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.
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.
I worked for a small farm that used mules The old man that owned it was born in ,98 or 99 he swore mules wouldn't step on crops like horses or damage them like a tractor. He plowed with the tractor and planted cover crops with it but all tillage was done with mules. They were great at the job. I enjoyed it, it was a lot of hard work but fun. Àt a bit more than minimum wage we after he was sure we knew what we were doing paid us $2.25 an hour instead of $1.63 an hour. Lunch was often wonderful his wife would bring us wonderful German meals for lunch or have us clean up a bit and eat in the house, They retired around 1979 the son took over and the property was taken over by Fort Belvoir for base housing.
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.
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.
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!
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.
My Grandfather used to sing “a mule is an animal with long funny ears and he kicks up his heels at everything he hears”. Hearing that instantly brought back a memory of him. Thank you
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.
I own my second mule, he's well trained and fun to ride, his name is Jake. Some people would say he's stubborn, l think he is just a deep thinker, he's smart
Talk about a blast from the past, I remember Muffin the Mule. I watched it when I was a kid. The woman in the programme was Annette Mills the older sister of the actor John Mills. The British Army also used mules in both world wars, many supplied by America, with them being used by troops fighting in the jungle in WW2. Ponies were used in the mines and they were also kept down there which meant they also went blind. During the Medieval Period knights would used mules to carry their armour when they were out on campaign. A breed similar to those mules are still to be found in Spain today. Anyway. thanks for the video, Santee. Enjoyable and informative as always.
The German mountain troops still use mules as animals of burden. Their handlers need to build a lot of trust with their mule. The mule needs to trust the handler enough to get blindfolded and still follow the lead.
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! 😎🏴
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
Mules rules! When I was a kid the small timber town I lived in had Mule Days in the summer celebrating the mules used in the timber industry and farming earlier in the town's history. There was a parade and mule pulling and more. Of course, there were mule rides and rides in wagons pulled by mule teams too!
OMG, Santee, I don't know how you do it! You and your colleagues pack more entertainment and information, into your quick paced, so enjoyable, audio and visional videos, than anyone I can think of. I learned a lot more about these "workhorses" than I ever knew. I don't know how you do it, but I'm so happy you do. Thank you...🤠👏👏👏👏👏
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!
Thanks Santee for the Mule story. When I moved to Texas from IL I came to Plano, TX which has a bit of a mule history. One of the leading families was Wells and they bred and sold mules. Almost had pair of donkees Gladis and Elvis but deal fell through. Happy Trails.
You’re right Santee, this video did change my mind about mules! I always thought of them as being lazy, slow, and overall I always thought horses were superior, but it turns out I’m wrong! Now I know mules are way much more useful. Thanks for another great video Santee and Friends, you never manage to dissapoint🤠
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 Library of Congress has a channel here on RUclips and they have Edison footage of a US Army mule train on the Santiago trail in Cuba in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. The Army muleteers were civilian contractors. Haywire McClintock, of Rock Candy Mountain fame, was a muleteer during the Phillipine War, about 1901.
Really interesting to get to know more about the Mule. Heard about them but have never seen or met one so :) keep up the amazing work you do Santee for old west interested people around the world. Yeehaww.
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.
Great video and informative as always. My Mama used to go with her dad to the tobacco warehouse to sell their crop. They would haul it on a buck board and used mules to pull it. There were even some Confederate artillery thar used mules as well as some Confederate Cavalry. Mules are great!
I'm in Ketchum Idaho and every year we have wagon days and it's about the mules pulling ore wagons. We have a parade and a team of mules pulls a train of ore wagons through town its pretty impressive what those animals can do.
As a kid we had a mule named Rosy, and when us kids would ride her, whenever she could, as we were riding past a tree she would side step to knock us off... As an older brother I very much enjoyed when she did that to my little brother all the time... He never seemed to catch on to what was happening... I didn't like it so much when she did it to me for the first time though...
Dad said that he preferred a mule if he was going into the back country. A horse will drink water until the die but a mule will not. My Uncle had a team of 4 Mules and an cargo wagon, he loved getting them all gussied up and do all the parades in and around. Denver CO.
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.
Well, I'm glad I stuck with it right to the very end! Muffin the Mule was a great favourite on BBC children's TV back in the -- never mind, let's just say my childhood. Annette Mills, the lady at the piano, was the sister of British actor John Mills. You can find one or two videos of Muffin and Annette on RUclips. (I've still got my MTM puppet, though the strings need renewing.)
Great Video Santee! I don't know if you know, but Missouri was the #1 , Mule exporter at one time. During WWI, that is where are fighting Men received their Mules from. Hey Santee, could you do a video on the Great Western Stove Company? Thanks 😊!
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.
He Haw well I spied 4 AGR logos. Between the ears on the pack on the shirt and the cup.... Whoa and well done team that vid was fun and really full of interesting mule lore.. Keep up the great work. Thanxx
My grandfather has a black mule with white socks on each leg. Ironically, the mule is calmer than my horse :v And as a Mexican I can assure you that on this side of the river the mules have more physical condition than the American mules (please do not offend)
Having had both when I was younger, I can say the mule is a wonderful animal, very intelligent, strong, and the most stubborn beast I've ever seen. You can 9 times out of ten coax a horse into doing whatever you want, but with a mule if it don't want to do it it ain't happening.
Very interesting and fascinating informative video, I definitely learned a lot about importance of the mule in the old West. I got a ton of inspiration for the old West/wilderness inspired novel series I’m writing.
Santee, Can you do an episode on 19th century Californios before, during and after the arrival of Americans? I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates the Spanish ladies!
Great job and well done on awesomely awesome inspiring video. I’m definitely going to be adding mules to my old West/wilderness inspired novel series. In my story the inhabitants of the old west ocean planet Methuselah are also going to use moose and caribou to haul stuff as well and the moose will also be ridden alongside horses. The wealthy inhabitants of Methuselah will have vehicles, while the not wealthy inhabitants will not, they’re only have bicycles and carriages. There’ll also be air and sea transport as well.
Rinker Buck's book about the Oregon trail states that more wagon going west were pulled by either oxen or mules than horses. He took a wagon over the Oregon trail and it was pulled by a 3 mule hitch.
I have a little perspective on this subject. One aspect that was not mentioned is mules usually live longer than horses. I grew up with horses and mules. Our oldest mule lived past the age of 35. Mules tend to take a lot of personality traits from the mare. The mule can kick with speed and accuracy of no other animal. An example is I say a PO'd mule in the back of a truck kick through the slats in stock racks and take a man's cowboy hat off his head. The mule didn't want to hurt him, just let him know that the mule was unhappy. I've got a hundred more mule stories because as I said, I grew up with them and I've broke a few to ride and pack.
my grand parents had 2 mules on their farm. have fond memories of the farm. my mom would often call me an intelligent donkey.not her exact words,but, i'm sure that's what she meant.
I don't know if they still do it; but you can pay to ride a mule down the Grand Canyon. I've never done it but it looks like a lot of fun. The man that ran the program told me that the mules know the canyon better than any human so they never get lost nor do anything to put the riders in danger.
I've always been fascinated by mules as a sterile hybrid. In the Southeast mules weren't completely fazed out by the tractor until the late fifties and early sixties. Even in the early seventies my wife's grandpa had a mule go round and round on Hwy 80 in Savannah crushing sugar cane for the syrup he'd sell. He'd put my wife and her brother on the mule to attract tourists who take photographs and buy syrup.
fantastic vid !!! I've been on this planet for a long time, and I just learned mules are sterile !!!!! ha ha ha... (and when I saw the title of the vid, my first thought was Clint Eastwood talking about his mule in Fistful of Dollars... I was counting on you to put in a clip !! :-)
I love mules, they are great to work with, they are smart. I also love horses and out West i would of had a mule. Could you do one on Ocean in the Old West?
@@ArizonaGhostriders err I just noticed error correct change my question at the end from Oxen to Oceans at the end. It should be " Can you do one on Oxen in the Old West? Sorry about the typo in first request, spell check often drives me insane
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.
LOL!
@@ArizonaGhostriders hahaha.....
Now that’s funny.
🤣🤣
That's funny
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.
👍👍
I worked for a small farm that used mules
The old man that owned it was born in ,98 or 99 he swore mules wouldn't step on crops like horses or damage them like a tractor. He plowed with the tractor and planted cover crops with it but all tillage was done with mules. They were great at the job. I enjoyed it, it was a lot of hard work but fun. Àt a bit more than minimum wage we after he was sure we knew what we were doing paid us $2.25 an hour instead of $1.63 an hour. Lunch was often wonderful his wife would bring us wonderful German meals for lunch or have us clean up a bit and eat in the house, They retired around 1979 the son took over and the property was taken over by Fort Belvoir for base housing.
US special forces still employ mules on tactical missions - the soldiers (and marines) love their critters
Cool to hear!
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.
Cool!
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.
Thank you!
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!
COol!
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.
Oh wow! If that's true it's hilarious!
@@ArizonaGhostriders lol well those guys didn't let the truth get in the way of a good story if you know what I mean
My Grandfather used to sing “a mule is an animal with long funny ears and he kicks up his heels at everything he hears”. Hearing that instantly brought back a memory of him. Thank you
You're welcome.
Much more sure footed, nothin finer than a good Missouri mule. Mules are smarter than people.
Shhhh, don't tell THEM that.
Thank you again Santee for keeping the Old West alive ! And my new coffee cup from you looks Very Cool 😎
My pleasure!!
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.
So cool
I own my second mule, he's well trained and fun to ride, his name is Jake. Some people would say he's stubborn, l think he is just a deep thinker, he's smart
@@jakeroberts7435 Awesome
The mule the muscle of the old west 💪 thanks for bringing up ! Very well deserved! Have a great weekend.
You bet!
@@ArizonaGhostriders 🤠🍺
Talk about a blast from the past, I remember Muffin the Mule. I watched it when I was a kid. The woman in the programme was Annette Mills the older sister of the actor John Mills.
The British Army also used mules in both world wars, many supplied by America, with them being used by troops fighting in the jungle in WW2. Ponies were used in the mines and they were also kept down there which meant they also went blind.
During the Medieval Period knights would used mules to carry their armour when they were out on campaign. A breed similar to those mules are still to be found in Spain today.
Anyway. thanks for the video, Santee. Enjoyable and informative as always.
Thank you. I did the "Muffin the Mule" add just for those across the pond.
The German mountain troops still use mules as animals of burden. Their handlers need to build a lot of trust with their mule. The mule needs to trust the handler enough to get blindfolded and still follow the lead.
Jason in this video talks about mules used in England, and his "Mule with no name" from Spain. ruclips.net/video/h0TvOSu_xLQ/видео.html
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! 😎🏴
Glad you enjoyed it
That really brought a smile to my face. Thanks Santee. 🙏
Good!
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
Roughing It is generally funny.
Learned to ride a mule before my Sister had a horse. They used them in logging here in the PNW. Great video.
Thank you!
Thanks for the great episode and the visit over morning coffee!!
You're welcome.
Thanks for giving the mule the credit it deserves.
Always!
I'll bet Sister Sara liked this vid too, since she's got Two of them!
Greets from the Netherlands 🌷, T.
LOL!
Mules rules! When I was a kid the small timber town I lived in had Mule Days in the summer celebrating the mules used in the timber industry and farming earlier in the town's history. There was a parade and mule pulling and more. Of course, there were mule rides and rides in wagons pulled by mule teams too!
👍👍
OMG, Santee, I don't know how you do it! You and your colleagues pack more entertainment and information, into your quick paced, so enjoyable, audio and visional videos, than anyone I can think of. I learned a lot more about these "workhorses" than I ever knew. I don't know how you do it, but I'm so happy you do. Thank you...🤠👏👏👏👏👏
Wow, thanks!
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!
Awesome you attended
Thanks Santee for the Mule story. When I moved to Texas from IL I came to Plano, TX which has a bit of a mule history. One of the leading families was Wells and they bred and sold mules. Almost had pair of donkees Gladis and Elvis but deal fell through. Happy Trails.
Thank you!
Pard another good video. I appreciate what you do to keep the great American Cowboy fresh on the minds of all. Especially for young ones. 🇺🇲🐂🤠
Much appreciated!
You’re right Santee, this video did change my mind about mules! I always thought of them as being lazy, slow, and overall I always thought horses were superior, but it turns out I’m wrong! Now I know mules are way much more useful. Thanks for another great video Santee and Friends, you never manage to dissapoint🤠
Excellent!
Pretty cool! Another classic in the can. Keep it rollin’!
Rock on!
@@ArizonaGhostriders 🤘🖖
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!
There were a lot of mule spots in the south and midwest. Interesting.
I always look forward to your videos. Thank you sir
Glad you like them!
Thanks for the new content for me to watch this morning.
Be safe out there, and take it easy man.
Thanks, you too!
I read the article you mentioned a few years ago. It is very good and I highly recommend it. Thanks
You're welcome
Very interesting episode this week Santee.
I think it gave me a little better understanding of some of the women I've dated
HAHA!
Thanks for making my Saturday morning!!!! Have a great weekend Santee!!
Much appreciated!
The Library of Congress has a channel here on RUclips and they have Edison footage of a US Army mule train on the Santiago trail in Cuba in 1898 during the Spanish-American War.
The Army muleteers were civilian contractors. Haywire McClintock, of Rock Candy Mountain fame, was a muleteer during the Phillipine War, about 1901.
The footage interspersed in this video is from that.
@@ArizonaGhostriders I will watch again, I didn't realize that!
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Thanks Santee, another good one for my weekend start.
Any time!
Really interesting to get to know more about the Mule. Heard about them but have never seen or met one so :) keep up the amazing work you do Santee for old west interested people around the world. Yeehaww.
Thanks, my Swedish gunslinging friend!
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.
That's an amazing account of frontier life, that book. I recommend it to everyone.
Well well done Santee. That was a great and informative video, keep up the good work.
Thank you!
Nice one, Santee.
Thanks for the link.
Any time!
Another very enjoyable episode, thank you. Now to go check out your merchandise 😀
Awesome, thank you!
Great video and informative as always. My Mama used to go with her dad to the tobacco warehouse to sell their crop. They would haul it on a buck board and used mules to pull it. There were even some Confederate artillery thar used mules as well as some Confederate Cavalry. Mules are great!
Yes!
I'm in Ketchum Idaho and every year we have wagon days and it's about the mules pulling ore wagons. We have a parade and a team of mules pulls a train of ore wagons through town its pretty impressive what those animals can do.
I'd like to see it one day
I always had a fascination for mules. Seeing this video on them was quite amazing to see! Learned a lot of new things about mules! Keep it up, Sante!
Our pleasure!
@@ArizonaGhostriders I look forward to your next video!
Great video and learned more about mules. Thank you!!
So glad!
Mules are very useful an helpful. Good video buddy have a good weekend
Yes they are
That was a great bit of history on that one. No horsing around on this one
LOL!
Can’t beat a good mule! Cool video!
Thank you!
Another excellent video Santee!!! I'm quite surprised you didn't show the other uses for mules, that is at a mule tanneries.
👍
As a kid we had a mule named Rosy, and when us kids would ride her, whenever she could, as we were riding past a tree she would side step to knock us off... As an older brother I very much enjoyed when she did that to my little brother all the time... He never seemed to catch on to what was happening... I didn't like it so much when she did it to me for the first time though...
Great story
Hey Santee , you forgot Ruth on Gunsmoke , that was what Festus rode all the time .
If I could only find a hi-def clip of Ruth....but I can't
if someone calls you as stubborn as a mule, thank them! they’re strong, smart, necessary animals 😎
Yep!
Thanks Santee. Excellent video. Very informative.
My pleasure!
Dad said that he preferred a mule if he was going into the back country. A horse will drink water until the die but a mule will not. My Uncle had a team of 4 Mules and an cargo wagon, he loved getting them all gussied up and do all the parades in and around. Denver CO.
So cool, that history
Another great episode Santee! I live just outside of Queen Creek, and I didn't know that about the mules.
Very cool!
Love your shows. Very informative. Learn something new every episode.
Thanks for watching!
Mules are fantastic!
Yes they are!
Another cool video Santee. I have to say our history books really dont talk about the mules or horses at all. LOL. Keep on ROCKING it my friend. 👍👍👍👍
Will do
Another great video Santee! I learned a lot!
Glad you enjoyed it!
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.
That's what I read about them. Thanks for sharing!
I heard that😂@@GC-Jo
@@GC-Jo well, quit stuffing her into the trailer..... LOL
These make my Saturdays.
Thank you!
Those Borax wagons look really familiar... saw them on Engel's and another place still using Mules today are the fellas at Broncs and Donks
Yes!
I always thought of mules as brave, hard-working, patient and strong, to be treated with respect and love.
You got it!
Thats just my choice of mount. Awesome episode.
Thank you!
Good video. I always enjoy them. Thank you.
Glad you like them!
Sister Sara didn't really need two mules. Great content,Santee.
Thank you!
Well, I'm glad I stuck with it right to the very end! Muffin the Mule was a great favourite on BBC children's TV back in the -- never mind, let's just say my childhood. Annette Mills, the lady at the piano, was the sister of British actor John Mills. You can find one or two videos of Muffin and Annette on RUclips.
(I've still got my MTM puppet, though the strings need renewing.)
I did that for my fellows across the pond.
@@ArizonaGhostriders And we appreciate it!
Wondered what was the difference berween a mule and a donkey. Now I know. Plus it was fun hearing Chill Wills voicing Francis the Talking Mule!
Good that you lked it
Great Video Santee! I don't know if you know, but Missouri was the #1 , Mule exporter at one time. During WWI, that is where are fighting Men received their Mules from. Hey Santee, could you do a video on the Great Western Stove Company? Thanks 😊!
Cool! I didn't know!
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.
Great story!
He Haw well I spied 4 AGR logos. Between the ears on the pack on the shirt and the cup.... Whoa and well done team that vid was fun and really full of interesting mule lore.. Keep up the great work. Thanxx
Much appreciated! Glad you found them
Very interesting. Still patiently waiting to see one on blacksmiths. They seem to be very important to the western expansion.
yes.
Great video on a underrated animal to the uninformed. Thanks 👍
Glad it was helpful!
My grandfather has a black mule with white socks on each leg.
Ironically, the mule is calmer than my horse :v
And as a Mexican I can assure you that on this side of the river the mules have more physical condition than the American mules (please do not offend)
I get it, and that's why they could carry more and have better endurance.
Having had both when I was younger, I can say the mule is a wonderful animal, very intelligent, strong, and the most stubborn beast I've ever seen. You can 9 times out of ten coax a horse into doing whatever you want, but with a mule if it don't want to do it it ain't happening.
Great info!
Being an Eastener, can you do a video on "Tenderfoots and Pilgrams" and their role in The Old West. I'd love to see how they adapted and assimilated.
More than a few didn't
Sure
@@ArizonaGhostridersplease include greenhorns and the fellers who just fell off the turnip wagon too
this should be FUN !!!!
Very interesting and fascinating informative video, I definitely learned a lot about importance of the mule in the old West. I got a ton of inspiration for the old West/wilderness inspired novel series I’m writing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@ArizonaGhostriders thanks and your welcome 👍🏼🌟😎
Hello. Very interesting and informative.
Hey, thanks
Santee, Can you do an episode on 19th century Californios before, during and after the arrival of Americans? I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates the Spanish ladies!
Yes
I have multiple mules and their tough animals.
COol!
Great job and well done on awesomely awesome inspiring video.
I’m definitely going to be adding mules to my old West/wilderness inspired novel series.
In my story the inhabitants of the old west ocean planet Methuselah are also going to use moose and caribou to haul stuff as well and the moose will also be ridden alongside horses.
The wealthy inhabitants of Methuselah will have vehicles, while the not wealthy inhabitants will not, they’re only have bicycles and carriages.
There’ll also be air and sea transport as well.
👍
@@ArizonaGhostriders thanks👍🏼🌟😎
Rinker Buck's book about the Oregon trail states that more wagon going west were pulled by either oxen or mules than horses. He took a wagon over the Oregon trail and it was pulled by a 3 mule hitch.
Yep. I've got a guide that mentions using a team of mules.
Great info!!
Glad you think so!
Good one Santee!
Thanks!
Adorable Creature
Pretty cute.
Good one.
Thank you! Cheers!
Great video Santee
Thanks!
I have a little perspective on this subject. One aspect that was not mentioned is mules usually live longer than horses. I grew up with horses and mules. Our oldest mule lived past the age of 35. Mules tend to take a lot of personality traits from the mare. The mule can kick with speed and accuracy of no other animal. An example is I say a PO'd mule in the back of a truck kick through the slats in stock racks and take a man's cowboy hat off his head. The mule didn't want to hurt him, just let him know that the mule was unhappy. I've got a hundred more mule stories because as I said, I grew up with them and I've broke a few to ride and pack.
Great extra info. Thanks, Phillip!
I found the episode Santee. Can’t wait to see the episode, “Old West Preacher, Dressing the Part.”
Thank You!
I live near a mule town, In Kentucky we like to think thoroughbred but mules we’re very important.
They still are.
Comprehensive. But you never do anything half assed. Best of Days.
LOL! Thank you!
my grand parents had 2 mules on their farm. have fond memories of the farm. my mom would often call me an intelligent donkey.not her exact words,but, i'm sure that's what she meant.
LOL!
I love mules. if I had the room to keep one I would get me one.
I'd get a mini-donk.
@@ArizonaGhostriders lol I would need a tea cup donk
Nice vid again santee like Always👍 could u do a episode on your personal gun collection?
Gr Edwin
Yes!
@@ArizonaGhostriders Nice!
I don't know if they still do it; but you can pay to ride a mule down the Grand Canyon. I've never done it but it looks like a lot of fun. The man that ran the program told me that the mules know the canyon better than any human so they never get lost nor do anything to put the riders in danger.
I think you still can.
What an amulsing video!
Heeehaw!
I've always been fascinated by mules as a sterile hybrid. In the Southeast mules weren't completely fazed out by the tractor until the late fifties and early sixties. Even in the early seventies my wife's grandpa had a mule go round and round on Hwy 80 in Savannah crushing sugar cane for the syrup he'd sell. He'd put my wife and her brother on the mule to attract tourists who take photographs and buy syrup.
That's cool!
fantastic vid !!! I've been on this planet for a long time, and I just learned mules are sterile !!!!! ha ha ha... (and when I saw the title of the vid, my first thought was Clint Eastwood talking about his mule in Fistful of Dollars... I was counting on you to put in a clip !! :-)
HA! Thanks, Joe
Oh dang it! Now I want a badger on a leash too!
Good cuddly badger!
I love mules, they are great to work with, they are smart. I also love horses and out West i would of had a mule. Could you do one on Ocean in the Old West?
Yeah
@@ArizonaGhostriders err I just noticed error correct change my question at the end from Oxen to Oceans at the end. It should be " Can you do one on Oxen in the Old West? Sorry about the typo in first request, spell check often drives me insane