2007 Houston Mull Scholarship Cattle Drive

National agriculture activist and radio personality Trent Loos carries a U.S. flag and rides his "pink" mule while leading the first day of the extended Houston E. Mull Memorial FFA Scholarship Cattle Drive. The flag was flown over the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq and donated by Captain Daniel Swanson. The flag will be auctioned off on Saturday, Nov. 3, after the steak fry, to be held at the Mull farm at approximately 5 p.m. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Out riders waited on west side of U.S. Highway 65 as other riders worked to get the Longhorns to cross during the extended cattle drive on Thursday, Nov. 1. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Cattle began crossing U.S. Highway 65. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Two lanes down, two to go! (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Four lanes down and only about 18 miles to go. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Cattle see the highway shed ahead and wonder if there is anything good to eat. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

And the race is off! (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Up, up, up... they go! (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Looking for strays? (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Found it! One in every crowd. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

U.S. Highway 65 was blocked for less than 10 minutes by Missouri State Highway Patrol and Saline County Sheriff's Department as cattle crossed the busy four-lane highway on Thursday, Nov. 1. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Resting after the first day in the old-fashioned way at the Bill Martin farm. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

At the Martin Farm, the horses formed a line of various colors by the fence as they rested. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Kenny Gordon and his Chuck Wagon Crew serves chili for supper to feed the hungry, hard-working riders on the extended drive. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Bill Nienhueser, 88, of Concordia sits tall above the "pink" mule for a fundraiser to benefit the Fitzgibbon Community Cancer Center campaign. He was the first person to sit on the mule and contribute to the cause. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Loos, right, interviews Nienhueser, right, about his experience during the D-Day invasion during WWII for a segment of "Loos Tales." (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Libbi Loos, Trent's daughter, smiles for the camera as she leads a horse. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Tim and Susan Pointer and Tyler Jenkins enjoy a chuck wagon-style breakfast that was served Saturday morning, Nov. 3. Biscuits and gravy, sausage links and scrambled eggs made up the menu. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Tim Pointer smiles as Orval Irwin serves him a spoonful of gravy as Kenny Gordon prepares to serve scrambled eggs to Pointer. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Ahhh... a break! (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Breakfast time! Don May, center, takes over serving spoonfuls of gravy. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Loos helped organize the first drive just four months after Houston's death and is still riding, actually leading the drive, four years later. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Riders wait for the cattle so they can start the six-mile drive to the northern part of Malta Bend. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

More riders wait while others are still coming up the road to the point where the cattle and riders meet. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The Robin and Brenda Mull farm had several trailers parked in a pasture that brought the 250 plus riders to the event. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Here come the cattle! (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The drive begins. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Riders took short cuts through harvested fields while wagons kept to the field roads. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

After crossing a muddy ditch, this wagon waits for the others. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Nancy Sanders and Don Arth ride adjacent to the cattle being driven by other riders on the drive. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Several individuals stopped during the ride to stretch their legs as others passed. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Riders drive the cattle up and over a hill on Saturday. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The drive continues. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Mike Cornine and his family ride along the front of the cattle helping herd them in the right direction. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The background really makes a picture perfect. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The cattle traveled in a steady pace on the six-mile ride to Malta Bend. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The autumn colors symbolize the need to transfer cattle from one pasture to another so they can get the nutrients needed for winter. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Rolling, rolling, rolling.... (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

...keep those doggies rolling. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Rawhide! (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Get 'em up, move 'em out. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Sam Falke of Carrollton demonstrates how to use a rope. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Then ropes the photographer! Hence the slight bluriness to the photo. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The "pink" mule keeps on going and going and going. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Riders had to form a wall on both side of the cattle prior to crossing a bridge. They also had to maintain that wall across the bridge and down the gravel road to keep strays to a minimum. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Have you ever gotten nervous around something with horns that could possibly injury you? This is a view from a member of the wall that was keeping the cattle in line. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Riders came down Linn Street in Malta Bend as several residents sat in vehicles to watch the unique event unfold. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Riding through Malta Bend. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The Saline County Sheriff's Department had two sheriff's available to block all roads that the drive crossed including the intersection of U.S. Highway 65 and Linn Street in Malta Bend. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The cattle put on a must-see show as the cross the intersection of U.S. Highway 65 for the second time in three days. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Here is an idea of how many riders participated in the drive as the stretch down Linn Street farther than the eye can see. There were five riders to each head of cattle. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Another view of the many riders that rode for a good cause. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The cattle drove over the railroad crossing with no problem. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Riders drove the cattle right through the heart of Malta Bend down Linn Street past the school, through U.S. Highway 65 intersection and across the Railroad tracks to the west of Central Missouri AgriService. The cattle and riders have just about a half a mile to go to their destination after traveling six miles. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

The cattle and riders started kicking up dust as the picked up the pace on the last stretch before a break for lunch. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News)

Riders seem to pick up the pace as they get ready to "break ranks" for lunch. Note the beautiful background to the photo which Mid-Missouri Energy (MME) provides. Some may think of "old horsepower and new horsepower." The cattle drive shows the past where horses were the most important implement to a rancher for transportation. MME now provides ethanol to fuel modern-day transportation. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Clear the way... lunch is on! (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Are we there yet? (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Yee-haw! We're here. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Landri Loos and Kelli Loos, right, display there patriotic pride during the lunch stop on the north side of Malta Bend. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Around 600 to 700 people gathered after the cattle drive on Saturday, Nov. 3, for a steak fry and auction. Although they are still paying expenses, Robin and Brenda Mull said they believe the event will have netted about $20,000 for the scholarship fund this year. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

Brian Sowers holds a quilt that is being auctioned off Saturday night as Trent Loos calls out the numbers. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)