| "Lobo, the King of Currumpaw" | |
|---|---|
| by Ernest Thompson Seton | |
 Lobo and Blanca of the Currumpaw pack | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fact-based short story |
| Published in | Wild Animals I Have Known |
| Publication type | Short story collection |
| Publication date | 1898 |
"Lobo, the King of Currumpaw" is the first story of author Ernest Thompson Seton's 1898 book Wild Animals I Have Known . Seton based the book on his experience hunting wolves in the Southwestern United States.
Lobo was a North American Mexican gray wolf who lived in the Currumpaw Valley (Corrumpa Creek [1] ) in New Mexico. During the 1890s, Lobo and his pack, having been deprived of their natural prey such as bison, elk, and pronghorn by settlers, became forced to prey on the settlers' livestock to survive. The ranchers (at Cross L Ranch [2] ) tried to kill Lobo and his pack by poisoning critter carcasses, but the wolves removed the poisoned pieces and threw them aside, eating the rest. They tried to kill the wolves with traps and by hunting parties, but these efforts also failed.
Ernest Thompson Seton was tempted by the challenge and the $1,000 bounty for the head of Lobo, the leader of the pack. Seton tried poisoning five baits, carefully covering traces of human scent, and setting them out in Lobo's territory. The following day all the baits were gone, and Seton assumed Lobo would be dead. Later, however, he found the five baits all in a pile covered by wolf feces to show Lobo's contempt and mockery of Seton's attempt to kill him and the other wolves. [3] [4] [5]
Seton bought new, specialized traps and carefully concealed them in Lobo's territory, but he later found Lobo's tracks leading from trap to trap, exposing each. When an effort that was initially supposed to take two weeks stretched into four months of failed attempts to capture Lobo, Seton became tired and frustrated. While camping out above the creek where snow geese and cranes were wintering, he found Lobo's track strangely following a set of smaller tracks. Quickly he realized Lobo's weakness: his mate, a white wolf nicknamed Blanca. Due to Lobo's misbehavior a rancher named Leandro Vejarano decided to try to get a run at the wolf. This ultimately failed and he was lost forever by Lobo's wrath.
Seton then set out several traps in a narrow passage, thinking Blanca would fall for Seton's planted baits that Lobo had thus far managed to avoid. Finally Seton succeeded; Blanca, while trying to investigate Seton's planted cattle head, became trapped. When Seton found her, she was whining with Lobo by her side. Lobo ran to a safe distance and watched as Seton and his partner killed Blanca and tied her to their horses. Seton heard the howls of Lobo for two days afterward. Lobo's calls were described by Seton as having "an unmistakable note of sorrow in it... It was no longer the loud, defiant howl, but a long, plaintive wail." Although Seton felt remorse for the grieving wolf, he decided to continue his plan to capture Lobo. [5]
Despite the danger, Lobo followed Blanca's scent to Seton's ranch house where they had taken the body. After spotting Lobo wandering near his ranch house, Seton set more traps, using Blanca's body to scent them. Prior to this point, Lobo had not revealed himself to Seton even once since he arrived at the Currumpaw Valley. But now, Lobo's grief had clearly taken over and dulled his sense of caution. He was now at his most vulnerable, which Seton was well aware of. On January 31, 1894, Lobo was caught, with each of his four legs clutched in a trap. On Seton's approach, Lobo stood, despite his injuries, and howled. Touched by Lobo's bravery and loyalty to his mate, Seton could not kill him. He and his men roped Lobo, muzzled him and secured him to a horse, taking him back to the ranch. Lobo refused to eat or even look at his captors. They secured him with a chain and he just gazed across his former kingdom. Lobo died that night, four hours later, due to a broken heart. [6]
Lobo's pelt is kept at the Ernest Thompson Seton Memorial Library and Museum at the Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico. [7] Until his death in 1946, Seton championed the wolf—an animal that had always previously been demonized. "Ever since Lobo", Seton later wrote, "my sincerest wish has been to impress upon people that each of our native wild creatures is in itself a precious heritage that we have no right to destroy or put beyond the reach of our children."
Seton's story of Lobo touched the hearts of many, both in the U.S. and the rest of the world, and was partly responsible for changing views towards the environment and provided a spur for the starting of the conservationist movement. The story had a profound influence on one of the world's most acclaimed broadcasters and naturalists, Sir David Attenborough, and was adapted into a film by Walt Disney Productions as The Legend of Lobo in 1962. Lobo's story was the subject of a BBC documentary directed by Steve Gooder in 2007. [8]
An account of Seton's hunt for Lobo is found in Ernest Thompson Seton: The Life and Legacy of an Artist and Conservationist by David L. Witt. [9] It is based on Seton's personal journal and other historical sources. The story was also featured in a 2010–2011 exhibition at the New Mexico History Museum. [10]
The Academy for the Love of Learning, an educational organization in Santa Fe, NM, stands on Ernest Thompson Seton’s former estate and currently houses the Seton Legacy Project. [11] The Seton Legacy Project, overseen by Academy Historian David Witt, curates Seton’s artwork and writings and explores the vital connections between Seton’s early 20th century vision of wild nature, contemporary environmental issues, and thoughtful stewardship.
The Academy holds an annual Seton birthday event every August. The 2018 event, titled Lobo, The King of Currumpaw: The World's Greatest Wolf Story [12] , centered on the 124th anniversary of this story. An exhibition in the Seton Gallery displayed the original art of more than 50 contemporary artists, each illustrating one part of the Lobo story in their own interpretation, with the collected art published in the form of a graphic novel.
The coyote is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological niche as the golden jackal does in Eurasia. The coyote is larger and more predatory and was once referred to as the American jackal by a behavioral ecologist. Other historical names for the species include the prairie wolf and the brush wolf.
Ernest Thompson Seton was an English-born Canadian-American author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians in 1902, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 1910.
Scouting in New Mexico has had a rich and colorful history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live. The state is home to the Philmont Scout Ranch.
Lobo may refer to:
Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, Georgist and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
Wolf hunting is the practice of hunting gray wolves (Canis lupus) or other species of wolves. Wolves are mainly hunted for sport, for their skins, to protect livestock and, in some rare cases, to protect humans. Wolves have been actively hunted since 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, when they first began to pose a threat to livestock of Neolithic human communities. Historically, the hunting of wolves was a huge capital- and manpower-intensive operation. The threat wolves posed to both livestock and people was considered significant enough to warrant the conscription of whole villages under threat of punishment, despite the disruption of economic activities and reduced taxes. The hunting of gray wolves, while originally actively endorsed in many countries, has become a controversial issue across the globe. Most people see it as cruel, unnecessary and based on misconceptions, while proponents argue that it is apparently vital for the conservation of game herds and as pest control.
The Mexican wolf, also known as the lobo, is a subspecies of gray wolf native to southeastern Arizona and southern New Mexico in the United States, and northern Mexico; it also previously ranged into western Texas. It is the smallest of North America's gray wolves, and is similar to the Great Plains wolf, though it is distinguished by its smaller, narrower skull and its darker pelt, which is yellowish-gray and heavily clouded with black over the back and tail. Its ancestors were likely the first gray wolves to enter North America after the extinction of the Beringian wolf, as indicated by its southern range and basal physical and genetic characteristics.
Philmont Scout Ranch camps are a group of backpacking camps located in Philmont Scout Ranch, a large property in Colfax County near Cimarron, New Mexico, owned by the Boy Scouts of America and used as a backpacking reservation. Philmont operates from one large Base Camp which includes camping headquarters, the Philmont Training Center and Villa Philmonte, the Seton Museum, fire response facilities, cattle headquarters, and an administration area. As of 2022, there are 71 trail camps and 36 staffed camps. Philmont's camps are generally set no more than a couple of miles apart. Old camps are closed or relocated and new camps are opened every few years. Some camp sites are closed due to changing safety protocols. For example, camps were once located on top of Urraca Mesa and in the Baldy Saddle but these are unlikely to reopen because the locations are at risk for lightning strikes.
The National Scouting Museum is the official museum of the Boy Scouts of America.
The Legend of Lobo is a 1962 American animal-adventure film that follows the life and adventures of Lobo, a wolf born and raised in southwestern North America. Based upon "Lobo the King of Currumpaw" by Ernest Thompson Seton from the author's 1898 book titled Wild Animals I Have Known, neither the time period nor the precise location are specified in the film; in part because the story is told as much from a wolf's point of view as from a human's. There is no dialogue in the film, with the only interpretation presented through the use of story-song composed and sung by the Sons of the Pioneers and the Sherman Brothers, and narration by Rex Allen. Based on the non-fiction account by Seton, Lobo is an 1890s wolf from an account by Seton who was a naturalist, and was a bounty hunter in the real-life story. Filming took place in Sedona, Arizona.
Seton Village is a National Historic Landmark District in a rural residential area south of Santa Fe in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It encompasses a residential settlement and educational facility established in 1930 by Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1946), an educator and conservationist best known as a founder of the Boy Scouts of America. The district includes the remains of Seton's 32-room home and other residential and educational buildings constructed mostly between 1930 and 1945. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
Wild Animals I Have Known is an 1898 book by naturalist and author Ernest Thompson Seton. The first entry in a new genre of realistic wild-animal fiction, Seton's first collection of short stories quickly became one of the most popular books of its day. "Lobo the King of Currumpaw", the first story in the collection, was based upon Seton's experience hunting wolves in the southwestern United States. It became a classic, setting the tone for his future works that would similarly depict animals—especially predators who were often demonized in literature—as compassionate, individualistic beings.
The nature fakers controversy was an early 20th-century American literary debate highlighting the conflict between science and sentiment in popular nature writing. The debate involved important American literary, environmental and political figures. Dubbed the "War of the Naturalists" by The New York Times, it revealed seemingly irreconcilable contemporary views of the natural world: while some nature writers of the day argued as to the veracity of their examples of anthropomorphic wild animals, others questioned an animal's ability to adapt, learn, teach, and reason.
Wolf hunting with dogs is a method of wolf hunting which relies on the use of hunting dogs. While any dog, especially a hound used for hunting wolves may be loosely termed a "wolfhound", several dog breeds have been specifically bred for the purpose, some of which, such as the Irish Wolfhound, have the word in their breed name.
Wolf: The Journey Home, originally titled Hungry for Home: A Wolf Odyssey, is a 1997 American young adult novel written by 'Asta Bowen. Originally published by Simon & Schuster with line drawings by Jane Hart Meyer, it was retitled and reprinted without illustrations in 2006 by Bloomsbury Publishing. Based on true accounts of the Pleasant Valley, Montana, wolf pack, the novel traces the life of a female alpha wolf named Marta after the forced relocation of her pack in 1989 to an unfamiliar territory. Terrified, Marta abandons her pack and begins a journey in search of her home; she eventually arrives in Ninemile Valley, where she finds a new mate with whom she starts a new pack.
The Academy for the Love of Learning is a non-profit organization conceived by American composers Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Stern. The Academy was incorporated as a 501(c)3 in 1998. Its campus is located in southeast Santa Fe, NM, on the former estate of Ernest Thompson Seton. Through its programming and research, the Academy seeks to "awaken, enliven, nurture and sustain the natural love of learning in people of all ages."
The Monts de Gueret animal park — The Wolves of Chabrières is a 13 hectares public animal park located close to Guéret in the commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department, Limousin, central France.
William Grill is a British illustrator, whose first children's book, Shackleton's Journey, depicting Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2015.
Wolves communicate using vocalizations, body postures, scent, touch, and taste. The lunar phases have no effect on wolf vocalisation. Despite popular belief, wolves do not howl at the Moon. Gray wolves howl to assemble the pack, usually before and after hunts, to pass on an alarm particularly at a den site, to locate each other during a storm or while crossing unfamiliar territory, and to communicate across great distances. Other vocalisations include growls, barks and whines. Wolves do not bark as loudly or continuously as dogs do but they bark a few times and then retreat from a perceived danger. Aggressive or self-assertive wolves are characterized by their slow and deliberate movements, high body posture and raised hackles, while submissive ones carry their bodies low, sleeken their fur, and lower their ears and tail. Raised leg urination is considered to be one of the most important forms of scent communication in the wolf, making up 60–80% of all scent marks observed.
Howling is a vocal form of animal communication seen in most canines, particularly wolves, coyotes, foxes, and dogs, as well as cats and some species of monkeys. Howls are lengthy sustained sounds, loud and audible over long distances, often with some variation in pitch over the length of the sound. Howling is generally used by animals that engage in this behavior to signal their positions to one another, to call the pack to assemble, or to note their territory. The behavior is occasionally copied by humans, and has been noted to have varying degrees of significance in human culture.
The dreaded wolf Lobo's skin displayed in the Seton Memorial Library.
