The 2nd Most Important Decision

Now that we have chosen our wagon, we have another important choice to make...what is going to pull it?

As stated before our finances will not allow us the expense of horses to ride or to pull our wagon, so we must decide between mules and oxen. Either choice has it drawbacks...

Mules are hard to break (hence the saying "stubborn as a mule!), and we could lose our lives trying to break them in order to make the trip, but if we can get them broken, they would be sure-footed, smart and quick moving - as well as durable.

Oxen on the other hand, can pull a heavier load, will eat anything, and would not "run away" from camp in the dark of night. They were also cheaper at $50 a piece whereas a mule was $90 a piece. Oxen were less often stolen by Indians too.

But oxen hooves were not made for moutain and steep terrian travel and they were slow! One settler quoted as saying they don't "walk, they plod", so we would have to add considerable time to our journey if we chose oxen.

We need a minimum of two teams of 2 animals a piece (this is where our money is going) because with the shared load of another team, our teams will last the entire journey.

Which one should we choose? Mule or oxen?