By Mark Brown
For the Salisbury Post
The N.C. Transportation Museum is well known for highlighting the machines North Carolinians have used to travel across the state and nation. Recently, however, a form of transportation that pre-dates most of the items on display took center stage at Spencer Shops ó a mule.
In association with the N.C. Humanities Council, the museum hosted Bernie Harberts’ program, “Hoofing It By Mule Across North Carolina.”
Harberts told the story of his very slow trip across the state, aided by Woody the mule and Maggie the pony, bringing the tepee where he slept and showing pictures of his journey.
Harberts’ program was motivated partly by a desire to tell the story of early pioneer travel, something that is difficult for a museum to put on display.
“There’s really no trace about traveling across North Carolina by mule. If the mule dies, there’s no way to trace that, so I thought I would come to the N.C. Transportation Museum and talk about it,” said Harberts.
The Statesville native said his decision to travel across the state by mule actually began a few years earlier, when he turned 30. Dissatisfied with his life and career, Harberts bought a sailboat and, over the next five years, circumnavigated the globe. Upon returning to North Carolina, Harberts said he felt like an immigrant to the state. He had a boat, but no car, no driver’s license and no job.
Looking for a way to reconnect with his home state and her people, Harberts decided to take a very slow journey across North Carolina, accompanied by an ornery mule named Woody, a 100-year-old saddle and little else.
He carried a pen and notebook, a tepee, a compass (which he says quickly broke), a change of clothes, a rain slicker and four pounds of food. The food consisted of one pound each of rice, oatmeal, split peas and olive oil. A small gasoline-powered cooker served as Harberts’ mobile kitchen.
Harberts’ Tarheel trek took some four months, beginning in Emerald Isle. Each day, Bernie and Woody would travel between 10 and 15 miles.
He showed a picture of a rural couple, the husband sporting a big grin and a bottle of beer. “These creatures, these are called ‘people.’ This was the most important part of the journey,” Harberts said. The help provided by those he met both shocked Harberts and added to his experience.
While his tepee was available, Harberts said he slept in a bed about every third night. He would simply knock on a door, explain his journey and ask if there was somewhere he could stay. Even if those folks were unable to provide Harberts a place to sleep, they would typically know someone who would.
They would also typically mention a friend or relative a few towns westward as he made his journey. In meeting North Carolina’s most rural residents, Harberts said, “You really start getting a great flavor for the state.”
Harberts also got a flavor of some of the state’s disappearing recipes. In the Duplin County town of Pin Hook, Harberts first experienced “flour burgers.” The recipe dates back to tougher economic times, when meat was limited. A flour burger is made of equal parts meat, onions and flour. Harberts described the dish as Hamburger Helper, “before Hamburger Helper cost more than the hamburger.” This alternative to an all-beef patty is cheaper and exists, according to Harberts, within only a three to five day’s mule ride of Pin Hook. It is a recipe with a history. Harberts says that recipe and that history is now disappearing in an age of fast meals and frozen food.
Besides Pin Hook, Harberts came across Hell Town. He was told the town’s name has nothing to do with the devil. Hell Town was named for the muddy patches that would bog down wagons traveling through the area. Early pioneers would comment that it was “hell to get through the town,” according to Harberts.
He said the sign welcoming travelers to Hell Town was in poor condition. Thinking the name and the history were worth preserving, Harberts asked one resident why the sign has not been repainted. The resident commented that when the sign is refreshed, those at the town’s Baptist church complain.
Harberts noted that neither Pin Hook nor Hell Town are listed on Google Maps. They are communities rarely encountered except by those who avoid the interstates and embrace a slower pace of travel.
Some of the perils of traveling by mule were also highlighted during Saturday’s program. Harberts said when you park a car or truck, it stays where you left it. Mules, however, have a tendency to wander. Harberts said he lost whole days looking for Woody, even going so far as to buy an ad on a radio station to locate the beast of burden.
Woody also became more ornery as the trip continued and started kicking people Harberts met on his journey. Realizing Woody was lacking four-legged company, Harberts added Maggie the pony to the traveling group. Woody behaved far better after Maggie joined them.
A slug infestation affected the trip. Harberts used maps to navigate his journey. After some voracious slugs ate a portion of his map, he was curious about the town he was entering. On his map, the town was simply listed as “RD.” It was actually the well-known town of Brevard.
Weather was an issue. Harberts added a warm coat when his trek took him to the far cooler N.C. mountains. Staying warm was still an issue, though he found a solution in red hot chili peppers. One chili pepper, about the size of a pea, is equal to, as Harberts described it, three packets of Taco Bell “Fire” hot sauce. Wanting to preserve his palate, however, Harberts needed to dilute the effects of the pepper. Eating the pepper “with a slug of olive oil” turned out to be the best solution.
Harberts’ journey across the state ended in the Great Smoky Mountains, but his travels were just beginning. Deciding to continue the trip, Bernie, Woody and Maggie reached San Diego and the Pacific Ocean some 13 months later.
Harberts’ book, “Too Proud To Ride A Cow,” documents his 3,500-mile journey, the people he met and the addition of Maggie the pony to his menagerie.
A children’s book, “Woody and Maggie…Walk Across America,” also tells the story.
A graduate of N.C. State University and a resident of Southern Pines, Harberts has taken several adventurous journeys. Most recently, he traveled by wagon from Canada to Mexico, a story soon to be released in print and on DVD.
Harberts’ Web site, www.riverearth.com, describes him as a “good writer, a fair horseman and a lousy judge of distance.”