Ranger Headquarters

Ranger Headquarters
Big Pine National Forest, Knotty Pine

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Mules Racing a Truck?

Yes, in a Ranger Bill story that had to be retired, mules were in a race against a truck to see who could haul more stone for a mining company. The story was "Skinner Raises a Storm." Skinner McNeil was the mule driver for the mine. He was very attached to his mules. They critters worked faithfully and hard for Skinner and the mine. The mine owners decided to have the mules destroyed rather than retired after the mine purchased dump trucks to do the mules' work. Skinner went to trial for stealing the mules to protect them. The judge gave McNeil the chance to prove the mules were better haulers than the trucks by pitting the mules against the trucks in a race to see who could move more stone in a day.

2 comments:

djrepshire said...

Why did this story have to be retired?

Ranger Dave said...

"Skinner Raises a Storm" was either damaged beyond use or was lost in storage. There are at least 14 stories that were retired. Some tapes broke, some were water damaged, and some were lost in storage.