American Mule Museum Bishop, CA

05/02/2026

Hello mule fans!
As we approach the 56th annual Bishop Mule Days Celebration, May 19-24th, we are looking for history buffs, mule fans or anyone with a love of the west to volunteer as docents for our Mule Museum exhibit at the Laws Museum in Bishop, California.
We need volunteers throughout the year particularly during busy times.
Our need is for individuals to share stories or interpret the exhibit and maybe do a little bit of dusting from time to time!

You can leave a message here or email: [email protected] to learn more.

Thank you! And heres’s to the legacy of our beloved American mules!

04/06/2026

A tremendous display and revival of history!

“We're pleased to announce the official opening of our restored 20 Mule Team wagon display. The project was a joint effort between our employees, contractors, retirees, and community members.

It's dedicated to Bobby Tanner, the last muleskinner for U.S. Borax, who passed away in June 2024. You can visit this amazing piece of history at the our Visitor Center.

Learn more about the project: https://bit.ly/47IY2Nc

In the photos: Marybeth Garrison, Bo Tanner, Claudia Tanner, James Low, and members of the Clampers”

11/09/2025

We will not forget

10/27/2025

Love this!

10/27/2025

Happy National Mule Day!

On this day in 1785, the jack "Royal Gift" arrived in Boston Harbor. A gift from the Spanish King Charles III to General Washington, this jack became the start of the great American mule!

📸: photography

07/06/2025

Shabbat Shalom 🇮🇱🇺🇸

In 1912, Jewish pioneers in the Jezreel Valley faced a challenge: how to plow fields that were dry, hard, and unforgiving.
So they wrote a letter to the Jewish community of Utica, New York.

What did they ask for?
🫏 𝐀 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐞.

The American donors went one better.

They sent two mules 🫏 🫏
and a plow,
all the way to the Land of Israel.

The gift arrived with a brass nameplate engraved:
“From the Jews of Utica to the Jews of Yavniel.”

For years, those mules helped plow the fields of the Galilee, and went on to become local legends. One even earned the name 'Uncle Sam'.

It was a small gift, but one that helped feed a community and connected two Jewish communities across an ocean.

🇺🇸 On this July 4th , we salute those bonds that tied American Jews to the Land of Israel, long before we hada state.

At SPIHS, we protect the heritage sites that hold stories like this, because every plow, every path, and every plaque has a story worth telling.

to our friends across the ocean.
Thank you for your love and support to this day. 🇺🇸 🤝 🇮🇱
Shabbat shalom to one and all.

📸Ploughing the fields in the Jezreel Valley, 1920s. Credit: Zoltan Kluger on WikiCommons.

@עוקבים
Jewish National Fund - USA

In 1912, Jewish pioneers in the Jezreel Valley faced a challenge: how to plow fields that were dry, hard, and unforgiving.
So they wrote a letter to the Jewish community of Utica, New York.

What did they ask for?
🫏 𝐀 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐞.

The American donors went one better.

They sent two mules 🫏 🫏
and a plow,
all the way to the Land of Israel.

The gift arrived with a brass nameplate engraved:
“From the Jews of Utica to the Jews of Yavniel.”

For years, those mules helped plow the fields of the Galilee, and went on to become local legends. One even earned the name 'Uncle Sam'.

It was a small gift, but one that helped feed a community and connected two Jewish communities across an ocean.

🇺🇸 On this July 4th , we salute those bonds that tied American Jews to the Land of Israel, long before we hada state.

At SPIHS, we protect the heritage sites that hold stories like this, because every plow, every path, and every plaque has a story worth telling.

to our friends across the ocean.
Thank you for your love and support to this day. 🇺🇸 🤝 🇮🇱
Shabbat shalom to one and all.

📸Ploughing the fields in the Jezreel Valley, 1920s. Credit: Zoltan Kluger on WikiCommons.

@עוקבים
Jewish National Fund - USA

06/23/2025

Boneco the world's first beekeeping donkey has his own suit to protect him from stings

04/13/2025

This Team and Driver were Legendary in our Parts....William Arcularius (aka Alkali Bill), settled in Round Valley in 1872. His Team consisted of eighteen mules and two horses. His lead mules, Rose and Mary, were his pride and joy. He began his freighting career transporting supplies to and from Bodie.
To learn more visit our exhibit at the Laws Musuem in Bishop ~
(Lu Arcularius Weaver)

04/04/2025

Got your tickets yet? We do! Can't wait to see you there!

03/24/2025

MULE TRAIN, 1869 (really early for a Montana photo). Fort Benton was the world’s innermost port. In 1869, 42 boats docked, sometimes carrying 600,000+ pounds of cargo. Teamsters would haul goods north to Canada and south to the gold fields of Bannack, Virginia City, and Helena.

Hugh Kirkendall’s Fast Freight mule teams were photographed at Prickly Pear Canyon north of Helena. The mule skinner rode the left wheel horse, immediately in front of the tandem wagons. He directed the lead team with a long jerkline (rein). Until the railroads could provide less costly transportation, supplies in Montana typically cost 2–3 times more than in eastern cities. Text and a bit of Photoshop restoration by Gary Coffrin.

- Additional Information -
In 1870, Corrine, Utah, became the freight transfer point of the new Union Pacific Railroad for most goods entering Montana. Corrine was described as a “Bullwagon Metropolis” because of its shipping activity.

Bulltrains might take three months for the roundtrip from Utah to Helena on the Montana Trail, and mule teams might average five weeks. The Utah and Northern Railway reached Butte in December 1881 and the Northern Pacific entered Eastern Montana by 1880, bringing more White people and lowering the cost of goods.

The photograph was by Bundy & Train of Helena. Edgar H. Train (1831-1899) and Oliver C. Bundy (1827-1891) were among the earliest photographers who stayed in Montana. My source file was at the Library of Congress. The Helena Independent Record had access to a better print, but erroneously identified the mule teams as those of Charles Broadwater's Diamond R freighting company.