Mules on the Wild Frontier

Mules in the Old West

Borax Ore Wagon video courtesy of Thomas Finnerty
Mule Image by Ralphs_Fotos from Pixabay
Barn in Kanab courtesy of Danny DeBecker

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[julienielsen]

Makes me think of a letter to Ann Landers I read years ago. This guy wrote that when he was a child his dad would always say he was stubborn as a mule, which really bothered the kid. So, one day he looked up what a mule was in the dictionary. Then he showed it to his dad. It said a mule is an equine animal that has a mare for a mother, and a jackass for a father. His dad never called him a stubborn mule again.

[mrstacyj]

US special forces still employ mules on tactical missions - the soldiers (and marines) love their critters

[sixgunmiller]

Much more sure footed, nothin finer than a good Missouri mule. Mules are smarter than people.

[joecuppkouh]

Something I was told as a young'un, so one of those things old folks used to say, supposedly a good reason to ride a mule is that they can smell water a lot further than a horse can, and in places like west Texas, New Mexico, Arizona etc, that can be a real handy trait, I was told like 7 miles how they came by that number I have no idea, but I was just a little guy and listening to old men that were babies during the Civil War and had gone west as young men, some of whom had come back home with money in their pockets and some that came home without pockets. These were old men that could make a bullwhip sing and would sit down with a bunch of string and stand up a couple of hours later with a rope. Thanks for another look into what in many ways were better days Santee.

[fretforyourpilot]

I have a mule! As someone who always had horses, making the switch to a mule was... definitely different. My mule, Ruby Red, is incredibly smart and she always lets me know when something isn't quite right. They're also kinda like cats and it took me around a year to get her to trust and open up to me. She's a BEAST on the trails!!! Couldn't ask for a better mount. Walks through mud, over slippery rocks, and in and out of washes like it's not an issue. If she's behind a horse (who aren't NEARLY as sure-footed as my Ruby Red) on the trail, she looks at me like we're stuck in traffic haha.

[notsosilentmajority]

Mules and Donkey's are highly underrated and undervalued animals by a lot of people. But, the people that interact with them know just how fantastic they really are.

[GreenMosin]

My Dad used to have pack mules for elk hunting out west. At one point we had 5: Mike, Missy, Maggie, Brownie, and Jenny. (The "E" sound at the end of their names was a good luck thing for my Dad after he had a long line of reliable pets and working animals with "E" names)

Mike and Missy were dark bay colored siblings, Missy having a faint white blaze and nose, and Mike having both rear white socks. Mike was the best mule I've ever known. Great with kids, responsive to commands, great to ride, and never faltered under heavy load or duress. Missy was mostly the same, but a bit more stubborn and a kicker in her early years. In their last year together Missy went blind in one eye and both went nearly deaf. Missy passed more than 2 years after Mike did, wracked with health issues but still able to walk around the pasture twice a day, and bray when we were late to feed her. They were both buried within sight of their pasture. Both lived to be 20+ years old.

Brownie was another dark Bay with a mostly white nose. He was nice enough, but definitely hated heavy loads that the others handled easily. He only lasted a season before being traded for Jenny and Maggie.

Jenny was a bay with a tan nose and the epitome of "stubborn jackass". She could haul, but liked to stop and refuse to budge at the worst times. She seemed to work best at the back of the pack because the first time she was lead she kept stopping, but liked to follow the others. She also was responsible for girdling nearly all the elm trees in their pasture from gnawing on them. Somehow she stuck around for awhile until she was traded.

Maggie was a chestnut with almost a blonde mane and tail. In fact Dad occasionally called her a "dumb blonde", both jokingly and seriously. She wasn't bright, was prone to stubbornness, and impatience, but boy could she move. Always getting the zoomies out in the pasture, won a race at a show with her previous owner, and if you let her she'd probably have flown. As she got a bit older she did mature and mellow out enough that she got traded to a friend who wanted a good riding mule. Dad was hesitant about her temperament but the guy saddled her up and rode her around the pasture with no incidents. She seemed to like him better than Dad!

[garrettfromsmokeinthewoods]

Great show! An Old timer once told me a story about a freighter whose mule stopped in the road and would not move. after an hour of whipping and cussing the mule the freighter decided to light a fire under the mule. The mule moved forward just far enough to burn the wagon to the ground. lol have a great day.

[Plasmacore_V]

My grandmother grew up on a farm during the 20's and 30's. I remember her telling me about their mule Sam, that he was smarter and more gentle than the horses, and while he would do what you wanted him to, he did it at his pace and you weren't going to change his mind.

[jimf]

Mark Twain in the book Roughing It wrote a hilarious section about what I believe were mules ( but perhaps just old horses) who were used to delivering milk, and when he used it to go on a date, it kept going to the same houses and stopping, and refused to move until he got out. There were a few other funny stories about them when his character was in Hawaii

Martha Summerhayes in her book "Vanished Arizona" wrote about a trip by mule train to her husband's post in Arizona. She was at first shocked and dismayed by the cussing, cursing and general foul language the muleskinners used to get their mules going. By the end of the journey, she fully understood the muleskinners.

[UncleDanBand]

I have always liked mules. I broke a young John Mule a few years back. It was an experience. As for as intelligence, they are super smart. Here is the difference between a mule and a horse. Say you load your mule and your horse in the trailer, you have a wreck and your mule and horse are both injured. It will be a long time before your horse forgets that he got hurt in the trailer. The mule will never forget you put him in the trailer.

[arthurleino]

Learned to ride a mule before my Sister had a horse. They used them in logging here in the PNW. Great video.

[RoryPattonDreamerOfDunsidhe]

Nice to see the clip of Muffin the Mule. When I was wee I always watched, "Watch With Mother" so that took me back about 65 years. Interesting post as always. Thank you! 😎🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[nilo]

Thank you again Santee for keeping the Old West alive ! And my new coffee cup from you looks Very Cool 😎

[Texas-Christian]

I have ridden a few times on a covered wagon with mules in the Netherlands, a great experience

[HootOwl]

I used to kid my younger Marine Buddy, [Using our Gunny's gruff voice]: ""Boy, back in the Old Corps, we didn't have no GI Bill, or any of that fancy stuff... We were lucky if we were issued 40 Acres and a Mule on mustering out. And we liked it.''
Anyway, he took me way too seriously and after getting out, bought himself 20 acres near Spokane, and a mule. He was a hunting guide and used the mule as a pack animal. Mules are quite intelligent, he said. Equally smart as German Shepherd. [And if you know any GSDs, they're plenty savvy for a critter.]
His mule was like a friend, he said. Sometimes he'd poke his head in thru the kitchen window and snag a bag of potato chips, if he wanted salt. After about 20 years or more the mule finally packed it in and my Buddy was broken up about it. He didn't talk like Francis, but my Buddy could understand him pretty well.

[squint]

Thanks for the great episode and the visit over morning coffee!!

[JidoKashi]

Columbia, Tennessee was one of the biggest traders of mules in the southeast, and many breeders would drive mules by the dozen to Columbia to make a profit. That’s how it quickly gained its nickname, “Muletown.”

Since it was near a smaller phosphate mining town like Mount Pleasant, trade between the two was huge, for their work in the mines and the mountains. Even today, it’s a livestock hub that even the Amish buy from. They’ll bring buggies and wagons all the way from Etheridge, a whole county over!

And of course this continues today with yearly “Mulefest” or “Mule Days” festival. Although today, Columbia’s festival mules are mostly relegated to the sale barn and the parade itself, it’s become a big festival for craft beer and local music.

The Mule Day parade’s quite a sight. Living in a city most of my life, I’d never even SEEN a mule in person until my first Mule Day. Very good video that reminds me why I love that little Tennessee town so much!

[The-Three-of-Us-and-Gus]

Santee, Mule Days is held in Bishop, CA. It is north of Death Valley, at the foothills of the Eastern Sierra’s. It’s not only a re-enactment of the 20-mule team, it’s also a competitive even for all sorts of mule disciplines. My wife and I attended this year and it was a blast. Cheers!