40 Mule Team Borax

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Sunday, February 28. 2016

From the driver's seat of a 40 mule team. These rigs were used to haul Borax out of Boron Ca. & then loaded onto railroads for manufacturing. All this so you could do the laundry!

Nowadays, it's 20 Mule Team Borax.

Well, maybe 40 mules = one twenty-mule team. I knew a mule once, named Charlie. He did not like to follow commands. An Irishman I knew walked up and told me to learn how to gain respect from a mule, and gave Charlie a left hook in the face along with a harsh talking-to. Mule remained a bit more docile for a few hours. Main thing with mules is that they have to be tired out - and do not feed them oats. Anyway, I do not mess with mules anymore.

Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 19:53 | Comments (14) | Trackbacks (0)

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The TV series (with Rnald Reagan) was 20 mule team.

#1 bob sykes on 2016-02-28 20:23 (Reply)

If you're not the lead mule the view never changes.

Death Valley Days

Mules can be stubborn and will kick. It can be a killing blow. They are smarter than horses; they will not work themselves to death like their equine kin.

I've know several mules, some bipedal.

#2 tennesseered on 2016-02-28 20:55 (Reply)

The view kinda reminds me of the Senate Democrats.

#3 mike m on 2016-02-28 20:59 (Reply)

Please don't insult those hard-working, Borax-hauling mules.

#3.1 Gringo on 2016-02-28 21:21 (Reply)

I reckon that was replaced by the railroad.

#4 chasmatic (Link) on 2016-02-28 21:36 (Reply)

Charlie! That was the name of my boss in Montana that I wrangled for. We had a big razorback mule named buck. Once Buck didn't want to be loaded, he kept dancing around the tree we had him tied to. Well Charlie walked up and slapped Buck in the side of the head, Buck with his front hoof lashed out and knocked Charlie cold. It was fast as lighting. I had never seen anything like it and obviously neither had Charlie.

#5 James on 2016-02-28 21:50 (Reply)

My Dad had a model of a mule train when I was a kid. It's probably still in his back room of stuff he's been sorting through for the past score years.

#6 Mark on 2016-02-28 23:59 (Reply)

I had one of those models myself in the mid 50's. It was a cheap plastic kind of off-green color I think. I remember I wanted to paint it but my mother vetoed that idea.

#6.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2016-02-29 20:44 (Reply)

I visited the Borax works near Death Valley last year while on holiday in the US. Very impressive! I suspect the use of mules vs. rail was because of the location; much easier to get mules into these areas. Also, trains are rather limited with regards to inclines/declines which mules can more easily overcome. When I asked about why horses were not used, I was told mules are stronger, can deal better with the heat and don't founder they way horses do (something to do with eating habits) and work better in large groups.

#7 Karl Horst (Germany) on 2016-02-29 06:07 (Reply)

“A mule will labor ten years willingly and patiently for you, for the privilege of kicking you once. ”
William Faulkner

I have 2 mules, possibly to become 3 soon, and have had the pleasure of working with 5 different mules. They are all different in personality and temperment (just like people).

What people describe as stubbornness is just the ability to decide whether doing something benefits the mule himself.
The easiest horses to train are the dumb ones, the smart ones spend all their time trying to get OUT of doing what you want them to do.

With donkeys, you ask them to do something, with horses you tell them. With mules you negotiate.

#8 fjord on 2016-02-29 07:16 (Reply)

Somebody recommended a light snow of borax scuffed into and just left in the carpet to kill fleas. I did this once in the 80s and haven't had a flea since. Apparently the crystals puncture the flea shells and they die.

The safety sheet on borax isn't very encouraging so use your own judgment.

#9 rhhardin (Link) on 2016-02-29 10:16 (Reply)

diatomaceous earth does the same thing.

I put some in the soil when I plant squash and a few other crops to keep the vine boring insects away.

#9.1 fjord on 2016-02-29 10:23 (Reply)

I thought this was between Barstow and Mojave California, off CA 58, not in Death Valley hundreds of miles to the North. It's not far from Edwards Air Force Base either.

There's a museum in Boron, CA about this, but I haven't visited.

#10 Whitehall on 2016-02-29 18:15 (Reply)

Grandpa always warned me that a horse is more likely to kick than a mule, but the mule is more likely to score if he does kick.

Put a horse in a trailer and send him off down the road. If there's an accident, and the horse gets hurt, for the rest of his life, he'll remember that he got hurt in a trailer, and he'll never trust another trailer

A mule, in the same circumstances? For the rest of his life, he'll remember who put him in that trailer, and will never forgive you for it.

#11 Retired Spook on 2016-03-02 20:00 (Reply)

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Sunday, February 28. 2016

40 Mule Team Borax