On the Trail From Dusk to Dawn Part 2

Jesse Applegate's story continues...

"A band of horses with two or three men/boys follow, the docile and sagacious animals scarce needing attention for they have learned to follow in the rear of the wagons and know that at noon they will be allowed to graze and rest.  Not so with the large herd of horned beasts that bring up the rear - lazy, selfish and unsocial.  They seem to move only in fear of the driver's whip. 

The pilot, by measuring the ground and timing the speed of the wagons, the walk of his horses, has determined the rate of each so as to enable him to select the nooning place, as nearly as the requisite grass and water can be had at the end of five hours travel.

The wagons are drawn up in columns, four abreast, the leading wagon of each platoon on the left - the platoons being formed with that view.  This brings friends together for the noon stop as well as the night.

It is now one o'clock, the bugle has sounded and the caravan has resumed its westward journey.  It is in the same order, but the evening is far less animated that the morning march, as a drowsiness has fallen apparently on man and beast.  The sun is now getting low in the west and at length the pain-taking pilot is standing ready to conduct the train in the circle which he has previously measured and market out, to form invariable fortification for the night.

The leading wagons follow him so nearly round the circle that but a wagon length separates them.  Each wagon follows in its track, the rear closing on the front until its tongue and ox chains will perfectly reach from one to the other.  So accurate is the measurement and perfect the practice that the hindmost wagon of the train always precisely closes the gateway.

As each wagon is brought into position it  is dropped from its team (the teams being inside the circle).   The team is unyoked, the yokes and chains are used to connect the wagons strongly to each other.  The entire process from the first wagon to the last takes 10 minutes and the teams are out to pasture.

Whee - I am exhausted!

Next time... On the Trail From Dusk to Dawn Conclusion
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On February 13, 1822, Missouri Lieutenant Governor William Ashley places an advertisement in the Missouri Gazette and Public Advisor seeking 100 “enterprising young men” to engage in fur trading on the Upper Missouri.