Missouri mule

English

Noun

Missouri mule (plural Missouri mules)

A type of mule bred in Missouri known for its hardiness and stubbornness.
- 1904, Missouri. Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Walter Williams (editor), The State of Missouri, An Autobiography, page 121:
  The high quality maintained in Missouri mules is due to the extreme care exercised by the breeders of this class of animals.
- 1910, Journeymen Horseshoers' International Union of the United States and Canada (publisher), International Horseshoers' Monthly Magazine, Volume 11, page 3:
  And last but not least, the Missouri mule is also known the world over. That patient animal is found wherever civilized man is found, and wherever the soil is scratched the Missouri mule will be found working. He has one remarkable trait, and I hope more of you will cultivate that same trait: The Missouri mule refuses to be imposed upon, and whenever any one tries it he will feel the mule's heels if he does not hear from him otherwise.
- 1912, George H. Dacy, The Country Gentleman, Volume 77, Issues 1-26, page 4:
  The average value of the Missouri mule is $126.75, while the average value of the mule in the country as a whole is only $119.84.
- 1919, International Journal of Ethics (publisher), International Journal of Ethics, Volume 29, page 190:
  and psychological experts tell him can make this abundant élan vital galvanize rather than blast our society, he kicks like a Missouri mule and refuses to recognize the Bête Humaine.
- 1979, Floyd Calvin Shoemaker, Francis Asbury Sampson, State Historical Society of Missouri (contributors), Missouri Historical Review, Volume 74, page 452:
  but now, with Missourians winning most of the prizes at the big exhibitions, the term, "Missouri mule" came to have national and even international recognition.
- 2010, Mary Collins Barile, The Santa Fe Trail in Missouri, page 92:
  But others bred a larger, stronger mule for the freighters: the Missouri mule, which became legendary for its power and personality.