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CHAPTER X.

THE MULE DEPARTMENT.

It was evident that the transportation of stores to the mountains by wagon-trains during the fall, winter, and spring, would be next to impossible. The six-horse army wagon, weighing nearly a ton, is itself a load when the roads are cut up, and the mud knee-deep. General Rosecrans, with his accustomed forethought, ordered the purchase of a large number of mules, which were to be broke for packing. When purchased, they were wild as so many deer, as will be seen by the following telegram from Captain William Craig, A. Q. M. at Marietta, to whom they were originally sent, and who forwarded them to us:

Marietta, August 19, 1861. CAPTAIN CHARLES LEIB

These are the most devilish mules I ever saw. They destroy every thing, eat up trees and fences, and have nearly killed half of my men. Do you think of taking them away soon? If you love me, do so.

W. CRAIG, Captain, and A. Q. M.

It was a gloomy prospect for us. Captain Craig had been stationed for years in New Mexico, was familiar with the habits of the animals, and it was evident they were so troublesome, that even he was anxious to get rid of them. We were ignorant of every thing pertaining to them, but it was sufficient that the General commanding desired them broke as soon as possible. It was no easy matter to secure the services of men accustomed to handling them, and although we had numerous applications from persons to take charge and prepare them for the road, it was a long time before the services of an experienced packer could be obtained to superintend the work. It seemed as though the evil one had taken possession of them, so stubborn and refractory were they. When the first lot was partly broke, we transferred a portion of them to Lieutenant John H. Shuttleworth, of the Third Virginia Infantry, a detachment of which was ordered to a section of country where wagons could not go without great difficulty. At the close of the first day's march, the animals were turned loose into a lot, and the following morning it was next to impossible to catch them, the men having nearly worn themselves out before they succeeded in doing so. Had they been Mexicans, it would have been the work of but a few moments. The saddles were not rightly adjusted, the packs not properly slung, and for miles the road was scattered with hard bread, flour,

beans, coffee, rice, and sugar. At considerable expense, and after much trouble, we succeeded in securing a party of French Creoles and Mexican Greasers, from the prairies and mountains of the far West, who were so familiar with them, that, as if by magic, the mules became tractable and gentle, and in less than two weeks they had two hundred ready for packing, It was a matter of wonder to the Rip Van Winkles of the town, to see two hundred wild mules running loose in the streets, following, like so many sheep, an old grey horse, from whose neck was suspended a cow-bell; but their indignation was excited, that the animals, instead of wading through mud a foot deep, preferred the sidewalks. The hideous and uncouth appearance of some of the men, their unintelligible jargon and wild war-hoops, as they sometimes dashed through the streets when off duty, was a great cause of complaint, to say nothing of the grumbling of a Nabob, whose palatial residence was erected too near the mule-yard, and whose morning slumbers were disturbed by their hideous braying; nor yet of the indignation of some antiquated beldam, when a refractory brute, upon being driven to water, would breach her dilapidated and rotten fence. Over a cup of tea was the Quartermaster freely discussed for permitting these things, his official conduct criticised, and his most sacred private relations canvassed.

The trial trip to the mountains almost proved a

failure. General Milroy, commanding at Cheat Mountain, telegraphed for forage, and it was determined to send a pack-train of one hundred mules loaded with oats. Paul Guitar, Chief of one of the trains, was ordered to prepare for the trip. Paul is a St. Louis Creole, and for many years was in the service of the American Fur Company, among the Blackfoot Indians, as a trader and trapper. He is brave and illiterate; speaks English imperfectly, and the history of his life is one of deep interest. He was proud of his band, many whom were with him in the Rocky Mountains, but he was willful, and determined to have his own way in every thing.

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Before going to Virginia, he was employed in packing stores in General Fremont's Division, in Missouri, where every request made was granted him; but we would not do so, and he became stubborn, and refused to move. The order had been given, and Paul found he must go. Taking more men and less mules than directed, he proceeded toward Buckhannon, and, instead of making that place before halting, camped five miles distant from Clarksburg.

Mr. C. C. Catlett, Chief of the Mule Department was dispatched for him, and at twelve o'clock at night Paul was brought before us, and severely reprimanded for disobedience of orders. The extra men were brought back, and early in the morning he proceeded on his journey.

The adventures and voyages of old Paul are so full of incident and interest, that we are sure they will interest our readers.

In the spring of 1831 he was employed by John B. Sarpy, the senior member of the firm of Pierre Chouteau & Co., of the American Fur Company, to go to the Indian Country on a trading and trapping expedition. The Rocky Mountain Indians were at that time at war with the whites, and with a full knowledge of the dangers he would be compelled to encounter, and the trials he would probably be called upon to endure, in spite of the entreaties of his friends and relatives, embarked, with a number of others, on the steamer Iatan, which had been chartered by the Fur Company to convey the voyageurs as far as Council Bluffs-a distance of five hundred miles.

Paul was young, light-hearted, and full of hope for the future. He delighted in excitement, and when, after disembarking at the Bluffs, in company with other mountaineers, he left for the mouth of the Yellow Stone River, in charge of one hundred and fifty pack mules, laden with beads, calico, and every description of trinkets, to tickle the fancy of the Indians, declared he never had been so happy.

Ninety days after leaving St. Louis, the party reached the fort of the Fur Company, and for the first time, during that period, slept under a roof. Although his maiden trip, his sleepless energy and