Muleskinner

[nq:1]It took me a while to find out what "muleskinner" means (mule driver) but I don't seem to have found any reliable info on the etymology... can anyone shed light?[/nq]
The Little Big Man, as portrayed by Dustin Hoffman, was taken by General Custer for a Mule Skinner. I always assumed it meant a person who skinned mules, but I see I am also wrong. Mind, we don't see a lot of mules in these

[nq:1]The Little Big Man, as portrayed by Dustin Hoffman, was taken by General Custer for a Mule Skinner. I always ... skinned mules, but I see I am also wrong. Mind, we don't see a lot of mules in these parts.[/nq]
If it's any comfort, I always assumed it was well.

(During my college years, Little Big Man was my favorite movie.)

Dena Jo
Delete "delete.this.for.email" for

[nq:1]It took me a while to find out what "muleskinner" means (mule driver) but I don't seem to have found any reliable info on the etymology... can anyone shed light?[/nq]
Isn't a muleskinner a person who uses mules to skin animals? I have a dim recollection of reading in a book about the American frontier that this was so, with the muleskinners skinning buffalo. The men were particularly fil

[nq:2]It took me a while to find out what "muleskinner" ... any reliable info on the etymology... can anyone shed light?[/nq]
[nq:1]Isn't a muleskinner a person who uses mules to skin animals? I have a dim recollection of reading in a ... can't think what the book was, though, and dictionaries are not backing me up. Perhaps it was all a dream.[/nq]
That sounds fairly likely. There can't re

[nq:2]Isn't a muleskinner a person who uses mules to skin ... not backing me up. Perhaps it was all a dream.[/nq]
[nq:1]That sounds fairly likely. There can't really be a living in skinning mules, but I can imagine using mules to drag the hide off a buffalo.[/nq]
I just Googled and came up with this:

david56 filted:
[nq:1]The Little Big Man, as portrayed by Dustin Hoffman, was taken by General Custer for a Mule Skinner. I always ... skinned mules, but I see I am also wrong. Mind, we don't see a lot of mules in these parts.[/nq]
And if you keep trying to skin them, you won't see a lot of them in future either..r

I wrote, in part:
[nq:2]It took me a while to find out what "muleskinner" ... any reliable info on the etymology... can anyone shed light?[/nq]
[nq:1]Isn't a muleskinner a person who uses mules to skin animals? I have a dim recollection of reading in a book about the American frontier that this was so...[/nq]
Found it, p. 58 of the paperback edition of Ian Frazier's "Great Plains," alt

[nq:1]I wrote, in part:[/nq]
[nq:2]Isn't a muleskinner a person who uses mules to skin ... a book about the American frontier that this was so...[/nq]
[nq:1]Found it, p. 58 of the paperback edition of Ian Frazier's "Great Plains," although he doesn't actually use the word ... the last one to catch a louse had to pay. The prostitues who catered to them were a special type."[/nq]
Probabl

[nq:1]On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 Sara Moffat Lorimer quoted:[/nq]
[nq:2]"Many (buffalo) skinners used mules to pull the hides off... ... The prostitues who catered to them were a special type."[/nq]
[nq:1]Probably they were lousy in bed.[/nq]
Nit-picker.

Dena Jo
Delete "delete.this.for.email" for email.

[nq:2]Isn't a muleskinner a person who uses mules to skin ... not backing me up. Perhaps it was all a dream.[/nq]
[nq:1]That sounds fairly likely. There can't really be a living in skinning mules, but I can imagine using mules to drag the hide off a buffalo.[/nq]
My dear friends, I am distressed to find how gruesome imaginations will be. Muleskinners drove mules, teams of mules, hitched to