American mule museum “The story of the mule” (стр. 4 )

Outdoor Exhibit – Replica of a packing dock and pack shed, tie rack etc. that can also be used for live demonstrations of packing with various pack saddles and hitches.

Sierra Club Summer Outings

The Sierra Club formed in 1892, began the summer Outings pack trips in 1902. The popular trips grew to accommodate over 300 participants and crew. It took as many as 250 mules to move camp to various locations during each summer’s outing.

Exhibit 1 - Photos, texts, maps of various routes, camping locations and year dates, camping gear, stoves and tents. The story of the large “stove mules” string and the large stoves especially created for these trips will add interest to display.

Exhibit 2 – Ike Livermore and Mt. Whitney Pack Trains

John Muir’s Trips in the Sierra

John Muir was the first president of the Sierra Club, but prior to this he had worked in Yosemite Valley as a guide, carpenter, sawmill operator and before that as a sheepherder. In his early years in Yosemite, his favorite animal was his mule, “Brownie” who accompanied him on a 6 week exploration of the Sierra Nevada. John Muir guided President Theodore Roosevelt on his introductory pack trip to Yosemite Valley.

Exhibit - John Muir photo on “Brownie” or similar mule, and quotes from his writings, with a similar saddle that he would have used will tell the story.

U. S. Forest Service and U. S. Park Service

The National Forest Service was created in 1908 and the National Park Service in 1916. Pack mules were used to construct and maintain trails, bridges, fire suppression, build roads and other amenities.

Exhibit 1 – Building the John Muir Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail in the Sierra Nevada - maps, photos, tools, special pack equipment and the history of the trails in text

Exhibit 2 - Forest Service pack strings supplying fire fighting crews. Photo back drop of crews on the trail and in-action fighting fire and trail building and repair with real pack saddle, tools and special pack equipment, human litter carrier, and fire fighting equipment in foreground.

Exhibit 3 –Portrays the history of the Mt. Whitney Trail, construction, major repairs and rebuilding of the Mt. Whitney Trail. Include building of the rock hut at the summit of Mt. Whitney. Photographs, old equipment used, map, newspaper stories about the completion of the trail. Photo mural background of trail, pack and saddle mules.

Exhibit 4 – Building bridges – packing bridge materials. Audio tape of park service packer, Earl McKee, humorously telling about building seven bridges in Sequoia - Kings Canyon National Parks can be incorporated adding live ambiance. Photos and stories of mule strings crossing bridges, suspension bridges and sheep crossings.

U. S. Army Patrols the National Parks

In the National Parks in the Sierra Nevada (Yosemite, Sequoia, Devil’s Post Pile), the U. S. Army originally patrolled the parks and built many of the trails before the Park Service was created and took over the administration of these Parks. A Black Cavalry Troop traveling by horseback with mule pack train from San Francisco Presidio, patrolled Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks during this early period.

Exhibit 1 - Photos and drawings of the great mule barns built by the Army – for example Wawona in Yosemite. Photos of Black Calvary Troop on patrol.

Exhibit 2 - Trail building in Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park by the U. S. Army, for example - Army Pass. A description and maps of some of the trails built by these troops and the blazes they cut on trees to mark the routes will further tell the story.

Story of Horace M. Albright, 2nd Chief of the Park Service

Albright was born in Bishop, CA, the son of a miner, and his story will celebrate a local VIP. Story of the Stephen Mather Pack Trip, written by Albright, where ideas for creating the National Park Service were formulated would be featured.

Exhibit - The book tells the story and there are photographs of that trip and quotes from Albright that can be incorporated into the display.

Fish Planting in Sierra lakes and streams

When the California Department of Fish and Game was established, the department constructed fish hatcheries, such as the Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery, for stocking the local lakes and streams with trout. Mule strings led by competent packers carried specially constructed fish cans that contained small trout for planting into the high mountain lakes. Golden trout lay their eggs in the high Cottonwood Lakes and department crews had to catch and “milk” spawning trout for their eggs. The eggs were carefully packed in cans back to the fish hatchery to hatch and grow to a suitable size for planting.

Exhibit - There will be a life size display of an aparejo pack saddle and fish cans for transporting fish by mule back, and other artifacts used. Large mural photo will depict the terrain. Paintings and photos of species of trout planted will be included.

Mule Days Celebration Story

Mule Days, from a modest start in 1969, has grown to be the largest event in the Eastern Sierra and has generated interest in mules across the country, with people acquiring and breeding mules for riding, packing, driving and showing.

Exhibit - An outline of the history of Mule Days will be shown through photos, artifacts, text and film. There will be acknowledgement of honoraries, awards and dignitaries (photo of Governor Ronald Reagan riding a mule in the parade as Grand Marshall) and a list of the Hall of Fame Mules, trophies and their photos.

MULES IN TODAY’S WORLD

U. S. Forest Service and Park Service

In the West today, the U. S. Forest Service and Park Service manage huge areas of mountainous terrain. Within the Sierra Nevada mountain range alone, the Forest and Park Services have many hundreds of miles of wilderness trails to maintain in addition to stewardship of a vast wilderness area. Forest Service and Park Service saddle and pack mules are on the trail half of the year packing supplies, equipment and personnel for many varied activities such as trail and bridge construction and maintenance, fire suppression, stream rehabilitation and administration.

Exhibit - A backdrop mural scene of mule pack strings carrying a complete component of fire suppression equipment along with trail building equipment, tools, bridge timbers, pumps, compressors, generators, chain saws and camp gear. A diorama would display men, mules and equipment in action in the foreground.

Commercial Recreational Pack Station

Commercial pack stations provide riding and packing, transportation, guiding and public access to the wilderness and road less areas in the Sierra and throughout the west. Camping trips are arranged for fishing, hunting, youth, educational, church groups, photography and natural history activities These pack stations provide transportation and access to people who could not enjoy this wilderness experience without assistance, the young, the elderly, physically handicapped, families and people who enjoy riding in the Sierra and having their camp gear packed in for them on pack mules.

Exhibit - A large mural of Sierra Wilderness scenes of lakes and streams with people camping, fishing, observing wildlife, taking photos, with mule pack strings and saddle animals in the foreground, with a life-size saddled mule waiting for you to mount and ride off into the wonders of the High Sierra. Adjacent to this scene the visitor would find a large picturesque map of the Sierra Nevada showing the locations of pack stations providing access for the public to their wilderness treasures.

Back Country Horsemen of America

The Back Country Horsemen use and depend on many pack and saddle mules and are great advocates of back country wilderness areas. Every year individually and collectively Back Country Horsemen maintain and reconstruct many miles of wilderness trails.

Exhibit - The mural of a wilderness scene of mountain and forest with life-size figures of back country horsemen on foot clearing trail by cutting down timber with a two-man saw, a man with mule in harness dragging down timber off the trail and yet another Back Country Horseman building a water bar to prevent trail erosion.

Recreation/Pleasure Use - Nationwide and Abroad

Public interest in mules has spread across the country and abroad as more people have discovered the unique qualities of the mule in many varied venues such as pleasure riding, packing, driving, show completion, halter, jumping, dressage, and racing.

Exhibit - A varied mural with a collection of photos, drawings and paintings of mules engaged in all their varied activities, including carrying a handicapped child for a ride and a Wounded Warrior trail ride.

Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center

In 1957, the army officially deactivated the last two operational mule units at Ft. Carson, Colorado. However in 1952, during the Korean Conflict, the U. S. Marine Corps established the Marine Corps Mountain Training Center northwest of Bridgeport, California, on Sonora Pass. In the 1980s, the Marine Corps added a packing operation and course. The base currently has about 40 mules and has added donkeys for training troops in the use of pack animals before deploying to Afghanistan.

Exhibit - The exhibit will entail a diorama of a packed mule and marine packer with military ordinance in a warzone setting with a background mural of the high Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan.

The 100 Year Celebration of the Completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct (2013)

The ‘100 Mules Walking the Los Angeles Aqueduct’ celebration honored the contribution of the mule in providing the mule power in building the aqueduct. One hundred mules walked the length of the aqueduct from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles. The expedition was over a twenty eight day period with varies dignitaries riding over parts of the route. The 100 Mule Walk arrived in Glendale and participated in the Veterans Day Parade through downtown Glendale arriving the next day at Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

Exhibit – Photos, video film showings and displays of the 100 Mule trek along the aqueduct, participating in the Glendale Veterans Day Parade, and the big Celebration in Los Angeles, and telling the story of Los Angeles’ growth after receiving water from the Sierra Nevada/Owens Valley.

Mule Days Celebration

Mule Days and the American Mule Museum can work together through the museum and surrounding fairground facilities throughout the entire year enabling the public to get to know and experience man’s unsung hero the American Mule.

Exhibit – The Mule Days exhibit would have a collage mural background depicting the varied activities, mules and people who over the years have created the Mule Days Celebration to become a world renowned event. There would be a life-size photo of Governor Ronald Reagan as Grand Marshal riding the classic, stocking legged mule “Jeannie” in the 1974 Mule Days Parade.