muleteer

Distribution and function

In Latin America, muleskinners transport coffee, maize (corn), cork, wheat, and myriad other items. They used to be common in the Paisa Region (Antioquia and the Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis) of Colombia but were replaced in the 1950s by tractor trailers called locally "tractomulas" paying homage to the mules that used to do this hard job. In California, muleteers work out of pack stations. In Europe, there are still muleteers in the south of Portugal and the southwest of Spain, in the cork producing area. Their role is now limited to transporting the cork with their mules, out of the Mediterranean oak forest to more accessible routes, where modern means of transport are available.