Old Henry the Mule
By Glynda Pflug
One of the books in our library, Snowstorms, Dust Storms, and Horses' Tails, was written by W. J. Morton Jr. His parents, W. J. and Laura Morton came to Moore County in 1902 to settle on land they had purchased the year before.
The Mortons had six children. W. J. Morton Jr. was the eldest. All the children attended the Palo Duro School, east of Dumas.
One of the mules on the farm was Old Henry. Henry was not an ordinary mule, but was one with a distinct personality.
The Morton book relates stories of the mule. "This old mule was quite a character as far as muleism went. He was all mule and nothing else. His one ambition in life was to do as he pleased and take care of Old Henry. That was his name. He didn't appreciate staying at home or anywhere else you wanted him to stay. There was always something better at home when he was away, or something better away from home when he was at home. The ordinary fence was no barrier for him; he could leap over it as agile as a deer. And if a neighbor's field was closeby, there is where you would find him."
"Another habit he had was getting into the barn. Well, it seems that mule was always hungry and he didn't appreciate any interference with his menu. He'd eat anything in the barn he could reach. You just as well not try to run him away empty handed. He would stand on his front feet, his head in that door eating, and kick in every direction. He seemed to have perpetual motion in those hind feet."
The mule and a little mare mule, Bird, were worked as a team. One day, the team was loaned to "a man by the name of Kerr, to go to Stratford" and work. "When we got up the next morning old Henry was standing in the lot with others eating his breakfast. Mr. Kerr borrowed a pony from someone and came in late that afternoon and there stood old Henry in the lot." Mr. Kerr was relieved to find the mule, "I'm sure glad to see that mule. I figured I'd just bought me a mule."
W. J. Jr. and Old Henry had their disagreements, but in order to get along with Old Henry, "you had to outwit him," according to the book. "I saddled that old mule up many times to go some place and never get there. Sometimes I'd get a few hundred yards from the gate and he would turn and go back and stand there until he made up his mind to move again. Maybe this time I would get half a mile or perhaps a mile away before he decided he'd gone far enough and turn around and go back home. I've fooled him with a quarter of a day, to wind up at the lot gate from where I started."
Farm chores were mostly done by the children and being the eldest, W. J. Jr., was sent to the fields to plow. He relates his experiences with plowing and "Old Henry."
Old Henry was determined to prove he was the "boss." "Dad decided one morning I was old enough to go to plowing. He told me to harness Old Henry and hitch him to the Georgia Stock and plow the orchard. He caught his horse and left. Old Henry had just as many scruples about pulling my plow as he did about taking me some place in the saddle. I got along fine until I got in the orchard. I reckon that old mule thought I was awful tired by that time and it seemed that he was also, for right there he stood on three feet at the end of the row and rested. I tried everything I could think of to move that mule." Nothing seemed to make much difference to Old Henry. But, he would start moving and "walk just as nice and I'd think was doing a first rate job of plowing. Before I knew it, he would turn around and drag me and that plow back to the other end and take his stand. Now and then, we could get all the way across the orchard."
Frustrated, W. J. stopped the plowing for a little while and went to the house for water. His mother asked him how the plowing was. The response was, "I had a pretty good little plow, and would be all all right if I had a mule to go with it."
The Mortons had six children. W. J. Morton Jr. was the eldest. All the children attended the Palo Duro School, east of Dumas.
One of the mules on the farm was Old Henry. Henry was not an ordinary mule, but was one with a distinct personality.
The Morton book relates stories of the mule. "This old mule was quite a character as far as muleism went. He was all mule and nothing else. His one ambition in life was to do as he pleased and take care of Old Henry. That was his name. He didn't appreciate staying at home or anywhere else you wanted him to stay. There was always something better at home when he was away, or something better away from home when he was at home. The ordinary fence was no barrier for him; he could leap over it as agile as a deer. And if a neighbor's field was closeby, there is where you would find him."
"Another habit he had was getting into the barn. Well, it seems that mule was always hungry and he didn't appreciate any interference with his menu. He'd eat anything in the barn he could reach. You just as well not try to run him away empty handed. He would stand on his front feet, his head in that door eating, and kick in every direction. He seemed to have perpetual motion in those hind feet."
The mule and a little mare mule, Bird, were worked as a team. One day, the team was loaned to "a man by the name of Kerr, to go to Stratford" and work. "When we got up the next morning old Henry was standing in the lot with others eating his breakfast. Mr. Kerr borrowed a pony from someone and came in late that afternoon and there stood old Henry in the lot." Mr. Kerr was relieved to find the mule, "I'm sure glad to see that mule. I figured I'd just bought me a mule."
W. J. Jr. and Old Henry had their disagreements, but in order to get along with Old Henry, "you had to outwit him," according to the book. "I saddled that old mule up many times to go some place and never get there. Sometimes I'd get a few hundred yards from the gate and he would turn and go back and stand there until he made up his mind to move again. Maybe this time I would get half a mile or perhaps a mile away before he decided he'd gone far enough and turn around and go back home. I've fooled him with a quarter of a day, to wind up at the lot gate from where I started."
Farm chores were mostly done by the children and being the eldest, W. J. Jr., was sent to the fields to plow. He relates his experiences with plowing and "Old Henry."
Old Henry was determined to prove he was the "boss." "Dad decided one morning I was old enough to go to plowing. He told me to harness Old Henry and hitch him to the Georgia Stock and plow the orchard. He caught his horse and left. Old Henry had just as many scruples about pulling my plow as he did about taking me some place in the saddle. I got along fine until I got in the orchard. I reckon that old mule thought I was awful tired by that time and it seemed that he was also, for right there he stood on three feet at the end of the row and rested. I tried everything I could think of to move that mule." Nothing seemed to make much difference to Old Henry. But, he would start moving and "walk just as nice and I'd think was doing a first rate job of plowing. Before I knew it, he would turn around and drag me and that plow back to the other end and take his stand. Now and then, we could get all the way across the orchard."
Frustrated, W. J. stopped the plowing for a little while and went to the house for water. His mother asked him how the plowing was. The response was, "I had a pretty good little plow, and would be all all right if I had a mule to go with it."