AMERICAN MULE MUSEUM TO BECOME ESTABLISHED IN BISHOP, CALIFORNIA

For the past several years, a group of dedicated individuals has been working toward the establishment of a museum honoring the history of mules throughout the country. Bishop is the center of an area that has a long history of mule transportation use and continues to provide mule pack services into the surrounding National Forests, National Parks and wilderness areas

Mule Days, held for the past forty years in Bishop, California over Memorial Day weekend, has celebrated the athletic abilities of the American Mule. This successful event claims to be located in the “Mule Capital of the World” and has introduced many of the general public to mule activities and developed a loyal following. In the American Cowboy Magazine, Reader’s Choice Awards, the Bishop Mule Days placed 3rd in the Best Heritage Event. It is appropriate then, to plan a Museum at the Tri-County Fairgrounds in Bishop that will become a year round visitor attraction to the region.

Last Mule Days, the Founding Member membership drive was launched, and enthusiastic new members proudly wore their mule buttons. The organization elected Officers and a Board of Directors, established a non-profit corporation and initiated plans and drawings for a museum building to be constructed at the Fairgrounds. A site adjacent to the Mule Days Office on Highway 395 has been selected making the Museum easily accessible to the visiting public and to Mule Days visitors.

The committee has been developing goals, purposes, objectives and aspirations for the new museum and how best to showcase the Mule and the colorful past that surrounds the many uses of the Mule in the history of America. While the design and construction of the building are paramount to the Museum, the committee is also planning displays and exhibits that will excitingly explain the narratives of the American Mule to the general public. This Museum is unique in that it will be the only major Museum dedicated to mules in the United States.

The ambitions of the committee are to have the historical story flow from George Washington’s mules at Mt. Vernon, to the present day use of mules throughout our country. The focus will shift from an overview to the more detailed story of mules in the west and particularly the Sierra Nevada. This rich account can be traced in the hoof prints of this humble animal and the people who used and depended on them. Land transportation since the dawn of history has depended on the equine. World history itself would have been totally different without the benefit of domesticated horses, donkeys and mules.

The goal of the Museum and Heritage Center is to inform, interpret, entertain and educate visitors about the important role of mule transportation in the history of the United States. The story of Mule Days with its varied, colorful past, along with memorabilia will be displayed along with historic photos and accounts of various events and contestants. Another component will be dedicated to the historic record of mule packing and transportation in the Sierra. Exhibits can include historic pack equipment and a replica of a typical packing dock and shed. As well as a historical museum, a heritage center will present living history demonstrations and interactive programs of cultural interest celebrating mule transportation traditions. The museum will embody the past and embrace the future.

Our first president, George Washington, was presented several jacks from the King of Spain to use on his Mt. Vernon farm in furthering the breeding of superior mules. He advertised jacks at stud improving his neighbors’ animals.
Throughout the history of the United State, California and the Sierra Nevada, transportation depended on mule and horsepower. The westward movement in America was made possible on the back of mules and horses and this heritage is an integral part of our cultural history. The Old Spanish Trail, 1829 to 1849, from Santa Fe to Los Angeles, was the longest pack train trail in the United States. It also boasted the largest number of pack mules traveling it each year. Over 1000 animals and their muleteers left Santa Fe for Los Angeles by a very round about route made necessary by the impassible canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers.

John Muir was one of the early proponents of the magnificent splendor of the Sierra Nevada. In writing of his experiences and studies of the Sierra, he drew attention to this great mountain range and urged people to go to the mountains and be inspired the by them. The John Muir Trail that traverses this roadless backcountry, and the John Muir Wilderness Area are named to honor Muir. Although he broke mustangs and rode many horses, his mule “Brownie” was his favorite mount.

Ike Livermore, former State of California Resources Director under then Governor Ronald Reagan, was a Sierra pack station owner for many years, owning Mineral King Pack Station and Mt. Whitney Pack Trains and will be remembered in the Museum. He was a director of the Sierra Club and worked for many years with the Sierra Club High Trip Outings. He arranged the packing services for those large trips of up to 300 participants for six to eight weeks traveling the high country of the Sierra. Both Ike and Governor Reagan was a Grand Marshall in two different Mule Days Parades. Among “Ike”s many accomplishments was working with Governor Reagan and President Nixon to stop a trans Sierra Highway proposal over the Sierra at Minaret Summit that would have bisected the John Muir Trail and adjacent wilderness. This long trail, between Tioga Pass on the north and Mt. Whitney on the south, is a distance of over 200 miles, and is not crossed by any roads.

From the mule teams pulling pioneers’ wagons to the teams hauling supplies to the gold and silver mining towns, transportation depended on mule power to settle the West. Twenty Mule teams pulled enormous freight wagons hauling ore from mining camps. Pack strings plied the winding precipitous trails where wagons could not manipulate the terrain. Roads, dams, aqueducts, power lines were all built from the efforts of these dependable mules.

Mules have been used in very major war and are still being trained and handlers taught packing skills at the U. S. Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center on Sonora Pass just 175 miles north of Bishop. A pack team from the Marine Base will be giving a packing demonstration at the annual California Backcountry Horsemen Rendezvous in Turlock, California this spring. Besides the over 40 head of mules at the Center, donkeys have been added to the remuda as donkeys are the animals most used in Afghanistan today.

Mountain wilderness and roadless areas today still require the use of sturdy pack mules and saddle animals for public access to this treasured backcountry. Mules are extremely surefooted and steadfast on the narrow granite trails of the Sierra and preferred by many mountain riders. These strong and dependable animals continue to transport recreational campers, hunters and fishermen with their provisions to exquisite wilderness campsites. Pack strings supply fire crews, materials for bridges, and repairing dams, service scientific studies and haul provisions to crews for trail construction and maintenance.

An American Mule Museum membership and information booth is located just inside the entrance to the Fairgrounds during Mule Days as well as a 2nd information table near the Show Office. You can become a Founding Member, obtain your mule button, volunteer your expertise and enthusiastic services, ask questions of committee members, reminisce, meet old friends and make new friends. Exciting fundraisers are being planned for the coming year and all volunteers, services and donations are welcomed. Help make this laudable museum a reality and honor the story and performances of our favorite equine animals.

The American Mule Museum is a corporation run by a local board of directors. It is a 501(c)3 non-profit California corporation organized for public benefit.