packtrain

American  

[pak-treyn] / ˈpækˌtreɪn /

noun

1. a line or succession of pack animals, as mules or burros, used to transport food and supplies over terrain unsuitable for wagons or other vehicles.

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Etymology

Origin of packtrain

First recorded in 1840–50; pack ¹ + train

Example Sentences

Merchants dreamed of many fortunate ventures, in connection with the river trade or the overland commerce by packtrain.

From The Winning of the West, Volume 3 The Founding of the Trans-Alleghany Commonwealths, 1784-1790 by Roosevelt, Theodore

At one place we were obliged to take the whole packtrain up a cliff fifteen hundred feet high, making a trail as we went.

From The Romance of the Colorado River The Story of its Discovery in 1840, with an Account of the Later Explorations, and with Special Reference to the Voyages of Powell through the Line of the Great Canyons by Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel

When I got back to the packtrain, I directed them back to where the old trenches are to-day, and where you may still see a pile of bones.

From The Vanishing Race by Dixon, Joseph Kossuth

If it had not been for General Terry coming up as he did we would have had that packtrain, for they were all dry—they had had no water for two days.

From The Vanishing Race by Dixon, Joseph Kossuth

As soon as we heard this we let the packtrain go and fled back to our camp.

From The Vanishing Race by Dixon, Joseph Kossuth