THE MISSOURI MULE

EQUUS CABALLUS (female horse) + EQUUS ASINUS (male donkey) =
 

THE MISSOURI MULE

Mules have been bred and used for centuries as draft, pack, and riding animals. Mules are mentioned in the Bible and appear in Assyrian bas-relief.

Here in Missouri, we consider the mule ours. The first mention of mules in Missouri can be found in newspaper articles printed during the early Santa Fe trading expedition. Between 1870 and 1900, Missouri was the leading breeder in number and quality. In 1889, there were 34,500 mules foaled in the state of Missouri alone out of a total 117,000 in the United States. Of the 330,000 sold, Missouri alone supplied 68,300.

The Missouri Mule was adopted as the state animal of Missouri on May 31, 1995. Nearly two hundred years before, the mule was already making a huge impact on the state. From the early 1800s to the early 1900s the mule played a central role in farming and land development. In 1870, Missouri was the largest mule-holding state in the nation, a position it held until 1900.

The typical Missouri Mule is a cross between a mare of a draft breed and a mammoth jack. This cross produces a stout, strong animal that is more easily managed and more agile than his draft horse cousins.

With its short thick head, long ears, thin limbs, small narrow hooves, and short mane, the mule shares characteristics of a donkey. In height and body, shape of neck and rump, uniformity of coat, and teeth, it appears horse-like. The mule comes in all sizes, shapes and conformations. There are mules that resemble huge draft horses, sturdy quarter horses, fine-boned racing horses, shaggy ponies and more.

The mule inherits from its sire the traits of intelligence, sure-footedness, toughness, endurance, disposition, and natural cautiousness. From its dam it inherits speed, conformation, and agility. Mules exhibit a higher cognitive intelligence than their parent species.

A mule does not sound exactly like a donkey or a horse. Instead, a mule makes a sound that is similar to a donkey's but also has the whinnying characteristics of a horse (often starts with a whinny, ends in a hee-haw). Sometimes, mules are known to whimper.

Handlers “generally find mules preferable to horses because they show more patience under the pressure of heavy weights, their skin is harder and less sensitive, rendering them more capable of resisting sun and rain. Their hooves are harder than horses', and they have a natural resistance to disease and insects. Many farmers of clay soil also found mules superior as plow animals.”

Mules come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors, from minis under 50 lbs. to maxis over 1,000 lbs. Mules’ coats come in the all the varieties as those of horses—sorrel, bay, black and grey, white, roans (both blue and red) palomino, dun and buckskin, even paint, though they’re much less common. And appaloosa mares produce mules with even wilder colors than their horse cousins.

19 hands, 1,900 pounds of mule

Professor Melvin Bradley, an enthusiast who has researched the mule's legacy says, "They farmed our land, hauled our lumber, drained our swamps, took us to church and war. Now we're having fun with them."

Mules have been a favorite of our nation's leaders as well. George Washington was an excellent horseman, but felt horses "ate too much, worked too little, and died too young". In order to obtain an animal that better suited his needs, Washington imported jackstock from Spain and France and began breeding mules.

And Missouri native, President Harry S. Truman, often bragged about the superior qualities of the Missouri Mules. Proud to be the son of a horse and mule dealer, Truman invited a four-mule hitch from his hometown of Lamar to drive in his 1948 inaugural parade up Pennsylvania Avenue.

Terms:

Draft Mule = mule offspring from a draft horse mare
Gelding = castrated stallion/jack
Hinny = hybrid of a stallion and a jenny
Horse Mule = proper term for a male mule
Jack = intact male donkey
Jenny = female donkey
John = informal term for a male mule
Mammoth Jack = jack at least 56" tall at the withers
Mare = female horse
Mare Mule = proper term for a female mule
Molly = informal term for a female mule
Mule = hybrid of jack and a mare
Muleskinner = driver of a hitch of mules
Stallion = intact multiplemale horse

http://www.cvm.missouri.edu/org/muleclub/facts.html

Resources: 

http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/animals/mo_mule.htm

http://www.lyndonirwin.com/mule5.htm

Wikipedia

                                                          

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Tracy Garrett

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What Did That Say?

I love history, which is no surprise, of course, to anyone who knows me. I not only enjoy writing about the past, but researching those bits and pieces that make the historical story I’m writing realistic, interesting and accurate.

Research comes in many forms. I can spend hours in a library, hunting through books. Or online, looking for one particular fact. But my favorite type of research is the kind I didn’t plan.

You’ve probably had the same experience. You stop to grab lunch at a restaurant off the freeway and discover the nearby town has, for more than a hundred years, hosted a festival in celebration of prickly pears. Or that there is a fully restored Civil War-era mental hospital only a few blocks away.

In my trips to research a story, I’ve come across some really fun facts. Did you know there was a salt war in Texas? Neither did I until I was researching for this blog. Bonus: I discovered the Texas Historic Sites Atlas while looking for a picture of the marker.

Were you aware there was a Revolutionary War battle in St. Louis, Missouri? That’s right, halfway up the mighty Mississippi. The Battle of Fort San Carlos was fought when British-led Sioux, Sac, Fox and Winnebago warriors attacked a newly built French entrenchment in May of 1780. That historical fact came from a local newspaper article my mother forwarded to me.

Ever heard of Crash, Texas? It’s a town that was built for the express purpose of allowing spectators to witness a train crash up close and personal. A friend sent me that news story. It was a wonderful idea for a stunt—until it all went horribly wrong.

Then there’s the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race, begun in 1848 and revived in 1977. I found out about it when researching the coach stops along the Santa Fe Trail after visiting the Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri.

And do you read the footnotes and attributions at the end of a historical research article? (My music history professor would be proud so of me.) There are some wonderful tidbits to be found.

I love running across obscure information while I’m researching something else. And you can find some of the most interesting—and mostly useless—tidbits in some unlikely places. ebay® is one place that surprised me. I found some cool info on china and crystal and Texas artifacts there while researching my novel, TEXAS ROSE.

For Sale June 20

www.Amazon.com

What’s the most unusual fact you discovered in the most unlikely place?

Rose Dunn aka “Rose of the Cimarron”

On Friday, while taking my *ahem* break at work, I spotted a news story, followed a trail, dashed down a rabbit hole and found…

Rose Dunn aka “Rose of the Cimarron”

Born September 5, 1878, Rose Ella Dunn was the youngest daughter and one of ten children of William H. Dunn and Sarah C. (Brenner) Dunn. She was four days shy of her 15th birthday and living with her mother, stepfather, Dr. W.R. Call, and younger brother in Ingalls, Oklahoma Territory, when the shootout between U.S. deputy marshals and members of the Doolin gang occurred in front of the OK-Hotel. Rumor has it she was sweet on one of the gang members, George “Bitter Creek” Newcomb.

She was dubbed "Rose of the Cimarron" not because she was a sweetheart of an outlaw, but because she could ride a horse better than most men and loved riding her horse across the sandbars of the Cimarron River, that ran near her brother’s place.

“Rose of Cimarron” was first introduced to readers in 1915 in a little red paper-covered book titled Oklahoma Outlaws. In the book and subsequent movie portrayal of the Ingalls battle between 13 lawmen and six members of Bill Doolin’s gang, Rose of Cimarron makes a dramatic exit from the OK-Hotel, carrying a rifle through a hail of bullets to her wounded lover, Newcomb.

Now, historians doubt she was anywhere near the gunfight, but an 1873 Winchester with the engraved “Rose of Cimarron” plate in the stock was authenticated by U.S. Marshal E.D. Nix as the rifle Rose Dunn took to Newcomb. It was picked up on an Ingalls street after the gun battle.

Also in doubt was whether Rose was involved with Newcomb at all. In fact, it is believed that Rose told her brothers that George Newcomb would be at her home in Norman, OK on May 12, 1895. When Newcomb and fellow gang member, Charley Pierce, arrived, Rose’s brothers shot and killed them both, and collected the $5,000 bounty…which they, of course, shared with their sister.

For more information, check out the article on Rose in True West Magazine:

http://www.truewestmagazine.com/who-is-rose-of-cimarron/

Tracy Garrett

I'm excited to announce my next release from Prairie Rose Publications -- TEXAS GOLD!

COMING APRIL 22, 2017!

Previously published as TOUCH OF TEXAS

 Award-winning, multi-published author Tracy Garrett has always loved to disappear into the pages of a book. An accomplished musician, Tracy merged her need for creativity, love of history, and passion for reading when she began writing western historical romance.

First published in 2007, Tracy joined Prairie Rose Publications in its inaugural anthology in 2013.  Tracy resides in Missouri with her husband and their fuzzy kid, Wrigley.




Find out more about Tracy at:
TracyGarrett.com
Prairie Rose Publications blog 
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