Wet Turkeys & Agrarian Muleskining
Wet Turkeys
Thanks to a wet spring storm I was able to break our all time “turkey counting” record yesterday afternoon. I counted 190 turkeys, breaking the old record of 144 with flying colors (pardon the pun). There were likely more, as many of them were either dawdling up over a hill or skedaddling into a holler, so there were some I didn’t see. The turkeys didn’t seem the least bothered by the brisk, cold winds and steady drizzle, as they were set on seriously feeding before the snow would come to bury their food. With the weather as miserable as it was I thought it possible to break the record, since the last one was made on very stormy spring day last year, so I made sure to take the “full turkey route” on the way home from the store. It certainly paid off. I spotted six large flocks comprised of hens and jakes, numerous groups of threes and fours, and several single turkeys, which were mostly plump tom-turkeys with respectably sized beards. It looks like the spring hunting season is shaping up to be a real good one, can’t wait!
Agrarian Muleskining
As I have been researching and developing a business model for Missouri Woods, our forestry stewardship and custom woods business, I have discovered that of all the technologies out there for hauling the cut logs to the sawmill or landing (where they are picked up and taken to the mill), draft animals appear to the best, most affordable, and the most profitable. Since many of the trees we are looking to harvest are situated in steep hills and dense forest, a harnessed animal or team is far more able to get to and haul them out, especially without having to run over other smaller trees, which is normal when using a skidder or other four-wheeled vehicle. Besides, I am told that the cost to maintain a team of mules for a year is less than the cost to replace one of the expensive tires on a skidder. The “downside” to draft animals according to the “commercial loggers industry” is that they are far too slow, as technology is needed that enables them to keep up with a production schedule that can pay off huge loans and interest and still be profitable. Ah yes, the same old trap where, in worshipping the debt-based system, we must scale everything to its wicked demands to be “successful.” This supposed downside is exactly what I am looking for, as I am no spring chicken, and need a slower pace. This slower pace, however, makes logging safer and just as profitable, if not more, when properly done as a value added niche market. Though oxen teams are used in the New England area, the choice I am now looking at is between draft horses or mules.
From researching the writings of several draft animal loggers I found these facts, though I admit I do not have firsthand experience in this area . . . at least yet, something I am seeking to remedy by finding someone to apprentice me in draft animal logging. I have some good leads.
In a nutshell this is what I have gleaned thus far: the draft horse and mule both have advantages and disadvantages. Horses are more easily trained and compliant, even to a fault where they can be overworked, if one is not paying close attention, whereas mules have a greater sense of self-preservation and are not quite as compliant, especially if they sense that harm could come of what they are asked. This is where the term stubborn as a Missouri mule comes from in part. When, for instance, a horse is suddenly slapped hard on the rump, they will likely immediately react through taking off, whereas a mule will think about it a while and then act either by moving off a short distance at a slow gate or, if they sense great peril, they sometimes will refuse to budge or just lie down. Though they are not as compliant as horses, mules are more task oriented, that is, they learn a job well and can be depended upon to do it flawlessly under many difficult conditions. Their training needs to be broken down into smaller steps, but once they get it, they don’t like to be reminded again, which is another virtue that contributes to their “stubborn reputation.” Nonetheless, a mule is more stable than a horse and less easily spooked, which is why they were chosen first in the days of teamsters and wagons to haul goods over treacherous mountain passes and dangerous roads. General Joe Shelby -- the brilliant cavalry officer of the Confederacy who successfully fought several battles here in Missouri – preferred the faithful mule over the horse in combat. Horses have a distinct advantage in being able to produce more horses, mules cannot. Horses are less healthy and their work years are shorter (around 20), whereas as mules tend be real hearty and can work up to 35 years. Unlike skidders and other heavy equipment, which depreciate the second they go into use, draft animals keep their value through their useful working life.
Though I am torn between the two, I am leaning hard on the side of mules, especially when it comes to logging as they are especially stable and sure-footed (sure-hoofed?). As I write this I am seeking out draft horse and mule loggers in Missouri that I can go and spend time with to find out from the “horse’s mouth” (or mule’s depending on whom I am talking to) what the advantages and disadvantages are of each animal. The Amish sawmill I visited last week uses large draft horse teams to move logs around, but as they do not log, I will need to go elsewhere in my research to observe how draft animals are used in logging. If you have any knowledge or experience to add to my assessment of draft animal logging or on the horse or mule, please comment, as I can use all of the advice I can get.
In my research I also discovered some humorous and interesting lore on mules. What I share below comes from the websites: mules.org and bartonpara.com, which I acknowledge and thank. I am still looking for my recording of a singing group out of Colorado called the Rocky Mountain Canaries, a quintet of loud, raucous mules that belonged to an acquaintance of mine. When I find it I’ll post some of the more melodious sonnets, some of which would be great as the opening dialogue for a greeting message on an answering machine . . . Hee-Haw. ---- The Missouri Rev
“In 1860 a mule skinner named Joseph O. Shelby lived in Lafayette County in Missouri. In the early part of the Civil War he organized a cavalry troop to fight for the rebel cause. Riding his mule Shelby was so successful in his campaign against the federal troops in Missouri that some say his achievements could be compared to General Sherman's campaign through Georgia. If he had been on the winning side. The strength and bravery of Joe Shelby's mule is said to be of legendary amounts and that even the highest ranking cavalryman of the Federal troops feared the sound of those hoofs coming in. To this day a song of the mules military valor and skill still rings throughout the state.”
- - - - - - - - - - - -
A Missouri Confederate soldier whose diary was published in the June 4, 1903, Clay County Democrat, describes a performance of this song by its composer, Joseph Leddy in Camden, Arkansas, in the winter of 1864. He says it was a great hit and that “no song of the South, up to that time, so pleased the Missourians.” He says, the song “took like 'Dixie' and 'Bonnie Blue Flag' and for a time displaced them all.”
Leddy put his words to the tune of the minstrel song “Gal from the South” written by L.V.H. Crosby in 1850, and located for us by Joe Hickerson at the Archive of Folk Culture in the Library of Congress. The song is followed by a fiddle tune known to some Missouri fiddlers as “Shelby's Mule,” but more commonly as "Waiting for the Federals," "Seneca Square Dance," "Gettin' upstairs the Monkey," or "Federal Hornpipe."
Shelby’s Mule
The Union folks away up north were one time much afraid,
'Bout something coming from the South, they said it was a raid.
Now I will tell you what it was, if you will just keep cool—
It had long ears, and a long slick tail, and called Jo Shelby's Mule.
CHORUS
Shout Boys, make a noise, the Yankees are afraid
That something's up and hell's to pay when Shelby's on a raid.
Once this mule went on a spree, up close to Lexington,
And every time he gave a snort he made the Blue Coats run.
Coming back through “Old Saline” he got into a trap,
He seared Old Brown, kicked up his heels, and came back safe to Pap.
Once I went to see Old Abe and found him in a rage,
Because this mule had started north, and just then crossed “Osage.”
Indeed, his anger knew no bounds, says I, “Sir, pray keep cool.”
“I can't,” said he, “I've lost so much by Shelby's long tailed Mule.”
“Old Rosy” [Gen. Rosencrans] got a long dispatch, which came from way down East. Saying, “Take some thirty thousand men and try to catch that beast.” To obey orders he was bound, but said Abe was a fool, And hadn't halter strong enough to hold Jo Shelby's Mule.
Some say our State did not secede, but let me tell you now That if she did or if she didn't we'll have her anyhow. Let us alone, we'll do the same, that is the Southern rule; If that won't do we'll pack the State down South on Shelby's Mule.
- - - - - - - - - - -
“Mules are dependable and steady while horses are all prance, fart, and no sense” - Union General Joe Stillwell
- - - - - - - - - - -
“The farmers children attended a country school. He furnished them with a gentle horse and a buggy for them and the neighbors children to ride back and forth to school each day. The children complained about the spinster teacher holding classes late into the noon hour, until one day the farmer told them that he could take care of that problem. So he exchanged the horse for one of his old dependable mules. Straight away at noon time the mule would begin to hee-haw. The mule would get hee-hawing so loud and so long that the teacher would dismiss classes. From then on, when ever the teacher's time would lag the mule would return to school.”
(The Missouri Mule: his origin and times)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
On Mules We Find (author unknown)
On mules we find two legs behind,
And two we find before
We stand behind before we find
What the two behind are for
When we're behind the two behind
We find what they be for
So stand before the two behind
And behind the two before
Thanks to a wet spring storm I was able to break our all time “turkey counting” record yesterday afternoon. I counted 190 turkeys, breaking the old record of 144 with flying colors (pardon the pun). There were likely more, as many of them were either dawdling up over a hill or skedaddling into a holler, so there were some I didn’t see. The turkeys didn’t seem the least bothered by the brisk, cold winds and steady drizzle, as they were set on seriously feeding before the snow would come to bury their food. With the weather as miserable as it was I thought it possible to break the record, since the last one was made on very stormy spring day last year, so I made sure to take the “full turkey route” on the way home from the store. It certainly paid off. I spotted six large flocks comprised of hens and jakes, numerous groups of threes and fours, and several single turkeys, which were mostly plump tom-turkeys with respectably sized beards. It looks like the spring hunting season is shaping up to be a real good one, can’t wait!
Agrarian Muleskining
As I have been researching and developing a business model for Missouri Woods, our forestry stewardship and custom woods business, I have discovered that of all the technologies out there for hauling the cut logs to the sawmill or landing (where they are picked up and taken to the mill), draft animals appear to the best, most affordable, and the most profitable. Since many of the trees we are looking to harvest are situated in steep hills and dense forest, a harnessed animal or team is far more able to get to and haul them out, especially without having to run over other smaller trees, which is normal when using a skidder or other four-wheeled vehicle. Besides, I am told that the cost to maintain a team of mules for a year is less than the cost to replace one of the expensive tires on a skidder. The “downside” to draft animals according to the “commercial loggers industry” is that they are far too slow, as technology is needed that enables them to keep up with a production schedule that can pay off huge loans and interest and still be profitable. Ah yes, the same old trap where, in worshipping the debt-based system, we must scale everything to its wicked demands to be “successful.” This supposed downside is exactly what I am looking for, as I am no spring chicken, and need a slower pace. This slower pace, however, makes logging safer and just as profitable, if not more, when properly done as a value added niche market. Though oxen teams are used in the New England area, the choice I am now looking at is between draft horses or mules.
From researching the writings of several draft animal loggers I found these facts, though I admit I do not have firsthand experience in this area . . . at least yet, something I am seeking to remedy by finding someone to apprentice me in draft animal logging. I have some good leads.
In a nutshell this is what I have gleaned thus far: the draft horse and mule both have advantages and disadvantages. Horses are more easily trained and compliant, even to a fault where they can be overworked, if one is not paying close attention, whereas mules have a greater sense of self-preservation and are not quite as compliant, especially if they sense that harm could come of what they are asked. This is where the term stubborn as a Missouri mule comes from in part. When, for instance, a horse is suddenly slapped hard on the rump, they will likely immediately react through taking off, whereas a mule will think about it a while and then act either by moving off a short distance at a slow gate or, if they sense great peril, they sometimes will refuse to budge or just lie down. Though they are not as compliant as horses, mules are more task oriented, that is, they learn a job well and can be depended upon to do it flawlessly under many difficult conditions. Their training needs to be broken down into smaller steps, but once they get it, they don’t like to be reminded again, which is another virtue that contributes to their “stubborn reputation.” Nonetheless, a mule is more stable than a horse and less easily spooked, which is why they were chosen first in the days of teamsters and wagons to haul goods over treacherous mountain passes and dangerous roads. General Joe Shelby -- the brilliant cavalry officer of the Confederacy who successfully fought several battles here in Missouri – preferred the faithful mule over the horse in combat. Horses have a distinct advantage in being able to produce more horses, mules cannot. Horses are less healthy and their work years are shorter (around 20), whereas as mules tend be real hearty and can work up to 35 years. Unlike skidders and other heavy equipment, which depreciate the second they go into use, draft animals keep their value through their useful working life.
Though I am torn between the two, I am leaning hard on the side of mules, especially when it comes to logging as they are especially stable and sure-footed (sure-hoofed?). As I write this I am seeking out draft horse and mule loggers in Missouri that I can go and spend time with to find out from the “horse’s mouth” (or mule’s depending on whom I am talking to) what the advantages and disadvantages are of each animal. The Amish sawmill I visited last week uses large draft horse teams to move logs around, but as they do not log, I will need to go elsewhere in my research to observe how draft animals are used in logging. If you have any knowledge or experience to add to my assessment of draft animal logging or on the horse or mule, please comment, as I can use all of the advice I can get.
In my research I also discovered some humorous and interesting lore on mules. What I share below comes from the websites: mules.org and bartonpara.com, which I acknowledge and thank. I am still looking for my recording of a singing group out of Colorado called the Rocky Mountain Canaries, a quintet of loud, raucous mules that belonged to an acquaintance of mine. When I find it I’ll post some of the more melodious sonnets, some of which would be great as the opening dialogue for a greeting message on an answering machine . . . Hee-Haw. ---- The Missouri Rev
“In 1860 a mule skinner named Joseph O. Shelby lived in Lafayette County in Missouri. In the early part of the Civil War he organized a cavalry troop to fight for the rebel cause. Riding his mule Shelby was so successful in his campaign against the federal troops in Missouri that some say his achievements could be compared to General Sherman's campaign through Georgia. If he had been on the winning side. The strength and bravery of Joe Shelby's mule is said to be of legendary amounts and that even the highest ranking cavalryman of the Federal troops feared the sound of those hoofs coming in. To this day a song of the mules military valor and skill still rings throughout the state.”
- - - - - - - - - - - -
A Missouri Confederate soldier whose diary was published in the June 4, 1903, Clay County Democrat, describes a performance of this song by its composer, Joseph Leddy in Camden, Arkansas, in the winter of 1864. He says it was a great hit and that “no song of the South, up to that time, so pleased the Missourians.” He says, the song “took like 'Dixie' and 'Bonnie Blue Flag' and for a time displaced them all.”
Leddy put his words to the tune of the minstrel song “Gal from the South” written by L.V.H. Crosby in 1850, and located for us by Joe Hickerson at the Archive of Folk Culture in the Library of Congress. The song is followed by a fiddle tune known to some Missouri fiddlers as “Shelby's Mule,” but more commonly as "Waiting for the Federals," "Seneca Square Dance," "Gettin' upstairs the Monkey," or "Federal Hornpipe."
Shelby’s Mule
The Union folks away up north were one time much afraid,
'Bout something coming from the South, they said it was a raid.
Now I will tell you what it was, if you will just keep cool—
It had long ears, and a long slick tail, and called Jo Shelby's Mule.
CHORUS
Shout Boys, make a noise, the Yankees are afraid
That something's up and hell's to pay when Shelby's on a raid.
Once this mule went on a spree, up close to Lexington,
And every time he gave a snort he made the Blue Coats run.
Coming back through “Old Saline” he got into a trap,
He seared Old Brown, kicked up his heels, and came back safe to Pap.
Once I went to see Old Abe and found him in a rage,
Because this mule had started north, and just then crossed “Osage.”
Indeed, his anger knew no bounds, says I, “Sir, pray keep cool.”
“I can't,” said he, “I've lost so much by Shelby's long tailed Mule.”
“Old Rosy” [Gen. Rosencrans] got a long dispatch, which came from way down East. Saying, “Take some thirty thousand men and try to catch that beast.” To obey orders he was bound, but said Abe was a fool, And hadn't halter strong enough to hold Jo Shelby's Mule.
Some say our State did not secede, but let me tell you now That if she did or if she didn't we'll have her anyhow. Let us alone, we'll do the same, that is the Southern rule; If that won't do we'll pack the State down South on Shelby's Mule.
- - - - - - - - - - -
“Mules are dependable and steady while horses are all prance, fart, and no sense” - Union General Joe Stillwell
- - - - - - - - - - -
“The farmers children attended a country school. He furnished them with a gentle horse and a buggy for them and the neighbors children to ride back and forth to school each day. The children complained about the spinster teacher holding classes late into the noon hour, until one day the farmer told them that he could take care of that problem. So he exchanged the horse for one of his old dependable mules. Straight away at noon time the mule would begin to hee-haw. The mule would get hee-hawing so loud and so long that the teacher would dismiss classes. From then on, when ever the teacher's time would lag the mule would return to school.”
(The Missouri Mule: his origin and times)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
On Mules We Find (author unknown)
On mules we find two legs behind,
And two we find before
We stand behind before we find
What the two behind are for
When we're behind the two behind
We find what they be for
So stand before the two behind
And behind the two before
posted by Missouri Rev | 11:52 AM
9 Comments:
Have you ever heard of Mules & More magazine? It's published right here in my hometown by a close family friend, so I'm a little biased!
Anyway as the owner of all mules, Let me be the first to tell you mules are the way to go! Ours are saddle mules, not draft but mules are addictive. I'm glad to see you understand some of the mule temperment and that they really aren't "stubborn" :-)
Have you ever seen Rural Heritage on RFDTV? I know they've had shows on logging with team.
Mules & More
http://www.mulesandmore.com/
Rural Heritage - http://www.ruralheritage.com/
Blessings in your endeavor
Thomas,
Thanks for sharing with us your plans for 'Missouri Woods'! It sounds like a much needed service.
In these parts, mules are preferred about 2 to 1 for everything except parades. Outfitters like their steady, sure-footed nature on mountain trails and the fact they usually have better judgement then the tender foot in the saddle! Those that like horses generally have a good reason. Usually, horses excel in endurance horse races, for example. Clearly, that's not what you're after though.
R.G.
Now I'm curious. Warrensburg is not very far from your neck of the woods, and I'm wondering if the Mules (Central Missouri State University at Warrensburg) are named after Joe Shelby's mule.
Quite an interesting endeavor, I really enjoyed the information and background on the mule history.
Brooke & I have discussed horses, and I look at mules in the past. We're not 'horse folk' though I did teach horseback ridding at Boy Scout Camp - that was a long time ago and I'd probably fall off a horse today than be able to ride it proper. Regards.
Diamond j, the Mules & More Magazine is new to me, I will look into it. I am aware of Rural Heritage, but was not aware that it had a TV show. I have a lot to learn about the temperament of the mule, the least of which how they will relate to me.
R.G., I ran across some research on how the mule played a big part in developing the Agrarian South’s economy from about 1850 to 1920, the time industrial mechanization began to take over agriculture. The mule was central to its economic advancement because it was so incredibly hearty. Landowners particularly chose them for their sharecroppers because they could take far more abuse (which some sharecroppers were inclined to give because they didn’t own the animal), they didn’t overeat like horses so they could be fed for two or days at a time, and they handled the South’s warmer climate far better. The mule was a very important economic asset until it was pushed out by the tractor.
Jon, I am curious as well because the Warrensburg area was quite pro Southern during the war. Let me know if you come up with anything.
Scott, thanks for dropping in. As we develop and implement our vision and plans I will be writing on it, as I believe it could be useful to other agrarians. There is much that has to be learned in this, likely a lifetime project.
This was very interesting and educational since I know nothing of mules. Coincidentally, after I read your post, I was just leafing through the Encyclopedia of Country Living and came across some information on "animal-powered cultivation" which included the following:
North American Horse & Mule Loggers Association
c/o Tim Carroll, President
(507)325-4197
Rt. 1 Box 114
Lyle, MN 55953
tecarrol@smig.net
Periodicals:
The Brayer
www.lovelongears.com
Tennessee's Great Celebration Mule Show
www.twhnc.com
WXICOF (donkey & mule books)
wxicof.com/ratite.htm
It sounds like a very ambitious project. Hope this information helps. Keep us posted! P.S. Did you realize that you can sing that little poem to the tune of The Yellow Rose of Texas? :)
One of the things that surprises people about mules is how loving they are. Most would stand for hours and let you scratch their heads.
My DH team ropes on his 15 hand mule. He can finish a run and we could throw our (then) 3 yo son up on her back and she would immediately settle down and walk around the arena. They go into protective mama mode when the kids are around. To be fair, not all of them are like that, we have had a couple that had to go live somewhere else. One because she loved DH so much that she got jealous if anyone else was around him.
Pastor Tom
Saturday the 8th the local Draft horse club is planting their patch right next to the Ex Spgs airport. I am not sure if any of the members run mules but I can find out quickly and will post. Me, my kids and a neighbor (has a pair of working Belgians) will be there.
seeya
Emily, thanks for dropping in. You have discovered as I have that mules played an important part in the rich heritage of our nation’s agrarian past. So has the draft horse, which I am also particularly fond of. The equine family that the Lord created is a marvelous creation to team with in the stewarding of the earth, but man has gotten himself so contrary to His Maker in his autonomous, arrogant ways -- thanks to debt-based, corporate industrialism -- that he has no clue where he came from and for what purpose and, thus, he stumbles on in darkness while digging himself into a deeper hole of consequences.
Diamond J, thanks for the relating your experience with mules. Perhaps the close bond that Gunsmoke’s Festus Hagan had with his beloved Ruth was fairly accurate.
Hank, your comment is an answer to prayer. I have been trying for weeks to find out when they were going to plant that plot again. For the readers, every year a group of draft animal enthusiasts plow, harrow, and plant sorghum in this small plot. In the fall they use their animals to harvest and press the sorghum, which is boiled down (on site) in large copper kettles into 'lasses.
We have driven by several times looking for the sign they place there every year, perhaps it’s there now. I’ll call you to get the time. Lord willing, I will see you there.
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