In October of 2014 we began to make plans to make exact copies of the original 20 Mule Team
Borax wagons that were used in Death Valley.
In December of 2016, these wagons rolled brand-new,
out of the front door of Engels Coach Shop in Joliet Montana.
This is the first time these wagons have been built since the 1880s.
They are now headed to Bishop California, at the home of Bobby Tanner.
Here in his arena we are hooked up to his pickup,
hauling them out to the staging site,
to where they'll be hooked to the mules for the first time.
This is on December 23rd, 2016.
Now the wagons are in position and you can see the single chain coming up from the wagons
and all the double trees that are fastened to it for the mules.
Lee Roser, is bringing up the to lead mules
and the saddle horse that Rebecca will ride alongside as she helps direct this hitch.
The bed of the pickup is a temporary hitching rail
and when it is no longer needed it'll get out of the way.
And you see here we have all twenty mules ready to pull the wagons for the first time.
And this is the first time these wagons have been pulled by the 20 Mule Team hitch.
Jim Cameron and Gary McCoy are on the brakes.
This was a quick stop to make sure everything was functioning properly.
And from here we headed off across the desert to try out the new wagons.
This is a long steady decline until we come to the first left-hand corner that
these mules will have to navigate.
After they have negotiated the turn,
they line out for about the next half a mile or so,
just becoming accustomed to the noise of the wagons behind them.
Bobby is constantly watching to make sure everything functions properly.
The next turn is a sharp right,
and here we see Lee and Jen Roser are helping the two pair of pointers
keep the wagon to the left,
so that it the wagons can navigate the turn correctly.
Shortly here, the mules will jump the chain back over as the hitch straightens out.
Here the first mule goes
and pretty soon here will go to the second mule.
You can hear the bells on the leaders as they drive by also.
This is a good picture of what life would have been like when they were traveling across the desert.
The mules and the wagons are now headed back toward the corrals from where they started.
Now this is the turn right below the corrals that the mules had to make the first time.
And what was a long steady decline, is now a long pull uphill.
Empty, these wagons cumulatively weigh
almost ten ton, so these mules have a workout.
The hardest pull is right at the very end,
and if you watch the rotation of the wheels you can see that the mules almost stop,
but they pull it through.
This has been a historic day.
The first time the brand-new wagons have been hitched to the 20 mules.
This is the crew that made it all work.
Thanks for watching!