- Mules -
When thinking of America and it's beginnings, we tend to think of three factors; Native Americans, colonizing Europeans, and the land. The unspoken fourth of course is the animals that not only lived here alongside mankind, but also helped build the nation and our lives upon their backs. Everything from horses for soldiers and farmers to range on, to cattle and other livestock to both be sources of food and clothing, to the mule that lives only to serve.
Caption: Mules delivering mail in Supai, Arizona, 2008
Horses are powerful, useful, and beautful creatures. Donkeys, also less affectionately called, "jackasses," are domesticated members of the same family as horses. When a male horse and a female donkey mate, they create a mule. Mules as a species, like other hybrid animals, can't produce sperm or eggs. Mules are born, they live, and die. Their legacy is only in the work they do. Horses are beasts of burden, and can be mean and stubborn, they're wild until they aren't. Mules on the other hand, really symbolize the hard working person who just wants to have a job and do it, and be left well enough alone to just live. Mules can be mean, but they're better tempered than horses, and smarter than donkeys.
So what do mules do? Mules can do a lot of things. They are very strong and surefooted creatures, which they inherit from the donkey, and they are very athletic and independent thinking, which they get from the horse. Before the arrival of the steam engine, the mule was the engine that drove much of agriculture to its prominence. Mules, and even donkeys, can carry more weight than a horse, which is impressive since they pull full wagons. Mules can also handle the weight with precision even as it is strapped onto their torso. For centuries they've been used as transportation, a method of pulling a plow, carrying or pulling supplies, and possibly more than we can account for.
- Citations -
“Library Guides: Something Southern: A History of Mules in South Georgia Presented by Tyler Hendrix: About This Project.” About this Project - Something Southern: A History of Mules in South Georgia presented by Tyler Hendrix - Library Guides at Georgia Southern University. Accessed November 30, 2023. https://georgiasouthern.libguides.com/c.php?g=1224807&p=8960294.
Margolin, Madison. “This Is Why Ligers, Mules and Other Hybrid Animals Can’t Reproduce.” VICE, August 24, 2016. https://www.vice.com/en/article/ezp5da/this-is-why-ligers-mules-and-other-hybrid-animals-cant-reproduce
Rodriguez, Monica. “Why Can’t Mules Breed?” TheTech.org, June 20, 2007. https://tinyurl.com/WhyCantMulesBreed
“What’s the Difference between a Horse, a Donkey and a Mule?” BBC Newsround, June 15, 2021. https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/45353255
How was Blanche's father kicked by a mule? What was he doing when that happened?
Willie signs his letter with "your dear friend, Willie," as opposed to saying "your dear cousin, Willie," as the family tree says. So is this another man named Willie, if so, how do Willie and Blanche know each other?
Willie explains that he's going to buy cotton to plant for next season. Has he and his family always planted cotton or is this a recent change, and if so, what did they plant before?
The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details.
- Transportation and the Ford Model R -
The Ford Model T is the hallmark car most people think of when thinking of the first cars in America. However, the Model T came out in 1908 and was not the first. Ford as a company started making cars in 1903 and debuted with the Model A. The models in 1907, leading up to the Model T were the Models R, N and S. Amongst them, the Ford Model R became a frequently sold car even though it was $150 more than the Model N, which was $600. Calculating the price, a Model R would be about $24,548.22 in today's money. The Model R came from the popularity of the Model N and is really a derivative of the Model N. The Model N was more on the luxurious than some other models they had made so when the Model R was being dreamt up, they made it larger than the N and gave it some more features such as oil lamps, and wheels that were fully covered, they replaced the steps with boards, more colors, and wider seats. The model R came in colors; dark green, dark blue, yellow, and black.
- Citations -
"CPI Inflation Calculator," Offiicial Data Foundation, https://www.officialdata.org/
“1907 Ford Model R Runabout.” The Henry Ford. Accessed December 1, 2023. https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/8028#slide=gs-203492.
“1907 Ford Model R.” Midwest Dream Car Collection, April 20, 2023. https://midwestdreamcarcollection.org/exhibits/vehicle-directory/1907-ford-model-r/.
- Mules in America -
Mules are very well respected animals in America. They may not be as well liked as cats, or dogs, but there significance can't be understated. In 1784, George Washington was gifted a spanish-jack donkey from King Charles III of Spain which would arrive in 1785. The donkey was named "Royal Gift." In that year there were 132 horses on Mount Vernon, and by 1799 there were twenty-seven horses, twenty donkeys, and about sixty-three mules. It is not safe to assume that all of those mules were sired by Royal Gift, but it is safe to assume that their numbers were helped by Royal Mule. It is also safe to assume that Washington must have taken a liking to mules. The former president is also quoted as saying, "I have a prospect of introducing into this Country a very excellent race of animals also, by means of the liberality of the King of Spain."
Caption: 'Buffalo soldier posing with an Army pack mule, Ft. Bayard, New Mexico, probably in the 1890s. From the Hodge Family Papers (MS 99). Arizona, Southwestern, and Borderlands Photograph Collection'
First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, implemented a project under the WPA (Works Progress Administration) that was called, "The Pack Horse Library Project." The project saw groups of women mounting horses or mules and delivering and retrieving books. From 1935 to 1943, these women, the pack horse librarians brought books and knowledge to the people of the Appalachia mountains which were hard to reach on foot. Mules would be better than horses because mules are more careful and wouldn't step unless they knew it was safe for them or the writer.
President Harry S. Truman, also has a quote about mules, "My favorite animal is the mule. He has more sense than a horse. He knows when to stop eating - and he knows when to stop working." It's not just presidents who love these animals, the military does as well. Mules are good for carrying and transporting supplies, but they also make good mascots! In 1899, West Point decided they needed a mascot to rival the Navy's goat, and so the Army Mules were made and have been the academy's mascot ever since.
Caption: Pack-horse librarians get ready to ride out and deliver books in Appalachia
- Citations -
“George Washington Birthplace National Monument: The American Mule.” Facebook, October 23, 2020. https://tinyurl.com/GeorgeWashingtonFacebookMule
Jurga, Fran. “George Washington: The Father of Our Country’s Appreciation for Mules.” Equus Magazine, March 10, 2017. https://tinyurl.com/GeorgeWashingtonFatherOfMule
Magazine, Smithsonian. “Horse-Riding Librarians Were the Great Depression’s Bookmobiles.” Smithsonian.com, June 21, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/horse-riding-librarians-were-great-depression-bookmobiles-180963786/.
Overdeep, Meghan. “These Kentucky Librarians Traveled Miles on Horseback to Deliver Books during the Great Depression.” Southern Living, June 4, 2023. https://www.southernliving.com/travel/kentucky/pack-horse-library-kentucky-book-women-great-depression