"The packsaddle then in use was such a piece of workmanship as any man used to handling ordinary tools could, with a little ingenuity and application make. To describe it minutely in the interest of those who have never seen one of those caparisons of the past age: it was made of four pieces of wood, two of these being notched limbs; the crotches fit along the horse's back, the front part resting upon the horse's withers, the other two were flat pieces, about the length and breadth of a lap shingle, say eighteen inches by five, and were to extend along the sides fastened to the ends of the notched pieces. It thus bore some resemblance to a cavalry saddle. The making of packsaddles was a regular business, and very early there was a saddletree maker in Pittsburgh and one at Greensburg...When these saddles were used for riding, stirrups were fastened to the sides and the saddles were held to the horse by a rope, or girth, extending clean around. Pieces of cloth and worn out blankets were habitually put under the saddle to keep it from chafing the skin" (Albert, 181).
Albert, George D. History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co, 1882. Print.
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