19 miles north of Boston Bar
Jackass Mountain – a memorial to a mule. Wearied by its struggle over the steep, twisting Cariboo road, one loaded mule reared, bucked and fell to its death in the canyon. The long stream of freight animals closed their ranks and plodded onward to the distant Cariboo goldfields.
Early freighters on the Cariboo Wagon Road sometimes referred to Jackass Mountain as "the hill of despair" because it was the steepest portion of the route and a difficult climb for both man and beast. Before the Cariboo Wagon Road was built, the best mode of transportation to the interior was the mule. Stronger and more sure-footed than the horse, a mule could pack from 250-400 lbs. The cost of shipping by mule was $1 per lb and took a month to transport goods from Yale to Quesnel. Teams of oxen were also useful for pulling heavy loads. In 1871 six road steamers were imported from England to use on the Cariboo Wagon Road, but the grade of Jackass Mountain was impossible for the steam engines to overcome.
Mule trains organized to supply the Cariboo miners consisted of from 16 to 48 animals, a boss, a cook, and one person for every 8 mules. Often there was a white mare which led the train because of the curious calming influence she seemed to exert on the other animals.
An interesting development in the history of BC transportation occurred in 1862 when Frank Laumeister, in an effort to find animals that could carry a larger load, imported 21 camels from Arizona. These animals were faster and could carry 1,000 lbs. of freight. However, sharp rocks on the trail cut the camels' soft hooves very easily. They also possessed a peculiar odor that caused the other pack animals to stampede. These difficulties forced Laumeister to abandon his project. He sold some of his camels on the coast and turned the remainder loose on the Thompson River, east of Cache Creek. The last of them died in 1905 near Westwold (Grande Prairie) beyond Kamloops on the way to the Okanagan Valley.
