Washington’s Birthday is a federal holiday in America, celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States. It is also commonly known as Presidents Day.
In 1783, George Washington retired to Mount Vernon, his 8,000-acre country estate 16 miles south of Washington, D.C., on the banks of the Potomac River. According to his adopted son and early biographer, George Washington Parke Custis, the former general “became convinced of the defective nature of the working animals employed in the agriculture of the southern States, and set about remedying the evil by the introduction of mules instead of horses, the mule being found to live longer, be less liable to disease, require less food, and in every respect to be more serviceable and economical than the horse in the agricultural labor of the southern States.”
To this end, Washington vowed to buy large jacks abroad to bring to Virginia to sire better mules. Instead, he was given two jacks – Royal Gift (an Andalusian jack) and Knight of Malta (a Maltese ass) – by foreign dignitaries King Charles III of Spain and Washington’s friend the Marquis de Lafayette. In less than 15 years Washington had 58 mules working at Mount Vernon.
A later biographer, Paul Leland Haworth, expounded on these remarkable gifts:
Washington, according to his own account, was the first American to attempt the raising of mules. Soon after the Revolution he asked our representative in Spain to ascertain whether it would be possible ‘to procure permission to extract a Jack ass of the best breed.’ At that time the exportation of these animals from Spain was forbidden by law, but Florida Blanca, the Spanish minister of state, brought the matter to the attention of the king, who in a fit of generosity proceeded to send the American hero two jacks and two jennets. One of the jacks died on the way over, but the other animals…arrived on the fifth of December, 1785.
According to careful measurements…[Royal Gift] was fifteen hands high, and his body and limbs were very large in proportion to his height; his ears were fourteen inches long, and his vocal cords were good. He was, however, a sluggish beast, and the sea voyage had affected him so unfavorably that for some time he was of little use. Ultimately, however, ‘Royal Gift’ recovered his strength and ambition and proved a valuable piece of property.
[Royal Gift] was presently sent on a tour of the South…No doubt the beast aroused great curiosity along the way among people who had never before set eyes upon such a creature. We can well believe that the cry, ‘General Washington’s jackass is coming!’ was always sufficient to attract a gaping crowd. And many would be the sage comments upon the animal’s voice and appearance.
In 1786 Lafayette sent Washington from the island of Malta another jack and two jennets…The new jack, the ‘Knight of Malta,’ as he was called, was a smaller beast than ‘Royal Gift,’ and his ears measured only twelve inches, but he was well formed and had the ferocity of a tiger. By crossing the two strains Washington ultimately obtained a jack called ‘Compound,’ who united in his person the size and strength of the ‘Gift’ with the courage and activity of the ‘Knight.’ The General also raised many mules, which he found to be good workers and more cheaply kept in condition than horses.
Henceforward the peaceful quiet of Mount Vernon was broken many times a day by sounds which, if not musical or mellifluous, were at least jubilant and joyous.
Excerpted from Sue Weaver, The Donkey Companion (Storey Publishing, 2008).
February 21, 2011 at 4:58 am
How interesting! I had no idea mules started with Pres. Washington. Or that they lived longer and were hardier than their horse counterparts!
You find the best tidbits to pass on. Thank you!
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February 21, 2011 at 5:18 am
This is why I picked history at University. It leads nowhere but it’s so darn interesting!
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February 21, 2011 at 5:20 am
SMRT man, that Washington.
On 8,000 acres, I’ll bet there was somewhere where they could put those mules where they wouldn’t interrupt anybody’s languorous day with their jubilant and joyous sounds.
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February 21, 2011 at 5:49 am
AH yes the begining of American Mammoth Jackstock!
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February 21, 2011 at 6:08 am
And for this reason alone, the guy deserves his own holiday. (BTW, I happened to measure Lucy’s ears yesterday…12.5″; George’s and Alan’s are 11.5″)
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February 21, 2011 at 6:32 am
What a great story. Love her turns of phrase….
“Fit of generosity.” “Recovered his strength and ambition.” “Sage comments on voice and appearance.”
🙂
Thank you for sharing it with us. 🙂
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February 21, 2011 at 6:54 am
You always share the most interesting stories with us.
I got to ride a very sweet mule out of Petra in Jordan. He was very tall and a smooth ride.
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February 21, 2011 at 7:21 am
Very cool! I had no idea. Thanks for helping me learn something new today. 🙂
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February 21, 2011 at 7:30 am
Interesting info, who knew that there is an American President who raised mules.
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February 21, 2011 at 9:07 am
George Washington was a very smart man! 🙂
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February 21, 2011 at 10:15 am
Wow. I don’t think I knew that. I didn’t realize that mules weren’t in the US until Washington brought them here. Smart man.
Suzanne
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February 21, 2011 at 10:34 am
Since I have a trivial pursuit brain trust….this is just up my alley. Thanks for the info. You always have great snippets to share. Happy Presidents Day and I agree with Linda….any Pres who had the wisdom to see the potential in Donkeys deserves a holiday. TOB
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February 21, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Lucky you to have had him as president and join a holiday today. That was a very interesting lesson in history Justina, much more interesting as my history lessons at school!
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February 21, 2011 at 4:19 pm
This was fascinating! Too bad my high school history teachers couldn’t make it that interesting – I’ve only learned to love history in the decades since.
Re the holiday – I remember when Lincoln’s birthday (2/12) and Washington’s (2/22) were combined to make one official holiday.
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March 25, 2014 at 5:02 am
Unfortunately, the Haworth book is inaccurate. During a decade of research into this subject I have found that nowhere is it written in Washington’s hand (or anyone else’s during the 18th century) that Washington ever claimed that he was the first to breed mules in the colonies. He knew better. Thomas Jefferson had acquired a team of mules, Dr. Slop and Capt. Molly in 1781 from James Cocke. Mule production was alive and well in the colonies long before the revolutionary war. No jennets were sent to Washington from Spain. Two jacks were sent on separate ships and one did die during the voyage. Royal Gift was not Andalusian. Royal Gift did arrive at Mount Vernon on Dec. 5, 1785, but he had arrived on the ship “Ranger” from Spain in Gloucester, MA on Sept. 26, 1785. He was then walked by his Spanish groom, Pedro Tellez from Gloucester to Boston. He was then led by Pedro, on foot (John Fairfax had been instructed by Washington to purchase two mares in Boston to pony the jack back, but Pedro informed Fairfax that the jack must be led by a person on foot), from Boston to Mount Vernon. Royal Gift was not sent on a tour of the south, per se. He was sent to the South Carolina plantation of William Washington to stand at stud. He was driven entirely too hard on the journey from Mount Vernon to South Carolina, took months to recover (somewhat) and did not perform well after the journey. He then became ill. I know how difficult it is to get accurate information about all of this, and even Mount Vernon’s website is flawed when it comes to this subject. I hope this helps. PS – Washington did buy Pedro a new pair of shoes after the poor man walked over 500 miles!
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