How to Camp Out Part 3

With a horse and wagon to haul your baggage you can of course carry more. First of all take another blanket or two, a light overcoat, more spare clothing, an axe, and try to have a larger tent than the "shelter."

If the body of the wagon has high sides, it will not be a very difficult task to make a cloth cover that will shed water, and you will then have what is almost as good as a tent: you can also put things under the wagon. You must have a cover of some sort for your wagon-load while on the march, to prevent injury from showers that overtake you, and to keep out dust and mud. A tent-fly will answer for this purpose.

You want also to carry a few carriage-bolts, some nails, tacks, straps, a hand-saw, and axle-wrench or monkey-wrench. I have always found use for a sail-needle and twine; and I carry them now, even when I go for a few days, and carry all on my person.

The first drawback that appears, when you begin to plan for a horse and wagon, is the expense. You can overcome this in part by adding members to your company; but then you meet what is perhaps a still more serious difficulty,--the management of a large party.

Another inconvenience of large numbers is that each member must limit his baggage. You are apt to acc.u.mulate too great bulk for the wagon, rather than too great weight for the horse.

Where there are many there must be a captain,--some one that the others are responsible to, and who commands their respect. It is necessary that those who join such a party should understand that they ought to yield to him, whether they like it or not.

The captain should always consult the wishes of the others, and should never let selfish considerations influence him. Every day his decisions as to what the party shall do will tend to make some one dissatisfied; and although it is the duty of the dissatisfied ones to yield, yet, since submission to another's will is so hard, the captain must try to prevent any "feeling," and above all to avoid even the appearance of tyranny.

System and order become quite essential as our numbers increase, and it is well to have the members take daily turns at the several duties; and during that day the captain must hold each man to a strict performance of his special trust, and allow no s.h.i.+rking.

After a few days some of the party will show a willingness to accept particular burdens all of the time; and, if these burdens are the more disagreeable ones, the captain will do well to make the detail permanent.

Nothing tends to make ill feeling more than having to do another's work; and, where there are many in a party, each one is apt to leave something for others to do. The captain must be on the watch for these things, and try to prevent them. It is well for him, and for all, to know that he who has been a "good fellow" and genial companion at home may prove quite otherwise during a tour of camping. Besides this, it is hardly possible for a dozen young men to be gone a fortnight on a trip of this kind without some quarrelling; and, as this mars the sport so much, all should be careful not to give or take offence. If you are starting out on your first tour, keep this fact constantly in mind.

Perhaps I can ill.u.s.trate this division of labor.

We will suppose a party of twelve with one horse and an open wagon, four tents, a stove, and other baggage. First, number the party, and a.s.sign to each the duties for the first day.

1. Captain. Care of horse and wagon; loading and unloading wagon.

2. Jack. Loading and unloading wagon.

3. Joe. Captain's a.s.sistant and errand-boy; currying horse.

4. Mr. Smith. Cooking and purchasing.

5. Sam. Wood, water, fire, setting of table.

6. Tom. " " " " "

7. Mr. Jones.

8. Henry.

9. Bob.

10. Senior.

11. William.

12. Jake.

The party is thus arranged in four squads of three men each, the oldest at the heads. One half of the party is actively engaged for to-day, while the other half has little to do of a general nature, except that all must take turns in leading the horse, and marching behind the wagon.

It is essential that this be done, and it is best that only the stronger members lead the horse.

To-morrow No. 7 takes No. 1's place, No. 8 takes No. 2's, and so on; and the first six have their semi-holiday.

In a few days each man will have shown a special willingness for some duty, which by common consent and the captain's approval he is permitted to take. The party then is re-organized as follows:--

1. Captain. General oversight; provider of food and provender.

2. Jack. Was.h.i.+ng and the care of dishes.

3. Joe. (Worthless.) 4. Mr. Smith. Getting breakfast daily, and doing all of the cooking on Sunday.

5. Sam. (Gone home, sick of camping.) 6. Tom. Wood, water, fire, setting and clearing table.

7. Mr. Jones. Getting supper all alone.

8. Henry. Jack's partner. Care of food.

9. Bob. Currying horse, oiling axles, care of harness and wagon.

10. Senior. Packing wagon. Marching behind.

11. William. " " " "

12. Jake. Running errands.

The daily detail for leading the horse will have to be made, as before, from the stronger members of the party; and if any special duty arises it must still be done by volunteering, or by the captain's suggestion.

In this arrangement there is nothing to prevent one member from aiding another; in fact, where all are employed, a better feeling prevails, and, the work being done more quickly, there is more time for rest and enjoyment.

To get a horse will perhaps tax your judgment and capability as much as any thing in all your preparation; and on this point, where you need so much good advice, I can only give you that of a general nature.

The time for camping out is when horses are in greatest demand for farming purposes; and you will find it difficult to hire of any one except livery-stable men, whose charges are so high that you cannot afford to deal with them. You will have to hunt a long time, and in many places, before you will find your animal. It is not prudent to take a valuable horse, and I advise you not to do so unless the owner or a man _thoroughly_ acquainted with horses is in the party. You may perhaps be able to hire horse, wagon, and driver; but a hired man is an objectionable feature, for, besides the expense, such a man is usually disagreeable company.

My own experience is, that it is cheaper to buy a horse outright, and to hire a harness and wagon; and, since I am not a judge of horse-flesh, I get some friend who is, to go with me and advise. I find that I can almost always buy a horse, even when I cannot hire. Twenty to fifty dollars will bring as good an animal as I need. He may be old, broken down, spavined, wind-broken, or lame; but if he is not sickly, or if his lameness is not from recent injury, it is not hard for him to haul a fair load ten or fifteen miles a day, when he is helped over the hard places.

So now, if you pay fifty dollars for a horse, you can expect to sell him for about twenty or twenty-five dollars, unless you were greatly cheated, or have abused your brute while on the trip, both of which errors you must be careful to avoid. It is a simple matter of arithmetic to calculate what is best for you to do; but I hope on this horse question you may have the benefit of advice from some one who has had experience with the ways of the world. You will need it very much.

WAGONS.

If you have the choice of wagons, take one that is made for carrying light, bulky goods, for your baggage will be of that order. One with a large body and high sides, or a covered wagon, will answer. In districts where the roads are mountainous, rough, and rocky, wagons hung on thoroughbraces appear to suit the people the best; but you will have no serious difficulty with good steel springs if you put in rubber b.u.mpers, and also strap the body to the axles, thus preventing the violent shutting and opening of the springs; for you must bear in mind that the main leaf of a steel spring is apt to break by the sudden pitching upward of the wagon-body.

It has been my fortune twice to have to carry large loads in small low-sided wagons; and it proved very convenient to have two or three half-barrels to keep food and small articles in, and to roll the bedding in rolls three or four feet wide, which were packed in the wagon upon their ends. The private baggage was carried in meal-bags, and the tents in bags made expressly to hold them; we could thus load the wagon securely with but little tying.

For wagons with small and low bodies, it would be well to put a light rail fourteen to eighteen inches above the sides, and hold it there by six or eight posts resting on the floor, and confined to the sides of the body.

Drive carefully and slowly over bad places. It makes a great deal of difference whether a wheel strikes a rock with the horse going at a trot, or at a walk.

HARNESS.

If your load is heavy, and the roads very hard, or the daily distance long, you had better have a collar for the horse: otherwise a breastplate-harness will do. In your kit of tools it is well to have a few straps, an awl, and waxed ends, against the time that something breaks. Oil the harness before you start, and carry about a pint of neat's-foot oil, which you can also use upon the men's boots. At night look out that the harness and all of your baggage are sheltered from dew and rain, rats and mice.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THIS MODE OF TRAVEL.

This way of travelling is peculiarly adapted to a party of different ages, rather than for one exclusively of young men. It is especially suitable where there are ladies who wish to walk and camp, or for an entire family, or for a school with its teachers. The necessity of a head to a party will hardly be recognized by young men; and, even if it is, they are still unwilling, as a general rule, to submit to unaccustomed restraint.

The way out of this difficulty is for one man to invite his comrades to join his party, and to make all the others understand, from first to last, that they are indebted to him for the privilege of going. It is then somewhat natural for the invited guests to look to their leader, and to be content with his decisions.

The best of men get into foolish dissensions when off on a jaunt, unless there is one, whose voice has authority in it, to direct the movements.

I knew a party of twenty or more that travelled in this way, and were directed by a trio composed of two gentlemen and one lady. This arrangement proved satisfactory to all concerned.[5]

It has been a.s.sumed in all cases that some one will lead the horse,--not ride in the loaded wagon,--and that two others will go behind and not far off, to help the horse over the very difficult places, as well as to have an eye on the load, that none of it is lost off, or sc.r.a.pes against the wheels. Whoever leads must be careful not to fall under the horse or wagon, nor to fall under the horse's feet, should he stumble. These are daily and hourly risks: hence no small boy should take this duty.[6]

FOOTNOTES:

[5] I never heard of a party exclusively of young men going on a tour of this kind, and consequently I cannot write their experiences; but I can easily imagine their troubles, quarrels, and separation into cliques. I once went as captain of a party of ten, composed of ladies, gentlemen, and schoolboys. We walked around the White Mountains from North Conway to Jefferson and back, by way of Jackson. It cost each of us a dollar and thirty-two cents a day for sixteen days, including railroad fares to and from Portland, but excluding the cost of clothes, tents, and cooking-utensils. Another time a similar party of twelve walked from Centre Harbor, N.H., to Bethel, Me., in seventeen days, at a daily cost of a dollar and two cents, reckoning as before. In both cases, "my right there was none to dispute;" and by borrowing a horse the first time, and selling at a loss of only five dollars the second, our expenses for the horse were small.