The Prairie Traveler Part 28

2. Taos, New Mexico.-Good road. At Taos are several stores, where goods of all descriptions can be had at fair prices.

13. Taos Creek Canon.-Road pa.s.ses through the settlement, where grain and vegetables can be obtained. It then enters the Taos Canon at 3 miles, and crosses the Canon Creek frequently to camp. Good camp.

29. Gaudelapepita.-At 5 miles the road ascends to the dividing ridge, and is tolerable; thence in 4 miles cross the mountain, and reach a fine spring branch, where is a fine camp. Thence the road pa.s.ses short ridges for 9 miles to Black Lake. Good camp.

Fort Union.-Road follows Coyote Canon 3 miles; thence one mile to Mexican settlement; thence 19-1/2 miles over the prairie to the fort.

Colonel Loring came over the route from Camp Floyd to Fort Union with a large train of wagons. He, however, found the road in many places upon the mountains very rough, and it will require working before it will be suitable for general travel with loaded wagons. It is an excellent route for summer travel with pack trains, and is well supplied with the requisites for encamping.

From Fort Union to Fort Garland the road pa.s.ses through a settled country, where supplies of grain and vegetables can at all times be purchased at reasonable prices, and there are small towns met with during almost every day's march where small shops supply such articles of merchandise as the traveler needs.

XXVIII.-Wagon-route from Guaymas, New Mexico, to Tubac, Arizona. From Captain Stone's Journal.

Miles. Guaymas to 10-1/4. Rancho del Cavallo.-Good wood, water, and gra.s.s.

9. Rancho de la Noche Buena.-Good wood and gra.s.s, but no water for animals in May and June.

19-5/8. Rancho de la Cuneguinta.-Good wood, water, and gra.s.s the year round; water in tanks and wells.

15-3/4. Rancho del Posito.-Good wood and gra.s.s the year round; water for men at all times, and for animals except in the months of May and June.

8. Rancho de la Palma.-Wood, water, and gra.s.s at all times.

16-3/8. Rancho de la Paza.-Good wood, water, and gra.s.s at all seasons.

16. Hermosillo.-This is a town of 10,000 inhabitants, on Sonora River, where all supplies may be procured.

13. Hacienda de Alamito.-Plenty of running water, wood, gra.s.s, and grain.

8. Hacienda de la Labor.-Plenty of running water, gra.s.s, and grain.

28. Rancho de Tabique.-Roughest part of the road, but not difficult for wagons. Wood, water, and gra.s.s. From Hermosillo to this place there is water at short intervals along the road.

36. Rancho Querebabi.-Wood and gra.s.s; water in tanks.

12. Barajita.-Small mining village. Bad water; good wood and gra.s.s.

13. Santa Ana.-Village on the River San Ignacio. Plenty of wood, water, and gra.s.s.

12. La Magdalena.-Thriving town, where all supplies can be procured.

5. San Ignacio.-Village on the river. Good wood, water, and gra.s.s.

6-3/4. Imuris.-Village on the river. Wood, water, and gra.s.s.

11-1/2. Los Alisos Rancho.-Wood, water, and gra.s.s.

3-1/2. La Casita.-Wood, water, and gra.s.s.

3-1/2. Cibuta.-Wood, water, and gra.s.s.

11-1/4. Agua Zarca.-Wood, water, and gra.s.s.

23-1/4. Rancho de las Calabasas.-Wood, water, and gra.s.s.

13. Tubac.-Silver mines at this place.

Total distance from Guaymas to Tubac, 295 miles.

Note.-During the months of July, August, and September, water will be found at almost any part of the road from La Casita to Hermosillo. There is no lack of wood or gra.s.s on any part of the road from Guaymas to the frontier. The only difficulty in encamping at almost any point upon the road is that of obtaining water in the dry season, i.e., from February to the first of July. The remarks for each place apply to the most unfavorable seasons.

APPENDIX.

A. Portable Boat.

A boat has been invented by Colonel R. C. Buchanan, of the army, which has been used in several expeditions in Oregon and in Was.h.i.+ngton Territory, and has been highly commended by several experienced officers who have had the opportunity of giving its merits a practical service test.

It consists of an exceedingly light framework of thin and narrow boards, in lengths suitable for packing, connected by hinges, the different sections folding into so small a compa.s.s as to be conveniently carried upon mules. The frame is covered with a sheet of stout cotton canvas, or duck, secured to the gunwales with a cord running diagonally back and forth through eyelet-holes in the upper edge.

When first placed in the water the boat leaks a little, but the canvas soon swells so as to make it sufficiently tight for all practical purposes. The great advantage to be derived from the use of this boat is, that it is so compact and portable as to be admirably adapted to the requirements of campaigning in a country where the streams are liable to rise above a fording stage, and where the allowance of transportation is small.

It may be put together or taken apart and packed in a very few minutes, and one mule suffices to transport a boat, with all its appurtenances, capable of sustaining ten men.

Should the canvas become torn, it is easily repaired by putting on a patch, and it does not rot or crack like India-rubber or gutta-percha; moreover, it is not affected by changes of climate or temperature.

B. Winter Traveling.

In traveling through deep snow, horses will be found much better than mules, as the latter soon become discouraged, lie down, and refuse to put forth the least exertion, while the former will work as long as their strength holds out.

When the snow is dry, and not deeper than 2-1/2 feet, horses in good condition, will walk through it without much difficulty, and throw aside the snow so as to open quite a track. If there are several horses they should be changed frequently, as the labor upon the leading one is very severe. When the snow is deeper than 2-1/2 feet, it becomes very difficult for animals to wade through it, and they soon weary and give out. The best plan, under such circ.u.mstances (and it is the one I adopted in crossing the Rocky Mountains, where the snow was from two to five feet upon the ground), is to place all the disposable men in advance of the animals to break the track, requiring them to alternate from front to rear at regular intervals of time. In this manner a track is beaten over which animals pa.s.s with comparative ease.

When the snow increases to about four feet, it is impossible for the leading men to walk erect through it, and two or three of them are compelled to crawl upon their hands and knees, all being careful to place their hands and feet in the same holes that have been made by those in advance. This packs the snow so that it will sustain the others walking erect, and after 20 or 30 have pa.s.sed it becomes sufficiently firm to bear up the animals. This, of course, is an exceedingly laborious and slow process, but it is the only alternative when a party finds itself in the midst of very deep snows in a wilderness. Animals, in walking over such a track as has been mentioned, will soon acquire the habit of placing their feet in the holes that have been made by the men; and, indeed, if they lose the step or miss the holes, they will fall down or sink to their bellies.

Early in the winter, when the snow first falls in the Rocky Mountains, it is so light and dry that snow-shoes can not be used to advantage. We tried the experiment when we crossed the mountains in December and January, but found it impossible to walk upon them.

Should a party, in a country where the snow is deep, have the misfortune to lose its animals by freezing, the journey can not be continued for any great length of time without devising some method of transporting subsistence besides that of carrying it upon the backs of the men, as they are unable to break a track through deep snow when loaded down in this way.

The following plan has suggested itself to me as being the most feasible, and it is the one I resolved to adopt in the event of losing our mules faster than we required them for subsistence when we pa.s.sed the Mountains.

Take willow, or other flexible rods, and make long sleds, less in width than the track, securing the cross-pieces with rawhide thongs. Skin the animals, and cut the hides into pieces to fit the bottom of the sleds, and make them fast, with the hair on the upper side. Attach a raw-hide thong to the front for drawing it, and it is complete. In a very cold climate the hide soon freezes, becomes very solid, and slips easily over the snow. The meat and other articles to be transported are then placed upon the sled so as not to project over the sides, and lashed firmly. Lieutenant Cresswell, who was detached from Captain M'Clure's s.h.i.+p in the Arctic regions in 1853, says his men dragged 200 pounds each upon sledges over the ice. They could not, of course, pull as much over deep snow, but it is believed that they would have no difficulty in transporting half this amount, which would be sufficient to keep them from starvation at least fifty days.

I am quite confident that a party of men who find themselves involved in deep snows, dependent solely upon their own physical powers, and without beasts of burden, can prolong their lives for a greater time, travel farther, and perform more labor by adopting the foregoing suggestions than in any other way.

C. Indian Signals.

When Indians are pursued by a large force, and do not intend to make resistance, they generally scatter as much as possible, in order to perplex and throw off those who follow their trail, but they have an understanding where they are to rendezvous in advance. Sometimes, however, circ.u.mstances may arise during a rapid flight making it necessary for them to alter these plans, and turn their course in another direction. When this happens, they are in the habit of leaving behind them some well-understood signals to indicate to their friends in the rear the change in their-movements.

For instance, they will sometimes leave a stick or other object to attract attention, and under this bury an arrow pointing in the new direction they intend to take. They will then continue on for a time in the course they have been pursuing, until they get upon hard ground, where it is difficult to see their tracks, then gradually turn their course in the new direction.

THE END.