Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 25.djvu/44

34 AMOS WILLIAM HARTMAN was to steal." They refrained from drinking only when there was nothing to drink. 53 Out on the prairies, life soon became tiresome and monotonous for both men and beasts. The spirit of the freighting trains is well portrayed by one who himself was a driver. "Our hardships began visibly to affect us, While in the early part of the journey, when our tasks had been comparatively light, the train would have mirth- ful scenes occasionally. Those were the times when we made short drives; when our diet was composed of some- thing else besides a monotony of bread and pork and pork and bread; and when, on account of the danger of new men deserting with their 'outfits,' the train officials were less exacting. But now it was different. Slowly and wear- ily we walked along beside our teams, which were as morose and desponding as their drivers. No sounds are heard as we move over the dreary waste but the dull grating of the wheels as they grind through the yielding sand, and the sharp crack of the whips, as the teamsters urge on the panting oxen. The miserable animals, ex- hausted by incessant labor and little to eat, move lifelessly along with heads bowed low, casting their tear-filled eyes imploringly for the mercy they seldom got, and sometimes, when completely worn out, they drop in their tracks, to swell the number of reeking carcasses and bleached skel- etons which line the road. The hearts of all were glad- dened at sight of the forming corral, and the oxen quicken their pace as they see it. We unloosen them and they are soon scattering over the sun-burned prairie, seeking to allay their hunger, while we go at our camp duties, get- ting our wood and water and otherwise preparing for supper. Silently and mechanically we go through our task, a feeling of weariness and sadness, not to say peevishness pervading all. Our campfires, which of old were the scenes of mirthful horseplay, songs and stories, 53 Kenderdine, op. cit., p. 20 .