Men and Horses Packing Crossarms on the Trail

These men and horses are packing crossarms and hardware for the construction of the original "One" line. Being a lineman myself, it is mind boggling how hard they worked. Digging holes by hand in the rough rocky terrain, skidding poles around by horse, setting poles with the old cow and pike pole method, hiking in and carrying gear and hardware to frame poles and string the lines. I know this would be hard work. Today a lot of this bull work is done with line trucks and helicopters. Photo circa 1898.