1952-1960
Goats in Kentucky Mines
sought out for their short stature, strong frames, and easygoing attitudes; harness goats worked industriously in our country’s southern coal mines, up until the 1960s. The first photo is a mining goat in Barboursville KY, 1952. The second photo is the Gaddis Coal Mine in Barboursville KY, 1960. The third and fourth are unknown.
1966
Goat Plowing in Maryland
Meet Ida Truitt of Stockton, Md. That’s a little town along the backroads of Worcester County. The photographer Orlando Wootten snapped this shot back in 1966. He described Ms. Truitt as a widow who had “no mule, no horse, no tractor, [and] was determined to raise vegetables. So she harnessed up her billy goat, and he sort of plowed, and she sort of had a garden.”
The photo got picked up by the Associated Press wire service and ran in newspapers all over the country. The goat’s name was Bill. He was seven years old. According to the caption in those newspapers, Bill also “hauls wood, gives rides to the grandchildren, and butts the cat. Mrs. Truitt came from a family of 14 children [and] has eight herself.”
Information courtisy of the Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture.
1992
A Goat Packing Pioneer
In 1992, biologist and explorer, John Mionczynski, published The Pack Goat. It was the first comprehensive written guide for goat packing, ever published. The volume drew on John Mionczynski’s many years of experience, packing through the wilderness, with goats, in the 1970s and 1980s.
1998
A Mining Goat from the Tri State Area
A poster for the 2nd annual Joplin, MO, Antique Postcard & Paper Show, and Sale. which took place from Oct 9-10, 1998. The poster features an illustration of a tri-state mining district miner, bringing postcards out of a mine along Rt 66, with goat drawn ore-cart.
AWSGA 