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Thousands of mules carried trade goods between Santa Fe and California on the twelve-hundred-mile Old Spanish Trail from 1826 to 1850. A mule was worth ten times the price of a horse and men went to any length — even stealing and risking their lives — to get one. They knew the mule had superior intelligence, a sense of self preservation and amazing endurance.

Thousands of mules were stolen from California during this time and driven up the Old Spanish Trail to Santa Fe and eventually to Independence Missouri and sold for a fortune. These mules were highly valuable and became the primary transportation for the Westward Migration for the next 50 years. (98 minutes)