Wagon Train
Strangely I was doing a little research on how far a horse can
realistically travel in one day and after much google-fu it seems to depend
very much on the type of horse, conditioning (i.e. is it used for long distance
travel all the time, rather than been standing in a field for months, or only
used for racing, etc..) and condition (i.e. is it well fed and watered), as well
as how heavy a load and the terrain involved.
The route from the Missouri River to the Columbia River became known as the Oregon Trail. Part of this trail was covered by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1805. Later it was used by mountain men and fur traders.
In the 1830s some American politicians began to argue that the United States to absorb all of North America. Lewis Linn, the senator for Missouri, called for the British to be pushed out of Oregon. In an attempt to persuade Americans to settle in Oregon he introduced a bill into the Senate granting free land as a reward for those prepared to travel across the Rocky Mountains to claim it. Other politicians argued that this legislation would result in a war with Britain and the bill was defeated.
There were several reasons why people were willing to risk the long journey to California and Oregon. Emigrants stressed the importance of escaping from the fever-infested swamps of Missouri and Mississippi. Early visitors to the west coast pointed out that the health of people living in this area seemed to be good. Antoine Robidoux claimed that he had never seen anyone in California with the fever or ague.
Francis Parkman, who interviewed a large number of emigrants and claimed that many mentioned a desire to escape from unpleasant weather conditions: "The bad climate seems to have been the motive that has induced many of them to set out."
Stories also circulated about the high quality of the crops that could be grown in California and Oregon. Potential emigrants were told that wheat "grew as tall as a man, with each stalk sprouting seven kernels", clover was so dense that the "farmer could barely get into the field to harvest it" and turnips were "five feet tall".
Another commentator claimed that: "The motives which thus brought the multitude together were, in fact, almost as various as their features. They agreed in one general object - that of bettering their condition." They were spurred on by the comments of Richard Henry Dana. In his book, Two Years Before the Mast, he claimed that people living in California were lazy. He wrote: "In the hands of an enterprising people, what a country this might be!"
The overland journey from the Mid-West to Oregon and California meant a six month trip across 2,000 miles of difficult country. It was also an expensive enterprise. It was estimated that the journey cost a man and his family about $1,000. He would also need a specially prepared wagon that cost about $400. The canvas top would have to be waterproofed with linseed oil and stretched over a framework of hoop-shaped slats. Although mainly made of wood, iron was used to reinforce the wagon at crucial points. However, iron was used sparingly in construction since it was heavy and would slow down and exhaust the animals pulling the wagon.
The wagons were packed with food supplies, cooking equipment, water kegs, and other things needed for a long journey. These wagons could carry loads of up to 2,500 pounds, but the recommended maximum was 1,600 pounds. Research suggests that a typical family of four carried 800 pounds of flour, 200 pounds of lard, 700 pounds of bacon, 200 pounds of beans, 100 pounds of fruit, 75 pounds of coffee and 25 pounds of salt.
The wagon also had to carry a shovel and cooking utensils. Some emigrants took furniture but this was often abandoned on the trip. There was little room in the wagon for people and so only small children or senior citizens rode in the wagon. The rest of the party walked beside the slow moving vehicle or rode on the back of a horse.
The four wheels of the wagon were made of wood (strengthened with iron). The front wheels were usually smaller than those at the back. The wagon train would travel at around two miles an hour. This enabled the emigrants to average ten miles a day. With good weather the 2,000 mile journey from Missouri to California and Oregon would take about five months. However, heavy rains would increase this by several weeks.
These wagons rarely had springs. This was not a major problem for the passengers as the wagon travelled very slowly. Nor did the wagons have brakes and this caused serious problems when travelling downhill. One solution was to use chains to lock at least one wheel. Another strategy was to cut down a tree and haul it behind to supply drag.
The emigrants used horses, oxen and mules to pull their wagons. The most popular animal with emigrants was the ox. It was cheaper, stronger and easier to work than horses or mules. They were also less likely to be stolen by Native Americans on the journey and would be more useful as a farm animal when you reached your destination. Oxen were able to exist on sparse vegetation and were less likely to stray from camp. The main argument against oxen was that they could become reckless when hot and thirsty and were known to cause stampedes in a rush to reach water.
In 1840 John Bidwell established the Western Emigration Society and published news that he intended to take a large wagon train from the Missouri River to California. The idea was very popular and soon the society had 500 names of people who wanted to take part in this momentous event. Missouri shopkeepers, fearing a rapid decline in customers, decided to mount a campaign against the idea. Local newspapers published stories about the dangers of travelling overland to California. A great deal of publicity was given to Thomas Farnham's Travels in the Great Western Prairies. In the book Farnham described in detail the hardships people would face on the journey.
Bidwell later admitted that the party included no one who had ever been to California: "Our ignorance of the route was complete. We knew that California lay west, and that was the extent of our knowledge." So when Bidwell heard that a group of missionaries, led by Pierre-Jean De Smet, and guided by the experienced Tom Fitzpatrick, were also intending to travel to Fort Hall, it was decided to wait until they arrived at Sapling Grove.
Fitzpatrick agreed to take Bidwell's party to Fort Hall. Bidwell later claimed that was a most important factor in the the party's survival: "it was well we did (wait for Fitzpatrick), for other wise probably not one of us would ever have reached California, because of our inexperience". Even with Fitzpatrick's leadership the wagon train suffered considerable problems on the journey and of the 69 people in Bidwell's party who set out from Sapling Grove, only 32 people reached California.
Between 1840 and 1860 more than half of the animals used to pull the wagons were oxen. Probably the major reason for this was that an ox cost $25 in the 1840s whereas mules were $75. During the early stages of this migration, mules were the second most popular animal with the emigrants. Later, horses replaced mules as the second choice for pulling wagons.
When the party stopped for any length of time the wagons were arranged, end to end, in a circular or square compound. This served both as a corral for the animals and as protection against a possible attack from Native Americans.
Emigrants to the West assembled at various outfitting towns in Missouri such as Independence and St. Joseph. Each party would elect a captain who commanded the wagon train and maintain law and order on the journey. Most wagon trains employed guides who knew the journey to California. This usually meant mountain men such as Kit Carson, Tom Fitzpatrick, Jim Baker, Stephen Meek, Joseph Walker, James Bridger and William Sublette.
Many writers warned against the dangers of going overland to California and Oregon. In 1843, Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune wrote: "It is palpable homicide to tempt or send women and children over this thousand miles of precipice and volcanic sterility to Oregon."
Accidental shootings was the main cause of death on the overland trails. The second major problem was drowning. More than 300 people died in this way between 1840 and 1860. Nineteen emigrants drowned crossing the River Platte near Fort Laramie in 1849. The following year forty-nine emigrants drowned at North Fork.
In the years between 1840 and 1848 an estimated 11,512 migrated overland to Oregon and 2,735 to California. One survey showed that only about 50 emigrants returned home before reaching their destination during this period. The main reasons given for this was poor health and fear of Native Americans.
It has been estimated that in 1846 around 250 wagons and 1,500 people assembled at Independence to journey to California and Oregon. This was also the year of the Donner Party, the worst disaster in wagon train history, when forty-two emigrants and two Indian guides died on the journey.
About 3,000 African Americans reached California by 1850. However, the passing of anti-black legislation made them into second-class citizens and most decided to move on to Canada.
In March, 1857, Alexander Fancher and his wagon train left Fort Smith, Arkansas, for California. The party included 50 men, 40 women and 50 children. On 7th September, Fancher's party was attacked by local Native Americans. Fancher corralled their wagons and were able to defend themselves against these attacks. Mormons approached the Fancher party and offered to lead them to safety. However, it was a trick and all the party, except for 17 infants, were murdered. John D. Lee, the Mormon leader, was eventually executed for his role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
In 1862 Congress passed the Homesteads Act. This legislation stated that a head of a family could acquire land consisting of 160 acres, settle it, and cultivate it for five years. At the end of the five year period the head of the family was granted the land. The Homesteads Act had a dramatic impact on persuading people to migrate to California and Oregon. By 1890 all available federal land had been settled by these pioneers.
Similar: http://spartacus-educational.com/WWorgegonT.htm
No Stuckey's, no Wal-Marts, no TCBY's. Only by standing in such vast isolation, and by imagining spending weeks crossing it at a rate of two miles per hour, with practically nonexistent amenities, can the modern mind begin to understand the challenge of the western emigrant.
Before starting out for their new homes, many settlers banded together into parties, or companies, for safety and assistance while in transit. Parties were often comprised of people from the same town or the same extended family, who were pursuing a new life in the West. The goal in organizing any emigrant party was to insure that there would be plenty of people and supplies for any adversity that might arise, from fording rivers to fighting off Indian attacks to making wagon repairs.
When Pamelia Dillin Fergus set off for Montana with her four children in 1864, she was part of a wagon train consisting of several families from her hometown of Little Falls, Minnesota, several of her husband's business associates, and at least 13 other wagons. The Fergus family's wagons, and the other wagons in the Little Falls company, left from Grinnell, Iowa, the western terminus of the railroad, on April 9, 1864. Like almost all emigrant journeys, the Fergus' trip began in the spring, when there was sufficient grass to support grazing, and ample time to cross the mountainous areas before the snow flew.
Like the emigrants of the Oregon and California trails in earlier years, westward settlers after 1850 frequently spent hundreds of miles of their journeys traveling through "civilized" country of farms and towns. Depending on their "jumping off" points, emigrants could spend weeks on well-traveled, populated roads before they reached what was agreed upon as the "frontier." In the second half of the 19th century, the United States was a country on the move. Emigrants frequently encountered hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of other settlers while making their moves, and had the luxury of stopping off at forts, cities, and towns that had resulted from earlier migrations.
Once on the road, emigrants could expect to travel 12 to 20 miles a day, under the best conditions. In the immense open spaces of the Great Plains, this frequently meant that settlers stopped for the night within sight of their previous day's campsite. In poor conditions -- when the ground was muddy or rocky, when there were rivers to be crossed, or when there were hills to be climbed -- emigrants might toil all day long to progress less than five miles. Ten miles after leaving the railroad terminus in Grinnell, the Fergus' wagon train was delayed for several days after being mired in the mud. After 17 days on the road, the wagon train had gone a total of 105 miles. Pamelia Fergus, in her inimitable spelling, wrote to her husband,
amelia
Fergus' wagon train managed to reach Montana on August 14, 1864, four months
after their departure from Iowa. Despite the danger and discomfort of life on
the road, and its "hardship without glory," further challenges lay
before settlers when they reached their final destination. Once on the
frontier, settlers hoped to "tame the wilderness" and create a new
version of the "civilization" they had left behind.
..anyway this is the list of distances (in miles per day) I've come up with
from a variety of sources that I shall be using personally:
On Roads / trails
Level or rolling terrain: 40
Hilly terrain: 30
Mountainous terrain: 20
Off-Road (or unkempt trails etc)
Level/rolling grasslands: 30
Hilly grasslands: 25
Level/rolling forest/thick scrub: 20
Very hilly forest/thick scrub: 15
Un-blazed Mountain passes: 10
Marshland: 10
Assumptions
An average quality horse, of a breed suitable for riding, conditioned for
overland travel and in good condition.
Roads and trails are in good condition and up kept by whatever local authority
deals with them.
Weather is good to fair, and travelers are riding for around ten hours a day.
Notes
Halve these distances for a horse pulling a cart or for a very heavily laden
horse (e.g. a fully armoured knight who insists on wearing his armour
all day rather than having it stowed on a second baggage horse as would be
normal!).
Add half again for specially trained horses and riders who are prepared
to push hard (rangers, scouts and messangers, etc...) though do bear in mind
that horses cannot be pushed like this for more than a few days at a time. You
can add a bit more again to this distance if the breed of horse is exceptionally
suitable for this sort of thing, but I’d say 2 to 2.5 times the base is the
absolute maximum without some sort of magical assistance!
Poor weather such as heavy rain or wind should reduce distances by about one
quarter, and very poor conditions like heavy snow or gale force winds, etc..
should reduce distances by at least half if not more.
Finding a place to ford a small river or swimming your horse across a larger
river should knock a couple of miles off the day’s journey, other unique
obstacles might have a similar reduction. (as a guide remember a horse walks at
around 4 miles per hour (compared to a human average of around 2.5 - 3mph) so
if the obstacle takes half an hour to deal with thats a couple of miles lost.
Out of interest
The Tevis cup is a 100-mile-in-one-day competition which goes over some quite
rugged and mountainous trail terrain in the western states of USA... but they
do it on very special arab horses, with little or no baggage and even the winning
times are usually around 17 hours! link
Wagon Train
The route from the Missouri River to the Columbia River became known as the Oregon Trail. Part of this trail was covered by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1805. Later it was used by mountain men and fur traders.
In the 1830s some American politicians began to argue that the United States to absorb all of North America. Lewis Linn, the senator for Missouri, called for the British to be pushed out of Oregon. In an attempt to persuade Americans to settle in Oregon he introduced a bill into the Senate granting free land as a reward for those prepared to travel across the Rocky Mountains to claim it. Other politicians argued that this legislation would result in a war with Britain and the bill was defeated.
There were several reasons why people were willing to risk the long journey to California and Oregon. Emigrants stressed the importance of escaping from the fever-infested swamps of Missouri and Mississippi. Early visitors to the west coast pointed out that the health of people living in this area seemed to be good. Antoine Robidoux claimed that he had never seen anyone in California with the fever or ague.
Francis Parkman, who interviewed a large number of emigrants and claimed that many mentioned a desire to escape from unpleasant weather conditions: "The bad climate seems to have been the motive that has induced many of them to set out."
Stories also circulated about the high quality of the crops that could be grown in California and Oregon. Potential emigrants were told that wheat "grew as tall as a man, with each stalk sprouting seven kernels", clover was so dense that the "farmer could barely get into the field to harvest it" and turnips were "five feet tall".
Another commentator claimed that: "The motives which thus brought the multitude together were, in fact, almost as various as their features. They agreed in one general object - that of bettering their condition." They were spurred on by the comments of Richard Henry Dana. In his book, Two Years Before the Mast, he claimed that people living in California were lazy. He wrote: "In the hands of an enterprising people, what a country this might be!"
The overland journey from the Mid-West to Oregon and California meant a six month trip across 2,000 miles of difficult country. It was also an expensive enterprise. It was estimated that the journey cost a man and his family about $1,000. He would also need a specially prepared wagon that cost about $400. The canvas top would have to be waterproofed with linseed oil and stretched over a framework of hoop-shaped slats. Although mainly made of wood, iron was used to reinforce the wagon at crucial points. However, iron was used sparingly in construction since it was heavy and would slow down and exhaust the animals pulling the wagon.
The wagons were packed with food supplies, cooking equipment, water kegs, and other things needed for a long journey. These wagons could carry loads of up to 2,500 pounds, but the recommended maximum was 1,600 pounds. Research suggests that a typical family of four carried 800 pounds of flour, 200 pounds of lard, 700 pounds of bacon, 200 pounds of beans, 100 pounds of fruit, 75 pounds of coffee and 25 pounds of salt.
The wagon also had to carry a shovel and cooking utensils. Some emigrants took furniture but this was often abandoned on the trip. There was little room in the wagon for people and so only small children or senior citizens rode in the wagon. The rest of the party walked beside the slow moving vehicle or rode on the back of a horse.
The four wheels of the wagon were made of wood (strengthened with iron). The front wheels were usually smaller than those at the back. The wagon train would travel at around two miles an hour. This enabled the emigrants to average ten miles a day. With good weather the 2,000 mile journey from Missouri to California and Oregon would take about five months. However, heavy rains would increase this by several weeks.
These wagons rarely had springs. This was not a major problem for the passengers as the wagon travelled very slowly. Nor did the wagons have brakes and this caused serious problems when travelling downhill. One solution was to use chains to lock at least one wheel. Another strategy was to cut down a tree and haul it behind to supply drag.
The emigrants used horses, oxen and mules to pull their wagons. The most popular animal with emigrants was the ox. It was cheaper, stronger and easier to work than horses or mules. They were also less likely to be stolen by Native Americans on the journey and would be more useful as a farm animal when you reached your destination. Oxen were able to exist on sparse vegetation and were less likely to stray from camp. The main argument against oxen was that they could become reckless when hot and thirsty and were known to cause stampedes in a rush to reach water.
In 1840 John Bidwell established the Western Emigration Society and published news that he intended to take a large wagon train from the Missouri River to California. The idea was very popular and soon the society had 500 names of people who wanted to take part in this momentous event. Missouri shopkeepers, fearing a rapid decline in customers, decided to mount a campaign against the idea. Local newspapers published stories about the dangers of travelling overland to California. A great deal of publicity was given to Thomas Farnham's Travels in the Great Western Prairies. In the book Farnham described in detail the hardships people would face on the journey.
Bidwell later admitted that the party included no one who had ever been to California: "Our ignorance of the route was complete. We knew that California lay west, and that was the extent of our knowledge." So when Bidwell heard that a group of missionaries, led by Pierre-Jean De Smet, and guided by the experienced Tom Fitzpatrick, were also intending to travel to Fort Hall, it was decided to wait until they arrived at Sapling Grove.
Fitzpatrick agreed to take Bidwell's party to Fort Hall. Bidwell later claimed that was a most important factor in the the party's survival: "it was well we did (wait for Fitzpatrick), for other wise probably not one of us would ever have reached California, because of our inexperience". Even with Fitzpatrick's leadership the wagon train suffered considerable problems on the journey and of the 69 people in Bidwell's party who set out from Sapling Grove, only 32 people reached California.
Between 1840 and 1860 more than half of the animals used to pull the wagons were oxen. Probably the major reason for this was that an ox cost $25 in the 1840s whereas mules were $75. During the early stages of this migration, mules were the second most popular animal with the emigrants. Later, horses replaced mules as the second choice for pulling wagons.
When the party stopped for any length of time the wagons were arranged, end to end, in a circular or square compound. This served both as a corral for the animals and as protection against a possible attack from Native Americans.
Emigrants to the West assembled at various outfitting towns in Missouri such as Independence and St. Joseph. Each party would elect a captain who commanded the wagon train and maintain law and order on the journey. Most wagon trains employed guides who knew the journey to California. This usually meant mountain men such as Kit Carson, Tom Fitzpatrick, Jim Baker, Stephen Meek, Joseph Walker, James Bridger and William Sublette.
Many writers warned against the dangers of going overland to California and Oregon. In 1843, Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune wrote: "It is palpable homicide to tempt or send women and children over this thousand miles of precipice and volcanic sterility to Oregon."
Accidental shootings was the main cause of death on the overland trails. The second major problem was drowning. More than 300 people died in this way between 1840 and 1860. Nineteen emigrants drowned crossing the River Platte near Fort Laramie in 1849. The following year forty-nine emigrants drowned at North Fork.
In the years between 1840 and 1848 an estimated 11,512 migrated overland to Oregon and 2,735 to California. One survey showed that only about 50 emigrants returned home before reaching their destination during this period. The main reasons given for this was poor health and fear of Native Americans.
It has been estimated that in 1846 around 250 wagons and 1,500 people assembled at Independence to journey to California and Oregon. This was also the year of the Donner Party, the worst disaster in wagon train history, when forty-two emigrants and two Indian guides died on the journey.
About 3,000 African Americans reached California by 1850. However, the passing of anti-black legislation made them into second-class citizens and most decided to move on to Canada.
In March, 1857, Alexander Fancher and his wagon train left Fort Smith, Arkansas, for California. The party included 50 men, 40 women and 50 children. On 7th September, Fancher's party was attacked by local Native Americans. Fancher corralled their wagons and were able to defend themselves against these attacks. Mormons approached the Fancher party and offered to lead them to safety. However, it was a trick and all the party, except for 17 infants, were murdered. John D. Lee, the Mormon leader, was eventually executed for his role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
In 1862 Congress passed the Homesteads Act. This legislation stated that a head of a family could acquire land consisting of 160 acres, settle it, and cultivate it for five years. At the end of the five year period the head of the family was granted the land. The Homesteads Act had a dramatic impact on persuading people to migrate to California and Oregon. By 1890 all available federal land had been settled by these pioneers.
Similar: http://spartacus-educational.com/WWorgegonT.htm
26
Tips for Surviving in the Desert
The Desert Can Be An Unforgiving Place
To
the casual observer, the Arizona desert is a strange yet beautiful place. It
has some of the most unusual and enticing landscapes, wildlife and plants in
the world. The sun shines relentlessly. Shadows mystify. Hills beckon. Exotic
things grow. What is over the next ridge? What might I miss if I don’t look?
Yet,
for the unwary, unsuspecting or uninformed visitor, the Sonoran Desert can be
an unforgiving place. A small blunder can turn an afternoon drive off road or
an overnight camping trip into an emergency. People sometimes die in the
desert.
With
so many moving to desert areas or vacationing in the desert region, it is
important to be aware of the desert's dangers so that safety precautions can be
taken. Even being caught on the side of a road without enough water can be
dangerous.
Yearly,
residents of the southerwestern desert hear helicopters flying overhead,
searching the desert arroyos for a winter visitor or an unlucky resident who
has not returned from an outing. Regularly, the news carries stories about
someone who climbed a cliff and could not negotiate his way back down. Stories
abound about people caught in flooded washes during monsoon season. People
simply underestimate the severity of a desert environment.
Even the experienced hiker
can get into a dire situation. Fortunately, they usually travel prepared for
emergencies, so they survive. They have learned from past errors. With a bit of
knowledge and a lot of common sense, tragedies can be avoided. There is no such
thing as being too prepared when you are in an environment that can pose
danger. After all, surviving in the desert is nothing more than plain old
common sense with a few added bells and whistles.
Here
are a few tips:
- Share your plans. Tell someone where you are going and when you plan to be back. Let them know your route, the type of vehicle you will drive, and communication methods you will use. Leave a map, and do not change your plans without letting someone know. Leave the following information, in writing, with someone whom you will notify upon your return: your route and destination, vehicle description, traveling companions, any potential health issues, and what type of emergency supplies you already have with you, including medications.
- Do not depend exclusively on a cellular/mobile phone. They don’t always work in remote areas. If you are in doubt, check with your service provider or the link below to confirm coverage areas. It is wise to be skeptical of promises made about battery life and coverage area. Load apps that will help you in an emergency.
- Instead of relying unduly on a cell phone, especially for your more ambitious wilderness excursions, consider the rental or purchase of a satellite phone. A satellite phone, or “satphone,” is a mobile phone that communicates directly with orbiting communications satellites. The handsets can be the size and weight of the original mobile phones of the 1990s. They also have a large retractable antenna. (Visit the site http://www.allroadsat.com/rentals/globalstar-rentals.aspx for more information.) Two large satellite networks cover the U. S.: Globestar and Iridium. Satellite phones work better than cell phones although they do require a wide “view” of the sky to get a reliable connection.
- A CB or ham radio is another option. Ham radios have the potential to work from very remote locations; however, they are a do-it-yourself proposition, and they require a government license. They also require training and informed gear selection to be of full use.
- Consider carrying one of the handheld GPS devices now available. These can provide very helpful topographical maps, aerial photography and satellite imagery for the desert traveler. An example is the Earthmate GPS PN-20 with Topo USA 6.0 National & 1GB SD Card/Reader. This device is low-cost, has high-sensitivity, and delivers capabilities previously unavailable at any price. Most smartphones have GPS chips, but remember GPS also has a downside.
- You can also purchase a personal locator beacon (PLB) - emergency life-saving devices that can be used when all else fails. A PLB is a small transmitter that sends out a personalized emergency distress signal to the nearest rescue service. They are becoming a highly effective and internationally recognized way of summoning help, though they should be used only in life-threatening situations.
- Make sure you are using a vehicle meant for desert terrain. If your vehicle does not have offroad capability, it is unwise to make the trip. Make sure you are skilled at maneuvering an offroad vehicle in difficult terrain. Many people buy vehicles with four-wheel drive and assume owning the vehicle makes them an expert. Offroad driving requires having the proper vehicle and the skill to handle it in rough areas. Classes are available for those wanting to learn the “how to’s” of offroad driving. Since many problems in the desert start with a car that breaks down due to ill repair, be prepared for everything. Make sure your car is in good condition with good hoses, a spare tire, spare fan belts, necessary tools, extra gas, water and oil. A tune-up is wise prior to offroad adventures. Using a mechanic who is informed about the proper maintenance of an offroad vehicle is a wise choice. Make sure your gasoline tank is full, and bring extra fuel.
- Listen to your body. Bring sufficient water for each person traveling with you. A good measure is one gallon per person per day. With water, the rule is, “More is better.” You can always drink it when you get home if it is not used, but if you don’t have it when you need it, it can be a matter of life and death. With water, make sure you drink it as needed. Rationing water can become very dangerous. Often when a person is dehydrated, the thinking processes malfunction. Drink what you need. Don’t tell yourself you’ll save it for when you really get thirsty. That just doesn’t work in the desert. Soda is not a substitute for water because it tends to dehydrate the person drinking it.
- Respect the heat. If water is limited, keep your mouth closed. Do not talk, eat, smoke, drink alcohol or eat anything salty. Limit activity.
- Be prepared for emergencies. Have adequate first aid supplies, including proper medication for anyone who requires it. If someone is diabetic or asthmatic, for example, it is vital to have enough of their proper medication with you. Bring more, rather than less, than you need.
- STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE. It will be the first thing found by searchers because it’s much easier to detect from the air than a human being. In addition, your car has many things to help with your survival such as mirrors, hubcaps, a horn, a battery, lights, a lighter, gas, oil and floor mats. Raise the hood and trunk of your vehicle to show distress. Pilots and rescue workers look for this as a sign of emergency.
- Make sure you have a flashlight with new and extra batteries. An investment in a better quality flashlight might be worth your while in the end. Remember, a cheap flashlight is...a cheap flashlight.
- If you feel absolutely certain about your location and route and feel you must leave your vehicle, make sure you leave a note for rescuers telling them who you are, when you left, and the exact route you plan to take. If you don’t know exactly where you’re going, stay put.
- Do not sit or lie directly on the ground, which may be 30 degrees hotter than the air temperature. Improvise a sunshade and elevate your body. Think creatively with the supplies you have. Use a car seat or something to raise yourself at least a foot and a half off the surface. There is also a greater possibility of having a problem with a poisonous insect or a snake when you are directly on the ground. In addition, stay outside of your vehicle, especially in the mid-day heat, until things cool down.
- Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes. Even though desert glare might not seem to make a difference, it will impair your distance vision and hamper your adaptation to night vision. It can cause severe headaches. If you have no sunglasses available, improvise with a sun shield made from cardboard or cloth, a hat or bandana. Applying charcoal, soot, or oil around your eyes may help.
- If you have lip-gloss, use it. Do not lick your lips, as it will hasten chapping and splitting.
- Dress properly. Wear the proper foot protection and keep your body covered. The sun can be a killer. Change your socks regularly, even if you are changing to used socks. Sunning and aeration of socks and undergarments have a marked freshening value, physically and psychologically.
- Do not remove clothing in an attempt to stay cool. This hastens dehydration. Wearing clothes helps you avoid sunburn. Cover up your arms, legs and face as best you can. If you have sunblock, use it.
- Be watchful. If you see a dust storm approaching, cover your face as best you can to keep the dusy out of your lungs.
- If the weather is cool, start a fire in a cleared out pit without overhanging branches. Always bring waterproof matches.
- A roadway, even a remote dirt roadway, may signal passing traffic. Stay on it. It can bring help.
- Watch the sky. Flash floods may occur any time thunderheads are in sight. Weather can change in the desert quite rapidly. Do not remain in dry washes (arroyos) which can flood suddenly, becoming dangerous.
- Try to keep control of your emotions. There is nothing more dangerous than blind panic. ‘In any survival situation, everything you do must be preceded by the thought: Am I safe in doing this? If there’s any question, don’t do it.
- Use common sense! Hire a guide if you must, but never undertake something for which you are not fully prepared. Finally...
- THINK!
Hardship
without Glory: Life on the Trail
"To
enjoy such a trip ... a man must be able to endure heat like a Salamander, mud
and water like a muskrat, dust like a toad, and labor like a jackass. He must
learn to eat with his unwashed fingers, drink out of the same vessel as his
mules, sleep on the ground when it rains, and share his blanket with vermin,
and have patience with musketoes ... he must cease to think, except of where he
may find grass and water and a good camping place. It is hardship without
glory."
-- Anonymous Settler writing in the St. Joseph, Missouri GAZETTE
The enormity of the task faced by
covered wagon emigrants in the American West is almost unimaginable today. For
many 21st-century Americans, raised in the congestion of cities and the sprawl
of the suburbs, the vastness of the North American continent is only vaguely
understood. A gently rolling landscape, dotted with modernized farms and gas
stations, and crisscrossed by well-paved roads, is about as close to isolated
rural America that many people ever come. But even today, there are places in
the Middle and Far West where modern-day emigrants can look to the horizon --
in every direction -- and see nothing but grass blowing in the wind. No trees.
No houses. No crops. No people. No Stuckey's, no Wal-Marts, no TCBY's. Only by standing in such vast isolation, and by imagining spending weeks crossing it at a rate of two miles per hour, with practically nonexistent amenities, can the modern mind begin to understand the challenge of the western emigrant.
Before starting out for their new homes, many settlers banded together into parties, or companies, for safety and assistance while in transit. Parties were often comprised of people from the same town or the same extended family, who were pursuing a new life in the West. The goal in organizing any emigrant party was to insure that there would be plenty of people and supplies for any adversity that might arise, from fording rivers to fighting off Indian attacks to making wagon repairs.
When Pamelia Dillin Fergus set off for Montana with her four children in 1864, she was part of a wagon train consisting of several families from her hometown of Little Falls, Minnesota, several of her husband's business associates, and at least 13 other wagons. The Fergus family's wagons, and the other wagons in the Little Falls company, left from Grinnell, Iowa, the western terminus of the railroad, on April 9, 1864. Like almost all emigrant journeys, the Fergus' trip began in the spring, when there was sufficient grass to support grazing, and ample time to cross the mountainous areas before the snow flew.
Like the emigrants of the Oregon and California trails in earlier years, westward settlers after 1850 frequently spent hundreds of miles of their journeys traveling through "civilized" country of farms and towns. Depending on their "jumping off" points, emigrants could spend weeks on well-traveled, populated roads before they reached what was agreed upon as the "frontier." In the second half of the 19th century, the United States was a country on the move. Emigrants frequently encountered hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of other settlers while making their moves, and had the luxury of stopping off at forts, cities, and towns that had resulted from earlier migrations.
Once on the road, emigrants could expect to travel 12 to 20 miles a day, under the best conditions. In the immense open spaces of the Great Plains, this frequently meant that settlers stopped for the night within sight of their previous day's campsite. In poor conditions -- when the ground was muddy or rocky, when there were rivers to be crossed, or when there were hills to be climbed -- emigrants might toil all day long to progress less than five miles. Ten miles after leaving the railroad terminus in Grinnell, the Fergus' wagon train was delayed for several days after being mired in the mud. After 17 days on the road, the wagon train had gone a total of 105 miles. Pamelia Fergus, in her inimitable spelling, wrote to her husband,
"I can tell you nothing only that were hear and its strange I wish we had
never started ... it seems impossible to get their."
A typical day for covered wagon settlers began long before dawn with a simple
breakfast of coffee, bacon, and dry bread. After breakfast, settlers secured
their supplies, hitched up their teams, and hit the trail by 7 am. Since space
in the wagons was at such a premium, and because riding in them was so
uncomfortable, many settlers chose to walk. Travel continued until noon, when
the wagons stopped for a cold meal of coffee, beans, and bacon, which had been
prepared that morning. During this break, or "nooning," men and women
would gather and talk, children would play, and draft animals would rest.
By two o'clock in the afternoon, the wagon train would be back
on the move, until five or six o'clock in the evening, when the wagons would be
moved into a circle or U-shape for the night to afford protection from animals
and Indians. After a simple supper, settlers might socialize or talk for a
while, but more frequently, they were so exhausted from their day of travel
that they would soon go to sleep. While some settlers slept in their wagons or
in tents, most slept on the ground wrapped in blankets or on rubber mats. Any
of these options provided little protection from the elements. Pamelia Fergus
wrote her husband:
"Sunday night we had a storm on the Plat [River]. I will asure you that we
had eight cotten stufed comforters wet through and not a dry rag to put on ...
everything was wet in the wagon through a thick blanket and cover."
Aside from the discomfort of rain, settlers faced a variety of weather-related
perils: lightning strikes, potentially lethal hailstones, tornadoes, blinding
heat, and intense cold. The great fluctuations in temperature caused the wood
of the wagon wheels to shrink, and if they were not soaked overnight in a river
or stream bed, their iron rims would roll off the wagon during the day. One
Montana settler recalled, "The days were scorching and the coolness of the
nights was welcome, until it too gnawed through your bones because of the
suddenness of the change."
By
mid-May of 1864, Pamelia Fergus' wagon train had reached present-day Nebraska.
Unhappy with the discomfort of life on the trail and with the driver her
husband had hired to lead them west, she groused in a letter to him, "We
are alive yet but better dead. You were very foolish to send for us by a man
you knew so well. He does not regard the truth but uses your money just as he
pleases with no regard for your family ... next time I cross the planes it will
be with my husband or on my own hook this is the awfless mess I was ever
in."
In addition to the discomfort and monotony of life on the trail, settlers were
subject to an expansive array of dangers and calamities. Since the wagons moved
so slowly, many emigrants, particularly children, got lost when they straggled
behind for too long, wandered off looking for flowers or berries, or attempted
to hunt while traveling. Though many made their way back to their camps, some were
thought to have fallen prey to wild animals or Indians and left behind.
D. Meek, south of Broken Bow, Custer County, Nebraska. The wagon cover over a
hole in the ground is a common first dwelling.
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Disease proved to be the biggest killer
of emigrants in the West. Smallpox, cholera, tuberculosis, diptheria, typhoid,
"mountain fever," and a host of other sicknesses frequently struck
down settlers, who had little or no medical expertise. Scurvy, caused by a lack
of fresh fruits and vegetables for months at a time, was also commonplace. In
the rudimentary conditions that existed on the trail, these sicknesses often
resulted in death. Those who died on the road were buried in hastily
scratched-out holes. Some graves were marked, but more frequently settlers went
out of their way to disguise the grave, to discourage animals (and sometimes
Indians) from digging up the body.
Rivers were particularly dangerous obstacles for many settlers. On many rivers,
the only way to cross was to ford it, or, as one settler described it,
"drive through and hope for the best." Henry Bierman, who settled in
Montana in the 1880s, reported, "We forded every stream on the whole trip.
The roads were poor and there were no bridges. When we reached the Powder
River, there were thirty or forty emigrant wagons there, waiting for the river
to go down."
hen
the river levels reached an acceptable level, the emigrants secured their
supplies, caulked their wagons, and attempted crossing. This process could be
extremely time-consuming for wagon trains, since each team and wagon had to be
taken across one at a time to prevent them from becoming entangled. At deeper
and more swiftly flowing rivers, many settlers were forced to build rafts to
carry their wagons over the water, with varying results. After sickness and
accidental gunshot wounds, drownings at river crossings were the most common
cause of fatalities among settlers.
Accidents with draft animals were another commonplace mishap while traveling.
Although the oxen moved slowly, they were very large and very heavy, and there
was no way to quickly stop them. Many women were injured when their long skirts
got caught up on the wheels and dragged them under the wagon. Josephine Gage
Bartlett, whose family settled in Montana in the 1870s, remembered:
"Somewhere along the Snake River, we were going over some very rough road
(or what they called a road), and everyone got out to walk except Horatio and
little Montie [her younger brothers], who were asleep in the wagon. We thought
they were safe, but they woke up and baby Montie stood up to look out and
toppled over and fell beneath the rear wheel. It passed over him, killing him
instantly."
Pamelia Fergus' party was also troubled by wagon accidents.
In a letter, she reported to her husband that "Bell McGuire fell out of
the wagon. The wagon run over her instep. She has not steptet for a long
while," and that after another mishap, five-year old Frankie Gravel
"barly escaped with his life."
Contrary to popular belief, Indians were among the least of the settlers'
problems while in transit, though the settlers themselves certainly believed
otherwise. While there are several cases of Indian attack on western wagon
trains, the majority of settlers made their cross-continent journeys without
incident. Many settlers made their trips without ever even seeing an Indian.
However, tales of the Indians' conduct, and the larger-than-life horror stories
which sprang up around them, fueled many settlers' sense of dread and
foreboding. Settlers often carried startlingly large arsenals of weaponry to
fend off Indians, but far more settlers died from the mishandling of their own
firearms than from actual attacks. Pamelia Fergus proudly wrote her husband,
"Our company is good for over one hundred shots" -- meaning that one
hundred rounds could be fired before the settlers would need to reload.
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When
encounters with Indians did occur, it was often far less of a bloodbath than
settlers would have thought. One night, a band of Indians wandered into the
Fergus camp. Pamelia's daughter reported that the Indians "were very
curious." When an Indian woman stood staring at Pamelia, the settler
dropped down her false teeth, which caused the Indians to scream and yell, and
"leave the camp in a big hurry." Later, the apprehensive natives
returned to gawk at Pamelia, thinking, according to her daughter, "that she
was a great prophet or witch." The Indians left without incident.
amelia
Fergus' wagon train managed to reach Montana on August 14, 1864, four months
after their departure from Iowa. Despite the danger and discomfort of life on
the road, and its "hardship without glory," further challenges lay
before settlers when they reached their final destination. Once on the
frontier, settlers hoped to "tame the wilderness" and create a new
version of the "civilization" they had left behind.
But first, they had to build it.
If you would like to learn more about Pamelia Dillin Fergus' life and
adventures, consider reading THE GOLD RUSH WIDOWS OF LITTLE FALLS by Linda Peavy
and Ursula Smith
(University of Minnesota Press, 1990.)
Historical Trails – Supplies
A
pioneer’s typical outfit wasn’t terribly expensive; usually one or
two small, sturdy farm wagons, six to 10 head of oxen, a milk cow or two. Plus
all the necessary food, clothing and utensils needed for survival. Often heavy
items such as furniture, stoves, pianos would be freighted to the West Coast by
clipper ship around the Horn of South America. If such heavy things were packed
in the wagons, they usually ended up left along trailside along the way.
To survive the
long jouney,
a family of four would need 600 lbs. of flour, 120 lbs. of biscuits, 400 lbs.
of bacon, 60 lbs. of coffee, 4 lbs. of tea, 100 lbs. of sugar, and 200 lbs. of
lard. These would just be the basic staples. Other food stuffs could include
sacks of rice and beans, plus dried peaches and apples. Bacon was often hauled
in large barrels packed in bran so the hot sun would not melt the fat. Each man
took a rifle or shotgun and some added a pistol. A good hunting knife was
essential. Farm implements such as a plow, shovel, scythe, rake, hoe; plus
carpentry tools - saw, broad axe, mallet, plane. Seeds for corn, wheat and
other crops.
A.J. McCall an early traveler on the Oregon Trail
made light of how some pioneers tried to "take it all." He
wrote: "They laid in and over
supply of bacon, flour and beans, and in addition thereto every conceivable
jimcrack and useless article that the widest fancy could devise or human
ingenuity could invent – pins and needles, brooms and brushes, ox shoes and
horse shoes, lasts and leather, glass beads beads and hawks-bells, jumping
jacks and jews-harps, rings and bracelets, pocket mirrors and pocket-books,
calico vests and boiled shirts."
Usually, thick
slabs of smoked bacon would keep as long as it was protected form the hot
temperatures. One way to preserve bacon was to pack it inside a barrel of
bran. Also, eggs could be protected by packing them in barrels of corn
meal – as the eggs were used up, the meal was used to make bread. Coffee
was another important staple. It was drunk by man and beast, adult and
child and the best way to disguise the taste of bitter, alkali water.
In the early days of the trail when game was more
abundant near the trail, pioneers could often kill buffalo and antelope.
However, a more dependable supply of fresh meat was to bring along a small herd
of cattle and trail them behind the wagon. Many also brought along
a cow for milking purposes. Milk could also be churned into butter by
simply hanging it in pails beneath the bumpy wagon. By the end of
the day fresh butter would be ready.
Typical
cargo crammed into a wagon included:
COOKING UTENSILS: Dutch oven,
kettle, skillet, reflector oven, coffee grinder, teapot, butcher knife, ladle,
tin tableware, water keg, matches.
CLOTHING: wool sack coats, rubber
coats, cotton dresses, wool pantaloons, buckskin pants, duck trousers, cotton
shirts, flannel shirts, cotton socks, brogans, boots, felt hat, palm-leaf sun
hat, green goggles, sunbonnet.
FOOD: flour (600 lbs.), bacon ( 400 lbs.), coffee (60
lbs.), baking soda, corn meal, hardtack, dried beans, dried fruit, dried beef,
molasses, vinegar, pepper, eggs, salt, sugar (100 lbs.), rice, tea (4 lbs.),
lard (200 lbs.)
BEDDING & TENT SUPPLIES: blankets,
ground cloths, pillows, tent, poles, stakes, ropes.
TOOLS & EQUIPMENT: set of augers,
gimlet, ax, hammer, hoe, plow, shovel, spade, whetstone, oxbows, axles,
kingbolts, ox shoes, spokes, wagon tongue, heavy ropes, chains.
LUXURIES: canned goods, plant
cuttings, school books, musical instruments, dolls and toys, family albums,
jewelry, china, silverware, fine linens, iron stoves, furniture.
WEAPONRY: rifle, pistol, knife,
hatchet, gunpowder, lead, bullet mold, powder horn, bullet pouch, holster.
HANDY ARTICLES: surgical
instruments, liniments, bandages, campstool, chamber pot, washbowl, lanterns,
candle molds, tallow, spyglasses, scissors, needles, pins, thread.
After several
days on the trail,
certain routines were followed:
4:00 am:
a bugler blows a trumpet or a rifle is fired by the night guards to wake up the
camp.
5:00
am:
cattle are rounded up after being allowed to graze during the night (except when Indians threatened).
5:30
am:
women and children are up and fixing breakfast of usually bacon, corn porridge
or “Johnny Cakes” made of flour and water.
6:30
am:
women rinse plates and mugs and stow bedding, while the men haul down tents and
load them in the wagons.
7:00
am:
after every family has gathered their teams and hitched them to wagons, a
trumpeter signals a “Wagons Ho,” to start the wagons down the trail. Average
distance covered in a day was usually fifteen miles, but on a good day twenty
could be traveled.
7:30
am:
men ride ahead on horses with shovels to clear out a path, if needed.
“Nooning
Time”:
animals and people stop to eat, drink and rest.
1:00
pm:
back on the trail.
5:00
pm:
when a good campsite with ample water and grass is found, pioneers stop to set
up camp for the evening. Wagons are formed into a corral.
6:00
pm:
families unpack and make supper.
7:00
pm:
mothers do chores, men smoke and talk, young people dance.
8:00
pm:
camp settles down for the night, guards go out on duty.
Midnight: night guards
are changed.
1800s
Travel Guideline for Man and Beast
A question came up as
to how fast a team of oxen could move a wagon. Alan Huffines and Dr. Bruce
Winders supplied some answers from the U. S. War Department, circa 1860. The
following is my summary together with their selections from the official
documents.
SUMMARY:
Oxen
Best for travel 1500-2000 miles/tough roads/grass forage[1]
Team, up to 2000-lb wagon load [1]
1 ox/1000-lb cart [1]
1 ox/1500-lb cart, 10 hours a day [2]
Walk 3 miles/hr (6 mph in emergency) [1]
16-18 miles/day (with care), $200 a team (8 oxen)[1]
Mules
Best for travel to 1000 miles/good roads/grass forage [1]
Team, up to 2000-lb wagon load [1]
1 mule/750 lb cart, 10 hours a day [2]
Walk faster/tolerate heat better, $600 a team (6 mules)[1]
Ass/Donkey/Burro
1 ass/375-lb cart, 10 hours a day[2]
Horse
25 miles/day (8 hrs), rider and 225 lbs. equipment [2]
23 miles/day, 250-300 lb. pack only [2]
Each draw up to 700 lb. if artillery carriage [2]
Man (level ground, 8.5 hrs/day)
31 miles/day, no load, 3.7 miles/hr average
11 miles/day, 111-lb. load
10 miles/day, 150-lb. wheelbarrow load
Daily allowance of water for a man, 1 gallon, all purposes.[2]
Daily allowance of water for a horse, 4 gallons.[2]
[Comment: If, for safety, a group is to stay together, it appears from these
guidelines that wagons should be supplied for a walking military escort's packs
or else the men will give out before the oxen do.]
======================================
SELECTIONS from The Prairie Traveler, R. B. Marcy, 1859 [1]
CHAPTER I/Wagons and Teams
"Wagons with six mules should never, on a long journey over the prairies,
be loaded with over 2000 pounds, unless grain is transported, when an
additional thousand pounds may be taken, provided it is fed out daily to the
team. When grass constitutes the only forage, 2000 pounds is deemed a
sufficient load. I regard our government wagons as unnecessarily heavy for six
mules. There is sufficient material in them to sustain a burden of 4000 pounds,
but they are seldom loaded with more than half that weight. Every wagon should
be furnished with substantial bows and double osnaburg covers, to protect its
contents from the sun and weather.
There has been much discussion regarding the relative merits of mules and oxen
for prairie traveling, and the question is yet far from being settled. Upon
good firm roads, in a populated country, where grain can be procured, I should
unquestionably give the preference to mules, as they travel faster, and endure
the heat of the summer much better than oxen; and if the journey be not over
1000 miles, and the grass abundant, even without grain, I think mules would be
preferable. But when the march is to extend 1500 or 2000 miles, or over a rough
sandy or muddy road, I believe young oxen will endure better than mules; they
will, if properly managed, keep in better condition, and perform the journey in
an equally brief space of time. Besides, they are much more economical, a team
of six mules costing six hundred dollars, while an eight-ox team only costs
upon the frontier about two hundred dollars. Oxen are much less liable to be
stampeded and driven off by Indians, and can be pursued and overtaken by
horsemen; and, finally, they can, if necessary, be used for beef.
In Africa oxen are used as saddle animals . . . 'Ox traveling, when once a man
becomes accustomed to it, is not so disagreeable as might be expected,
particularly if one succeeds in obtaining a tractable animal. On emergencies,
an ox can be made to proceed at a tolerable quick pace; for, though his walk is
only about three miles an hour at an average, he may be made to perform double
that distance in the same time. Mr. Galton once accomplished 24 miles in four
hours, and that, too, through heavy sand!' [Quotes Andersson's work on
Southeastern Africa]
Cows will be found very useful upon long journeys when the rate of travel is
slow, as they furnish milk, and in emergencies they may be worked in wagons. I
once saw a small cow yoked beside a large ox, and driven about six hundred
miles attached to a loaded wagon, and she performed her part equally well with
the ox. It has been by no means a unusual thing for emigrant travelers to work
cows in their teams.
The inhabitants of Pembina, on Red River, work a single ox harnessed in shafts
like a horse, and they transport a thousand pounds in a rude cart made entirely
of wood, without a particle of iron. One man drives and takes the entire charge
of eight and ten of these teams upon long journeys. This is certainly a very
economical method of transportation."
CHAPTER II/Marching
". . . In traveling with ox teams in the summer season, great benefit will
be derived from making early marches; starting with the dawn, and making a
"nooning" during the heat of the day, as oxen suffer much from the
heat of the sun in midsummer. These noon halts should, if possible, be so
arranged as to be near grass and water, where the animals can improve their
time in grazing. When it gets cool they may be hitched to the wagons again, and
the journey continued in the afternoon. Sixteen or eighteen miles a day may thus
be made without injury to the beasts, and longer drives can never be expedient,
unless in order to reach grass or water. When the requisites for encamping can
not be found at the desired intervals, it is better for the animals to make a
very long drive than to encamp without water or grass. The noon halt in such
cases may be made without water, and the evening drive lengthened. . . ."
======================================
SELECTIONS from The Ordnance Manual, 1862 [2]
Kind of Work . . . Weight raised, or mean effort exerted.[p.472]
1 ox drawing a cart always loaded . . . 1,500 lbs.(10 hours a day)
1 mule drawing a cart always loaded . . . 750 lbs.(10 hours a day)
1 ass drawing a cart always loaded . . . 375 lbs.(10 hours a day)
Working Power of Men and Horses [p.455]
Men. -- A foot soldier travels in 1 minute,
in common time, 90 steps = 70 yards.
in quick time, 110 steps = 86 yards.
in double quick time, 140 steps = 109 yards.
He occupies in the ranks a front of 20 in., and a depth of 13 in., without the
knapsack; the interval between the ranks is 13 in. 5 men can stand in the space
of 1 square yard. Average weight of men, 150 lbs. each.
A man travels, without a load, on level ground, during 8 hours a day., at the
rate of 3.7 miles an hour, or 31 miles a day. He can carry 111 lbs. 11 miles in
a day. A porter going a short distance and returning unloaded carries 135 lbs.
7 miles a day. He can carry in a wheelbarrow 150 lbs. 10 miles a day.
The maximum power of a strong man, exerted for 2 minutes, may be stated a
18,000 lbs. raised 1 foot in a minute. Mr. Fields experiments, 1838.
A man of ordinary strength exerts a force of 30 lbs. for 10 hours a day, with a
velocity of 2 feet in a second = 4,500 lbs. raised in a minute one-fifth the
work of a horse.
Daily allowance of water for a man, 1 gallon, for all purposes.
Horses. A horse travels for the distance of 400 yards,
at a walk, in 4 minutes [3 miles/hr];
at a trot, in 2 minutes [7 miles/hr];
at a gallop, in 1 minute [14 miles/hr].
He occupies in the rank a front of 40 in., a depth of 10 feet; in a stall, from
3 to 4 feet; at pickets, 3 feet by 9. Average weight of horses, 1,000 lbs.
each.
A horse carrying a soldier and his equipments (say 225 lbs.) travels 25 miles
in a day, (8 hours).
A pack-horse can carry 250 to 300 lbs. 23 miles a day, -- weight of carriage
included.
Artillery horses should not be made to draw more than 700 lbs. each, the weight
of the carriage included.
The ordinary work of a horse for 8 hours a day may be stated at 22,500 lbs.
raised 1 foot in a minute.
In a horse-mill, the horse moves at a rate of 3 feet in a second [2 miles/hr].
The diameter of the path should not be less than 25 or 30 feet.
Daily allowance of water for a horse, 4 gallons.
======================================
REFERENCES:
[1] THE PRAIRIE TRAVELER: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions, with maps,
illustrations, and itineraries of the principal routes between the Mississippi
and the Pacific, by Randolph B. Marcy, Captain U. S. Army, Published by
authority of the War Department, 1859.
[2] The Ordnance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army,
3rd Edition, U. S. War Department, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co.,
1862.
======================================
Food
This is the amount of food that was
recommended for each person travelling West in a covered wagon.
200 pounds of flour
30 pounds of pilot bread (hardtack)
75 pounds of bacon
10 pounds of rice
5 pounds of coffee
2 pounds of tea
25 pounds of sugar
½ bushel of dried beans
1 bushel of dried fruit
2 pounds of saleratus (baking soda)
10 pounds of salt
½ bushel of corn meal
½ bushel of corn, parched and ground
1 small keg of vinegar
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