Southeast Missouri man records stories of area mule teams

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Southeast Missouri farmers watching the price of fuel tick higher may want to think about an alternative power source -- the mule team. It's not a bad idea said Lonny Thiele, author of a new book about mules and those who farmed with them.

Even the title of Thiele's book -- "That Son of a Gun Had Sense: Mule Stories for the Bootheel Area during the 1930s, 1940s Era," reflects his admiration for the mule.

Thiele said until he began researching his book, he never realized how smart mules are. Time and again, those he interviewed would relate stories of the skills the mules could master or how a mule could outsmart its owner.

According to Thiele, 70 years ago there were more than 26,000 mules in the three Bootheel counties of Dunklin, New Madrid and Pemiscot. As more farmers could afford tractors in the 1950s, the use of mules diminished -- but their fame remained.

"Where there was a mule there is a good story," said Thiele.

Released last November, Thiele's book includes more than 90 of these mule stories as told by the men and women who farmed with them not only in the Bootheel but neighboring counties and even reached into Arkansas.

Thiele is a Missouri Press Association and AP award-winning reporter who worked with the Daily American Republic in Poplar Bluff from 1995 to 2004 who developed his book while he was covering agricultural news for the paper. It was then he realized there were a lot of stories that people had about farming with the animals, perhaps better known for being stubborn.

As he researched, Thiele said the book began to evolve as those he interviewed would suggest another person. He soon found himself with some 80 interviews.

While many people had mule stories, Thiele said he limited his book to those who actually farmed with mules. Typically those he interviewed recalled being 7 or 8 years old when they began plowing with the mules while their fathers did the planting.

"One of biggest surprises was how young they were when they worked with mules. At least half were under 10 and some were as young as 5. These kids walked behind the mules all day long when harrowing or cultivating corn. They probably walked 25 to 30 miles a day," he said.

Thiele found many a good storyteller as he conducted his interviews.

"A lot of the people were good but the people who loved mules had the best stories to tell," the author noted. "I could tell within five minutes if they liked mules."

Written in a conversational style, each storyteller has a brief biography in the book on their connection to farming and mules. While most were one-on-one interviews, Thiele said a few submitted stories to him.

He said the stories surprised him by the skills possessed by the animals.

There are stories of how some individuals taught their mules to respond to voice commands. He relates the story of the brothers who could sit on their front porch and shout to the mules to move forward or back to complete the needed tasks.

Others told him how when working in teams, the mules communicated with each other. Also there are stories of mules that worked so well in tandem, they would learn how to make use of each other's strengths to get a job done.

Louis Jones of rural New Madrid recalled a "fine little team" he used to plant 10 acres of cotton a day. It is a story his son, Tony Jones, has heard as well and is pleased to have included in the book.

"That is four generations back, close to 80 years," said Tony Jones. "Who else knows about ... how this great country was developed. They did it with mules and hand labor."

Self-published, Thiele worked with Stinson Press to print the first 500 books. He explained he decided he had to pick up the pace to get the book in print because some of his older sources had already died.

So far the response is favorable and he is already preparing for a second printing.

"It has been out since November and I haven't found anything close to what I have done," said Thiele.

Copies of the book can be purchased at Hastings book store in Poplar Bluff or by mailing $25 (includes tax and shipping) to POB 884, Poplar Bluff, MO 63902 or phone Thiele at 573-686-7780.