Mules are being used to carry supplies into western North Carolina

[Jilly_in_VA]

After Helene isolated western North Carolina communities with landslides, flash flooding and road damage, good Samaritans have had to find creative ways to bring in much-needed supplies.

In addition to aircraft drops by military and civilian pilots, mule packers are using the animals to walk supplies into mountainous communities.

"Mules and equipment are loaded, and the first big batch of supplies has been purchased and loaded," the Mountain Mule Packer Ranch posted on Facebook Monday. "We have two fully loaded trucks and 20' stock trailers heading to WNC for assistance!"

"We will be setting up a staging area and beginning to assist this afternoon," they wrote on Monday, "and will be bringing up additional loads of supplies once mules are in place!"

The Mountain Mule Packer Ranch partnered with the Cajun Navy, another group of civilian volunteers, to deliver insulin to a family on Monday, according to their Facebook posts.

https://www.wbir.com/article/weather/hurricane/helene/mules-north-carolina-helene-supplies/275-c934fd50-5a72-4178-9ee5-1167ab618238

Mules are sure-footed and very, very smart. Go to the site for pictures of the operation. Bless these civilian volunteers!

[FirstLight]

1. We donated...

This is amazing, we saw it yesterday and sent some support.

[Tree Lady]

8. My daughters best friend asked for help

and said her friend in NC was volunteering where she lived and needed supplies from Amazon sent to her to bring. I ordered a bunch of them and they got there yesterday. I assume she is not in a disaster area but close enough to help out.

I love how we all come together but wish it didn't take bad things. This is my republican daughter and her best friend is major maga. She knows I am very progressive and doesn't really like me, I wanted to show her that my side has kindness to all. I could have donated anywhere but purposely did through her Amazon link.

[calimary]

10. Well, that's just what Democrats do.

WE are the ones with heart. Republicans are the ones with cold hard cash instead of a heart.

[NJCher]

2. will they be delivering

Last edited Thu Oct 3, 2024, 06:55 PM - Edit history (1)

all those "vote North Carolina" postcards I wrote?

Seriously, how are these people going to vote? I think by Nov 4 they will have come up with something.

I heard Joe on TV yesterday expressing frustration at how to get supplies to some areas. He said no matter where you turned, there was something that prevented it.

If you click the pictures link at the Mountain Mule Packer Facebook site, you can see what he's talking about. There's one picture where the roadway (?) is so blocked that it requires multiple forms of equipment, lots of people, and time.

What a complex problem. If you look at the pictures of the mules, you just want to hug these heroes.

[mucholderthandirt]

21. Governor Cooper is working on it. Right now, he wants to get people safe, fed,, comforted and whatever else they need.

Once the worse needs are met, getting voting places set up and people transported there will be doable.

Honestly, I'm in shock over the whole thing. That storm should have come up the coast and wiped our area out (northern Piedmont), That left turn was not what I expected. My heart is hurting for all the people who are going through this.

[sheshe2]

3. A huge thank you to both these groups.

The Mountain Mule Packer Ranch partnered with the Cajun Navy.

[GopherGal]

4. It's inspiring, but at the same time a little disheartening.

Inspiring: people's resourcefulness in times of need.

Disheartening: That the transport in these areas have been thrust 100 years into the past.

[Mr.Bill]

7. Sometimes in the 1800s, the Pony Express

delivered mail from San Francisco to Los Angeles faster than the current Post office does.

[Lifeafter70]

28. That is so true

Paid for my car tags in June, registration expired in July. Still hadn't received them by September 1st so went to DMV and got them. Well they arrived today postmarked June 24th. Now I have an extra set of tags lol.

[misanthrope]

11. A lot of us, maybe most, don't realize

how thin the veneer of modern civilization actually is.

[Mr.Bill]

13. Not only thin,

it's invisible. Just consider where we would be without electricity. Even modern cars would not exist without it.

[soandso]

27. You got that right

and what a scary thought that is.

[Hekate]

12. I find it wonderful when people rediscover and use the old ways when in need

We only think we have “conquered Nature.” In reality, Nature keeps telling us we have not.

[misanthrope]

16. Nature created us

It will do with us as it wishes.

[Hekate]

18. I have watched wildfires lash California's Central Coast many times in my decades here...

I have pondered our fate from many angles. Fire is an elemental force, and to watch it is to understand why the ancients saw it as a living being, the manifestation of a god.

To watch it destroy forests and chaparral is terrifying — but in the end they will renew themselves. Life wants to live. First the wildflowers will spring from the ashes, the ones called fire-followers…

But to watch wildfire sweep through what we think of as our space, to endure road closures and the myriad other things we cannot live without, is not only to fear personal loss and death, but to be reminded of how easily (oh, how easily) the works of humanity could be swept away from this very long and beautiful coastline.

But Life wants to live… and whoever remains alive, will return.

[misanthrope]

19. "Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

We are transitory.

Remember the old History Channel series "Life After People"?

[Hekate]

20. Exactly

I missed ever seeing the History Channel, but that sounds good. During the Covid shutdown, some wildlife made a comeback. I was particularly impressed by the news that the canals of Venice Italy cleaned and cleared themselves, to the extent that dolphins returned.

[PufPuf23]

23. I cannot be as positive and romantic about the future of California Forests.

The trend is for more oak-woodland and chaparral at lower elevations and higher elevation forests with skeletal soils becoming permanent brush fields from repeated burns. Coast redwoods in the river bottoms will be most resistant to climate change.

[twodogsbarking]

5. WW1

Mules were a vital part of the Allied war effort in World War I, serving in a variety of roles to transport men, equipment, and supplies:
Carrying heavy loads: Mules were strong and sure-footed, able to carry heavy loads over long distances. They were used to transport ammunition and supplies across difficult terrain, including the rough desert of Sinai and Palestine.
Moving tanks: Mules were used to move fuel and ammunition for tanks, a new weapon in the war.
Feeding troops: Mules delivered supplies, including hot meals, to troops in the trenches.
Maneuvering in difficult terrain: Mules were able to maneuver easily on the war-torn landscape of the Western Front.
Withstanding harsh conditions: Mules were hardy and could endure the rigors of the campaign. They could even subsist on vegetation when grain and hay was not available.
Recovering quickly: Mules could recover from intense exertions quickly.
The Midwest became the supply hub for horses and mules, with Lathrop, Missouri serving as the center for British purchases.
More than 8 million horses, mules, and donkeys died in the war. Only about 60,000 horses survived the war, and a fraction of those made it back

[Wounded Bear]

17. WWII as well...

Mules were used extensively in Italy and in SE Asia/Burma campaigns. In terrain where even the most nimble vehicles can't go, mules will.

[Farmer-Rick]

6. Mules are hardy animals

They are a good choice for this mountain terrain and are more sure footed than horses. Oxen are also a good hardy choice. They are a good choice for more slippery ground. The clay around here turns as slippery as soap when wet.

[calimary]

9. Back to basics!

[dobleremolque]

14. Wouldn't it be great if those hardy pack mules were the symbol of

some organization that is out to help people in distress and work to better their lives, as well as make for a better world? Or do you think maybe the elephant? Nah. I'll go with the mule.

[cstanleytech]

15. Finally!! A job all of the Republicans in office are qualified for as they are all jackass's.

[Skittles]

22. that's cool!

[PufPuf23]

24. HUMBOLDT HISTORY: Trains of Pack Mules Run By Famous Muleteers Opened Up the Humboldt Interior for Mining and Settlement

Last edited Sat Oct 5, 2024, 03:30 PM - Edit history (1)

https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2023/aug/12/humboldt-history-trains-mules-opened-humboldt-inte/

My family came to the interior Klamath mountains between the mid 1850s and 1880, during the gold rush era. My parents were both born and lived before there were even wagon roads. I am not NA. For reference, the area is inland from Redwood National Park and the Yurok and Hupa Reservations, Karuk country.

The first picture is a Brizard's mule train in Orleans, my home. Brizards owned the mule trains that served the mining communities and small stores. My great grandfather lived and had a saloon in Blue Lake, where trails left Humboldt Bay for the backcountry, but also had a saloon and livery (rented mules and horses) in Orleans.

The second photo in the article is the Brizard Store in Orleans, then managed by my maternal grandparents. The mules train passing the store are gold mining flume boards from great grandfather Salstrom's sawmill. He was primarily a gold miner. If the mules had been coming east to west, they would have been from the Starritt mill at Cheenich Creek. I have photos as my mother as a small child cuddling two bear cubs on the porch of that store circa 1918.

The major mule train company from the east into the Salmon River was Bennett and Company. The Salmon enters the Klamath at the Humboldt-Siskiyou County line. My great great uncle was WP Bennett's mining partner in 1850s and early 1860s before Bennett and Company came to exist. My great great grandmother buried in Forks of Salmon is WP Bennett's MIL.

In the Land of the Grasshopper Song is a well-known book about two women who came to teach school to the Karuks over 100 years ago. If one goes to page 308 to the end of the book, there is a tale of William Salstrom and the women and their mules.

https://www.amazon.com/Land-Grasshopper-Song-Klamath-Country/dp/0803236379

Note: Jonas Salstrom bought the mine in 1876 from my great great uncle, his BIL that had been mining partner with Bennett), and had been there much longer than 20 years stated in ILOTGS. I have the handwritten deeds. Edit: Jonas is my paternal great grandfather (not great grandfather with saloons and livery mentioned above). William is an older brother of paternal grandmother.

Hope someone enjoys this.

[marble falls]

25. My great, great Grandfather raised draft horses in Ohio, and my sister rode English hunt and was rated #8 in the state .

... personally if I were to have a horse again, it'd be a mule. They seat more comfortably and aren't as touchy as non working horses.

[PufPuf23]

26. Good for your sister. Lots of preparation and poise. My older sister competed in Western Pleasure and Trail as a teen.

Haven't been on a horse since teens except twice in late 20s (45 plus years ago) when the horse owners were surprised at my ease with horses. So was I. Liked dirt bikes better early on.

We had a pet mule when a child but it didn't get along pastured with horses and went away.

[marble falls]

29. She's a certified horse therapy provider, as well as an attorney. We share the same birthday ...

... eight years apart.

[Jilly_in_VA]

30. When my dad was in Baja California in the 1940s

he saw a lot of beautiful riding mules. Those were preferred particularly among the women, apparently.

[marble falls]

32. Mules don't panic, horses sometimes do.

[Jilly_in_VA]

33. Mules are smarter

They know when it's time to quit, and won't work themselves to death. That's how they got the reputation for being "stubborn".

[marble falls]

34. All good qualities, I think!

[haele]

31. Post office still uses mules to deliver mail to remote regions.

They're still doing it.

I imagine the citizen volunteer groups like the Cajun Navy and mule train organizations coordinate their rescue and delivery runs with the local EOC.
Unlike the whiners on the site formerly known as Twitter and Facebook do whining about being told to stand down and join the other volunteers working with FEMA and the state Emergency Management.
That is, if those whiners actually showed up to help, instead of sitting behind a keyboard in the comfort of their own home and played out the drama in their heads.

Haring off on your own in an emergency situation puts you and others in danger, along with wasting resources. It isn't TV, and most people don't have the "unique set of skills" to be able to assess a potentially dangerous situation and be a loner Hero.

Haele