Lobo: King of the Currumpaw Valley
Lobo: King of the Currumpaw Valley
This is a partially true story about Lobo, a New Mexican Grey Wolf from the late 1800's. He lived in the Currumpaw Valley. Lobo was a sly, intelligent wolf, who lived freely in a pack. In the late 1800's, wolves were hated by many people, especially ranchers. Wolves were being hunted by the numbers since they had turned to killing cattle, sheep, and pigs to survive. Many even poisoned the wolves with strychnine-tainted meat.
Lobo was a lone wolf until he met Blanca, a beautiful she-wolf whom Lobo never left unprotected for long periods of time. Blanca and Lobo loved each other very much, and did not know their fates that lied ahead. One day, Lobo went to explore, and as he investigated, he sniffed out several double-spring wolf traps. But he was not dumb enough to be trapped by such foolishness. This is when he met Seton, who was a human.
Seton was a naturalist who was ordered to catch and kill Lobo. Seton loved nature, but he had a strong hatred for wolves due to their "ravenous behavior." He wanted so badly to catch the fiendish Lobo.
The next day, Lobo returned to his beloved Blanca, only to find her in one of Seton's double-spring wolf traps. Lobo was frantic and tried to free her, but failed. Sadly, after several hours, she died due to little circulation in her front paws. Lobo was stunned that such a horrible thing could happen to Blanca. He was heartbroken and mourned at her loss every night at the same spot.
Seton, recognizing Lobo's mournful howl, suddenly felt bad for him, and had a change-of-heart for wolves. He was emotionally divided before, trying to decide whether he wanted to kill Lobo, or not.
Two days later, Lobo was caught in four of Seton's previously-set traps, and started to panic. He tried and tried to escape, but failed his attempts. It wasn't until later that Seton discovered that Lobo was caught. He freed him from the traps, but even though Lobo was no longer a prisoner, he just lied there, thinking about Blanca. He howled for her loss, still. Lobo was one again a lone wolf.
Hours later, Seton found Lobo dead, possibly from emotional stress. He became depressed and from that day on, Lobo the Lone Wolf became a legend to those who knew him then, and those who know him now. May Lobo and Blanca live on forever. And thus my story ends.