Tally Ho! It's the mail!

                                                                                                                                                                       Hi, Kit Morgan here! Did you know that back in the day, only pack trains crossed the Sierras before 1844? They continued to cross them for some years after the first wagons negotiated the passes. Some trains used fifty mules to carry loads of food, dry goods, mining supplies, and of course, mail. It took sixteen days by muleback for mail to reach Carson City from Sacramento, then another week from there to Salt Lake City. From there it went east in light wagons by way of South Pass and the Platte, the drivers traveling by day and camping at night. Our modern-day mailmen don't know how good they have it!

There was no mail at all to Washoe in winter until a man folks called Snowshoe Thompson crossed the passes on skies in January in 1856. No one had ever seen anything like skies before. Thompson's skies (which he made himself by the way) were ten feet long and weighed a good 25 pounds. There was no trail in winter, but he covered ninety miles by following landmarks in the daytime and stars at night. Thompson had no government contract but operated a one-man enterprise. He carried anything -- even a printing press, in parts -- over many trips!

Over the years goods and mail was transported and delivered in all sorts of ways. Huge canvas

covered freight wagons that could carry four to five tons a piece and often hitched in pairs, inched over the trails from landings by oxen hitched by a long chain. A "bull whacker" kept each team in order and a "swamper" manned the brakes on the downgrades. Twenty-five wagons made a bull train and the gaps between trains were short. Needless to say, they didn't move at great speeds. It could take a bull train ten weeks to travel from Fort Leavenworth to Salt Lake City. Getting up speed became a priority as time went on.

All sorts of transport ideas were tried, one of the most bizarre being camels for use in the desert. The army even tried them for supplying survey parties. In 1856 fourteen made their way from Texas to Los Angeles. Private enterprise tried them out too, supplying mines in Nevada. There was even talk of using them as farm animals. Experiments proved that a camel could out-plow a mule! The problem was finding farmers willing to be seen with such an odd-looking beast. So, as better and faster ways of transport were developed, the camel lost its appeal.

So the next time you see your mailman, a UPS or Fed-ex truck, just think if they had to cross-country ski their way through the wilderness to bring you your mail, or show up at your door riding a camel! Because if you lived in the old west, that's how it was done.

Until next time!

Kit

The Weavers know what it's like to have to travel to get the mail. They live a good days ride from the nearest town. Needless to say, they don't get to town much, but when they do, they have to make sure to get all their business taken care of!

You can check out their latest story on Amazon