In
this day when people are looking everywhere for new sources of power and
energy, Oscar Stegemoller just has to look out to his barn lot and see
his mule power.
The
Stegemoller, Oscar and Oleta, live about a mile south of
Pottsville
on Farm Road 221 where they have lived for a number of years. They have
two farms there and lived on the other for some time after their
marriage which took place after his hitch in the army during WWII. They
have turned all their fields back to grass except a three-acre garden
patch. Oscar used a tractor when he was farming, but always kept a team
of mules to plow the garden, maintain his terraces in good shape and do
other small jobs a team can do better.
Oscar
and Oleta both worked for Patty’s of
Texas
here in
Hamilton
for over nine years and that is when they quit the farming part of their
operation. They are now raising sheep, mules, horses and donkeys on
their places.
Do
you remember my telling you one time about people using a mule or a
donkey to run with their sheep or goats to keep the coyotes away? It
really works, and that is furnishing an outlet for some of Oscar’s
production. They have taken some of their mules to the Texas State Fair
in
Dallas
and won prizes.
Do
you have time for me to tell you just a little about mules? Mules might
be called hybrid. In most cases the father is a jack, which is a male
donkey and the mother is a mare. Since they are a hybrid, mules do not
breed and have colts. Oscar has raised a few mules by the reverse
process; where the father is a stallion and the mother is a jenny.
You
have heard people say of another person, “He is as stubborn as a
mule,” haven’t you? Well, that might be true to a degree as a little
bit of that characteristic may carry over from the donkey, but we might
add that the quality of being tough also carries over. We used mules
along with horses when I was a kid, and we found mules to be tough and
could do lots of hard work. I suppose that is why the Wells-Lamont Glove
Co. brands some of their gloves, “White Mule.”
Oscar
has always liked to work with mules and horses. He said his earliest
experiences in driving, was helping his neighbors in baling hay and he
would drive a team to a rake. My early experience was also helping in
bailing hay, but I didn’t run a rake, I usually punched the wires, set
up the blocks or sat in the shade. There in
Oklahoma
one of the first implements a boy was usually put to work on was a
go-devil.
We
hitched Kit and Kate to the rubber-tired wagon and drove up to the other
farm where the Stegemollers have their garden. That was the first time I
had ridden in the spring seat on a wagon in a many a day; and there was
no buzzer to indicate that I didn’t have my seat belt fastened.
When
we got to the garden, Oscar unhitched from the wagon and hitched up to a
wiggle-tail cultivator and plowed his peas and beans. He has terraces in
his garden, which he keeps up in good condition, so the rows have a
slight curve in them. It was really a beautiful sight to see those fine
mules, stepping right out and coming around the curve as the plow turned
up that fresh black soil.
They
really have a pretty garden. I didn’t see a weed or bunch of Johnson
grass in it. Most of the beans have already made and they have put up a
lot of them. The black-eyed peas, tomatoes, potatoes, cantaloupe and
corn are coming right along. The corn was planted with a one row walking
planter. They have a large tank above the garden that they often
irrigate from, but they haven’t had enough run-off rainfall this year
to fill it very full, so may not get to use it this year.
The
garden is in the farm where the house and buildings were destroyed by
the tornado that did a lot of damage in the
Pottsville
area on
April 8, 1945
. There were 15 people crowded into the cellar there when the storm sent
a washing machine down there with them.
Oscar’s
parents came to this county from Washington-on-the
Brazos
; in fact some of his relatives owned some of the land where the State
Park is now located. This is the location where the Texas Declaration of
Independence was signed and where the
Republic
of
Texas
was located.
His
parents changed their methods of farming when they came to
Hamilton
County
. Down there they used walking plows such as double-shovels,
Georgia
stocks and walking planters. These were pulled with one mule with just
one line attached, and guided by the command of “Gee”, and
“Haw.” They began using riding implements when they came here.
Oscar
was showing me some pictures that were made when the
Blanket
Baptist
Church
came and got him for an overnight trip the boys of the church made. The
wagon was used to haul the bedding and camping equipment. All the boys
found a saddle horse to ride except two; one had to settle for a donkey
and the other one rode in the wagon with Oscar. It was quite an
experience for many of them.
Oscar
was born at Indian Gap, but they moved to the
Pottsville
community when he was one month old. Oleta May Ising
was reared in the McGirk community; as some put it, “Over behind Shive.”
They have three children: Carolyn Williams lives in
California
and has two children, Lacrecia is a secretary for the Carroll
Construction and Development Co. in
Dallas
and their son, Louis Oscar, lives in
Nederland
and works for Texaco. He had two children to give the Stegemollers four
grandchildren to brag about.
I
didn’t get to meet Oleta when I was visiting out there the other day.
She works for the Schuster Flower Processing Co. in Goldthwaite so she
was there. The company makes up arrangements of dried and artificial
flowers and the ones I saw at their home were very beautiful.
I
enjoyed my visit out there very much, even if I did get a load of
chiggers.
