How to Camp Out | Page 7

(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 bumpers,
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