MULE

MULE. A mule is a cross between a male donkey and a female horse. The male mule is called a jack and the female is a jennet or a jenny. A smaller cross, the hinny, is from a male horse and a female donkey. Both mules and hinnies are nearly always sterile.

In the formative years of the United States, the attributes of mules, horses, and oxen were the subject of much debate. Mules traveled at 2½ miles per hour. Oxen were slower, at 2 m.p.h. The faster speed could save a week or more over that of oxen when going long distances. However, a pair of oxen cost $40 to $160, and mules from $200 up to $400 for a pair. Oxen could graze along the trail, but mules had to be fed grain to supplement the grazing. Grain had to be taken on the wagons; therefore, less paying freight could be hauled. Speed and distance were the main parts of the equation.

Mules could go twenty-four hours without water when they had a light load of under 300 pounds. The standard army mule load was about 150 pounds. A mule was used to pack loads on its back, pull wagons, or be ridden. Mules had more stamina and were more sure-footed than horses and were resistant to disease. Oxen could be slaughtered and eaten when meat was low and wild game impossible to find.

George Washington used his influence to get embargoes removed so mules could be imported from France and Spain. He much preferred mules over horses as work animals. Washington spoke disparagingly of horses when he pronounced, "Horses eat too much, work too little, and die too young." Washington's support of mules and his mule-breeding program was well known. At Mount Vernon, Washington's plantation, many individuals came to observe the mules and later went into the mule business.

Mules were important to the settling of Missouri. The overgrowth of trees and brush had to be cleared enough to make trails and roads, logs had to be cut for houses, and land for fields needed to be reclaimed. Mules were the perfect work animals for these jobs. By the 1871 census, Missouri was ranked as the state with the most mules, 110,000. Nearly half of Missouri farmers either used mules on their farms or bred them as a business. The mule has been the official state animal of Missouri since 1995.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marcy, Randolph B. The Prairie Traveler: The Best-Selling Handbook for America's Pioneers. Old Saybrook, Conn.: Apple-wood Books, Globe Pequot Press, 1994. Originally published in 1859.

Stamm, Mike. The Mule Alternative: The Saddle Mule in the American West. Battle Mountain, Nev.: Medicine Wolf Press, 1992.

PeggySanders