experience which it is absolutely requisite a traveller should possess. Packing 
means putting anything and everything, irrespective of shape or size up to a weight of 300 lbs., on mule or 
horseback, and so fastening it that it shall neither rock nor sway from side to side, shift backwards up-hill or 
forwards on a descent, or fall off if the animal carrying the load stumbles or even rolls down a hill-side. The same 
remarks will apply whether the pack-train consists of four mules or one hundred. Mules are far preferable to horses 
for all purposes of transport. And so let us begin by supposing- that we are, say in Upper California, 'fitting out' for 
a trip through Southern Oregon, to cross the Rocky Mountains.

First and foremost, mules must be purchased if we mean to travel comfortably. If our party does not exceed three, 
we shall require five pack-mules, two riding mules for the packers, three riding mules for ourselves, and a bell-mare 
to be ridden by the guide or the cook, or any outsider attached to the party. In selecting mules, when purchasing 
always choose geldings or ' machos,' as they are usually styled, in preference to mares. The former are invariably 
much stronger, keep in better condition, and are far less liable to those aberrations of temper which lady mules are 
in the constant habit of displaying, much to the packer's annoyance and discomfiture. Be sure to examine carefully 
the back, arch of the ribs, under surface of the tail close to the rump, hoofs, and eyes. If you discover the 
evidences of previous sores on the back or sides, especially if the skin covering the spot or spots looks shiny and 
polished, have nothing to do with the mule; the greatest care will not prevent regalling, and a sore-backed mule is
worse than none at all, because the poor animal travels in pain and misery all day, if loaded, and gets no rest or a 
chance to feed after the day's work is done, in consequence of the ceaseless persecution inflicted by swarms of 
flies; and, what is far worse, magpies, if any are about, will be pretty sure to perch on the back of the chafed animal,
and clinging on by their sharp claws, peck away at the sore with a sort of fiendish delight.

	During our work, when marking the Boundary line, we had several mules and horses seriously 
	injured by the magpies, the packers having incautiously turned the animals out with sores 
	exposed. I observed one of our mules on the Sumass prairie, near the Eraser River, British 
	Columbia, rolling madly, but was at a loss to imagine the cause. As I stood quietly watching him 
	he got on his legs, but no sooner was he up than a couple of magpies which I had not previously 
	noticed issued from an adjoining bush, swooped down upon the luckless mule, and commenced
	again what they had clearly just left off, literally, and not in mere figure of speech, to eat him alive. 
	Vain were all the tortured beast's writhings, kickings, and attempts by mouth and tail to displace 
	the greedy birds; they hung on with a perseverance certainly worthy of a better cause. Rolling was 
	his only chance, but even then his persecutors simply hopped off patiently to bide another 
	opportunity. 

	Too much occupied to notice my approach, the two gourmands permitted me to get within range: a 
	shrill whistle sent them hurry-scurry from their horrid banquet, for which they paid the penalty of their 
	lives; I shot one with each barrel. Their beaks, as I picked them up, were reeking with the blood of 
	the mule, and in one was still grasped a bit of quivering muscle. We had in our employ a quaint 
	specimen of the thoroughbred woodsman; old 'Pine-knot' we styled him, in compliment to his 
	toughness or powers of endurance; in other words, he combined within himself the various crafts of 
	gold-washer, axeman, hunter, packer, trapper, and rowdy in general. He hated magpies nearly as
	much as he loved whisky, and invariably tried his best to destroy every one he saw. "Darned cusses," 
	he used to exclaim, "they'd as leve eat a Injun as a hoss, and that's more nor a skunk ud do, you 
	may bet high on it."

To return to our subject. These several causes rapidly produce loss of condition, and the probability is the mule will 
either have to be shot or abandoned; the former being by far the more charitable course, and one I should always 
advise. I have several times discovered abandoned pack animals in a most pitiable condition. Once I remember 
finding a mule on a small open patch of prairie land in Oregon, which had been left by its owners in consequence of 
a stake wound just above the hoof having produced such excessive lameness as to render further rapid 
progression impossible. Blowing flies soon found out the sore, laid their eggs, which were rapidly developed into 
larvae, or maggots in plain English, and these had burrowed in every direction, betwixt the horny hoof and bone, 
consuming what is equivalent to that most exquisitely sensitive tissue, commonly called in man 'the quick of the nail,' 
whilst the helpless animal lived. It makes my heart ache even now when I recall its look of agony as on three legs
the poor beast limping along said, in language quite as intelligible as articulated words could have been, "In pity 
help me." On examining the foot, I found the hoof was almost detached from its union with the adjoining tissues, 
which were being rapidly devoured by the maggots. What was to be done? No system of treatment which I could 
have adopted would have been of the slightest avail. Charity whispered, "End its sufferings as speedily as you can,"
which I did by sending a bullet through its brain.

I could recount many other instances of finding deserted animals enduring horrible sufferings, but this one will 
suffice; and I have related it with a view to induce those who read these lines (should they ever have occasion to 
abandon an animal) to kill it at once. As a general rule it is far more humane than to give an animal "a chance for its
life." You ask, why it is desirable to look underneath the tail? Because 'crupper cuts' are of common occurrence, 
and when once a mule's tail has been badly cut by the sawing motion of the crupper it never properly heals, and 
although the wound may be skinned over, so as to escape the eye of an inexperienced buyer, still no person 
accustomed to packing would purchase a mule if signs of 'crupper-cut' were discoverable.

If the hoofs are worn very much, and the sole and frog come flat upon the ground, or if old cracks are to be seen 
about the coronets, or if a ridge or ridges of bone encircle the coronet, commonly called 'ring-bone,' have nothing 
to do with the mule; he will be sure to work lame the first rough ground you drive him over. Badly worn hoofs are 
usually composed of weak poor horn, and when the wear brings down the lower edge of the outer horn to its union 
with the horny sole, small fragments of gravel are apt to work in, often causing an incurable lameness. A good hoof 
should be black, very oval, and hard as flint. Shoeing pack animals is all very well, if you can find a shoeing smith, 
 and afford to pay him a dollar (4s.) a shoe; hence shod animals are seldom seen; now and then a favourite riding 
mule or horse may be indulged with a set of shoes, if a rough country has to be travelled over.

The Commission mules and horses were always shod, but then we had our own soldier shoeing-smiths, and could 
afford to do it. One thing I am quite sure of, shod mules are capable of enduring greater fatigue, carry a heavier 
weight, and travel much faster than do those which are without the iron protection to the feet. A light shoe, turned 
up at the heels, steeled at the toes, and put on firmly with eight nails, is the kind of shoe I found to answer best for 
general purposes. Turning up the heels prevents slipping when going down steep trails, and saves the flat part of 
the shoe from a great deal of wear.

A rigid and most careful scrutiny of the eyes is a first necessity. To examine them, stand at the mule's side, shade 
the eye to be examined with your hand and look through it from corner to corner, then place yourself in front, and 
peer into the interior of the eye as you would into a well if seeking for truth at the bottom of it. Should you discover 
any pearly-looking specks, like tiny white beads, at once reject him. Mules are extremely liable to 'cataract,' and a 
mule with defective vision is dangerous to a degree; not only does he risk his own life, by shying on narrow trails, 
and perhaps falling over a cliff into a river, or down a vertical wall of rocks, nobody knows where, with the freight 
and packing gear; but by suddenly backing or halting, the mules following close to him are stopped suddenly, trails 
being very seldom wide enough for one mule to pass by another. The hinder mules in the train, immediately there is
a halt, as if actuated by a vicious determination to push each other over, crowd on upon those that are obliged to 
stop in consequence of the semi-blind mule refusing to proceed, from dread of some imaginary object, produced by
defective vision. The result of all this usually is, that two or three good mules may be either killed or dangerously 
hurt, in consequence of your purchasing a bad mule with unsound eyes.

Another thing a dim-sighted mule does is to run against the trees with his load, and if he happens to be carrying a 
box, or anything breakable, smash it goes to a certainty. In examining large bands of mules, in California and 
elsewhere, when purchasing for the Government Boundary Commission transport, I was astonished to find so many 
had ' cataract.' Why this should be I cannot tell, excepting the disease is inherited. Old and worn-out mares are 
frequently, though unwisely, thought good enough to 'raise' a mule from; and overridden 'mustangs' are usually 
turned out to take their chance in wet or cold, and from this cause are extremely liable to inflammatory affections of 
the eyes, which generally ends in the formation of 'cataract.' Hence, I am disposed to attribute the frequency of the 
disease, in young mules, to inheritance; although blows from the packers' whips, or ophthalmia produced by cold 
and exposure to inclement weather, may be, and I feel sure often is, the cause of the disease in older and 
hard-worked animals.

We complete our examination by taking a peep at the teeth; it is very seldom pack-mules will allow any liberties to 
be taken with their mouths, and they always manifest a very decided objection to showing their incisors. If you have 
a quiet horse to deal with, nothing is easier than to place a finger behind the tusk, or tush, or in the space betwixt 
the grinding and cutting teeth if it be a mare, then to raise the lips with the left hand, and by the wearing down of the
'marks' find out the age; but with ill-disposed mules the case is altogether different, you might as reasonably expect
to pull your finger from the snap of a steel trap unscathed as for it to escape from out a mule's mouth without being 
bitten. Tame old riding and team mules are often docile enough to permit any liberty to be taken with them, but 
never trust one that is used only for packing. The safer way to manage the rascal, so as to be enabled to look into 
his mouth, is first firmly to seize the near-side ear with the right hand, and with the left hand grasp the upper lip, 
nose and all, then lean the hip against the mule's shoulder and bring the nose toward you. In this way one can 
generally obtain a peep at the front or incisor teeth.

By keeping the hip jammed tightly to the animal's shoulder you avoid the risk of its striking you with the fore feet, for
let me tell you these pack animals are quite as handy with their fore hoofs as a prize-fighter is with his fists.

It is not of any material moment to know whether a mule is three or five years old, so that you know he is not very 
aged. For packing, I prefer mules between five and seven years old to younger animals. There is yet another 
reason, besides that appertaining to age, which renders a scrutiny of the mouth indispensable. What are called 
'parrot-mouthed' mules are far from being uncommon; in this case the upper cutting teeth overlap, and instead of 
meeting, shut down outside the under ones. This deformity is most objectionable; experience has proved that 
wherever grass is short, or the general herbage scanty, parrot-mouthed mules invariably lose condition.

Here will be as good a place as any to caution all young travellers against 'working their pack animals thin.' So long 
as mules retain their rotundity and plumpness, the sure signs of good condition, there is very little fear of galling 
them, unless it happens or arises from the most reprehensible carelessness on the part of the packers; but let your
mules once get thin, from over-driving, over-loading, or from either of the causes previously pointed out — which 
faults should, or at any rate ought to have been discovered in the examination prior to purchasing — and all the 
care and skill the most practised hands are able to adopt will not prevent the occurrence of galled backs and 
chafed ribs.

Numbers of mules in large pack trains are found by their packers to 'work thin,' from some cause or other not 
discoverable. Such animals are always discarded, and when placed in pasture where the grass is long, there, with 
plenty to eat and nothing to do, they soon fatten, and are finally disposed of to the unwary. A pack mule should be 
short upon the legs, strong and rather arched along the back, thick in the shoulders and muscular about the loins. 
The hoofs should be small and black, and the hocks straight and fine, without any tendency to bend inwards, or 
what is technically designated 'cow-hocked.' He should have bright full eyes, sharp teeth, a good long swishy tail, 
and a sound skin.

Average worth of Pack Mules — Mortality in Cold Regions — Poisonous effects of the Horse-tail Rush — 
Advantages of Sheds and Dryth — The Bell-mare — Value of a Horse's Tail — Branding.

We have fixed on the mules we intend to purchase, and agreed with the seller as to the price to be paid, which, on a
rough average, will amount to about 120 dollars (25£) to 150 dollars (30£) per head. If mules are purchased in 
Sonora or Texas, unbroken, or only partially tamed, and driven up into California at the buyer's risk, they may be
obtained at a much less cost than I have quoted as the average price current in Upper California. I was sent from 
Vancouver's Island into California especially to purchase a band of eighty mules for the Boundary Commission, 
which cost, one with another, 120 dollars per head. Like all other marketable matters, mules rise and fall in value, in
accordance with the demand and supply, or in the ratio of successful gold-hunting. Whenever mining is prosperous 
mules are dear; when the miners are 'down upon their luck,' mules can be obtained at comparatively small prices.

In cold regions the mortality is something awful during the winter, and in that way the value is often increased. It may
be interesting to mention as an instance of this, and as an example how differences of food and climate affect 
mules, which are generally supposed to be hardy to a proverb, (a most erroneous idea, by the way), that during the 
time we were at work on the Boundary line, west of the Cascade mountains, the gold discoveries on the Fraser 
River 'Bars' attracted a vast concourse of miners, and consequently mule trains, for the purpose of supplying the 
diggers' necessities. When the cold weather came on the mule trains were, nearly every one, driven down to the 
Sumass and Chilukweyuk prairies, in order to winter the animals. The grass was in great abundance, and small 
sheds were run up with 'wickey and mud,' (twined branches plastered with clay or mud), to protect the mules, whilst 
the owners or packers in charge built themselves log shanties; and thus provided, no apprehensions were 
entertained but that all would go on as 'merry as a marriage bell.'

But the too sanguine Californians little dreamed what the winters were like in British Columbia; snow rapidly covered
up the grass far too deeply for the mules to dig it away with their feet, in order to reach the buried herbage. No dry 
fodder had been provided to meet this contingency so, in the absence of all other kinds of foliage, the hungry mules
began to devour the large patches of equisetum, or horse-tail rush, which covered many acres of ground under the 
trees, by the river side, and around the swampy edges of the bush; being in a great measure protected by the 
trees, and growing often to a height of six feet, it was easily comeatable above the snow. The effect of this plant was
perfectly astounding. As soon as the mules began to eat it they were seized with a disease precisely resembling 
Asiatic cholera; the most violent purging came on, accompanied with cramp, rigors, utter prostration, and speedy 
death. More than five hundred mules died on these two prairies in less than a month. What the cause of this 
poisonous effect might have been I am puzzled to say. My impression at the time was, that the animals' stomachs 
and intestines being comparatively empty, and at the same time the general tolerance of the system being further 
weakened by the excessive cold and lack of requisite food rich in carbon, the flinty covering of the rush acted 
mechanically as a mineral irritant to the mucous lining of the alimentary canal, producing dysentery of a most
violent character. This is simply a theory, and must be estimated only as such. I mention the fact incidentally as a 
warning to travellers, who may perchance be placed in a like disagreeable and ruinous position. I have often seen 
the mules eat this horse-tail rush during the summer, when mixed with other food, and then no ill effects accrued 
from it.

I wintered all the Commission mules and horses during the following winter on the same prairies, and with signal 
success; but I had grown wiser by having witnessed the misfortunes of others. So I took the precaution to have a 
requisite supply of the long grass mowed and converted into hay during the summer, and likewise a supply of barley
safely housed in a log store, which grain was brought all the way from Chili to Vancouver Island, and thence up the 
Fraser and Sumass rivers, by boat, to be finally landed on this desert prairie. I had a large square enclosed with
open sheds, in which the animals were fed and kept, being driven out only to ice-holes cut in the stream, twice 
every day, to drink.

The grand secret of wintering animals successfully in very cold districts is, I am convinced, to insure their always 
having a dry bed to lie on, and shelter from anything falling from the heavens. Cold, however intense, (I have 
wintered mules, horses, and cattle when the temperature has been 32° below zero), never does them any harm, so
long as their bodies are dry and they have plenty to eat. Wet and currents of frosty air do all the mischief, not the 
intensity of dry cold. Every one of my animals living in the open sheds were healthier, and less predisposed to colds
and lung affections than were those more closely shut up.

After this little digression, we must go in pursuit of the next essential, and that is a 'bell mare.' With a 
train of mules, if the number of animals composing it exceeds three or four, you must have a 'bell mare.' A small 
band of mules can be either hobbled or tethered when you are camping; with a large number this system is 
impracticable. Experience has taught the packers that mules will follow a mare or gelding, (the former being always 
preferred), should it have a bell tied round its neck, wherever it goes; more than this, at night, when camping, all 
you have to do is to secure the 'bell mare,' either by hobbling or tethering her, and the mules will very rarely graze 
further away than they can distinctly hear the bell, which is always tinkling so long as the mare is eating or 
wandering about. When the bell ceases, in consequence of the mare's lying down, the mules also lie down and take
their rest. When the mare gets up, and the bell begins to ring, the mules also arise and again commence feeding.
The 'bell mare' always precedes the mule train, and is ridden by the cook as a rule. Her pace regulates that of the 
train, and must be most carefully watched by whomsoever has the charge of the train. Over-driving, as I have 
before said, is most hurtful to loaded animals.

From what I have stated in reference to this said 'bell mare,' it is quite clear we must be very careful in the selection 
of the lady to be honoured with such an unruly family. In the first place she must be perfectly gentle, and not very 
young; young mares are given to ramble and very often get amorous fits.

"Whilst this lasts, all discipline is to a great extent at an end amongst the pack of mules; they one and all (that is, 
the geldings) become like Ingoldsby's abbot, when seated by the devil, disguised as a fair lady, 'less pious and 
more polite.' She must not be vicious or given to kicking. A light grey, if we can get her of that colour, is by far the 
best, because she is much more readily seen, when browsing among trees; and about fourteen hands, or fourteen 
hands two inches, is the more preferable size. Her back must be free from galls, her eyes sound, and, what is of 
more value than you who have not earned experience can well imagine, she must have a very long, thick, and 
bushy tail: a short-tailed mare is sure to wander, if she can, or keep fidgeting all night long; if tethered securely the 
bell is never still, and the mules do not rest, whereas a long-tailed mare easily whips off the flies that so terribly
torment animals night and day, and thus rests herself, and induces the mules to rest at the same time. I shall have 
more to say about the 'bell' when we come to camping, crossing streams, and packing. The price we shall have to 
pay for her will be about fifty dollars (10£), or perhaps rather more.

In proof of the value of a horse's tail, in a country infested with blood-sucking flies, I may state that I once, when at 
Walla-Walla, a small steamer-landing and town, situated at the head of navigation on the Columbia River, 
purchased a 'Siskyoo horse,' which means a horse with its ears cropped short, like a terrier's, and the tail cut off close
up to the rump. This is, or once was, a common custom with the Siskyoo Indians, and all horses so trimmed are 
designated by the generic term of 'Siskyoo.' The object of this barbarous custom was to enable these Indians
easily to recognise their own horses if stolen, and subsequently discovered herding with other bands. 
Horse-stealing is the primary cause of nearly every Indian war and quarrel.

The poor 'Siskyoo' beast, although as perfect a cob as any man need have looked on, was nevertheless utterly 
valueless during the summer: unable to whip away his tormentors, they worried him with impunity, until want of rest 
and continuous irritation reduced him well-nigh to a skeleton. 'When found make a note of --.' Always look out for 
long-tailed mules and horses in a fly-country.

I happened to stumble upon the following strange adventure during my stay at New Walla-Walla :—

	"Colonel, I guess thar's two imigrants a waitin to see you, just a starvin, narry shoe on, and mighty 
	near skeert to death." So said Sergeant to Colonel as we sat at mess, on a cold bleak autumn 
	evening, in the mess-room at New Walla-Walla.

	"What may be their business. Sergeant ?" inquired the Colonel.

	"Waal, it ain't easy to make out; thar Britishers, and talk tall about Injens, muder, and risin har, and..."

	"Very well," said the Colonel, "bring them to my quarters after they have been rationed by the 
	Quartermaster."

	I may as well briefly explain, for the enlightenment of my readers, where Walla-Walla is situated, and 
	by what sequence of events it happened that I was located in so remote a place.

The clear swift-flowing stream, with its double name Walla-Walla, so called by a tribe of Red Indians living on its 
banks, (the name, by the way, translated into English, means ever-bright and sparkling), winds in crooked course 
through a vast sandy plain, to mingle its waters with those of the Columbia River, at a distance of quite 700 miles 
from the sea. The steamer lands all adventurous wanderers who may chance to peril themselves in so desolate a 
country at Old Walla-Walla, which is the head of navigation on the Columbia, and Old Walla-Walla was once a fort, 
not as we are prone to picture a fort, battlemented and bristling with guns, but was simply a square enclosed by 
mud or adobe walls, containing a few miserable hovels, which were once tenanted by the fur-traders in the employ
of the Hudson's Bay Company; but the Red Skins being by far too hostile to be trusted, or traded with, the 
fur-traders were eventually driven from their fort, the crumbling remains of which now only adds its own to that of the
surrounding desolation. The traveller is turned out from the steamer to take his chance of getting somehow to New 
Walla-Walla as best he can, by a four-horse machine called a stage. The distance is thirty miles straight over a 
treeless sandy plain, on which nothing grows save stunted wild sage (or artemisia), where there is no trace of a road,
and the wind always blows in one's face, and being heavily freighted with fine sand, together with small pebbles,
manages to discharge its cargo into the wayfarer's ears, nose, pockets, and will penetrate his watch if he is 
fortunate enough to possess one. Let him but venture to close his mouth, and the meeting teeth grind away upon a 
stratum of flinty sand, as though one had indulged in a scouring brick for luncheon.

The stage, tugged along by four horses, is so constructed with straps and springs as to be in reality a most 
ingenious contrivance for dislocating limbs and pitching a passenger head first against the opposite side of the
unpadded interior, or into the stomach of a vis-a-vis, should there be any such unfortunate individual to be pitched 
into. The probability is, however, that the compliment may be returned at any unexpected moment if a tight hold-fast
is not maintained by your friend opposite on the strong leather loops, which dangle in every direction, like ropes for 
the drowning, ready for any emergency.

If any one can endure this continued trapeze performance for about four or five hours, the probabilities are in 
favour of his reaching New Walla-Walla in about the same condition as a person may be supposed to arrive at after 
being vigorously tossed in a blanket for a short time by muscular rustics.

New Walla-Walla 'city' stands on a sandy shingly flat. The small amount of grass visible looks as dry as hay, and 
excepting a clump of dwarfed and stunted-looking trees, which seem so bent and emaciated that one is led to 
imagine the trees must have been the victims of a chronic rheumatism or a perpetual cramp, not a particle of any 
other wood is discoverable, as far as eye can scan the dismal extent of arid waste, in the very midst of which this 
'city' is built. Cities in this part of the world are only such in name; squares, terraces, crescents, busy streets, and 
massive mansions crowded with civic dignitaries are not by any means essential requirements. In this particular 
instance the city of New Walla-Walla consisted of not more than thirty houses, all constructed of unplaned planks or 
'lumber,' so called, the style of architecture, being solely in accordance with the tastes or inventive genius of the 
builder, of the most varied and questionable character, forcibly reminded one of booths on a racecourse wherein 
thirsty pleasure seekers regale themselves, rather than of houses, a resemblance rendered the more striking by 
the motley throng riding, lounging, and sitting in groups, amidst the houses in the 'main' street, a straight dusty 
thoroughfare, towards which most of the houses faced. I enter a gaudy bar-room all aglitter with tinselly finery, 
bright-coloured glass bottles, and small brigades of decanters fitted with strange-looking stoppers which let out the 
contained poison, disguised as whisky, by a kind of machinery, and near them arrays of smeary drinking vessels 
stand in quartets, together with jugs of cold water like sentries ready by. At the shortest notice drinks can be
indulged in; for all classes in Walla-Walla city, if in possession of the all-powerful dollar, take drinks. On every 
occasion a man imbibes: when he is sorry, when he is joyful, when swamped by disappointment or floated by 
prosperity. Men cement their friendships with gin cock-tails and juleps, and terminate acquaintances and 
disagreements in a 'Brandy Smash.' The mourner drinks with those who do not grieve, and they drink simply 
because the mourner asks them. If the goddess of Liberty were seen strolling through Walla-Walla I feel sure 
somebody would immediately ask her to take an eye-opener. Behind the bar-counter a gorgeous individual is 
conspicuous at all times, radiant in smiles, shirt front, studs and rings, whose greatest accomplishment appears to 
consist in the ability to toss cold drinks from one tin cup into another without spilling any. He usually has an immense
cigar 'stowed' away in the corner of his mouth, one half of which is chewed, whilst the other is puffed slowly away. 
Leaving the bar I see 'billiard saloon' in letters which he who runs can read, and wonder as well I may by what 
means a billiard table could bare been brought here, and still further, who the individuals can be who are likely to
play on it. A peep in to the 'billiard saloon,' and the mystery at once ends. Why, everybody plays, from the 
darky boy who polishes your boots, or the barber who does the easy shaving, up to the colonel commanding the 
'military post' and it is just as likely as not, you may witness a match, if you sit and take a drink in the saloon, betwixt 
a 'bummer' with 'narry a cent' in his pocket, or clothes on his back worth pillaging from off a scarecrow, and a 
military officer in full uniform. Strolling still further through the city, stores, groceries, 'barbers' saloons,' livery 
stables, places alike all astir with the bustle of business, are respectively passed. This quaint little place, I am told, 
owes its origin to two causes, one the discovery of gold on the Cold-water and Burnt Rivers, tributaries to the Snake
River, and both of which bead from the slopes of the Blue mountains. Like the magnetic mountain of Sinbad's 
travels which dragged nails out of ships, and a man, if he had iron on his boots, straight up against its side, where 
he was held like a fly on a wall, so with speed or power as potent, the prospect of obtaining gold drew adventurers
to New Walla-Walla, from whence they procured the necessary articles for fitting out, to sink or swim, in their 
struggles for fortune. The 'American garrison,' or 'military post,' is situated about a mile from the city on a patch of 
rising ground, close to a small creek or 'crik,' as Trans-atlantics usually pronounce the word. A troop of dragoons, 
and three, or sometimes four companies of infantry, are usually stationed at this outpost, their duty being that of 
protecting settlers against Indian incursions. The soldiers are a great support to the citizens, notwithstanding the 
very admirable system adopted by the United States military authorities of having a sutler, or in other words, 
appointing a civilian, whose duty it is to supply all requisites to officers and men, up to a certain fixed amount, at a 
regular tariff, for which he is paid at the pay-table of the regiment. Should the sutler, however, trust any soldier to 
an amount beyond his pay he must lose it, the paymaster being only responsible for goods supplied up to the 
regulation amount. The sutler's store is always a great lounging place, and as he sells drinks, in some measure on 
the sly, it very materially lessens the crop of small coin which would be otherwise reaped by the Walla-Walla citizens,
as the sutler being nearest to home gets the first produce, if not the entire harvest. The 'Post' was neatly laid out, in
shape a very large square, the centre being the drill ground; the sides were appropriated to officers' quarters; 
barracks for the men, and the quartermaster's stores. All the houses were made of planks planed, painted, and 
fitted with very capital glazed windows. I was staying there for a time, the guest of the officers, awaiting means of 
transport to reach the dalles en route to Portland.

	The Sergeant comes to the Colonel's quarters and says the two strangers are awaiting admittance,
	whose story I am all curiosity to listen to. As we await their appearance, the Colonel said, ' Captain 
	I'll bet fifty dollars those rascally Snake Indians have been playing havoc again amongst the 
	emigrants. If they have, as sure as I live, every loafer of them I catch shall...'

	The door just then opened, and so cut short the Colonel's threat. Staggering from sheer weakness, 
	and with travel-worn feet, two men, each about thirty years of age, tottered in, marshalled by the 
	Sergeant. I need not be wearisome by relating, word for word, all that was said. Their sad story was 
	briefly as follows. 

	Early in the summer, a party consisting in all of forty souls, started from the Red River district, their 
	purpose being to reach the rich valley of the Willamet River, therein to establish themselves, 
	pre-empt farms, and reap the harvest its fertile land usually yields to all who industriously develope 
	its agricultural capabilities. All were hale, hearty, and in the springtime of life, most of them being 
	married couples and blessed with sturdy young olive branches. Their equipment was most 
	complete, and carried, as were the women and children, in strong wagons, drawn each by six or 
	eight yoke of powerful oxen. For many weary weeks this band of hopeful travellers had found their 
	way along the barren route leading across the great American desert. Rivers were successfully 
	swam or forded, rocky passes tugged and toiled over; an occasional buffalo stalk or a tramp
	after a wapiti, were the only incidents which relieved the monotony of the journey. Indians were the 
	enemies to be dreaded, but on the plains where the travellers fully anticipated seeing these 
	marauders none had been observed.

	Hope, like a cloud with a golden lining, gleamed brightly and cheerily before them, as, deeming 
	danger well nigh at an end, they wended their way down the craggy slopes west of the Rocky 
	Mountains, to follow the course of the Snake River, and ford it at the only practicable spot, which is 
	very near to its junction with the Salmon River, a crossing known as the ' Emigrants' Ford ' of the 
	Snake River. The long-desired fording place is at length reached, but too late to risk the somewhat 
	dangerous task of crossing so swift a stream until the morrow's light lends its aid. 

	The emigrants encamp on the bank of the river, and chat cheerfully by the flickering firelight of 
	dangers surmounted, and hopefully of the easy journey before them. Once across the river they 
	are safe, as the route is free from any further obstacle of importance to Walla-Walla. Their gossip is 
	suddenly interrupted by the appearance of several 'Snake Indians.'

	Not a little alarmed, the poor emigrants make signs of friendship, which the Red Skins readily 
	return; they smoke the pipe of good fellowship together, do a little barter for meat and fish, giving 
	in exchange tobacco and beads, and then the Indians vanish into the darkness and are seen no 
	more that night. As there were only a few savages, no great apprehension was entertained of an 
	attack; still additional precautions were taken, and a sharp watch kept during the night, so as to 
	avoid any chance of a sudden surprise. The dreary hours of the night one by one rolled by, until 
	the grey light in the east, tipping as with frosted silver every peak and ridge, proclaimed the 
	advent of another day. Everything was still, no sign of savages visible, nothing but the mellow 
	notes of some early songster, the weird wail of the loon, or the thrum of some benighted beetle,
	hurrying home to hide ere the coming light betrayed him, disturbed the stillness of surrounding 
	nature. The sentries rouse the sleepers, most of them far away in dreamland, amidst friends and 
	parents; others in fancy perhaps are wandering once more in the paths so often trodden afore-time, 
	amidst fields and flowers, listening it may be to the prattlings of infancy or the healthful mellow 
	voices of youth, scenes alike deeply engraven on memory's tablets, and rendered dear to the 
	dreamer by a thousand and one pleasant remembrances.

	All are up and busy, the men yoking the oxen and preparing to ford the river; the women and 
	children are occupied packing the camp and cooking equipment and preparing for the somewhat 
	difficult process of ferrying the stream. The plan of crossing is to unload partly some of the wagons, 
	and to attach a double or treble team of oxen to each. First of all the women and children are
	taken across the stream and left on the opposite bank; then the wagons, entirely emptied, are 
	recrossed for the rest of the freight. So by slow and sure degrees, all hands, together with their 
	worldly wealth, are safe on a grassy plateau which stretches away before them for about four miles, 
	to reach the wooded slopes of a low range of hills, known as the 'Blue Mountains.' The sun was 
	high ere the oxen were again yoked up. A short march only is contemplated, by way of reaching the
	timber, and crossing a low divide, in order to arrive at a rivulet of water running through a narrow 
	valley on the other side, in which they intended camping — a favourite camping place for travelling 
	parties, and known as the 'Emigrant Camp.'

	Not a trace or sign of Indians had been observed during the morning, and in the buoyancy of their
	spirits, consequent on an imaginary safety, the little band of wanderers, forgetting to take even 
	ordinary precautions, were riding along on their wagons, singing, laughing, joking, carelessly happy, 
	dreading nothing.

	Suddenly, on nearing the thick pine forest, a yell, as though numberless demons were shrieking in
	wild delight, momentarily preceded the rush of some eighty mounted 'Snake Indians,' who, issuing 
	in detachments from various openings in the trees, completely surrounded the wagon train, and 
	fired a mixed volley of arrows and bullets in amongst the fright-stricken emigrants before they well 
	knew what had befallen them.

	Several dropped badly wounded, but the remainder fought bravely, so soon as they rallied from the 
	sudden panic into which they were thrown; even the women fired from out the wagons at the ruthless 
	Red Skins, but all to no purpose; one after another the men were shot down and scalped, the 
	children killed, and the women dragged away to endure a fate too horrible to name. The oxen were 
	speedily set at liberty, the wagons, despoiled of all the savages felt disposed to steal, were set on fire, 
	and reeking with their bloody spoils the band of murderers rode away to the ford, driving before them 
	every one of the bewildered bullocks.

	The two men who related this harrowing story to the Colonel and myself managed to creep in to the 
	bush during the melee, and when they saw the Indians decamp made the best of their way to 
	Walla-Walla. The poor heart-broken fellows had subsisted entirely on berries, gathered as they 
	walked along shoeless, footsore, starving and pennyless — their wives murdered, childless, and 
	broken in heart and spirits. Their terrible misfortunes would have awakened the sympathies of any 
	man, if his heart had been of adamantine hardness.

	Further questioning elicited many small matters of detail which, linked together, rendered it extremely
	probable that there were women, if not men, surviving this brutal cowardly massacre; and that there
	was likewise a remote probability they might be found if sought after. This decided on, the Colonel 
	without a moment's delay made known the story; volunteers were not tardy in offerin' their services. 
	Indeed I may truly say that the whole garrison to a man would have turned out if it could have been 
	permitted, although the fall of the first snow was daily expected and the journey would necessarily be 
	not cold only but an extremely risky one.

	A chosen few were selected, and placed under my command. A small train of lightly packed mules 
	were to accompany the mounted troopers, in order to carry rations, clothing for the women if any 
	of them should be found alive, and the doctor's requisites, to be ready in case of need. One of the 
	men who had escaped was also mounted on a powerful horse, and placed under the special charge 
	of the kind old Sergeant, who begged so hard for leave to make one of the party, in order to help
	as he said 'jist to lynch up any darned skunk of a (imagine a strong adjective) Red Skin they could 
	skeer up,' that the Colonel, though very reluctantly, at last consented.

	All these arrangements were soon completed in the morning, and with hearty wishes for our safe 
	return and the deepest execrations human nature could devise levelled against all red skins, we 
	trotted briskly out of the garrison square and away over the sandy plain, towards the Blue Mountains,
	dimly visible in the distance. As we rode through a small encampment of friendly Walla-Walla Indians 
	we picked up a guide, a queer-looking old savage, well known at the military post as a first-rate 
	hunter and tracker, but, having naturally a rather grotesque twist in his vision, the familiar sobriquet 
	by which he was usually known was that of Old Auger-eye. Taking his station at the head of the 
	cavalcade, and being mounted on a remarkably fine skew-balled horse, most conspicuous for its 
	distinct markings of white and rich red-brown, the Red man looked remarkably like the 'Wild Hunter 
	of the Prairies' as he was once to be seen at monster shows, only that the real hunter wore a ragged 
	old uniform shell jacket and the broadest brimmed 'wide-awake' hat I ever saw, a costume which 
	destroyed to some extent the 'Circus Wild Hunter' and Auger-eye's similarity.

	It was very nearly dark when we halted to encamp; we had no tents, so each had to pillow his head 
	on his saddle, and fit himself into inequalities of the ground as best he could. According to our 
	guide's statement, we could not possibly reach our destination in less than four days from this, our 
	first camp; and as the rivers were aflood, it might be that we should be detained an additional day, 
	or perhaps more, in order to raft them.

	Thus sixteen or seventeen days would have elapsed from the time of the massacre; and if any of 
	the women had escaped, it was more than likely they must perish from starvation before we could 
	arrive with the needful succour. Still the very sight of the poor feeble man, shaken to the very 
	centre with terror and grief, seemed to rouse the soldiers into ungovernable fury, and I felt quite 
	sure if by chance any 'Snake Indians' fell into their hands, but little time would be given them for 
	explanation or repentance. The orders were positive that all Indians taken alive should be
	brought back to the Post as prisoners, an order I well knew the soldiers would never obey.

	Just as Auger-eye had predicted, two, nay nearly three days, were lost in rafting the horse and 
	mule gear over the swollen streams; thus nearly a week had flown by when darkness compelled 
	us to camp very near the scene of this terrible murder. Each watched eagerly for the first ray of 
	dawn, no one appeared disposed to sleep, but preferred to sit moodily by the smouldering 
	embers. Few sounds disturbed the intense silence of the night save the trampling of the tethered 
	animals, the occasional snort of a horse as something tickled its nose, the continued munch-munch 
	as they all greedily cropped the succulent herbage, the distant bay of the wolves, and now and 
	then the startling shriek of the night owl as it skimmed with muffled wings over the silent group. 

	I never remember so long a night; I began to think morning had put off coming at all, and really
	envied old Auger-eye, who was coiled up and sleeping for all the world like a dog. The wished for 
	light came at last, and long ere the sun's rays came fairly over the hills we had 'saddled up' and 
	were cantering rapidly through the timber, to come out on the open plateau leading to the ford at 
	the upper fork of the Snake River.

	As we neared the line where the forest ended and the prairie land began, the pace increased to 
	almost a race, each appearing to think he ought to be first to discover a survivor, or reek 
	vengeance on a Red Skin. Hence it happened that every one selected a path for himself, and the 
	detachment dashed from amidst the pine trees scattered like a flight of frightened birds. It was
	my fate, I cannot say good fortune, to emerge on the very spot whereon the terrible butchery had 
	been perpetrated.

	Once in a lifetime is quite often enough to witness such a scene as I was in the midst of. Numbers 
	of bodies of both sexes, many of them those of children, lay grim and ghastly upon the bright 
	green grass in all sorts of positions. Vitality flown, chemistry had begun its work of destruction, 
	and lending their aid as general removers of nuisances were vultures, ravens, wolves, and a host 
	of lesser flesh feeders, together with their diminutive yet powerful assistants belonging to the 
	scavenger brigade of the insect army. 

	All the adults had been scalped, and many cleft skulls showed that the savages had brained with 
	a tomahawk or hatchet the wounded and disabled. I will not sicken you by lingering here, it would 
	be only painful to relate all the terrible evidences of brutality we saw, as wandering about amidst 
	the dead bodies, cindered wagons, and spoiled property useless to the savages, we realised to
	the full what a scene of carnage the fight must have been.

	Whilst the men were occupied in digging a large pit, into which the remains of the dead were to be
	deposited, old 'Auger-eye' had been cautiously circling round the spot, and might be seen every 
	now and then down upon his knees peering intently at the ground. At last he appeared to have 
	discovered something; beckoning me, he at the same time pointed in the direction of the upward 
	course of the river. All hands were so eager to learn what discovery the old tracker had lighted on,
	that persuasion and command failed alike to induce them to continue at the work on which they 
	were engaged. Dropping their tools they crowded round the old man, and scarcely venturing to 
	breathe, intently listened to what he was saying. In the figurative style common to all Indian 
	languages, the old savage stated his opinion to be that three, if not four, white people had crossed 
	the plateau after the fight, and by the appearance of their trail were making for the river. Children 
	had accompanied them, but he could not say whether two or three. He also stated that he had
	made out, from a careful reading of Nature's book, that Indians had visited the place since the fight,
	and that in all likelihood they too had struck this same trail and followed it up the river. Their signs
	told him they had not passed more than three suns ago; further, if the Indians had not discovered 
	the fugitives, we should most likely capture the ruffians by dividing our party, sending some of 
	them across the ford, to scout up the right bank of the stream, whilst others were to keep close to it 
	on the side we were. A third party was ordered to make a short circuit through the bush and again 
	strike in upon the river a few miles farther up its course, at which place of rendezvous the different
	parties would eventually meet. The opinion being unanimous that no time should be lost, it was 
	arranged that some of the detachment should return on our homeward route, to complete the sad 
	task so summarily abandoned.

	Thirsting for a speedy revenge, the men at once divided. With Auger-eye as guide I took 
	command of the detachment who had to search the river-bank; the old Sergeant commanded the 
	scouting party told off to cross the ford and scour the timber, on the right side of the river; whilst the 
	third band was appropriated to the Doctor. The weather was cold, and the sky, thickly covered with 
	fleecy clouds, foreboded a heavy fall of snow. The wind blew in fitful gusts, and seemed to chill 
	one's blood with its icy breath as sweeping past it went whistling and sighing up the glen. The rattle 
	of the horses' hoofs as the receding parties galloped over the turf grew fainter and fainter, and 
	when our little band halted on a sandy reach, about a mile up the river, not a sound was audible 
	save the steady rhythm of the panting horses and the noisy rattle of the stream, as tumbling over 
	the craggy rocks it rippled on its course. The 'Tracker' was again down; this time creeping along 
	upon the sand, on his hands and knees, and deliberately and carefully examining the marks left on 
	its impressible surface, which to his practised eye were in reality letters, nay, even readable words 
	and sentences. As we watched this tardy progress in impatient silence, suddenly, as if stung by 
	some poisonous reptile, the Indian sprang upon his legs and making eager signs for us to 
	approach pointed at the same time eagerly to something a short distance beyond where he stood. 
	A nearer approach revealed a tiny hand and part of an arm, pushed through the sand.

	At first we imagined the parent, whether male or female, had thus roughly buried the child - a 
	consolatory assumption Auger-eye soon destroyed. Scraping away the sand partially hiding the 
	dead boy, he placed his finger on a deep cleft in the skull, which told at once its own miserable tale. 
	This discovery clearly proved that the old guide was correct in his readings that the savages were 
	following up the trail of the survivors. The man who had escaped and brought us the intelligence 
	appeared so utterly terror stricken at this discovery that it was with difficulty he could be supported 
	on his horse by the strong troopers who rode beside him. We tarried not for additional signs, but
	pushed on with all possible haste. 

	The trail was rough, stony, and over a ledge of basaltic rocks, rendering progression not only 
	tedious but difficult and dangerous; a false step of the horse, and the result might have proved 
	fatal to the rider. The guide spurs on his Indian mustang, that like a goat scrambles over the 
	craggy track; for a moment or two he disappears, being hidden by a jutting rock; we hear him yell 
	a sort of 'warwhoop,' awakening the echoes in the encircling hills; reckless of falling, we too spur 
	on, dash round the splintered point, and slide rather than canter down a shelving bank, to reach 
	a second sand beach, over which the guide is galloping and shouting. We can see the fluttering 
	garments of a girl, who is running with all her might towards the pine trees; she disappears
	amongst the thick foliage of the underbrush ere the guide can come up to her, but leaping from 
	off his horse he follows her closely, and notes the spot wherein she has hidden herself amidst a 
	tangle of creeping vines and maple bushes.

	He awaited our coming, and, motioning us to surround the place of concealment quickly, 
	remained still as a statue whilst we arranged our little detachment so as to preclude any chance 
	of an escape. Then gliding noiselessly as a reptile through the bushes, he was soon hidden. It 
	appeared a long time, although not more than a few minutes had elapsed from our losing sight
	of him, until a shrill cry told us something was discovered. Dashing into the midst of the 
	underbrush, a strange scent presented itself. The hardy troopers seemed spell-bound, neither 
	was I the less astonished. Huddled closely together, and partially covered with branches, 
	crouched two women and the little girl whose flight had led to this unlooked for discovery.

	In a state barely removed from that of nudity, the unhappy trio strove to hide themselves from 
	the many staring eyes which were fixed upon them, not for the purpose of gratifying an indecent 
	curiosity, but simply because no one had for the moment realised the condition in which the 
	unfortunates were placed. Soon, however, the fact was evident to the soldiers that the
	women were nearly unclad, and all honour to their rugged goodness, they stripped off their thick 
	top coats, and throwing them to the trembling females, turned every one away and receded into 
	the bush. It was enough that the faces of the men were white which had presented themselves 
	so unexpectedly. 

	The destitute fugitives, assured that the savages had not again discovered them, hastily 
	wrapped themselves in the coats of the soldiers, and, rushing from out of their lair, knelt down, 
	and clasping their arms round my knees, poured out thanks to the Almighty for their deliverance
	with a fervency and earnestness terrible to witness. I saw, on looking round me, steaming drops 
	trickling over the sunburnt faces of many of the men, whose iron natures it was not easy to 
	disturb under ordinary circumstances.

	It was soon explained to the fugitives that they were safe, and as every hour's delay was a 
	dangerous waste of time, the rescued women and child were as carefully clad in the garments of 
	the men as circumstances permitted, and placed on horses, with a trooper riding on either side 
	to support them. Thus reinforced the cavalcade, headed by Auger-eye, moved slowly back to the 
	place where we had left the pack train encamped with all the necessary supplies. I lingered 
	behind to examine the place wherein the women had concealed themselves. The boughs of the
	vine-maple, together with other slender shrubs constituting the underbrush, had been rudely 
	woven together, forming, at best, but a very inefficient shelter from the wind which swept in 
	freezing currents through the valley. Had it rained they must soon have been drenched, or if 
	snow had fallen heavily, the 'wickey' house and its occupants soon would have been buried. 

	How had they existed? This was a question I was somewhat puzzled to answer.

	On looking round I observed a man's coat, pushed away under some branches, and on the few 
	smouldering sticks, by which the women had been sitting when the child rushed in and told of 
	our coming, was a small tin pot with a cover on it, the only utensil visible. Whilst occupied in 
	making the discoveries I was sickened by a noisome stench, which proceeded from the dead 
	body of a man, carefully hidden by branches, grass, and moss, a short distance from the little 
	cage of twisted boughs. Gazing on the dead man a suspicion too revolting to mention suddenly 
	flashed upon me. Turning away saddened and horror-stricken I returned to the cage and 
	removed the cover from off the saucepan, the contents of which confirmed my worst fears. 

	Hastily quitting the fearful scene, the like of which I trust never to witness again, I mounted my 
	horse and galloped after the party, by this time some distance ahead.

	Two men and the guide were desired to find the spot where the scouting parties were to meet 
	each other, and to bring them with all speed to the mule camp. It was nearly dark when we 
	reached our destination, the sky looked black and lowering, the wind appeared to be increasing
	in force, and small particles of half-frozen rain drove smartly against our faces, telling in pretty
	plain language of the coming snow-fall. Warm tea, a good substantial meal, and suitable clothes, 
	which had been sent in case of need by the officers' wives stationed at the 'Post,' worked 
	wonders in the way of restoring bodily weakness; but the shock to the mental system time alone 
	could alleviate. I cannot say I slept much during the night. Anxiety lest we might be snowed in,
	and a fate almost as terrible as that from which we had rescued the poor women should be the 
	lot of all, sat upon me like a nightmare. More than this, the secret I had discovered seemed to 
	pall every sense and sicken me to the very heart, and throughout the silent hours of the dismal 
	darkness I passed in review the ghostly pageant of the fight and all its horrors, the escape,
	and flight of the unhappy survivors, the finding the murdered boy and starving women, and 
	worse than all — the secret I had rather even now draw a veil over, and leave to the imagination.

	Morning came with anything but a cheery aspect every preparation was made for an instant 
	departure so soon as the scouting parties should come in. As we await their arrival, the women 
	fill up bit by bit the missing links in the narrative, which are — that they escaped from the Indians 
	by creeping into the bush; and accompanied by the husband of one of the two women, badly 
	wounded, together with a little boy and girl, they made their way to the water after the savages
	had departed; and from that time struggled on day after day, subsisting entirely on berries. 

	The boy had wandered away, in hopes of finding food, but never returned — his fate we already 
	know. The wounded man growing rapidly worse obliged them to abandon all hope of proceeding 
	farther. Making the 'wickey' cage wherein we had found them, the women and child gathered 
	berries and brought the dying man water, until the hand of death was laid upon him. The rest
	we are already cognisant of. The secret was never touched on nor in any way alluded to, neither 
	were the men ever made acquainted with it. To this hour the poor women, for aught I can tell, 
	believe it is known solely to themselves.

	The trampling of the approaching horses was a welcome sound. Emerging from the forest, the 
	men trotted briskly towards us, and as they came near I could make out three mounted savages 
	in the midst of the troopers; their hands were tied tightly behind their backs, and their feet 
	fastened by long cords passed underneath the bellies of their horses.

	The Sergeant reported having pounced upon the Indians unexpectedly in the bush; that they 
	made every effort to escape; that one of them tried to stab a trooper, but only succeeded in 
	inflicting a flesh wound in the arm; that having secured them, not a word did they utter, neither 
	could they be induced to taste food.

	A council of war was at once held. I tried to enforce my orders to take the prisoners to 
	head-quarters; against this the men were all opposed. They said provisions were short, snow 
	might come on at any moment, and in that case the prisoners would very likely escape;
	that taking them with us would only add to the risk of delay, and weary the men who had to keep 
	guard over them day and night. Summary judgment was demanded, and finding that positive 
	disobedience would follow my determination to abide by orders, I deemed it more expedient to 
	yield to the wishes of the men than endeavoring to enforce what I felt sure I could not possibly 
	carry out.

	A branch suited to their purpose was soon found, and from it three tether-ropes dangled, each 
	with a noose at the end; the horses, carrying their terror-stricken masters, the three Snake 
	Indians, were now led underneath the moss-covered branches, which drooping to the ground 
	formed a kind of curtain round the tree. It was a strange place of execution. Above the sturdy
	branches resembled natural arches; underfoot grew moss, and grass soft as a velvet carpet; a 
	dim half-light found its way in varied quantities through the leafage, giving the scene a solemnity 
	and grandeur almost unearthly in its character. Each savage had a noose adjusted to his neck; 
	their legs were unbound from beneath the horses' bellies; 'ready' peeled the deep voice of the 
	Sergeant, then a smart cut administered to each of the horses caused them to spring from
	beneath their riders, who were left swinging from the branch. The heavy jerk must have produced 
	immediate death, for a slight convulsive shudder alone shook the frame of each savage as the 
	soul quitted its tenement, to wing its way to that bourne from whence no traveller returns.

	I need not weary you by recounting the return to head-quarters; we had a cold and perilous trip, 
	snow fell heavily and rendered it a difficult matter to follow the trails, but old 'Auger-eye,' true to 
	his instincts, guided us safely on our way, until we trotted into the square of the cosy 'Post,' 
	welcomed by the hearty congratulations of all, there to relate over and over again this strange story.

So ended this romantic narrative, which I relate, as nearly as memory will permit it, in the words of my kind-hearted
host.

I heard some time afterwards of the rescued women — one of them had married a soldier who was present at the
discovery in the 'wickey' house, and that the little girl was adopted by a settler and his wife, who were as fond of her 
as though she had been their own child. The other woman was still a servant to Captain D, who told me the tale.

But to return. Let us suppose ourselves to have procured our 'bell mare,' riding and pack mules. The next thing is 
branding, and obtaining the equipment, or, as it is termed, in packer phraseology, 'the rigging.' Branding is a small 
matter of detail a novice would hardly think of very much importance, nevertheless its neglect may, and frequently 
does, prove the cause of very serious annoyance, and not uncommonly results in the loss of the mules or horses 
with which he is travelling. To explain clearly what I mean, let us suppose you have paid for your pack-train, and to 
have taken a receipt only for the money; the mules are branded M.C., which means, for example, Mike Castle, a 
well-known packer, from whom you have purchased them. You start, and on reaching some outpost town, up walks 
the U.S. district constable, who, as a rule, like the Cornish Major of Tintagel, combines within his sacred person the 
varied offices of judge, mayor, magistrate, constable, registrar-general of marriages and births, and chin-shaver in 
general. I should have written city, as there are no towns in the wilds of America — a log-shanty, hog-stye, and 
hen-house are enough in themselves to warrant the civic title. The functionary of many offices says to you:
 
	'Stranger, war did you git them mules ?' 
	'Why, I bought and paid for them,' you indignantly reply, and if your temper will allow you so far 
	to condescend, out comes the receipt, which you imagine will prove a stopper to the impudent 
	questioner. 

	Not a bit of it; he deliberately reads it through, and with a leer in his eye, says, as he squirts out 
	a small cataract of tobacco-juice, 'Whar's your brand; thar ain't none on the mule, nor narry
	counter-brand on this har receipt; you might a jist stole 'em from Mike's band, or may-be the 
	mules have strayed, and you might a found 'em; I shall empound 'em, stranger, until you get 
	Mike's counter-brand receipt.' 

So your mules are stopped until you can find means to communicate with the seller, and in that way prove your 
right.

Now, what you ought to have done is this: when the purchase was completed you should have bought a brand, or 
have had one made by the blacksmith. Initials are as good as anything; our Commission brand was B.C. and the 
broad arrow. The letters should have been burnt into the skin under the brand mark of the seller, and on his receipt
it should have been written: branded M.C., brand of seller; counter-branded, B.S. (Bill Stubbs), brand of buyer.

The thigh on the near side of the animal is the best place for the brand mark, because it will be the more readily 
seen; well nigh every operation, such as girthing, roping, mounting, or what not, is usually done on the near side. 
The branding-iron should be made red-hot, and then applied lightly, and kept against the skin after the hair is burnt 
off sufficiently long to scald it and destroy the roots of the hair, but not long enough to cause a sore, which is sure 
to slough, and in that case might be troublesome to manage. 

Branding on the hoofs is of no use; the mark rapidly grows out, and then your own and the counterbrand are lost 
together; on the back, so as to be under the saddle, is likewise a bad place, although many brand there to avoid 
disfigurement; the skin where the mark has been made is of a spurious character, and readily rubs into a sore in 
hot weather, despite every care — hence, I always refuse to purchase pack animals which have been branded on 
the back. Numbers of the mules I purchased in California had been so tattooed with different brand marks, that their
thighs resembled trees I have seen, in the bark of which loungers invariably cut their own, and I suppose their 
sweethearts' initials, until the letters become so jumbled together as to defy even the skill of the carvers to identify 
their own letters from those of their neighbours.

This system of branding and counter-branding is extremely useful, and I may say actually necessary, in countries 
wherein stealing mules and horses amounts to a profession. Animals in outpost places are not even safe from theft 
when shut up in a livery stable, if unbranded; but if the animals are plainly marked, the thieves know very well that 
they may be, as you were, in the supposed strait, caught by the watchful functionaries who are ever on the look-out 
for chances to pocket dollars in the shape of fees; one or two of these preventive officers are generally stationed 
wherever mining is going on, or where there are facilities for the disposal of riding and pack animals. There is no
crime deserving a heavier punishment than is that of horse or mule stealing in a wild country. A traveller's or a
hunter's life is in a great degree dependent on his means of transport. Deprive him of his horse, without his having 
any chance to replace the loss, and in most cases it would be more merciful to kill him at once than leave him to 
perish slowly, bit by bit, and day by day, from hunger, weariness, solitude, or the arrow of the savage, which in nine 
cases out of ten must be his fate if left entirely to his own resources, far away from help or civilisation. Hence, a 
horse thief is often swung up to the branch of a tree by the enraged packers without even allowing him the benefit 
of trial by jury, or the prospect of escaping by any legal quibbling; they proclaim the all-powerful law of Judge Lynch,
and as they express it, 'just run him up with a "lassoo,"' to stop his further thieving, and as a warning to all other
darned cusses who 'rush off' stock.

End of Excerpt.
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