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Before many days, an incident occurred which tells a lot about James' attitude toward draft animals. His granddaughter, Pearl Allen Read, tells of the company coming to a bog of mud in the trail which caused many wagons to get stuck. As each team came to the bog, the Captain standing there would join the drivers in whipping the animals to get them through.When it was his turn, James forbade the Captain. "These are my animals and no whip is to be used on them." Although James' team pulled through the bog successfully, the Captain was angry and thereafter continued to find fault with this independent member of his company.James Thomas' life-long insistence that his animals be treated well was admired by those who knew him and was learned and perpetuated by his children throughout their lives.