Kit, Garnet Johnson's not-so-stubborn mule.Garnet Johnson, the unofficial "Mayor of Fires Creek," in Hayesville, NC, plowed his two-acre field with a mule. He and his wife, Bessie Mae, resided at "Johnsonville," population of two.
Johnson said plowing with his little mule put him ahead of everyone else. "I've got a four-wheel drive, you know, a four-feet drive," he added referring to his mule, Kit.
"While everyone else is pumping air in their tractor tires, I'm plowing with my little mule. I figure I'm way ahead by having a mule."
He called the mule Kit. "You know what that means, everything's there. You just have to put it together. If you can't put the mule to the sled and work her, or snake wood, or whatever there's to do with her, why we'd have to name her something else. She'll work to anything.
"She's the best mule I've ever saw about kicking or anything like that. She's not a bit of trouble. Never has offered to kick at nobody. She's more of a pet that she's a work animal," said Johnson.
Charles Kuralt who anchored the CBS News broadcast, "Sunday Morning," interviewed Johnson and he appeared with his mule on national televison.
Garnet Johnson is preserving our past at "Johnsonville."
By: Brenda Kay Ledford
Garnet Johnson, the unofficial "Mayor of Fires Creek," plowed his field the old-fashioned way with Kit, his little mule.
Love this story!! It's the past but also the way of the future; sustainable farming which cannot destroy the environment. Next, grazing animals instead of noisy lawn mowers!! Thank you Ms. Ledford. By the way, we share an ancestor: Elizabeth Ledford Passmore.
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