| The Great Gray Wolf, of Minnehaha Creek, only | | | | he ran wild in, said it was his territory, like their |
| the wilderness could feed him, love him, bed him, | | | | grandfathers did, used to do, and not expect |
| and those who knew him, heard about him, | | | | calamity. And many a hunter left his cabin, and |
| wished he'd disappear (even his own kind), in the | | | | moved on back to the Twin Cities (St. Paul, |
| Great Northern Wilderness of Minnesota, in the | | | | Minneapolis), because of the fear that beast |
| early 1960s. He strutted along the little Minnehaha | | | | instilled in them. |
| Creek, near the hamlet in the woods, as often he | | | | There was a young man, who had a sidekick, a |
| did unnoticed, roaring eupeptic hours, it was as if | | | | girl, just them two, not counting the populist in the |
| -- when he left -- he'd leave his ghost, so we all | | | | hamlet, with the same blood, ran in each others |
| thought, sculptured in shadow form, on every | | | | veins, similar to the gray wolf's, a light strain of it |
| tree, that swayed in the wind, he was the | | | | at least, taintless and incorruptible. He was |
| highwayman, the murderer, the pistol shooting | | | | twenty-two, and she seventeen. And the old |
| rawhide gunslinger, the haunting hunter of the | | | | wolf-who's to say? |
| wilderness, the creek being his tavern, it was a | | | | For four years now, he had heard the worse of |
| branch of a nearby river, and up river it was | | | | all talking, concerning the gray wolf, bigger and |
| peopled by men with a handful of laws, who | | | | older and with more malice than any other |
| owned cabins, paid taxes, and who strolled and | | | | recorded and documented wolf: -it was a century |
| smoked pipes and cigars, along those banks, | | | | before, that the Indians had a legend of such a |
| those purlieus banks, doomed if they were alone. | | | | beast, bigger and older and ruthless enough to |
| If alone, and if attacked the beast could make a | | | | defy all mankind. Chippewa Indians had lived in this |
| twenty-five foot bound, when chasing its prey. | | | | area once upon a time, it was of men, white |
| This one had a bulky coat, as thick as any | | | | men, they no longer did, no black nor red, nor |
| Alaskan fur. This one had patches missing, as to | | | | yellow, only white men now, perhaps that is what |
| rid him-self of any loose fur, so his enemy would | | | | created this hard-stone wolf, to endure humanity, |
| not detect him, in spotting his trail. He had deep | | | | to sharpen its kill-skills, more deadly than the dog, |
| yellow gold Irises. He had a lot of gray tints into | | | | the bear, the deer with great antlers, compelled |
| his coat, thus, making his observers think he was | | | | by an intrinsic wildness of the ancients to get |
| old, perhaps older than he really was. With his long | | | | revenge, an unremitting game of reprisal on the |
| mussel, he would break the bones of his foe, in | | | | white man, with savage rules, which did away |
| particular, the coyotes and Golden Jackals. He'd | | | | with all voices of conscious, the name of the |
| run with the dogs, on a few occasions, having | | | | gave was to stop the other one's breathing, |
| some kind of instinctive heritage with them. In | | | | forever, to listen for the heartbeat, footsteps, |
| comparison to the dog, the gray wolf has a larger | | | | and get your trophy. This was the burning legs, |
| paw size, and longer legs, and this gray wolf, | | | | heart and soul of the Gray Wolf-the near |
| tipped even that scale. His bones in his tail were | | | | immortal spirit, drunken spirit, of the wolf-hence, |
| as hard as steel. His long canine teeth, gripped its | | | | they needed an equal to the wolf, with human |
| prey at 12,000 kPa of pressure, his main weapon. | | | | reasoning. |
| More than twice the pressures for bone crushing | | | | And so it seemed to the young man: one |
| than the dogs have. And his saliva, kept his | | | | December morning-not only natural but quite |
| wounds from becoming infected and he had a lot | | | | fitting-to endure the task of finding, luring and |
| of scares. | | | | killing the Great Gray Wolf, without ever having |
| This was the life of being perused and sought | | | | seen him-the young man gave himself a oath. It |
| after because of his vanishing acts, to be shot on | | | | even come into view and overlooked his dreams; |
| sight and dragged out of the woods; the town-let | | | | thus, he would search the un-axed woods, it was |
| needed somebody, anybody, vast enough with | | | | as if he already knew, he could cover the wolf |
| youth, strength, courage, shrewdness to walk | | | | with a death blanket, the nameless wolf, other |
| those cold fields in winter, to search those dense | | | | than 'The Great Gray...' and its nickname of |
| woods, uncompromising, with rage to fulfill the | | | | 'phantom.' Perhaps he came to this conclusion |
| task, to put the wolf on a gallows, on a limb of a | | | | because he had what folks within the hamlet |
| tree, once and for all, and hang the beast, and be | | | | called "Bad Luck in killing wolves, or game, or |
| done with it. | | | | anything," but perhaps it was simply, destiny calling |
| Those tomorrow-less days, were gone where | | | | him for a greater task? That had never occurred |
| you could walk bravely with a rifle over your | | | | to the populist of the town-let, never once came |
| shoulder in the woods, in that 1200-acres forest | | | | to mind. |