(This article first appeared in the July print edition of the Hendersonian.)
King David rode a mule, but mules don’t get the respect they deserve.
Mules are mentioned 16 times in the Old Testament and the earliest instances involve David’s third son Absalom, who led a revolt against his father and came to grief when his hair was caught in a tree. His mule kept going without him.
The reputation of mules went downhill from there.
Mulish is another word for someone who is pig-headed, uncooperative, and inflexible. But that’s a bad rap, according to James R. Rash Sr., who published a booklet in praise of the animal in 1953, mere months before he died.
I’ve searched in vain for a copy of it. The only evidence I have that it existed is Francele Armstrong’s column in The Gleaner of Dec. 6, 1953. She quoted from it at length, so I feel I can give y’all a fair approximation of what Rash had to say.
“It does seem that our great country might show some appreciation and perpetuate the mule in bronze,” Rash wrote. “He has given so much, so very much, to the development of our country in times of peace and gave his all to its defense in times of war.
“The mule is sensitive about his ears and you should not treat his ears in a rough fashion. He likes to be talked to, is friendly and loyal, but resents being pushed into anything.”
Many of the things we take for granted–such as the relatively level downtown area, the first city golf course, the river landing between Audubon Mill and Sunset parks, and the levee around Ellis Park racetrack–were carved by mule-drawn scrapers. From the beginning, mules provided the muscle power needed to plant, harvest and carry the tobacco crop to market.
Big farming operations had huge barns for housing the multiple mules then needed before steam-powered tractors gained acceptance. Coal mines also used mules to haul coal out of the mine.
But mules also carried out multiple smaller jobs, such as powering mills to grind sorghum for molasses, plowing gardens, pulling delivery wagons and even taking the place of a horse. A mark of sophistication was “a grand team with fine brass harness hitched to a nice carriage,” Rash said.
One thing Rash mentioned–and which I’ve confirmed with the American Mule Museum in Bishop, California–is that George Washington was not only the father of his country, he also was largely responsible for the introduction of the mule to the United States.
In October of 1785 a ship arrived in Boston carrying a gift to Washington from King Charles of Spain: two female donkeys (known as jennies) and a male donkey, which is commonly called a jack.
Mules are a hybrid between donkeys and horses, specifically, a jack and a mare. When the mix is between a stallion and a jenny, the offspring is called a hinney, which from the front looks more like a donkey than a mule and is less common.
By 1808 the United States had an estimated 855,000 mules. By 1840 Kentucky was a major mule-breeding state. The U.S. Army first used large numbers of mules during the Second Seminole War of 1835-42 and used about a million mules during the Civil War. (It continued to use mules up through 1956; more recently special forces in Afghanistan used mules for operations in rugged country.)
Between 1850 and 1860 the country’s mule population doubled. The first of only a handful of articles I’ve found about the local mule population came in the Henderson Weekly Reporter of Aug. 31, 1865, which gave the county tax assessor’s figures for 1860 and 1865.
In 1860 Henderson County had 1,523 mules and colts worth $157,545; the average value of a mule was $78.11 — about $25 higher than a horse. By 1865 the population had increased to 1,652 mules but the assessment had dropped to $151,645. The gap between the average value of a mule and that of a horse had grown to almost $28.
The May 18, 1893, Gleaner reported the tax assessor counted 3,859 mules and colts worth an estimated $220,835. The average value of a mule had dropped to $57.22, but the Panic of 1893– which began in February–may have been a factor. The average value of a horse was $52.20.
Mules and colts made up $150,580 of the county tax base in 1905 and the following year the assessor reported in The Gleaner of Feb. 5, 1906, there were 3,647 mules and colts worth $192,770. The average value of a mule in 1906 was $52.85, while the average value of a horse was $45.
The Gleaner of Sept. 9, 1910, reported about a sale in Stanford that brought $265 for a mule colt and $391 for a three-year-old mule. “This is the highest prices ever paid in Kentucky for such stock.”
The 1920 census showed an increase in the number of horses and mules on farms – but that the rise of the automobile had largely eclipsed mule power in towns and cities. The number of horses showed an increase of 21.8 percent on farms while mules increased 32.4 percent.
In his booklet, Rash regretted the passage of the mule auction, which at one time was one of the most exciting events in the county.
“For 25 or 30 years after the turn of the turn of the (20th) century the horse and mule market were a seething, hustling, bartering band of men buying and selling. Big markets consisted of acre upon acre of mule barns. The receiving barn was some thousand feet or more in length, about 75 or 80 feet wide with pens on each side….
“All of this is now changed. The buildings are run down or in ruins except for those converted to other uses. Indeed, it would take much time and expense to get a load of good mules together in most of this territory.”
Rash had a great deal of experience with the mule trade in Henderson County. His obituary says “for many years” he and Jeff C. Davis operated a mule barn near the intersection of Water and Second streets.
The Gleaner of May 14, 1908, reported a horrendous fire at that location that cremated 65 mules.
“One of the most destructive conflagrations in this city for several years occurred at 2 o’clock this morning when the large building of the Jeff Davis Livestock company on Second Street was destroyed by fire. Several persons who arrived at the fire soon after it was discovered stated that they saw many mules struggling in the fire and heard their groans as they sank down amid the flames that soon enveloped the building.”
Another disaster for mules occurred at Scuffletown, according to The Gleaner of June 23, 1920. A lightning bolt struck a barn, killing a dozen mules owned by the Dempewolf Bros. and injuring 18 more.
“The bolt knocked the eyes from the sockets of three of the injured mules and one was shocked so badly that it continues to walk around in a small circle.”
Probably the most famous local mule was Clipper, who marched in the 1960 parade celebrating Henderson’s sesquicentennial. The Gleaner published an article purporting to be an interview with the animal, which noted his birth April 17, 1917, had been recorded in the Thomas Williams family Bible.
Clipper died an unnatural death in January 1962. He walked out on a frozen pond and fell through. He was within 13 weeks of hitting the remarkable age of 45. “The icy water was apparently too much of a shock for the aged animal and before he could get back to shore he fell over in the water and died,” The Gleaner reported Jan. 11. Owner Guy Williams believed Clipper had a heart attack.
Mules have sometimes played a role in politics, both locally and statewide, and not solely to represent the Democratic Party. (Democrat Andrew Jackson first adopted a donkey as his symbol after opponents called him a jackass in 1828. It stuck.)
On the local front, the Evansville Courier of Nov. 10, 1921, reported an amusing twist to that year’s election.
John Keach and Marion Gish, both of the Niagara area, were watching the returns being posted when Keach said he would ride a mule into the courthouse if Otis Benton Sr. were elected Henderson County sheriff.
“It was soon evident that (Benton) would be elected and Gish asked Keach if he would keep his promise. In a few minutes the crowd in the office heard the pat, pat of a mule’s feet and in came Keach on a mule directly into the clerk’s office. Gish, not to be outdone, asked to be allowed to ride the mule out and amid cheers he rode the long-eared animal out of the courthouse.”
Kentucky’s most famous mule-in-politics story was the governor race of 1915 when A.O. Stanley of Henderson rode a mule to campaign in highly Republican eastern Kentucky, according to a Sept. 8, 1974, Gleaner article by Maralea Arnett.
Stanley’s Republican opponent was Ed Morrow. At just about every stop Stanley would say, “Ed couldn’t ride a mule. He doesn’t want to see you as badly as I do. He thinks he’s got you in the bag.”
Morrow and Stanley were good friends and Morrow later remarked, “Owsley rode a mule into the governor’s mansion.”
