Today marks the first anniversary of the death of Bob Norris on 2/22/99. We find it hard to believe that his wonderful contributions to our lists have not been added to for a full year. The "Howdy" greeting and the :-) and :-)) that were always a part of his posts are very much missed! Below is one sample of the fun way he shared "Historee" with us while always giving credit to List Members who had helped him and the books from which he had taken his stories. For those of us who have already seen Bob's posts and would like to read them again and for those of you who joined the list in the last year and have not had the opportunity to read them we invite you to search the RootsWeb archives at: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.plfor type in CA-GOLDRUSH or NORCAL as the name of list to search. Check out all these years: 1999,1998,1997, and use - BNorris166@aol.com - as the subject of your query. Bob said he wanted to be remembered, and that was why he wrote/compiled so much - he expected/hoped some of his writing would be remembered long after he was gone. How could we forget him? This post is sent to you by, The many friends of Bob Norris, (he was a good and gentle friend) ================================ From: BNorris166@aol.com Sent: Friday, February 19, 1999 9:57 AM To: NORCAL-L@rootsweb.com Subject: JOURNADAS - Captain Marcy's Trail Travel Tips - 1859 Howdy, For those read overland emigrant diaries/journals/letters, etc, I am sure familar is the word JOURNADA.. When first read, I just assumed it only meant a tough trip. I didn't bother to investigate - until now:-) After listmembers Lewis<lruddick@ix.netcom.com> & Emerson <EShipe@CLEMSON.EDU> touted it, I liberry loaned Randolphh B. MARCY's "The Prairie Traveler", originally published in 1859 by Harper & Brothers, NY .It's a pretty good trail book - used by some of the overland emigrants on their travels. Just book browsing, I ran into Capt. Marcy's essay on JOURNADAS. The Mexicans apprently used the word" journada"(day's journey) to describe long stretches which must be traveled without water. The distances varied -some 50 or 60 miles, or longer. And one in New Mexico is called "Journada del Muerto," which was 78 1/2 miles long. Also, I recall at least one early Northern Trail overland emirgrant naming the "40 Mile Desert" - the Journey of Death.. FOLKS: With vacation travel time approaching, I thought you might be interested in some of Capt. Marcy's trail tips:-)): "On arriving at the last camping-ground before entering upon the journada, all the animals should be as well rested and refreshed as possible. To insure this, they must be turned out upon the best grass that can be found, and allowed to eat and drink as much as they desire during the entire halt.. They should be carefully watered just previous to being hitched up and . the water-kegs having been previously filled. The drive is then commenced, and continued during the ENTIRE night, with 10 to 15 minutes rest every two hours. "About daylight a halt should be made, and the animals immediately turned out to graze for two hours....especially if there is dew upon the grass, they will have become considerably refreshed, and may be put to the wagons again and driven until the heat becomes oppressive toward noon, when they are again turned....where grass is good, and ...if possible..shade trees. "About four o'clock P.M. they are again started, and the march continued into the night, and as long as they can be driven without suffering. If...there should be dew...seldom the case on the plains, it would be well to turn out the animals several times during the second night, and by morning, if they are in good condition, the journada of 70 or 80 miles will have passed without any great amount of suffering. I am supposing, in this case, that the road is firm and free of sand.... ".....Oxen upon a long journey will sometimes wear down their hoofs and become lame. When this occurs, a thick piece of raw hide wrapped around the foot and tied firmly to the leg will obviate the difficulty, provided the weather is not wet; for if so, the shoe soon wears out. "Mexican and Indian horses and mules will make long journeys without being shod, as their hoofs are tough and elastic, and wear away very gradually; they will however, in time become very smooth, making it difficult for them to travel upon grass. "A train of wagons should always be kept closed upon a march; and if, as often happens, a particular wagon gets out of order and is obliged to halt, it should be turned out of the road, to let the others pass while the injury is being reparied. As soon as the broken wagon is in order, it should fall into the line wherever it happens to be. "..If the broken wagon is a poor one, and there be abundance of better ones...it may be wise to abandon it, taking from it such parts as may possibly be wanted in repairing other wagons." I suppose AAA already gave you all this:-)))) Bob Norris in Dallas <BNorris166@aol.com>