State Symbols

State Animal: Mule

Posted at May 28, 2008 12:25

By John Fisher

“STUBBORN AS A MISSOURI MULE” is a common expression
that gives people the impression mules are stubborn. To the contrary,
those who have experience working with these animals say they are
intelligent and can be taught a work skill more quickly than a horse.
This stubbornness is really the mule’s instinct for self-preservation.
Mules resist doing anything that
places them in danger. Mules also
live longer than horses, work better
in heat, and require less feed.

Missouri’s prominence in mule
breeding goes back to the opening
of the Santa Fe Trail in 1821.
This route brought Spanish jacks
to Missouri for breeding. Between
1850 and 1900 the demand for
mules grew; however, the jacks
from the Santa Fe trade produced
small mules suitable primarily as
pack animals while the growing
need for farming, road building,
and hauling loads of freight was for larger, more powerful mules.

As demand for larger mules grew, breeders sought larger jacks, such
as the American Mammoth Jack being produced in several states, like
Kentucky and Tennessee. Missouri breeders mated these jacks to draft
mares, particularly the Percheron, to produce the large mules needed for
heavy work. The offspring came to be known as the Missouri Mule.

By 1900, the mule population swelled to three million in the United
States, many being produced in Missouri, the home of several large dealers.
One dealer, Guyton and Harrington at Lathrop, sold thirty-sevenmillion-
dollars worth of mules to the British government during World
War I, giving Lathrop the moniker Mule Capital of the World.

Mules provided service in a variety of industries, but despite their
valuable service, by the 1940s trucks and tractors had replaced mules.
Today, the mule still has many admirers. Saddle mules have become
popular for use on trail rides, and mules are popular attractions in
parades and at field demonstrations of old-time farming methods.

To recognize the contribution the Missouri mule made to the
state, the legislature named the mule the state animal in 1995 in a
bill sponsored by Rep. Jerry E. McBride from Edgar Springs and Rep.
Mary C. Kasten from Cape Girardeau and supported by the Missouri
American Legion.

–John Fisher is the author of “Catfish, Fiddles,
Mules, and More: Missouri’s State Symbols.”

October 2007

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