There is no way to actually describe Mule Days. It is part mule show, part test of skills, and part Wild West show. It is an event the likes of which are held no where else in the world. Over the five days of the event, there are 14 shows featuring over 700 mules with their trainers, riders and packers. In excess of 30,000 fans converge on the Tri-County Fairgrounds and the Mike Boothe Arena to watch the events and visit the exhibitors. The fourteen mule shows consist of: Western, youth, English, cattle working, gaited, coon jumping, racing, musical tires, gymkhana, packing, shoeing, chariot racing, team roping and driving. For most competitions, veteran announcers, Bob Tallman and Bob Feist, take the microphone to both educate and entertain crowds.

In addition to competitive events, Mule Days has many other featured events to expand the experience. Country Music stars take the stage Thursday night, and on Saturday, spectators take to the streets of Bishop to watch the longest running non-motorized parade in the U.S. There’s also Barbecues, country dances and an arts and crafts show.

Mule people are determined to prove that anything a good horse can do, a good mule can do better. From trail riding to show classes, mules can do it all with the grace unique to these animals. Steer roping and penning, an event normally reserved for quarter horses, is another highlight of Mule Days. Cowboys will have the opportunity to prove their roping and riding skills astride some of the best working mules in the United States.

Someone once wrote that a mule is “without ancestry and posterity”.   Well, quite the opposite is true.

The exact origin of the mule may be somewhat difficult to determine, but its ancestry must begin with the origin of its parents – - the wild ass (donkey) and the horse.   Mules, therefore, must have been bred in the wild in areas where both the wild ass and horse occupied the same territory.

Mules in Ancient Times

The mule has been deliberately bred by man since ancient times.  The breeding of a jackass (male donkey) with a female horse (mare) is the most common and oldest known hybrid.   A somewhat less common hybrid, the hinny, was also bred by crossing a female donkey with a male horse.

• The inhabitants of Paphlagonia and Nicaea (the northern and northwestern parts of modern day Turkey) are said to have been the first to breed mules.

• Mules were known in Egypt since before 3000 BC and for some 600 years – between 2100 BC and 1500 BC – - the Pharaohs sent expeditions into the Sinai to mine turquoise.   The miners marked their route with carvings on rocks showing boats and mules (not camels!).   Mules were, at that time, the preferred pack animal. Also in ancient Egypt, while the Pharaohs were carried about in fancy litters by servants, the common people often had the use of mule drawn carts. An Egyptian monument from Thebes depicts mules yoked to a chariot. Mule remains are frequent in the archaeological record, suggesting that mules had become a “mainstream” animal early on, used primarily for pulling wagons or transporting burden.

• To the north in Asia Minor, the Hittites were the most powerful of the early horse-people – - but they considered the mule to be at least three times more valuable in price than even a good chariot horse.

• Sumerian texts from the third millennium BC stated the price of a mule was 20 to 30 shekels, seven times that of a donkey.   At Ebla, the average price for a mule was 60 shekels.

• In the kingdom of Mari in northern Mesopotamia, the story was told that the King was reprimanded and asked to “Please …use a mule instead of the common horse”, as his royal position demanded.

• People of ancient Ethiopia gave the mule the highest status of all the animals.

• The mule was highly valued in ancient Greece as well, for use as pack animals and to draw carriages.   While boats were used when traveling long distances in ancient Greece, as the country was partially a group of islands, the average citizen rarely left their home area and depended upon the mule as the most common mode of transportation. Mules had much harder hooves than horses and were better suited to cover the rocky terrain found in Greece.   Also, the mule was easier to train than the horse, and could cover a 50-mile area in a day and need only four or five hours of sleep.

• The mule was well known to Homer in 800 BC Greece.  He reported in the            Iliad, the arrival of mules from Henetia in Asia Minor, where breeding them was a local specialty.  Mules were also bred in Greece in Homer’s time to be used as draft animals and in farming.  Later on, mules were raised in Peloponnesus and Arcadia, and harness races for mules began in Olympia in 500 BC.   Such races were run throughout a period of more than 80 years.

• In ancient Rome, mules were used for transport and their amazing strength and endurance was known to all.  Roman soldiers were known to carry great quantities of equipment, armor, and rations over great distances on foot.   When General Darius was called upon to defend Rome against the invading barbarians, he trained his soldiers to undertake amazing physical feats.   Those soldiers became known as “Darius’ Mules”, a tribute to the mule’s physical stamina.

• When Hannibal crossed the Alps in 216 BC, he had mules with him as well as elephants.  He may even have ridden a mule in the rough terrain, where elephants could not easily maneuver.

Mules in the Holy Land

• Mules have been known in the Holy Land since about 1040 BC, the time of King David, when the mule replaced the donkey as the “Royal Beast”, the “riding animal of princes”.

• The Law of Moses (Leviticus 19:19) declared that the breeding of hybrid animals was forbidden.   The Hebrews were not forbidden to use mules, but they had to purchase and import – - either from the Egyptians or the people of Togarmah (Armenia), who brought mule from the far north to Tyre for sale or barter.

• At King David’s coronation, food was transported by mules and David himself often rode mules. Considered as an indicator of social status during David and Solomon’s time, mules were ridden only by royalty. A hinny that belonged to David was ridden by Solomon at his coronation.

• Considered as extremely valuable, mules were sent from the “kings of the earth” as gifts for Solomon. All the King’s sons were provided with mules as their preferred means of transportation. After his unsuccessful attempt to take the throne, Absalom was captured and killed while making his escape on a mule.

• When the Israelites returned from their Babylonian captivity in 538 BC, they brought with them silver and gold and many animals – - including at least 245 mules. Two Hebrew words referring to a mule or hinny are found 17 times in the Old Testament but there are no references in the New Testament – - perhaps suggesting the popularity of the mule had declined in that region.

Mules in the Middle Ages

• Mules were common in European cities long before the Renaissance.   As early as 1294, Marco Polo reported on and praised the Turkoman mules he had seen in central Asia.

• In Medieval Europe, when larger horses were being bred to carry heavily armored knights, mules were the preferred riding animal of gentlemen and clergy.

• By the 18^th century, the breeding of mules had become a flourishing industry in Spain, Italy, and France.   For many years the French Province of Poitou was the primary European breeding center, with some 500,000 mules bred each year. Heavier draft mules were demanded for farm work and a local breed of stud donkey became most popular. Soon, Spain was at the forefront of the mule-breeding industry as Catalonia and Andalusia each developed a larger and stronger breed of donkey.

• Mules were not as prevalent in Britain or America until the late 18^th century.        The chief demand for mules in Britain was for service in India and elsewhere abroad.

Mules in the New World

• In 1495, Christopher Columbus brought four jack donkeys and two jenny donkeys to the New World, along with horses.  These animals would be instrumental in producing mules for the Conquistadores in their exploration into the American mainland.

• Ten years after the conquest of the Aztecs, a shipment of three jacks and twelve jennies arrived from Cuba to begin breeding of mules in Mexico.

• Female mules were preferred for riding while the males were preferred as pack animals throughout the Spanish Empire. Mules were not only used in the silver mines, but were very important along the Spanish frontier.  Each outpost had to breed its own supply and every hacienda or mission kept at least one stud jack.

Mules in the Developing United States

• George Washington played the major role in the development of the mule population in America.   He recognized the value of the mule in agriculture and became the first American mule breeder.

• Donkeys were already in America, as they came over with the early explorers, but they were quite small. Washington wished to breed the very best mules, but he faced a major obstacle   – - the Spanish government at that time prohibited the acquisition or exportation of the famous Andalusian donkey. Washington wrote to King Charles of Spain requesting permission to purchase good quality breeding stock.   In October of 1785, a ship docked in Boston harbor carrying a gift from King Charles for George Washington – - two fine jennies and a 4-year old Spanish jack named, appropriately, “Royal Gift’.   That “royal gift” from the Spanish king is today credited with the development of the American mule which began a dynasty that “reshaped the very landscape of the country”.

• In 1786, the Marquis de Lafayette sent Washington a black Maltese jack called “Knight of Malta”, along with several jennies.   These animals bred with the Andalusians, and the crossing of the Spanish and Maltese strains created highly valuable stock known as the “compound” – - the beginning of the “American Mammoth Jackstock”.

• After the Revolutionary War, Washington started a program to develop a larger, stronger mule to be used on farms – - to replace horses in the field.   In less than fifteen years Washington had 58 mules working at Mount Vernon. In 1786, Washington advertised the “compound’s” services in a Philadelphia journal.  The stud fee for serving horses was a third less than it was for serving donkeys. It is said that mules from Washington’s stock became the forerunners of mules that were the backbone of American agriculture for generations in the southern U.S.

• By 1808, the U.S. had an estimated 855,000 mules worth an estimated $66 million. Mules were rejected by northern farmers, who used a combination of horses and oxen, but they were popular in the south – - where they were the preferred draft animal. One farmer with two mules could easily plow 16 acres a day. Mules not only plowed the fields, but they harvested crops and carried the crops to market.  On tobacco farms, a mule-drawn planter was used to set the plants in the ground.  Harvested tobacco was pulled on wooden sleds from the fields to the barns.

• By 1840, a quality jack used for mule breeding could fetch up to $5,000 in Kentucky, then a leading mule-breeding state.

• A large number of donkeys were subsequently imported from Spain and in the decade between 1850 and 1860 the number of mules in the country increased 100 percent. More than 150,000 mules were foaled in the year 1889 alone, and by then mules had entirely replaced horses for farm work.

• By 1897, the number of mules had expanded to 2.2 million, worth $103 million. With the cotton boom, primarily in Texas, the number of mules grew to 4.1 million, worth $120 each.   One-fourth of all the mules were in Texas and the stockyards at Ft. Worth became the world center for buying and selling mules.

• In 1923, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued Farmer’s Bulletin No. 1311, titled “Mule Production”.  The publication explained the attributes of mules, and gave instructions on how to successfully breed good stock, as was learned in the 1800′s.

• The farm mule left the farms about the same time as draft mules left the Army, and for the same reason – - the combustion engine.   But, during World War II, civilians faced gas rationing, so farmers reintroduced their reliable farm mule, at least for the duration of the war.

Mules and the Western Expansion

• In the 1840′s, as Anglo-Saxon settlers from the east moved west, the mule was by far the favorite pack animal.   Even during the years of Spanish influence in the Southwest, when horses, burros, llamas, dogs, and even camels were used, the Mexican mule was preferred.   The Mexican breed was soon replaced by the American variety – - most of which came from Missouri.

• On the historic Old Spanish Trail that connected Santa Fe and Los Angeles, trains of pack mules were used from 1829 to 1849 – - mainly to carry wooden goods.   High quality woolen products from New Mexico Territory were often traded for good mules. The 2,700 mile long trail was considered the longest, most crooked and difficult trail for pack mules in the history of America.   The first group ever to travel over that trail consisted of 60 men and 100 mules.

• On wagon trains across the plains, mule could cover 30 miles a day, while wagons drawn by horses and oxen could average only five miles a day. Thousands of mules were used to pull the pioneer’s wagons westward, and when families found a place to settle and build their homesteads, the mules were there to haul the logs for the houses.

• Stage coach lines also preferred mules to horses.   Stage coaches were pulled by large mules that could travel six to ten miles per hour over flat, dry land.

• Towns throughout the country often used mules to pull fire-fighting equipment, and many western towns were originally laid out with extremely wide streets to allow mule teams to turn around.

• Western explorers and trailblazers knew the benefit of choosing a good mule and taking care of it.   In choosing a mule, most figured it called for more thought than in choosing a wife.   As for taking good care of a mule, which could mean life or death in the unexplored regions, one mountaineer wrote: “live on intimate terms of brother-explorer with your mule”.

• During the Indian wars in the American southwest, mules set a number of endurance records.   In 1882, a company of scouts and one pack train, loaded 200 pounds on a mule and left the San Carlos agency in Arizona on a three-day march. In those three days, the mule had covered 280 miles. Another pack train covered 108 miles in 16 hours – - while a third had traveled 85 miles in desert heat in just 12 hours.

• General George Crook, in the late 1870′s, preferred to ride his mule “Apache”, which he considered much superior to the horse, and he continually stressed the importance of having healthy pack mules under his command.   He believed that the success of any campaign, to a great extent, depended upon them. General Crook’s mules easily carried twice the load the Army manual stipulated because he allowed only the best equipment to be used on the best mules – - and each pack saddle was tailored to fit each mule.   Crook’s troops always had the ammunition they needed because his mule trains never failed.

• When gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in CA, pack trains soon became indispensable in hauling supplies from the port at San Francisco to the gold fields on the western Sierra slopes. By 1852, more than 16,000 mules, valued at more than $800,000, were concentrated in the northern counties.   About 1,800 mules operated out of Shasta alone. By 1855, the California mule population swelled to over 31,000. A “Pack-Mule Express” business not only carried special delivery mail to the mining communities, but it also transported gold from mines to banks.

• With the discovery of borax in Death Valley, CA in the early 1890′s, William Tell Coleman’s company used the famous 20-mule teams to haul the product to the nearest rail junction – - Mojave, CA. Two 10-mule teams were hitched together to form a 100-foot long 20-mule team.   Between 1883 and 1889, Coleman’s teams hauled two 16-foot long wagons loaded with borax,  plus a 1,200 gallon water tank (with a total weight of over 36 tons) from the Harmony Borax Works near Furnace Creek in Death Valley to Mojave – - some 165 miles away. During those years, the 20-mule teams hauled over 20 million pounds of borax out of Death Valley. On those 20-day round trips, over treacherous, mostly water-less terrain in extreme high temperatures, not a single mule was lost – - a tribute to the stamina of the mule. The “20-Mule Team” symbol was first used in 1891 and was registered in 1894.

• In the Sierra Nevada from 1868 to 1873, John Muir rode his mule “Brownie” throughout the region – - from the Kings River to Yosemite.

• Mules were also very useful in the western mining operations.  The Silver Queen Mine in Bisbee, AZ, as did others, would bring mules into the mine and stable them underground.

Mules in War

• Mules have played an important role in military action throughout this nation’s history.   Pack mules provided unlimited mobility to cavalry, infantry, and artillery units. The mule is, of course, the symbol of the U.S. Army.

• Mules were used during the Black Hawk War of 1832, but the US Army first used large numbers of mules in the Second Seminole War of 1835-1842.

• During the Mexican War of the mid-1840′s, the U.S. army used mules to pull supply wagons, and during the Spanish-American War, newspapers reported that there were 3,000 mules with the Army at Tampa, FL, waiting to be assigned to ambulances, baggage wagons and to carry packs.

• During the Civil War mules were depended upon to transport artillery and supplies.   The Union Army used about one million mules – - which they purchased from dealers.  Union Quartermasters purchased over 75,000 mules just for the forces at Chattanooga and Sherman’s Atlanta campaign.   In 1864 alone, the Union Army purchased 87,791 mules. The South, on the other hand, used only half as many mules – - which the soldiers had to provide on their own.   Mules, therefore, were taken from Southern farms for military use, making work at the farm much more difficult.   Some historians have speculated that the shortage of mules might have contributed to the South’s ultimate defeat. It was reported that President Lincoln, when reviewing Union army troops, paid more attention to the comfort of the mules than of his officers.

• In both World Wars, mules were again called to active duty, though to a lesser extent in World War II.  Mules were better adapted to dense jungle trails and steep mountainous terrains that were inaccessible to motorized vehicles.   They carried food, supplies and ammunition into the battle zones, and often carried wounded soldiers out. Some 8,000 mules were killed in those wars, and supply ships carrying mules were prized targets for enemy submarines – - because they were not only destroying needed supplies, but they were destroying transportation as well.

• World War I is said to be the last major war in which the U.S. Army used mules in any significant numbers.  Mules were used for hauling wagons which weighed 2,000 pounds and loaded with 3,000 pounds of cargo (including feed for the mules).   Each wagon was pulled by six mules.   In mountainous country, however, the wagons were useless, so a train of 50 or more mules, each carrying 250 pounds, would move in single file and cover 60 miles a day.

• Also in World War I, the British Army purchased a large number of mules from America, as the mule was able to endure the terrible conditions on the front lines and their stamina was much greater than the horse.   By the end of the War, the British army owned 213,000 mules.

• By the start of World War II the U.S. Army had become more mechanized, horses had lost their ranking as a mode of transportation, but the mule continued to be of great value – - because of the superior ability to negotiate areas inaccessible to tanks and other vehicles, such as the mountains of Italy and the jungles of Burma. Mobilization actually began in 1930, with an authorization for 3,500 mules. By 1944 and 1945, some 14,000 mules were used by the 10^th Mountain Division in northern Italy.

• Mules were used with great effectiveness by Merrill’s Marauders in the jungles of Burma.  Once, following a 300-mile forced march, Merrill’s troops were confronted by an overwhelming enemy force.  The mules made such a commotion that the enemy thought they must be outnumbered and withdrew.

• In Asia, the Chinese Army used more than 20,000 mules in their battles against the Japanese.

• The terrain encountered in the war in Korea during that war, resembled that of the mountains of Italy during WW II, therefore the Army employed mules for use where trucks and jeeps could not reach. Since the Chinese and North Koreans used mules for transportation, it was only a matter of time before the allied forces began to capture many animals.  In the spring of 1951, communist forces used pack mules to carry supplies for attacks on UN forces north of Seoul.  When they were forced back, the communists abandoned their mules, and the US 1^st Cavalry Division captured many of the animals.

The mules were found to be thin and sick, but were quickly restored to health by candy, sugar, and cereal from the soldier’s rations. One of the captured mules was of particular interest, as it was found to have a US army Brand (a Preston Brand) number 08K0.   When that brand was located in the Army records, it was found that he had been originally dispatched to the China-Burma-India theater during WW II.  Following that war, the mule was transferred to the Chinese Army.  He must have been later captured by the Communist Chinese, and then moved to the fight in Korea.    After more than six years, that mule ended up back in the hands of the US Army – - then returned to work on a pack train.

• On February 15, 1957 the Army officially deactivated the last two operational mule units at Ft. Carson, Colorado.   That did not mean, however, that the military would never again call upon the mule for service.

• When the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan in the 1980′s, the CIA purchased thousands of mules for the Afghans, to help maintain supply lines.

• Most recently, at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center northwest of Bridgeport, California, Marines are trained to use mules on combat missions in Afghanistan and other high altitude regions. Mules can be used in the historic Afghan method of packing animals as an alternative to using Humvees or helicopters in steep mountainous terrain.

• In an Army Manual, “Special Forces Use of Pack Animals”, it states, “Animal transport systems can greatly increase mission success when hostile elements and conditions require the movement of combat troops and equipment by foot”. The Manual goes on to describe the characteristics of the mule as having intelligence, agility and stamina, which make them excellent and necessary pack animals.

Other Contributions by Mules

• At the beginning of the 20^th century, mules were used to build roads, railways, telegraph and telephone lines, as well as most of the large dams and canals.

• Mules were also instrumental in one of the nation’s greatest engineering feats – - the Panama Canal.

• They pulled canal boats along the Erie Canal in the early 19^th century.

• Mules helped build the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

• They even assisted in the beginning of the “space age”.  Teams of mules pulled the first jet engine to the top of Pike’s Peak to be tested – - a successful test that led to the creation of the U.S. space program.

When mineral strikes occurred on the east side of the Sierra, in 1859, packers and their mule trains packed the needed goods to the new settlements and boomtowns. Terrence Brodigan owner of Sonora House and Livery Stable, and Sol Carter, commercial packer regularly packed supplies over Sonora Pass to the east side. A new gold strike at Red Mountain created Mammoth City near present day Mammoth Lakes. J. S. French built a trail and offered twice-weekly pack train service from Fresno Flats over Mammoth Pass to the new mines. His trains crossed the Sierra, a distance of 54 miles, on the trail often referred to then as the French Trail. Tourists called passengers could accompany the pack trains and were allowed up to 20 pounds of luggage for a mere $15.00.

As the stunning scenery of high mountains, azure blue lakes and rushing creeks of the Sierra were discovered by settlers in surrounding valley towns, families packed into the mountains to escape the summer heat and enjoy camping, fishing and hunting. The news of this mountain wonderland spread and visitors from urban cities came to enjoy. Local livery stables provided camp gear, riding and pack animals and guides. Commercial packers branched into the tourist business establishing recreation pack outfits. As roads were extended into this mountain fastness, permanent facilities and corrals were established at the ends of the roads called pack stations.

Since then, the commercial recreation pack business has not changed much with pack stations providing access and support for visitors seeking vacations in the Sierra Nevada. Packers and their mule strings, looking as they did in the 1870’s, still ply the narrow rocky trails taking campers and their camp outfits to lovely lakes and streams. Camp gear is more plentiful, efficient and lighter in weight, and the tents are more colorful. Visitors relax from their modern stressful lives enjoying this gorgeous mountain roadless backcountry.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” John Muir

Southern California Edison Company is the owner of power dams on the Rush Creek series of lakes, Alger, Gem and Waugh Lakes. In 1977, the company made plans to repair the uppermost dam located at Waugh Lake in the Minaret Wilderness Area. The elevation of Waugh Lake is about 9,500. The repairs to the face of the dam required 500 tons of sand and cement at the dam site. Because of provisions of the 1964 Wilderness Act, the Forest Service would not issue a permit for the material to be transported into the site by helicopter. The hauling of sand and cement had to be accomplished in time for the project to be completed before winter’s cold weather prevented concrete work to continue. Packers with strings of sturdy pack mules could be used to provide that service.
A contract was signed between Southern California Edison Company and three pack stations: Frontier Pack Station, Red’s Meadow Pack Station and Rock Creek Pack Station. The three contracting pack stations plus Leavitt Meadows Pack Station, Mammoth Lakes Pack Outfit and McGee Creek Pack Station agreed to haul the sand and cement to the storage site located at the dam. The contract had to be completed in ninety days. Each of the six pack stations contributed packers, pack mules and horses.

The two stations closest to the dam site were the designated loading areas – Frontier Pack Station at Silver Lake, elevation 7,225 feet, and Agnew Meadows Pack Station at Agnew Meadows, elevation 8,300 feet.. Sand and sacks of cement was trucked to these two stations. The cement was already sacked but the sand was in bulk piles and had to be sacked at the staging centers. A ground crew at each loading site filled and weighed the sacks of sand. Special pack bags were constructed that would accommodate the sacks of sand and concrete. Each sack, holding sixty pounds of sand, had to be bagged and weighed by hand and four sacks were loaded on each mule. The cement, in ninety-six pound sacks, was loaded two sacks to a mule.

Ten mule strings of five mules each were loaded at each departure site early every morning. Some days, as many as fifteen strings made the trip. From Silver Lake, using the steep and hazardous Angels Flight Trail, it required a seven-hour round trip, not including packing and unloading time. From Agnew Meadows, it was an eight-hour trip via the John Muir Trail plus time to pack and unpack.

Pack stations, other than the local stations, kept their stock at the departure corrals. Packers commuted back and forth from the departure location to their individual pack stations and carried their slickers with them daily. Many young packers really learned packing skills that summer. The days began early and ended late. Pack station cooks prepared early breakfasts, packed lunches and stayed late in the kitchens to provide late dinners for returning tired packers.

At the Waugh Lake dam storage site, over one hundred mule loads were unloaded each day. Altogether, over 4,000 mule loads of sand and cement were hauled over steep, precipitous trails by sure-footed mules to the unloading site. Over 100 mules and packhorses were used and had to be re-shod every four weeks because of the rocky granite trails. There were some wrecks along the trail but with no serious injuries, and all of the mules and horses, and their packers were still working at the end of the project period.

Even though it was a wet summer with many thunderstorms and rainy days, the contract was completed in seventy-four days. The dam was repaired that fall. All of this activity had to be worked around the normal busy summer season with scheduled visitor pack trips. Owners dealt with complicated logistics. When packers get together to relate packing tales, this mighty effort by men and mules and horses is still talked about over coffee.

Various bands of Northern Owens Valley Paiute Indians lived in the area during the summer months hunting, harvesting seeds and gathering willows for the superb baskets they constructed. Arrowheads, tools, grinding rocks and broken pieces of worked obsidian give evidence of their previous presence. The Paiute Indians traded extensively with the Miwok Indians from the west slope of the Sierra, meeting at Casa Diablo Hot Springs where they camped by the steaming springs. The trail across Mammoth Pass to the west was an important trade route with salt, obsidian and pinenuts traded in exchange for acorns, manzanita berries, and seashells brought by the western Miwoks.

When gold was discovered on Red Mountain (first called Gold Mountain) in the 1870’s several small towns were established along the creeks. Mammoth City was located on the north side of Red Mountain while Mill City and Mineral Park were located further down the mountain toward the east. Pine City grew up along a little creek north of Lake Mary (then called Summit Lake). Log cabins quickly sprang up in Pine City, perhaps as many as twenty, along with a hotel, saloon and the Pine City Feed and Livery Stable. The site of old Pine City is located just north of Lake Mary, between Lake Mary and Twin Lakes. The livery stable was located approximately on the present site of the Mammoth Lakes Pack Outfit, and the owners advertised a corral with pasture attached, and hay and grain for sale in 1879.

The region was named after the Mammoth Mining Company incorporated in 1878. Owens Valley farms and ranches were established in the early 1860’s and pack strings and wagons supplied the new mining towns with produce and supplies climbing up Sherwin Grade. Mining equipment was also hauled up the grade to the new mines.

In 1878, J. S. French built a toll trail across the Sierra Nevada from the west; following old established Indian and livestock routes to the new strikes. The “French Trail” began at Fresno Flats (now the town of Oakhurst) 46 miles from Fresno, passed by such historic landmarks as Jackass Meadows, Clover Meadows, and Soldier Meadow and crossed the North Fork of the San Joaquin River. From there, the trail wound up the trail to King Creek and Summit Meadows, down to the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River, over Mammoth Pass to Pine City and ended at Mammoth City. The trail was known by several names: the “French Trail”, the “Fresno Flats Trail” and the “Mammoth Pass Trail”.

French offered twice-weekly pack train service for riders from Fresno Flats to Mammoth for $15.00 and allowed up to 20 pounds of luggage. The Pine City Feed and Livery Stable also advertised regular pack train trips to Fresno Flats. The Fresno Flats Saddle Trains departed from the Monumental Hotel in Mammoth City on Tuesday and Friday, leaving at 5 AM for the 54-mile journey to Fresno Flats

As with other mining booms, the mines failed, and in 1881, the miners left, the towns declined and eventually disappeared. However, the old “French Trail” continued to be an important thoroughfare across the mountains used by livestock men driving their herds of cattle and sheep into the high mountains for summer grazing.

In the 1870’s Charlie and John Summers moved into this region and eventually purchased ranches in Long Valley, Bishop and the Mammoth Meadows. Charlie ranched along Laurel Creek and drove his cattle into Fish Creek for summer grazing. Charlie and his wife, Elizabeth, raised three sons, Lloyd, Len and “Young Charlie”. In 1911, Lloyd married Sybil McGee, daughter of early Long Valley pioneer cattleman, Alney McGee. The McGee ranch headquarters were on McGee Creek.

By 1915 or before, the Summers began packing in summer visitors to the magnificent backcountry lakes and streams. Mammoth Camp Pack Outfit was located in the Mammoth Meadows, below Mammoth Rock, and called Big Windy Flat by the early settlers. Early pack trips began at a big barn across the road from the Wildasin Hotel. In 1917, Charlie and Lloyd Summers purchased 160 acres of meadowland and the Wildasinn Hotel from Charlie Wildasinn who had homesteaded it. They constructed a beautiful new log hotel with additional guest cabins with logs cut from Twin Lakes.

The only road, at that time, into the Lakes basin was the original wagon road through Mammoth City to Pine City. The Summers established a corral on the south side of Lake Mary in a little meadow that was fenced. Horses and mules for pack trips could be trailed up the day prior to a trip and packers trailed sometimes twenty to thirty head of stock up the Old Mammoth Road from the meadows.

Pack trips traveled over Mammoth Pass via the Fresno Flats Trail to the pack station corrals near Red’s Meadow and the San Joaquin River. Other trips used the Duck Pass Trail to pack into the many lakes on the north side of the Pass. Trips then continued over the pass to Duck Lake, Purple Lake, Cascade Valley and Fish Creek.

There were ranches in the Mammoth Meadows, and one rancher, Tom Williams, drove his cattle over Mammoth Pass to Deer Creek for summer grazing. More summer cabins were built along Mammoth Creek and Charlie Summers established a store and a dairy there. The post office was in a corner of the store and Lloyd Summers was the postmaster. In 1919, the Forest Service announced plans to improve the old mining road to the lakes basin the following summer. The road from Mammoth Camp to Pine City would have no more than a 10% grade!

In 1923, there were still a dozen or so cabins standing in the mining town of Pine City just below Lake Mary. The old livery stable site of the Pine City Feed and Livery was part of the old town. Charlie Roberts began his pack station operation called Roberts Pack Train on this site and ran about 20 head of stock. He also had a corral at Pumice Flat on the San Joaquin River. He kept a pack of hounds for hunting bear and mountain lions.

In 1930, Roberts sold the pack station to a partnership of Don McGuffin, Ernie Smith, and Ed Brown. They called their station, Lake Mary Pack Train. In 1933, Don bought out his two partners. Included in the sale, were 58 horses and mules, 45 saddles and tack, 30 packsaddles and tack, and other packing and horse gear. The horses were branded Bar H on the left stifle. McGuffin worked at the Santa Anita Race Track during the winters.

Don McGuffin moved up several ranch buildings from the Bishop area in sections and put them back together again at the pack station. These were old ranch buildings that the Department of Water and Power of Los Angeles were going to destroy. As the City purchased Owens Valley ranches for their water rights, they often removed or burned the houses and barns as they did not want to become landlords. The kitchen (“cook shack”) and big saddle shed (barn) were two buildings that McGuffin moved to Lake Mary. The pack station buildings were located on the west side of the Lake Mary Road and across the little creek. Don had an office on the east side of the creek near the road and in 1934, he ran 45 head of stock.

McGuffin pioneered day ride trails to the top of Mammoth Mountain and to the top of Red Mountain where guests from the local lodges could ride horseback and admire the stunning views. This was long before there was a ski lift to the top of Mammoth Mountain.

By 1933 with a better road, the Mammoth Pack Outfit, owned by Lloyd Summers was now located across the road from the Lake Mary Pack Station. At this time, there were two pack stations across the road from each other and they both were busy! Lloyd Summers and his Mammoth Pack Outfit had established their pack station on the east side of the Lake Mary Road with cabins and corrals, and Don McGuffins’s Lake Mary Pack Train was on the west side of the road.

In 1937, a new Lake Mary Road location was established and construction begun. The new road was completed in 1939 providing easier access to the resorts in the Lakes Basin, but it by-passed the original Old Mammoth Road that steeply climbed up to the lakes basin and also the small community of Mammoth Camp. Those businesses had to move their establishments north to the new road to form a new community of Mammoth Lakes.

Lloyd Summers, the postmaster, had to move the post office to the new town. A building belonging to Summers was moved to that site to accommodate the post office. It served for many years and when the new post office was constructed in 1950, the old building was moved again and became the bunkhouse at the pack station where it stands today.

In 1932 Lloyd and Sybil Summers established the Red’s Meadow Pack Outfit. In 1933, Lloyd Summers advertised pack station locations at Mammoth Camp, Lake Mary, Red’s Meadow and Agnew Meadows. The outfit had been packing into Red’s Meadows and the San Joaquin River since 1915 and maintained a corral there. Lloyd’s brother, Charley and his family, managed the Agnew Meadows Pack Outfit. After a road was cut into Red’s Meadow, lumber was hauled down to the site and facilities begun. In 1935, Summers sold the Red’s Meadow Pack Station to Arch and Gladys Mahan while continuing to operate the other three outfits. Arch Mahan was a partner in the Mammoth Consolidated Mines that had recently ceased operations.

In 1939, Lloyd Summers purchased the Lake Mary Pack Station from McGuffin for $1,850.00 with $900.00 down. The bill of sale included 21 horses and mules, 2 cows, 35 saddles and tack, 20 packsaddles and gear, 1 corral and 3 cabins (1 was the barn). There were water rights also to Lake Mary and Cold Creek. Lloyd then merged the two stations into one, Mammoth Pack Outfit and moved their buildings to the west side of the road with the other pack station buildings. This is the present location of the pack station.

In 1940, Lloyd Summers advertised pack station locations, Mammoth Pack Outfit at Lake Mary and Mammoth Pack Outfit at Agnew Meadows. His brother Charley, still ran the pack outfit at Agnew Meadows, and Lloyd and Sybil and their three sons were at the Lake Mary outfit. During World War II, Lloyd’s two older sons served in the Service. Lee was stationed in Alaska and Verne was in the South Pacific. Lloyd and Sybil ran the pack station and on a busy August morning at 11:00 AM in 1945, as Lloyd was opening the dude horse corral gate and leading a horse, he suffered a fatal heart attack. Lee returned from Alaska and took over operation of the pack station the following season.

In 1946, the pack station was called, Summers’ Mammoth Lakes Pack Train. In 1946, Lee married Dorothy Douglas. Her father, Don Douglas, a teacher, packed at the station for a number of years. Lee’s son, Don, packed for his dad for several years and John Summers was born to Lee and Dorothy in 1950.

In 1954, Lee Summers had acquired a third interest in the Independence pasture lease called the Pool Field or the Tibault Lakes Field. The stock of three pack stations now wintered there: Mammoth Lakes Pack Outfit, Red’s Meadow Pack Station and Rock Creek Pack Station. Horse and mules were driven to and from the winter pasture. Mammoth Pack Outfit ran 80 head of stock, in 1957.

In 1952, a young Arizona cowboy, Lou Roeser, arrived at the pack station and was hired by Lee Summers for the summer packing season. Lou had run a dude string at a resort on Seeley Lake, Montana where he had been introduced to pack trips. He then worked on cattle ranches in Northern Arizona while attending the University of Arizona majoring in Animal Husbandry. After spring round up in 1952, he headed up Highway 395 toward eastern Oregon to find work on a cattle ranch. But, having heard about the Mammoth Lakes Pack Outfit and mule packing, when he reached the highway turnoff to Mammoth Lakes he decided to have a look at a High Sierra pack station. Little did he know then that he would spend the rest of his career packing in the Mammoth Lakes Sierra.