‘Scenic 70’ road trip moves westward into Texas

Oklahoma’s state senate is to be commended for approving a formal resolution celebrating the 100-year history of U.S. Route 70 and “recognizing the role the highway has played in the growth of industry, commerce and tourism in southern Oklahoma.”

 

The Oklahoma legislators acknowledged that Route 70, which was authorized in 1926, has helped local businesses and industries to grow and develop, specifically citing the municipalities of Broken Bow, Idabel, Hugo, Durant, Ardmore and Davidson.

 

The resolution states that Route 70 is “an important transportation corridor for Oklahoma families, farmers, truckers and tourists,” connecting them “to many of southern Oklahoma’s scenic areas, historic towns, lakes and outdoor recreation destinations.”

 

Furthermore, “continued maintenance and improvement of Route 70…remain vital to supporting future economic growth and opportunity….”

It would be nice if other Route 70 states – North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona – would follow suit and adopt similar celebratory resolutions. We shall see.

Exiting Oklahoma, Route 70 crosses the Red River of the South into the Lone Star State near Oklaunion, Texas. From there, the highway continues west for 250 miles, cutting across the “bottom” of the Texas panhandle toward New Mexico.

Locally, Route 70 was branded as the “Texas Plains Trail,” weaving through communities such as Vernon, Paducah, Matador, Floydada, Plainview, Muleshoe and Farwell.

 

A good time to travel “Scenic 70” is September-October, when farmers are harvesting pumpkins in and around Floydada. The community claims to be the “Pumpkin Capital of America.” Floydada is pronounced “floy-DAY-dah.”

 

With about 2,375 residents, Floydada is the county seat of Floyd County. Both were named after Dolphin Ward Floyd of Nash County, N.C. He was born in 1804, the son of Thomas Pennel “Newell” Floyd and Sarah Beckwith Floyd.

One genealogist said that Dolphin Floyd caught “Texas fever” in 1826 and moved west, finally settling on a farm near Gonzales, Texas. In 1832, he married Esther Berry House, a widow with three children.

During the Texas Revolution, Floyd joined the relief force known as the Gonzales Rangers. They arrived at the besieged Alamo in San Antonio on March 1, 1836, to join the Alamo defenders who were fighting for independence from Mexico.

The unit from Gonzales was memorialized as the “Immortal 32.” Dolphin Ward Floyd was killed March 6, 1836, on his 32nd birthday. A Texas state historic marker on the Floyd County courthouse lawn in Floydada tells the full story.

 

Floydada area farmers anticipate harvesting about 2 million pumpkins this year. Pumpkins thrive here because the Floydada climate is ideal – arid and mild with cool winters and hot summers. Some of the “Big Mac” variety pumpkins top 100 pounds. Need to get you one?

About 90 miles west beyond Floydada on Route 70 is Muleshoe, another interesting place to explore. With about 5,160 residents, Muleshoe is about twice the size of Floydada.

Muleshoe was formed in 1913 when the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway came through. A settlement rose up along the tracks on property that was part of the prominent Muleshoe ranch. Folks were content to “borrow” the name Muleshoe.

This year (2026) marks the 100-year anniversary of the chartering of Muleshoe as a city. 

The centerpiece of the celebration will surely be an event for people to gather around the famous National Mule Memorial, which was installed in 1965. It’s a fiberglass sculpture of “Old Pete,” a real mule that was owned by a local rancher.

 

They do love their mules in Muleshoe. The city’s logo features a kicking mule. Muleshoe High School’s nickname is Mules.

 

Texas Highways magazine says Muleshoe is “True Texas” – “Smart, stubborn and tough, the mule is cool.”

 

Mule is deserving subject for statue in Muleshoe

Editors at Western Horseman magazine, based in Fort Worth, Texas, dispatched journalist Helen S. Ellsberg to Muleshoe on the Fourth of July in 1965 to cover the unveiling of the “Old Pete” mule statue. She specialized in writing about the “lore of the American West.”

Ellsburg’s article was headlined: “Mule Day in Muleshoe: A monument for America’s unsung hero, the mule.”

She wrote: “Some 10,000 people jammed the town of Muleshoe during a 4th of July celebration this year to pay tribute to a generally unappreciated, oft-reviled and unsung American hero – the mule.”

“The huge crowd stood on rooftops, hung onto railroad cars and climbed to vantage points on grain elevators. There was a parade featuring the Rolling Plains Mule Team from Spearman, Texas, 10 covered wagons drawn by mules and an assortment of 75 mules led or ridden.”

Ellsburg added: “Newspapers throughout west Texas were filled with mule stories and poems, old mule photographs sent in by subscribers and advertisements congratulating Muleshoe, its celebration and its statue.”

When the National Mule Memorial Association was shopping for a good location to build a mule memorial, members of Mrs. Inez Middlebrooks’ fourth grade class at Muleshoe’s elementary school started collecting nickels and dimes. 

Gil Lamb of radio station KMUL in Muleshoe began to publicize a fundraising effort. Carroll Pouncey, manager of the Muleshoe Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, helped spread the word within the business community.

Fiberglass Menagerie of Alpine, Calif., near San Diego, was selected to create the life-size statue and place it in Muleshoe.  Sculptor Kevin Wolf used photographs of Muleshoe rancher Dave Arden’s 18-year-old mule, “Old Pete,” to form the model. Old Pete weighed about 1,100 pounds and stood about 5 feet (measured from the ground to his withers).

Ellsburg said that a cynic may ask: “Why a statue to a dumb animal like a mule?” 

She replied: “Stubborn a mule may be, but dumb he never was. Besides being sturdy, sure-footed and able to stand more heat, more cold and do more work on less food and water than any other animal, he is a smart cookie!”

 

“A mule will not founder by overeating. He will not injure himself in a runaway. He will not allow himself to be overworked.”

“Briefly,” Ellsburg wrote, “the mule deserves a monument for these reasons: Wherever pioneer man set foot in America, the mule plodded close behind. Mules plowed the first sod for pioneer man.” 

 

“Mules built the first railways westward. Mules pulled the covered wagons west. Mules hauled the first freight. Mules built the first highway.”

“Mules, 5,000 strong, labored and died on the battlefields of World War I…and pulled cannons and carried the wounded down the muddy hills of Italy in World War II,” she continued.

 

“And perhaps, after his hard-working, unappreciated past, Nelda Merriott was right when she wrote a poem, published in the Muleshoe Journal,” Ellsburg said. It’s just a short verse:

 

He who laughs last

Laughs best, it’s true

‘Cause look who’s gettin’

The new statue!

The MULE, that’s WHO!

 

In 2001, the Old Pete statue traveled to Washington, D.C., for President George W. Bush’s “Black Tie and Boots” presidential inauguration ball and parade.

 

A mule is the hybrid offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare).

Horses have 64 chromosomes, while donkeys have 62 chromosomes. Mules inherit half from each, ending up with 63 chromosomes.

This odd, mismatched number of chromosomes prevents mules’ bodies from forming proper sperm or egg cells. Hence, mules are almost universally sterile; male and female mules cannot successfully reproduce together.

A more rare occurrence is the breeding of a male horse (a stallion) with a female donkey (a jenny). Their offsping is called a hinny.

A mule and a hinny cannot successfully reproduce together, either.

 

Wouldn’t you know it? The “world’s largest muleshoe,” standing 27 feet high, is in Muleshoe, Texas.

It was erected as an Eagle Scout project in 1994 by Kermit Price, who was a student at Muleshoe High School. The structure forms an archway entrance to the Muleshoe’s Heritage Center complex.

 

Kermit financed the project by selling sets of mule shoes, which are now embedded in two large concrete mule shoes. Each shoe has the donor’s name(s) engraved into it.

 

 

The 6,440-acre Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, situated in the southern part of the Bailey County, was established in 1935. Its grasslands and playa lakes annually host one of the largest concentrations of lesser sandhill cranes in North America.

  

 

Muleshoe is the county seat of Bailey County, which is named after Peter James Bailey III, a native of Springfield, Ky., who came to Nacogdoches, Texas, in early 1836 as a young lawyer.

He enlisted at age 24 as a member of the Tennessee Mounted Volunteers who helped defend the Alamo. Bailey perished alongside Davy Crockett and 187 others on March 6, 1836, during the Mexican siege

 

 

The mule is the mascot of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

 

 

“Francis the Talking Mule” was a former Army mule featured in a number of films from 1950-58.

Through the voice of Chill Wills, Francis talked to actor Dennis O’Connor.

Actor Ken Curtis was best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the Western television series “Gunsmoke.” Festus was the “beloved, cantankerous and scruffy deputy” who served as Marshal Matt Dillon’s trusty, hillbilly sidekick for 11 years (1964-75). Festus owned a mule named “Ruth.”