Freighters

The line in the panel's jerk-line skinner was a single rein. On a big freight team, often fourteen to twenty-four mules strung out in pairs ahead of the wagons, the skinner rode the rearmost mule on the left, the near wheeler, and ran one long line forward through rings on the near-side harness to the bit of the lead mule. A jockey stick tied the leader to its partner, so the pair turned together. A steady pull or a run of short jerks told the leader which way to swing, and the rest of the steering was voice.

What the plaque says

Freighters Time was when ox and mule teams used to freight along this route. A five-ton truck doesn't look as picturesque but there hasn't been much change in the language of the drivers. Jerk-line skinners were plumb fluent when addressing their teams. They got right earnest and personal. It was spontaneous, no effort about it. When they got strung out they were worth going a long ways to hear. As a matter of fact you didn't have to go a long ways, providing your hearing was normal. Adjectives came natural to them but they did bog down some on names. They had the same one for each of their string. Those times have gone forever.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Montana State Capitol — 12 mi
  A copper-domed capitol won in a copper kings' election, with a Russell painting that put the Salish at the center.

More markers nearby

• Elkhorn Mountain Volcanoes — steps away
• The Prickly Pear Diggings — 9.0 mi
• Unionville — 10.0 mi
• Benton Avenue Cemetery — 14 mi