Who Was Ray Lum?
Ray Lum (1891—1977) was a mule trader, auctioneer, fast-talker, friend to many, and all around American original. Growing up in poverty in rural Mississippi, Ray soon found that he could make more money trading than working in a store. He became a savvy bargainer and business man, whose tall tales wooed even the folks he beat out of money. He had a home and auction house in Vicksburg Mississippi and traveled from South Dakota to Mexico trading mainly mules and horses—sometimes literally out of the back of his Cadillac. "He is known all over cow country for his honest fair dealing and gentlemanly attitude” reported one Texas newspaper, “A letter addressed to him anywhere in Texas probably would be delivered."
William Ferris, who himself grew up on a farm just outside of Vicksburg, met Ray Lum as a child. Ferris never forgot Ray’s way with words and returned as an adult to try and capture the special quality of Ray’s storytelling and wisdom. Ray is the subject of Ferris and Judy Peiser’s 1972 film, Ray Lum: Mule Trader. He is also the focus of Ferris’s 1992 book, Mule Trader: Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules, and Men published by University of Mississippi Press and which features a forward by Eudora Welty.
