ight miles.

In 1858, this same Anderson packed for the expedition sent after the
Snake Indians. His train consisted of some two hundred and fifty or
three hundred mules. They packed from Cordelaine Mission to Walla Walla,
in Oregon. The animals were of a very superior kind, selected for the
purpose of packing out of a very large lot. Some of the very best of
these mules were packed with three hundred pounds, but at the end of two
weeks gave out completely.

In 1859, this same Anderson packed for a gentleman of the name of David
Reese, living at the Dalles, in Portland, Oregon. His train consisted of
fifty mules, in good average condition, many of them weighing nine
hundred and fifty pounds, and from thirteen to fourteen hands high. His
average packing was two hundred and fifty pounds. The distance was three
hundred miles, and it occupied forty days in going and returning. Such
was the severity of the labor that nearly two-thirds of the animals
became poor, and their backs so sore as to be unfit for work. This trip
was made from the Dalles, in Oregon, to Salmon Falls, on the Columbia
River. Anderson asserts it, as the result of his experience, that, in
packing fifty mules a distance of three hundred miles with two hundred
and fifty pounds, the animals will be so reduced at the end of the
journey as to require at least four weeks to bring them into condition
again. This also conforms with my own experience.

In 1857, there was started from Fort Laramie, Nebraska Territory, to go
to Fort Bridger with salt, a train of forty mules. It was in the winter;
each mule was packed with one hundred and eighty pounds, as near as we
could possibly estimate, and the train was given in charge of a man of
the name of Donovan. The weather and roads were bad, and the pack proved
entirely too heavy. Donovan did all he could to get his train through,
but was forced to leave more than two-thirds of it on the way. At that
season of the year, when grass is poor and the weather bad, one hundred
and forty or one hundred and fifty pounds is enough for any mule to
pack.

There were also, in 1857, regular pack trains run from Red Bluffs, on
the Sacramento River, in California, to Yreka and Curran River. Out of
all the mules used in these trains, none were packed with over two
hundred pounds. To sum up, packing never should be resorted to when
there is any other means of transportation open. It is, beyond doubt,
the most expensive means of trans