Cataline

Cataline was the nickname given to Jean Caux, the most famous mule packer of the Canadian West.

Biography

In different biographies Cataline has been recorded as being born in Mexico, Spain and France. Other biographies like the one written by Sperry Cline, who knew Cataline personally, say he was born at Oloron-Sainte-Marie in Bearn, a kingdom of France, near the Spanish border. Most accounts agree on his year of birth as 1832.

Although the exact date of his arrival in British Columbia is unknown, it is recorded that he was packing at the beginning of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858 and continued until 1912, a span of 54 years. He wore the same type of clothing year round: a boiled white shirt, heavy woolen pants, riding boots and no socks. When he had business to conduct, he added a collar, tie and a French hat to his apparel. On every trip he brought along a chair made of birch and rawride where he would sit as he negotiated his business, while everyone else sat on the ground. Though illiterate, he had an excellent memory and kept his business records in his head without ever making a single note. Even though he used over sixty mules, he knew to the item what each of them carried, where they were being delivered to and what he had to charge. And although he ran mule trains for over half a century he never lost a pound of cargo, except in one instance when his secundo upon smelling a two pound package of Limburger Cheese decided it was rotten and threw it away. Once aware of the error, Cataline made sure it was replaced and delivered. One of the best stories about him involves a loan that he had to make after a fatal disease had killed several of his mules. The bank manager questioned Cataline's collateral, wondering how many mules and horses he owned before consenting to lend him the money. When Cataline returned to the bank in the fall to repay the debt, he counted out the exact amount owing and paid it in full. The bank manager noted that Cataline had more money on his person and suggested that he deposit it in the bank. Cataline responded with a query as to how many horses and mules the bank owned, and upon learning it was "none", decided to keep his money.

The Pack Trains

Cataline's pack train usually consisted of sixty mules. The pack mules could carry 250 - 300 pounds and could navigate very difficult trails. Cataline's mules were so well trained that when the corregidor rang a signal bell, they would go to their own packs and wait to be loaded. Each outfit also employed six or more men, a foreman, also known as a corregidor, a second man, known as a secundo, a cook and several muleteers. In Cataline's outfit, his corregidor was Ah Gun and his secundo was Dave Wiggins.

The Early Years

Cataline packed from Yale to Barkerville during the Cariboo Gold Rush. He married a Thompson Indian woman from the Spuzzum Band.

After the CPR

Then with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, he moved his headquarters to Ashcroft. His wife remained in Spuzzum, but he continued to support her, always in the form of $20 gold coins. During this period, he was friends with Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie, who once held an impromptu court to provide Cataline with Canadian citizenship when his squatting rights were questioned.

Quesnel and Hazelton

When the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was announced, Cataline moved his operations to Quesnel to better serve the booming Central Interior. He packed throughout the Cariboo, Central Interior and Skeena River district until 1912 when he retired in Hazelton.In 1920 he decided to spend his remaining winters in Victoria, but after spending just one winter in the Dominion Hotel, he returned to Hazelton for the rest of his days. He died in October 1922 at the age of 90 and is buried in the Hazelton cemetery. A brass plaque on his cairn simply reads 'Jean Caux - Cataline, the packer.

Places Named After Cataline

* Cataline Elementary School in Williams Lake, British Columbia
* Cataline Creek in the Kispiox region near Hazelton [http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/bcgn-bin/bcg10?name=3414]

Cataline in Books and Movies

*" [http://www.redletterfilms.com/production_03.php?lang=en The Legend of Cataline" (a film by Red Letter Films]
*"Cataline" from "Pioneer Days in British Columbia" Volume 1 Article 20, Sperry Cline, Art Downs editor. ISBN Unknown
*"Jean Caux 'The Man they called Cataline"' from "Frontier Days in British Columbia"
*"The Far Land", Eva MacLean ISBN 0-920576-41-91
*"Heritage of Canada" ISBN 0-88850-065-3

External links

* [http://www.packtrail.com Cataline articles, legends. pictures and maps]