Mules and Men

Hurston arrives in Loughman, Florida, a company town governed by the “Everglades Cypress Lumber Company” that employs most of the local men (59). The locals refer to the ubiquitous nature of their employer as the “job.” Hurston is at first treated as a stranger and therefore cannot collect any folklore. The locals fearfully assume Hurston is a law enforcement officer looking to investigate local affairs. She tells the community that she is a fugitive bootlegger—someone who illegally sold and/or produced alcohol during Prohibition from 1920-1933—to gain their trust.

On “pay night” when the workers receive their wages, a dance is held at the sawmill. Hurston is at first shunned until Mr. Pitts talks to her. He “woofs” at her until everyone grows comfortable with the presence of a new arrival, and the group accepts Hurston and her goal to collect folklore. After she holds a small contest to initiate the process of eliciting “lies,” she is invited to join the “swamp-gang”—the lumber workers who fell trees in the nearby swampland—during their workday to collect more stories. The next day, however, the swamp-gang is dismissed from their workday because the train they use to transport the logs is required elsewhere.