The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971 Page: 55
616 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Notes and Documents
bility of these two men to inspect the mules, supervise the packing,
discipline their own men, and report each day's progress to the regular
army officer in charge. The chief packer was therefore actually in
complete charge of the train, which consisted of the cargador, a cook,
blacksmith, ten packers, one bell mare, fourteen saddle mules, and
fifty pack mules.'
As to the actual organization, packtrains rarely varied. They trav-
eled at the rear of the column in a single file. Only the size differed,
depending upon the number of troops engaged in an operation. The
normal train consisted of 14 men and 64 mules. But the average train
for a single company in the field for ten days to two weeks was made
up of only i o mules with 2 or g packers. For short expeditions an
entire regiment needed only a 25- to 3o-mule train with 5 or 6 packers.
For long expeditions of over three weeks, three or more companies
would require the entire train; and even with 50 pack mules, the
companies still might have to ration supplies.
At the front of each train was a packer leading the most important
animal of the detachment, the bell mare. Experience proved that this
mare should be of medium height or less. It should have a short step
and yet be quick and agile. By nature mules and horses tend to be
herd bound and to establish a "pecking" system, with one animal
becoming the definite leader of the herd. According to H. W. Daly,
nine times out of ten a mare will dominate a mule; the mare therefore
led her followers. Even when the others could not see the bell mare,
they were able to follow the sound of the bell hung around the
horse's neck. A train with a good bell mare had a much easier time
than one without such an animal, and on most occasions the packers
needed only to ride alongside the fifty mules striding contentedly in
single file. It was apparent why the packers all rode mules rather than
horses. No experienced packer wanted more than one leader among
the animals of a train. On those occasions when the bell mare was
killed during the expedition, the mules behaved like children who
have lost their mother. Many packers insisted the animals' grief seemed
almost human."
O"Report from Thomas Moore, March 16, 1878," Special Subjects File, Correspondence,
1871-1890o, Quartermaster-General's Office, Entry 1323, Box 1 (Record Group 92, Na-
tional Archives). References to these records will hereafter be cited as RG 92, NA.
10Daly, "Pack Transportation"; Boniface, Cavalry Horse, 435-436.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971, periodical, 1971; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101200/m1/67/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.