Clark County History: Mules and pack animals By Martin Middlewood for The Columbian
Published: January 10, 2021, 6:00am
Share: A Vancouver Barracks mule train returns from the Lacamas Creek artillery range (renamed Camp Bonneville in 1909) along the city streets around 1908. The convoy heads down 10th Street (now Evergreen Boulevard) toward the barracks packing ammunition. The troopers belong to the U.S. Army Mountain Gun Battery, 2nd Field Artillery Regiment stationed here between 1904 and 1913. The steeple of the First Presbyterian Church and the minister s home rise in the background. (Contributed by Vancouver Barracks Military Association)
Contrary to Hollywood’s horsey version of the West, mules played a big role. Gen. George Crook preferred riding a mule, so did William “Buffalo Bill” Cody and Gen. O. O. Howard. Perhaps filmmakers assumed soldiers, cowboys, gunslingers and lawmen looked more formidable straddling horses instead of mules.