J.R. “Junior” Gregg  leaned forward at the dining room table, “If you have mules you need a wagon; if you have a wagon you need mules, because they are going to go…north, south, east, west, they are going to go.”

Talking with Gregg is equal parts mules and wagons. Or, conversely, if the conversation is about wagons, mules will certainly feature in the discussion. If one wants to talk mules, stand by to chat about wagons as well. It is a natural match.

Gregg has spent the balance of his life with both. But, it started with mules.

“My Daddy was a horse man, but I have always been a mule man,” he confessed. 

Growing up in a family with ten siblings in rural Hopkins County, Gregg learned the value of a mule.

“I was raised to work,” Gregg admitted, “and a mule can work.”

He lauded the hearty characteristics of the animals, including their stamina, sure-footedness and hardiness.

Gregg calls Birthright home. It was where his mother’s side of the family was from; his father’s family having come west from Alabama. His father spent most of his days trading cattle between Birthright and Hagansport, in Franklin County. 

Despite initial success with a Grade A dairy before the Great Depression, hard times fell upon the family. After selling land to pay off a bank note, the family spent time throughout Hopkins County, wherever his father could find work.

“With all us kids, there were times when we were hungry enough to eat bark off a tree,” Gregg recalled.

The family overcame, and Gregg graduated from North Hopkins High School in 1964. A year later he married, and in 1970 he began keeping mules. 

“I bought three mules for $115 in Canton,” he explained, “trained one to jump and sold him for $325.”

Jumping mules may not be a well-known sport, but it is a sport that had its beginnings in real circumstances. As Gregg explained, he often took his mules on night hunts, and it was not uncommon to be in a circumstance requiring to jump a fence or a tree fall or a creek bank.

Training mules to jump seemed like a logical thing to do, and Gregg was good at it. His finest champion, ‘Carrie’, garnered five championships in mule jumping at the Texas State Fair.

“She was only 13 hands tall, but could jump 69 inches,” he recalled. Carrie was then joined by ‘Cane’, and more championships. 

Keeping and training mules became Gregg’s passion. It required extreme patience, a dedication to routine, and an understanding with the animals. Gregg commented, “You better be on the same memory – they will pay you for your raising.” His comment reflected the very long memory which mules have and the wariness they have if they do not trust the trainer.

Thorough brushings after each training session and feeding very small amounts to the mules by hand were just a couple of techniques Gregg used to build an animal’s ground manners.

The training wasn’t reserved just for mules. Gregg has also trained zedonks – a crossbreed of zebra and donkey – a bison and a longhorn steer. “Those zedonks weren’t much fun, they would snap at ya,” Gregg confided.

At some point, Gregg began to consider a wagon to work his mule teams. 

The standard 42-inch (that dimension refers to the width of the bed) box wagon that has been drawn by horses or mules in this country for a couple centuries remains remarkably unchanged.  A number of different configurations were built, but the basics remained.

Gregg admitted that he had been thinking of building wagons for some time. That first wagon was a success, but Gregg Wagons are remarkable for their continued evolution.

“I’d picked up a little thing here and a little thing there,” Gregg said, and he began to tweak the basic design of the 42-inch wagon.

Among those substantial changes were the placement of a fifth wheel connection for the front end. His wagons can literally turn 360 degrees in one spot. 

The second major update was the use of hydraulic brakes, with a mechanical lock. Other innovations followed. A pulling tongue which is easily adaptable for vehicular towing or harnessing features predominantly. Highway axles and tires became standard.  

The outfitting of the box is a thing of beauty. Each wagon is custom – Gregg produces one wagon per month on a pre-order basis. The smallest details do not go lacking. Taillights, an onboard privy, cedar lined interior, customized fittings, each wagon is a remarkable collection of well-considered engineering and individual flair.

One of the most amazing aspects of the wagon business is that three men – Gregg, his son Daniel and welder Candido Mares – construct each wagon. It is a crew of three. 

Over the past 40 years, J.R. Gregg Wagons have made their way throughout the United States. The proprietor rattled off a list of a dozen states before he had to stop and think of more.  

The custom wagons have quite a following. There are 16 Gregg wagons in and near the small southeastern Texas town of Silsbee. These wagons, produced just east of Como on Hwy 11, are popular for trail rides, families, clubs and work wagons. 

Although he has participated in some notable trail rides – like the Salt Grass Trail Ride – Gregg’s favorite trail ride is the annual ride from his son’s property just south of Como to Winnsboro. The ride brings wagons to Winnsboro to participate in the Autumn Trails festival.  

It is one thing to be renown for producing something of quality. It is altogether something special to have a product of East Texas known throughout the nation as the gold standard. J.R. Gregg and his wagons and mules have made such a mark. 

Should anyone desire a good mule story, J.R. has some. Just ask him about his mule ‘Dogfood’ and how, after his jump, Dogfood would  listen for applause, and if he didn’t receive enough…well, you ask him.