Mules on the brain, I remain.
Daily Whip Out: "Mules Rule Series, #2"
Got that scene in my head and I haven't got it yet, but I will.
Free Falling
"Mule rolled downhill for five hundred feet, yet was uninjured."
—Charles Preuss, German cartographer on John C. Fremont's first, second and fourth exploratory expeditions, December 16, 1843
Daily Whip Out: "Mule Rules Series, No. 3"
I Want One of Those!
A muleteer I know, related this conversion tale: "I was riding horseback on a steep trail when the pack mule in front of me got bumped off the trail and slid towards a 1,500 foot drop. The first thing I noticed was that the mule spread out—flat—which slowed his slide, and then, with his back hooves dangling off the cliff, he literally reached out with his front hooves and grabbed rocks to help him climb back up the slippery slope. When he regained the trail, he shook himself off and went on his way. It was at that moment, I said, "I want one of those!"
Daily Whip Out: "Free Fallin'"
"The total distance today was 36 miles. The horses were now falling away in an alarming manner, but the mules seem to require the stimulus of distention, and nothing else: this the dry grass affords."
—Lieutenant W.H. Emory, a topographical engineer on Kearny's expedition to California, 1846
No comments:
Post a Comment
Post your comments