Me and the Mule

I was searching through my mother Marion Deaver’s files, trying to find something to write about. Those of you who read my column know the drill – I dig, I find a nugget, and I get on with writing about my mother’s writings.

But I have to tell you the pickings are starting to get slim. I still have a load of files about Tropico Gold Mine and the Kern-Antelope Historical Society, but I try to vary the articles and locations that I choose to write about.

I went through some of the historical society’s bulletins and found a memory written by Clarence Gerblick, published in the bulletin in April of 1962. I remember Clarence and he was a very nice older man. He also showed me respect as the 12 year old I was and always spoke to me, I liked that.

He titled his memory “Me and the Mule.” “Stubborn as a Mule is an old and well known saying,” he explained, but added that he found them to be “very amiable, intelligent, and willing.”

In his dealings with mules he explained that he did not want to discredit the horse, which “is a noble animal,” but he saw the mule as better for the long hauls with heavy equipment, in road grading and in land leveling.

He wrote the article, he said, to demonstrate the important part the mule played in hauling equipment that helped construct the Los Angeles Aqueduct “more than 50 years ago.” (1910)

Most of the hauling was done by twenty mule teams, pulling two large wagons, which were loaded with approximately six tons of materials or equipment.

Many of us are familiar with the famous 20 Mule Team Wagons of the U.S. Borax Mine. That team was seen in the Rose Parade a few weeks ago.

Gerblick spent several paragraphs explaining how the mule team worked and was connected. But I especially liked how he wrote about the “mule skinner.” All the mules were given names, such as Blacky, June, Fred, Dolly, etc. He noted that some other names would not be suitable in print.

All the mules seemed to know their own names and responded to the mule skinner’s commands or complaints. He added that the mule skinners were credited for adding some very colorful language of the day. (He gave no examples!)

Gerblick’s first introduction to the mule was when he was hired to work in one of the water tunnels of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The tunnel was 10 feet high by 10 feet wide and 2,100 deep. His duties were to hook up a mule to a car pulled by the mule to the outside for loading on to heavier equipment.

His mule’s name was Jerry, he said, and explained that after Jerry took stock of him for the first two days, that they became fast friends. One reason for that might have been that Gerblick arrived early before his shift and after he placed the harness on Jerry he always had a carrot or cookie for the mule. He also said that every day Jerry would wait at the corral and see him coming.

Jerry also loved chewing tobacco and would sidle up to any of the men who were taking out a plug and they would cut him a piece, which “he chewed with relish!”

His other experience with mules came when he was transferred to a site near Little Lake. He had a team of 10 mules which were attached to a scraper know as a Fresno. The mules were “high spirited.” Another man emptied the load. If a root or rock got in the way of loading the mules would rear up and anger the Irish man doing the loading. One day he yelled at Gerblick, grabbed the reins and was going to show the 17-year-old how it was done. Of course he hit a rock, the mules reared up and the Irishman was dragged 10 feet before he got the mules to stop! From then on the Irishman and Gerblick were best friends.

Gerblick said he was proud to have worked on the Aqueduct and was there in 1912 when the water came down the spillway in the San Fernando Valley, signaling its completion.

He praised the mule for its work in the completion of the Aqueduct, and how faithfully they performed.