|
King Cotton, the Cause of Consternation
October 17, 2001
 Listen  Historian's Notes Resources Transcript
Historian's Notes
I found this story in an issue of the Chronicles of Oklahoma, and thought
that it was a riot. This “ode to a mule” is fairly famous among the old-time cotton growers crowd but
I never knew that it came from Oklahoma! How funny.
Resources
Chronicles of Oklahoma (Sum. 1998). 76 (2).
Almanac Transcript
King Cotton, the cause of consternation this week on the Oklahoma Audio Almanac.
Hello, I’m Steven Knoche Kite.
For many years cotton was the primary cash crop of southwestern Oklahoma. During the 1920s Oklahoma
produced more than 11% of the cotton grown in the United States. Yet even during the hey-day of cotton
farming in Oklahoma, the teens and twenties, the crop was seen as difficult to grow and manage with a
very small profit margin. Still these factors didn't stop farmers in southwest Oklahoma from growing or
trying to grow cotton.
It was in this week of October in 1926 that a frustrated down-on-his luck cotton farmer from Jackson
County, Oklahoma wrote in his journal of a walk through his fields with his partner Bill. Bill and the
farmer walked through one field after another until at one point Bill stopped, sat down and refused to
go any further. The farmer put down the reins, and stood in front of Bill his trusty plough mule stating,
“Bill you’re a mule, the son of a jackass. I’m a man, made in the image of God. Yet here we work, hitched
together. I often wonder if you work for me or I for you. I think it’s a partnership between a mule and
a fool. I work as hard, if not harder than you do. We cover the same distance, you on your four legs and
I on two, which makes me do twice as much work per leg as you. When we harvest our corn, I'll give the
landlord one-third, one-third goes to you and the balance to me. Now, you’ll eat yours while I divide
mine between seven kids, six relatives what is broke, two ducks and a banker. If we need shoes, you’ll
be the first to get some. All fall and most of the winter the whole family from Granny to the Baby pick
cotton, trying to raise money to pay taxes, buy new harnesses, pay interest on the mortgage and keep you.
The only time I’m your better is on election day. I can vote. Of course after election I realize I am
a bigger jackass than your pappy. I wonder if politics was made for jackasses or to make a jackass out
a man. And that ain’t all, Bill, cause when you’re dead that’s the end of you, but the Parson tells me
that when I die I gotta go to Hell forever. That is if I don’t do all the things that he tells me to-and
most of them ain’t no fun. Tell me Bill considering these things how can you keep a straight face and
look so dumb and solemn?”
A man and his mule this week on the Almanac.
I'm Steven Knoche Kite.
The Oklahoma Audio Almanac is a joint production of the Oklahoma State University
Library and Oklahoma's Public Radio.
|
