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The Early Jackasses of George Washington

Out of the annals of newspaper advertisements comes a story too fabulous not to be true: George Washington was a jackass enthusiast. Let me explain.

In the 1780s, George Washington, seeking to introduce mules as work animals in America, attempted to obtain some Spanish donkeys. At the time, Spain was the leading breeder of tough, hardy mules, due to the development of larger donkeys in Catalonia and Andalusia. After several failed attempts of procuring animals, Washington reached out to King Charles III of Spain for help. The King made a concession of five donkeys - two jacks and three jennets - to Washington. 

Mount Vernon's records indicate the two Spanish jacks (male donkeys) were sent separately to ensure at least one would reach Washington. Sure enough, only one survived the trip across the Atlantic. This gray draft donkey, christened "Royal Gift," arrived in Massachusetts in 1785, and after an overland journey reached Mount Vernon in December.

The Marquis de Lafayette had been working simultaneously to procure Washington some additional donkeys. He sent Washington "The Knight of Malta" (along with a few more jennies for the Mount Vernon herd) soon after the arrival of Royal Gift, and the breeding stock was set. Said to be more like a "courser," or a fine riding horse than the slow and heavily-built Royal Gift, Washington saw a unique opportunity. A Maltese jenny was crossed with Royal Gift, creating "a favorite jack, called Compound, which animal united the size and strength of the Gift with the high courage and activity of the Knight." [1]

The Winchester Gazette for April 6, 1822 ran this glowing review of mules as part of a breeding advertisement for Emperor, a jack, descended from the hybrid Compound:

The value of large mules may be estimated from their being so easily raised and kept; from their not being liable to the common disorders of Horses: from their capability of working longer in each day, and undergoing far greater fatigue and hardship than a horse, and living, as good labourers, till sixty years of age! If broke and treated with gentleness, they are as tractable as horses, and will out travel, as well as out work, any horse.

While it's not quite true a mule will work until 60 years old, most of the other claims are true, and indeed, mules became the favored farm animals of America. Even into the late 1800s, the story of the Royal Gift and the Knight of Malta circulated in breeding advertisements. One of the latest articles to be circulated on the matter, "How Mules Came into Fashion," ran in the Staunton Vindicator in 1874:

There are now some of the third and fourth generation of Malta and Royal Gift to be found in Virginia, and the great benefits arising from their introduction to the country are to be seen upon every cultivated acre of the Southern States.

This article ran in Virginia newspapers through the 1880s, and a modified version started making the rounds again in the early 1900s. But as mechanization came for the farms, mules began to fade from everyday life in America. Still, the tale of Royal Gift, Knight of Malta, and Compound's descendants live on.

The Meditative Mule by Edwin Forbes, detail. Original at the Library of Congress.

In 1985, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Royal Gift in America, October 26 was designated "Mule Appreciation Day." [2] If you enjoyed this story, you might also like The Royal Jack and the Knight of Malta by Angela Jane Howard, and be sure to check out the articles and linked documents through Mount Vernon.

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