In 1893, a bounty hunter named Ernest Thompson Seton journeyed to the untamed canyons of New Mexico on a mission to kill a dangerous outlaw. Feared by ranchers throughout the region, the outlaw wasn’t a pistol-packing cowboy or train-robbing bandit. The outlaw was a wolf.
Lobo, as locals simply called him, was the legendary leader of a band of cattle-killing wolves that had been terrorizing cattle ranchers and their livestock. Known as the “King of the Currumpaw,” Lobo seemingly had a mythical ability to cheat death, eluding the traps that ranchers had set for him throughout the countryside.
It was up to Seton, a naturalist as well as a professional animal trapper, to exterminate this “super-wolf.” The ensuing battle of wits between wolf and man would spark a real-life wilderness drama, the outcome of which would leave a lasting effect on a new and growing movement in America: wilderness preservation.
im from kane pa ex home of a lot of lobo wolves ive been doing alot of research
I was given the story of Lobo by my mother as a seven year old. It is a story which inspired and defined my attitude towards animals and wild life forever and sparked an interest in the history of America and its people.
My mother won the book as a prize in Animal Welfare Week, 1926. Inside is a verse which I have often quoted and associated with this work:
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast;
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
My son will inherit the book, which may be dated in its language since it is a shadow of an age gone by, but he will read and respect its pages and the message it sends down through the years as I have. I hope that, long after I have gone this story will live on in future generations to influence and to inspire.
i watched the story of lobo on PBS and i loved it. it was as good as it could possibly be. wolves are my favorite animals– always have been, always will be–so that story really made me think about the way we people are treating animals God placed in our care. they’re not toys or machines or just some stupid item!!! they have intelligence and dignity, and should be treated as such.
Awesome! I hope that everyone has a great week!
My most sincere thanks to everyone who has commented on this program. Lobo’s story is an important one in the annals of American environmentalism. We have had a great response to the exhibition about Ernest Thompson Seton, “Wild at Heart,” which continues at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe through May 8, 2011. Seton’s story of personal transformation (due in large part to Lobo) makes for exciting viewing at the museum. (Full disclosure: I am the exhibition curator.) After first reading Lobo’s story about forty years ago, it continues to greatly move me.
Watching this on PBS now (Sun 10/10/10). I had an old copy of ETS’s Wild Animals I Have Known as a kid. I loved reading those stories and admired the drawings. We’ll be in Santa Fe in a few weeks and are looking forward to the exhibition!
I’ll never understand why men, have who have far superior brains, have language, hands and minds that have built the Parthenon, sent men to the moon and have made guns to kill from a distance, can take pride in killing an animal. True, Seton didn’t kill Lobo in the end, but he bound him and took him as ‘his’. That’s why Lobo never looked at him, trapped at each foot, muzzle bound, mate dead, he was truly defeated. I believe Seton knew the end result of his hunt, but wanted to ‘win’, and THEN he was sorry.
Simply put: WONDERFUL (and I was rooting for LOBO!)
On a hunt this fall we took a very large wolf. Two days later the mate was still howling plaintively and visible to us at times. Our excellent local biologists know the areas packs well statistically and the major cause of death to our wolves is other wolves as Smith describes in confirming Lobos behavior with the example of an alpha killed by another pack in Yellowstone. Heart rending in all three instances indeed as I have observed wolves often in the wild in their demeanor of procreation and survival killing.
To romanticize and over represent the family social and mating side of the wolf is as wrong and misrepresenting the vicous and previously romanticized social killing ability of the wolf. Seaton’s publications line my bookshelves. It would be very interesting to see what he would say today. I would expect he would advise that unless we control our own populations we have little chance in saving theirs for at our hand we will all die. Which sequence and exactly how may still be in question.
Tears for a tender-hearted broken-hearted Lobo ….
Can man top this?
“Just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer.” ~ Aldo Leopold, Thinking Like A Mountain.
Excellent program on the old Lobo Wolf. Next please do one on Ol’ 3 Toes :-)
The producers depicted Seton more favorably than he would have portrayed himself. I have a hard time getting beyond the moment at which Lobo was captured. Seton inexplicably could not kill the wolf, and decided to “spare” him by keeping him. Yet failing to put this beautiful animal out of his misery out of some sense of respect for him could not have been more misguided or immoral. Seton basically let the animal he supposedly admired die a slow and painful death. No wonder he spent the rest of his life trying to redeem himself.
Oct.10,2010
I just saw the PBS special on Lobo…I was crying like a baby. It was beautiful. I only regret Mr. Seton could not have fast forwarded to present time to realize what he was doing was wrong in the 1st place. Lobo and his mate would have been protected. So sad.
I basically enjoyed the movie because of two main reasons. Being it was a true story (or mostly true to fact), and it gave the people a strict message throughout the movie in how to respect ALL wild life through a heart breaking experience with Seton. Especially the souls of an animal I so dearly love and always have. Wolf Trainer Sausha Seus, did awesome with her wolves in the movie. I admire her for her good hand.
For my love of the wolf I also did something I regret. I purchased a FULL blooded male Can. Timber wolf I named Timber as a young cub and bottle fed him. I bought the cub from a game sanctuary back in the early seventies. I socialized him greatly which paid off for a lot of reasons. He was very friendly to people and other animals but basically a “wolf monster” in every other way. I feel mostly because he was still a puppy at heart (about two). The man that owned the game sanctuary I got him from said Timber probably wouldn’t grow up mentally until he was about four. And that man should’ve been shut down for selling wild animals to almost anyone he could find. My Timber was extremely dominating. I truly feel in the wild he would’ve been leader or died trying. Timber had a complicated and sad story behind his name. I’ve shared this story with many in hopes I can teach others that ninety-nine percent of full blooded wolves do NOT make a good pet. And wolf-dogs can even be worse in temperament. Timber wasn’t my pet. He was just my friend for little time.
In memory of my friend, Timber: http://jokaysedona.com/timber.htm
lol i agree with austin. save the wolves and kill the meanie flies!!! i’m a wolf lover i might grow up to be a wolfoligist or however you spell it :D i rp as wolves so. hey, stop hunting them and love ‘em!!
Wolves are great animals that should be saved on killed off bu humans because we think their evil or deadly.They are great animals.
Good thought. I love it. Thank you for posting
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Sincères félicitation à la maman pour ce beau petit bébé,
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Blancha actually died a much more gruesome death than was portrayed here… Ernest broke her neck by tying two ropes around her neck and tying the ropes to horses. they then made the horses run in opposite directions and… you don’t want to know. Read the book online.
P.S. the book made me cry for ages.
Good program, great story…makes me want to watch “Never Cry Wolf” again.
This program was beautiful. It was informative, deep, told a touching story and had a message for not only Americans but all of mankind. Thank you PBS, thank you Seton and thank you Lobo for sharing this story. I highly recommend!
Seton was a Canadian. He grew up in Toronto and learned his naturalism roaming the Don Valley.
Wolves are creatures that our society is farther away than ever from understanding & appreciating. Without some wild things, some things that man does not completely control, what then are we? Answer: Shadows