On A Donkey's Hurricane Deck

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <div class="transnote">TRANSCRIBER NOTE: <p>Original spelling and grammar has been mostly retained, with some exceptions. The use of hyphenation and quotation marks in the book is a bit haphazard. A few corrections have been made.</p> <p>Chapter titles—taken from the Table of Contents—have been inserted into the chapter headings. These titles served as headers on alternate pages in the original. A link to the Epilogue was inserted into the Table of Contents.</p> <p>More details about corrections and changes are provided in the <SPAN href="#TRANSCRIBER_ENDNOTE">TRANSCRIBER ENDNOTE</SPAN>.</p> </div> <hr style="width:100%" /> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/cover.jpg" width-obs="600" height-obs="800" alt="" title="cover" id="coverpage" /></div> <h1>On a Donkey's Hurricane Deck, by R. Pitcher Woodward</h1> <div class="figcenter"> <SPAN name="R_Pitcher_Woodward_at_his"></SPAN> <SPAN href="images/i001-hd.jpg">larger <ANTIMG src="images/i001.jpg" width-obs="544" height-obs="800" alt="" /></SPAN> <div class="caption">R. Pitcher Woodward at his journey's end.</div> </div> <div class="front"> <div class="fsize1 border2">On a Donkey's Hurricane Deck</div> <div class="border2"> <p class="fsize2"> A Tempestuous Voyage of Four Thousand and Ninety-Six Miles Across the American Continent on a Burro, in 340 Days and 2 Hours</p> <hr /> <div class="fsize2">STARTING WITHOUT A DOLLAR AND EARNING MY WAY</div> <div class="fsize4">BY</div> <div class="fsize2">R. PITCHER WOODWARD<br/> <small>(PYTHAGORAS POD)</small></div> <div class="fsize4">AUTHOR OF</div> <div class="fsize3">"TRAINS THAT MET IN THE BLIZZARD"</div> <hr /> <p class="fsize3" style="margin-left:15%;margin-right:15%; text-indent:0;">Containing Thirty-nine Pictures from Photographs Taken "en Voyage".</p> </div> <div class="border2"> <div class="fsize3">1902<br/> <span class="smcap">I. H. Blanchard Co., Publishers</span><br/> NEW YORK</div> </div></div> <hr /> <div class="fsize3 center"> COPYRIGHT, 1902,<br/> <small>BY</small><br/> R. PITCHER WOODWARD</div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i003.png" width-obs="218" height-obs="292" alt="" title="Blanchard Press trademark" /></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</SPAN></h2> <p class="fsize3 center"><strong>Part I.</strong></p> <div class="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary="table of contents"> <tr> <td align="right">I.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_I">Madison Square to Yonkers</SPAN></td> <td align="right">11</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">II.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_II">Donkey's many ailments</SPAN></td> <td align="right">19</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">III.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_III">Polishing shoes at Vassar</SPAN></td> <td align="right">27</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">IV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_IV">An even trade no robbery</SPAN></td> <td align="right">35</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">V.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_V">The donkey on skates</SPAN></td> <td align="right">42</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">VI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_VI">Mac held for ransom</SPAN></td> <td align="right">51</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">VII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_VII">I mop the hotel floor</SPAN></td> <td align="right">60</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">VIII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Footpads fire upon us</SPAN></td> <td align="right">68</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">IX.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_IX">In a haymow below zero</SPAN></td> <td align="right">74</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">X.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_X">An asinine snowball</SPAN></td> <td align="right">83</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XI">One bore is enough</SPAN></td> <td align="right">90</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XII">At a country dance</SPAN></td> <td align="right">98</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XIII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XIII">A peculiar, cold day</SPAN></td> <td align="right">105</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XIV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XIV">I bargain for eggs</SPAN></td> <td align="right">111</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XV">Gypsy girl tells fortune</SPAN></td> <td align="right">116</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XVI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XVI">All the devils are here</SPAN></td> <td align="right">123</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XVII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XVII">Darkest hour before dawn</SPAN></td> <td align="right">132</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XVIII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Champagne avenue, Chicago</SPAN></td> <td align="right">142</td></tr> </table></div> <p class="fsize3 center"><strong><SPAN href="#PART_TWO">Part II.</SPAN></strong></p> <p class="fsize3 center"><strong>By Pye Pod and Mac A'Rony.</strong></p> <div class="center"><SPAN name="TOC-II"></SPAN> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary="TABLE of contents part II"> <tr> <td align="right">XIX.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XIX">Donk causes a sensation</SPAN></td> <td align="right">153</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XX.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XX">A donkey for Alderman</SPAN></td> <td align="right">158</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXI">A donkey without a father</SPAN></td> <td align="right">169</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXII">Rat trap and donkey's tail</SPAN></td> <td align="right">173</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXIII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">Mac crosses the Mississippi</SPAN></td> <td align="right">178</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXIV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">Pod hires a valet</SPAN></td> <td align="right">183</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXV">Done by a horsetrader</SPAN></td> <td align="right">190</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXVI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">Pod under arrest</SPAN></td> <td align="right">197</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXVII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">Adventure in a sleeping bag</SPAN></td> <td align="right">208</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXVIII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">Mayor rides Mac A'Rony</SPAN></td> <td align="right">213</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXIX.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">Across the Missouri in wheelbarrow</SPAN></td> <td align="right">219</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXX.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXX">Pod in insane asylum</SPAN></td> <td align="right">224</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXXI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">Narrow escape in quicksand</SPAN></td> <td align="right">237</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXXII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">At Buffalo Bill's ranch</SPAN></td> <td align="right">243</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXXIII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">Fourth of July in the desert</SPAN></td> <td align="right">250</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXXIV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">Bitten by a rattler</SPAN></td> <td align="right">253</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXXV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">Havoc in a cyclone</SPAN></td> <td align="right">260</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXXVI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">Two pretty dairy maids</SPAN></td> <td align="right">265</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXXVII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">Donks climb Pike's Peak</SPAN></td> <td align="right">273</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXXVIII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">Sights in Cripple Creek</SPAN></td> <td align="right">280</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XXXIX.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">Baby girl named for Pod</SPAN></td> <td align="right">287</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XL.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XL">Treed by a silvertip bear</SPAN></td> <td align="right">293</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XLI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XLI">Nearly drowned in the Rockies</SPAN></td> <td align="right">304</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XLII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XLII">Donkey shoots the chutes</SPAN></td> <td align="right">309</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XLIII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">Paint sign with donk's tail</SPAN></td> <td align="right">319</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XLIV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XLIV">Swim two rivers in Utah</SPAN></td> <td align="right">326</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XLV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XLV">Initiated to Mormon faith</SPAN></td> <td align="right">339</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XLVI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XLVI">Typewriting on a donkey</SPAN></td> <td align="right">343</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XLVII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XLVII">Pod kissed by sweet sixteen</SPAN></td> <td align="right">348</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XLVIII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XLVIII">Last drop in the canteen</SPAN></td> <td align="right">352</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">XLIX.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XLIX">How donkey pulls a tooth</SPAN></td> <td align="right">364</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">L.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_L">Encounter with two desperadoes</SPAN></td> <td align="right">369</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">LI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_LI">Donk, boy and dried apples</SPAN></td> <td align="right">380</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">LII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_LII">Lost in Nevada desert</SPAN></td> <td align="right">385</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">LIII.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_LIII">A frightful ghost dance</SPAN></td> <td align="right">393</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">LIV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_LIV">Across Sierras in deep snow</SPAN></td> <td align="right">400</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">LV.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_LV">All down a toboggan slide</SPAN></td> <td align="right">409</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right">LVI.</td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#CHAPTER_LVI">'Frisco at last, we win!</SPAN></td> <td align="right">415</td></tr> <tr> <td align="right"></td> <td align="left"><SPAN href="#EPILOGUE">Epilogue</SPAN></td> <td align="right">424</td></tr> </table></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</SPAN></h2> <div style="margin:2em;text-align:left;padding-left:2em; text-indent:-2em;"> <ul id="list-illustrations"> <li><SPAN href="#R_Pitcher_Woodward_at_his">(Portrait) The traveler at the journey's end.</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#I_bade_my_friends_farewell">"I bade my friends farewell."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#We_consumed_a_half_hour_in_the">"We consumed a half hour in the gigantic task."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#I_found_the_captive_drinking">"I found the captive drinking with other jackasses."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#We_tramped_tired">"We tramped tired and footsore into the village."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Mac_could_draw_my_luggage">"Mac could draw my luggage instead of carrying it."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Macs_little_legs_would">"Mac's little legs would get stuck."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Mac_supervised_the_work">"Mac supervised the work."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Only_time_I_got_ahead_of_him">"The only time I got ahead of him."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#I_scrutinized_his_hat">"I scrutinized his hat inquisitively."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#He_accused_me_of_attempting">"He accused me of attempting suicide."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#We_made_slow_headway">"We made slow headway to the Mississippi.</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#In_this_way_I_crossed_that_bridge_of_size">"In this way I crossed that bridge of size."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#In_this_way_I_crossed_that_bridge_of_size"> "And I saw the streak of daylight."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#In_this_way_I_crossed_that_bridge_of_size"> "Mac was so slow that his shadow beat him to town."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Over-the-Platte">"Over the Platte bridge, after blindfolding them."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#I_killed_my_first_rattlesnake">"I killed my first rattlesnake."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#That_was_the_town">"That was the town of Korty."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Trail-He-had-caught-PikesPeak">"Climbing Pike's Peak."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Trail-He-had-caught-PikesPeak"> "He had caught a nice mess of trout."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Trail-He-had-caught-PikesPeak"> "Trail through the timber."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Independence-Pass-Trail-Florisant"> "Independence Pass; one of the loftiest of the Continental Divide."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Independence-Pass-Trail-Florisant"> "Trail to Florisant."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Independence-Pass-Trail-Florisant"> "Two days of hard climbing to cross Western Pass."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Through-thickets-tangled-roots">"Through thickets, tangled roots and fallen trees."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#And-floated-on-Salt-Lake">"To swim and float on Salt Lake."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Skull-Valley-desert">"Skull Valley desert, we stopped to feed and rest."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#The_last_and_only_drop">"The last and only drop."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Just_finished_lunch_when">"Just finished lunch when the possé arrived."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Coonskin_and_I_took_shelter_behind">"Coonskin and I took shelter behind our donkeys."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Through_Devils_Gate">"Through Devil's Gate, their panniers scraped the walls of the rocky gateway."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Fired_their_revolvers_in">"Fired their revolvers in the air."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Some_Piute_Indians_who_had">"Some Piute Indians who had camped close by."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Playing_Solitaire_on_Damfinos">"Playing Solitaire on Damfino's broad back."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Began_to_plow_Snow_toward">"Began to plow snow toward Placerville.</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#The_Cattle_Passed_Us">"The cattle passed us, after we donks had broken the trail."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#Across_on_the_exclusive_Solano">"Across on the exclusive Solano."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#I_pointed_toward_the_goal">"I pointed toward the goal."</SPAN></li> <li><SPAN href="#The_Ferry_approach_in_Frisco">"The ferry approach in 'Frisco was choked with a rabble."</SPAN></li> </ul></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="PROLOGUE" id="PROLOGUE">PROLOGUE.</SPAN></h2> <p>This is as true a story of my "voyage" as I am capable of writing. Besides the newspaper accounts, two magazine articles, illustrated on this subject have been published, the only ones contributed by me, and they hardly outlined the trip. I have left out a hundred interesting incidents and culled and edited until I am tired, in order to condense this volume to convenient size. On the other hand, notable adventures only recalled by my photographs have been cheated of a mention, because the donkey ate my notes—he ate everything in sight, and did not discriminate between a comic circus poster and a tragic diary.</p> <p>Ever since completing the trip, I have promised this book "next month," but owing to the checkered career of the MS. with ninety-seven publishers (all of whom declared that the book should be brought out at once, but they lacked the nerve to publish it), I am only now able to fulfil my promises. This is no romance. When I did not walk with the donkey or carry him, he carried me the whole four thousand and ninety-six miles, which includes the distance traveled when he balked and backed.</p> <p>With my two cameras I secured six hundred pictures descriptive of the journey across eleven states, through the four seasons, during that long, long year; only by them and my diary am I brought to realize it is not a wild, weird dream. Now it is over, I sometimes smile over things recalled which, when they happened, found me as serious as the donk—grave in the superlative degree—and thoughtless people and those who never even crossed the plains by train may style my experience a mere outing or "picnic." General Fremont and other distinguished pioneers emphasize in their writings the pleasures of their overland trips. They, as did the emigrants of the '40s and '50s, set out in spring time from the Missouri or the Mississippi in companies, with money, wagons, cattle and supplies, and with one-third of the continent already behind them. The Indians and big game of the prairies provided excitement that lent a charm to the undertaking; it is dull monotony that kills.</p> <p>I started four days before winter, practically without money, to support, from earnings only, myself and dumb partner from New York city to San Francisco.</p> <p>It required twelve weeks to traverse the Empire State, through a severe season when and where I suffered the most. The delightful part of the journey was while crossing the Rockies. Instead of taking the shortest cut, I had to consider the towns where I might best make expenses, to look for the best roads and desert trails by springs. Three times when lost I traveled far out of my course, once twenty miles into a mountain forest.</p> <p>It is only five days across by rail. Have you traveled it—in summer? How monotonous grew those seas of alkali, sand (rock waste), cacti and sage as the hours lengthened into days! Yet with comfortable beds, shade, meals served, cool drinks, and books to read, at times feeling yourself speeding through the air a mile to the minute, you wearied of the "voyage." Five days! Multiply them into weeks, then into months, double and add five weeks—forty-nine weeks! Fancy yourself for such a period on a slow burro which walks half your natural pace, and so small that if you wear roller skates while in the saddle you may ease the animal; ride one mile astride; when you feel about to split, ride the second mile side-ways; when your back feels ready to break, ride the third mile Turkish fashion; by this time your legs are benumbed and your feet asleep, so walk a mile and carry the jackass; you will thereby quiet your nerves, rest your bones, and make better time.</p> <p>If ever you are tempted to ride a donkey overland, <em>refrain</em>. Rather creep across backwards on your hands and knees, or circumnavigate the globe in a washtub. If you still persist, why, ride a donkey twenty miles in a pouring rain, then follow your own judgment. If you wish my donkey's advice, I will introduce him. His head is longer than his ears, which was not the case when he set out with me.</p> <div class="signature">R. P. W.</div> <div class="figcenter"> <SPAN name="I_bade_my_friends_farewell"></SPAN> <SPAN href="images/i010-hd.jpg">larger <ANTIMG src="images/i010.jpg" width-obs="412" height-obs="600" alt="" /></SPAN> <div class="caption">"I bade my friends farewell."</div> </div> <hr style="width:100%;" /> <h2><SPAN name="PART_1" id="PART_1">PART 1.</SPAN></h2> <p style="font-size:200%;text-indent:0;text-align:center;"> <SPAN name="On_a_Donkeys_Hurricane_Deck" id="On_a_Donkeys_Hurricane_Deck">On a Donkey's Hurricane Deck</SPAN></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />