A recent venture out to Rucker Canyon and down to Douglas and old Mexico got me to thinking about my most recent experiment in how the early settlers got by . I started the experiment after thinking about water and how hard it is to come by in the desert . I decided to try and use an approximate amount that someone would carry or have available , say a hundred years ago ! The amount I carry on trips now is seldom less than a couple of gallons , just for drinking . Starting with that I allowed that half of that would go to the horse or mule that would be carrying me . Took off and made a trip forty miles at a slow pace , drove as slow as traffic would allow and kept the windows down , no air conditioning . I wore a long sleeve shirt , jeans and boots and a hat , also carried a neckerchief for the sake of appearance . I left the water jugs on the seat next to me with water from out of the tap at the park . When I left the ranch at 8:30 in the morning it was right at 86 degrees and not a breath of wind . Driving slowly south I was planning on the first stop just past the Mora siding site along the old railbed , a distance of about 12 miles . I was feeling pretty full of myself and proud as could be , so opened the water jug and had a long drink . Since I had no horse I figured another one for it too , inspecting the gallon jug I figured I had drank about a quart of water . Not bad , the temperature was rising steadily ,but not too uncomfortable yet . Onwards towards Apache and slightly further down to a high spot of the road with a turnout to an old mine road the next stop . I passed through Apache at 10:30 and had a quick drink on the fly , at the rise of the road and the turnout about 6 miles further on I stopped , got my water jug out and took a deep swallow . It was liking drinking water out of the hot water tap in the house ! Dammitt! I'd left the jug sit on the seat in the direct sunlight ! It couldn't have been much different in a canteen on a saddle horn or waterbag hanging off a horse or wagon . About this time I realized I was sweating like someone had cut a fire hose ! Standing in the sun with no shade was a bad idea ! I kept moving towards the canyon , I should mention I was driving at about twenty miles an hour and had'nt seen a vehicle since I left Rodeo ! Rucker canyon was a few miles ahead , I checked the water and was surprised that there wasn't much left in the first jug ! If I break a water hose or whatever now I'm screwed ! The horse is dead ! I finally arrived at the canyon road and stopped off the highway far enough to get in the shade of a small cottonwood . It's now almost noon and by the little thermometer I had was upwards of 95 plus ! I had only traveled about 35 miles and was wringing wet from sweat and to say it was getting uncomfortable was a vast understatement I had planned on making some coffee on the little sterno stove but gave that up , drank some more water and chewed on some beef jerky , which only made me thirstier . There you have it ! I'm halfway to Douglas , I still have to cross the other mountain range through the pass and across a desert floor and then back up to 5000 ft over the pass and I've got less than a gallon of water to drink ! Which brings up the other part of the experiment . How about the everyday things we do like washing our hands and face or taking a shower everyday ? I kept the experiment going for six days , washing my hands on occasion and at night wetting a small towel and washing my face and arms to keep from feeling too nasty .On the seventh day I couldn't stand my own odor any more and called the experiment ot an end . I itched and smelled bad , my beard was driving me crazy and I was sure a colony of some kind of large ants had taken up residence in my hair ! I spent some quality time in the shower with some of the nicest smelling soap and shampoo ever ! I even wore the same clothes that I had worn on the water trip , they actually made a crackling sound when I forced them into the washer ! Another thought of just how tough those settlers were , washing clothes , your body , drinking , cooking , taking care of the animals , and doing all this without knowing where the next water would be !
How tough were they ? Try it for yourself ! I have a whole new outlook on those folks , they were stronger than I can imagine !
By the by the trip to Rucker canyon is on hold till I get someone to go with me it's even wilder than I expected and is not a place for an old crippled up guy like me to venture into alone .
Stay tuned .............
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