Mule train, Leadville, Colorado

Abstract

Postcard showing miners with a jack train or pack train hauling lumber and other supplies into Leadville. These pack trains played an important role in the mining operations especially prior to the arrival of the railroads. They were used to haul wood, machinery, supplies, food and water to the mines, and transport ore from the mines to the mills. Both horses and burros were used for packing, but burros are able to carry more weight and work longer hours on less feed, and they can maneuvre more easily around narrow rocky areas on the trail because they are more sure footed. Depending upon the terrain, the pack trains could travel up to twenty-five miles per day. The arrival of rail lines to mining towns crippled the freighting industry. Many teamsters were forced to become ore haulers, or they hauled freight only short distances from the Leadville railroad docks to the mines and communities in the area.