Since it has been so hot, with a heat index of over 100 degrees each day I have not been going out much to play. While looking through a box I found an old scrapbook of stories that had been written by Bucky The Pooh while he lived on St Lawrence Island in Alaska. One of them was about his best friend Rosinante, the wolf/husky mix, and how he became a hero saving the live of Mom’s kids Billy, Mike and Dawn’s dad, Bill. Since there have been so many heroes during this time of fire trouble in Florida I thought I would share the story with you.

Bucky’s story: Hi everyone, as you know the wind storms at Northeast Cape, here on St Lawrence Island, have been exceptionally strong this week. We have not had a plane in for sometime and Billy is waiting for his home schooling lessons to arrive. I have been staying in the cabin and playing with the kids and being a good watchdog. Rosinante (Rosie) has been doing his outside duties such as making sure that Jimmie Toolie, our wonderful neighbor, and Bill find the entrance to the tunnel down to the house - we now have 17 feet of snow that has blown over the cabin - and helping Bill dig the snow out of the tunnel. If Bill is inside when it storms he must dig the snow behind him to the top and then redig to get the tunnel clear. Rosie loves to help, he also goes to Top Camp each day with Bill when he goes to work. On the way up the mountain, Rosie always stops at Lower Camp to say hello to his friends first of course - they might have a snack for him.

The other night Rosie became a hero and we are so proud of him. Bill was working at top camp and after his shift the wind was exceptionally strong but he decided to head for the village anyway so he got on the Snow-Go (Note: what Alaska natives called snowmachines) and down the mountain Bill and Rosie went with Rosie in the lead. Rosie loved this part of the day and as he ran he was always on the lookout for a fat Lemming to pounce on. Everything was fine as they passed the lights of Lower Camp and then the trail was covered with snow. Bill thought he could find his way and kept going on a path that he thought was toward the village. Soon he was wondering why it was taking so long to get there. About that time Rosie came back to the Snow-Go from Lemming hunting and started pulling on Bill’s pant leg. Bill stopped the Snow-Go and looked round - nothing but blowing snow - he then changed direction and started following the husky mix back the other direction. He soon came to the cabin. He had been traveling out on the Bering Sea ice and would have met with disaster if it had not been for the courage of his friend and helper Rosie who had led him to the top of the tunnel and out of danger. We all were so proud of him.

Well gang that is Bucky’s story of his friend’s courage. I know there are lots of courageous pets helping their owners out there and I am very proud of them too.

I wasn’t feeling well when Mom and John returned from their trip to Colorado so I was just lying at Mom’s feet listen to her tell about what they did. She had just started telling a friend about her stagecoach ride when I fell asleep......... It was about 1884 and the mines in Colorado were very productive. People were moving into the mining towns in large numbers and everyone was trying to make lots of money while they could. Some made it legally and some didn’t. I was trailing around the state and picking up work were I could while waiting for a chance to make a big strike.

I had been in the town of Durango for about a month and was ready to go up into the mountains to Leadville to see what was going on with the big silver strike. As luck would have it I was out of money and so I moseyed on over to the stage office to see if I could get a job riding Shotgun and a free ride to Leadville to boot. The stage manager was a friend of mine and he arranged for me to get a job on the next stage leaving for Lake County. There had been a rash of robberies on the line and finding someone who would go was getting hard, but I was feeling brave and reckless so I took on the task.

On the following Wednesday I got up early and packed my gear and a special box for the trip. I helped the livery hand harness up the team and rode over to the stage office. We had some very important riders this trip and I wanted to impress them with my work - you never know when someone can help you get a permanent job. The first person on the coach was Jefferson “Soapy” Smith, he was a flimflam man of the first order. His scam was well known but there were enough Tenderfeet for him to hoodwink and make a buck or two. Next on the stage was Doc Holiday, now he was a noted gunman and gambler and it was said he was a very dangerous man to get on the wrong side of so I was very careful with his valise and helped him up into the coach carefully. I remembered to call him sir too. Then we waited for the other passengers, and waited... Finally we saw a crowd approaching the office and heard the laughter all the way down the street. The Poodle Sisters, three of the loveliest gals to tread the boards were on their way to do a show at Tabor’s Opera House. I had never seen such lovely ladies in my life and it was all I could do to assist them into the coach. As we did the final tiedown of luggage on top of the coach the manager came running out and handed up the strong box. I placed it between my paws, settled in and we were ready to go up the road to Leadville at a fast clip.

The first part of the trip was very uneventful and I lost myself in a daydream of lots of silver and a date with one of the lovelies in the coach below. We stopped at the first stage relay and changed the horses, then sped on. When we reached Salida we were warned that the dangerous Dalmatian Gang was in the area and that the Dalmatian Brothers had vowed to take what was in the strong box no matter what. I went on alert and from then on watched all the hills for any sign we were being watched. All went well and we reached the town of Granite. Joe Wells the County Recorder gave us another box of important papers to transport up to Leadville and to give to the City Recorder and again reminded us we might be in danger..

After the horses were changed out we sped on around the bend to the area where we were hemmed in by the mountain on one side and the Arkansas River on the other. As we came to the narrowest point before heading up the mountain it happened! The road was blocked by the Dalmatian Gang and Duke Dalmatian was standing there with his weapons in each paw. “Throw down the box Boomer”, he said in a mean growl. Then they started to charge the coach. I was thinking only of the lovely passengers and how frightened they might be. “I said give it up Boomer” came the growling voice of Duke again. What to do. I knew we had plenty of weapon power but the ladies where in danger so I reached back behind me and grabbed my special box and opened it up and threw out the contents to the Dalmatian Gang. As they scrambled for all the Jerky Treats we sped away as fast as we could get the horses to go.

When we reached Leadville with the strong boxes and our passengers everyone was so glad we had made it safely they had a large party. The Poodle Sisters performed that night and best of all they called me a hero and gave me big wonderful lurps. Thats all for this time,
Boomer J. Foxworthy
Pup Reporter

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MAY 1998 BYTES

Be Kind to Animals Week? Why is it only one week out of the year? Why don't the pet stores have decorated trees? Why isn't there special music and sales for four months? Why don't talk show hosts promote a special toy just for pets - so that humans will stand in lines for hours to purchase one? Why aren't there TV specials? We could have decorations put up for this - Come on people lets get with the program. We don't even get taken to lunch or get a plant for our pens. Be Kind to Animals Week should be a multimillion dollar event! Cash registers should be overflowing, magazines and newspapers should be full of advertisements, Martha Stewart should be doing shows on decorations and holiday menus. Anyone for starting an international trend of celebration just e-mail me and send in your favorite food dishes for our new Animal Week cookbook. This is going to be a hard job but come on everyone if we get started now we will be ready for next year. Hello?, hello? Am I the only one who is concerned here? Well I tried, maybe it will take a while longer to catch on. Wonder if I can get on a talk show to promote it?


Remember to check out Woodro’s page for health tips and new things for owners to try for terminally ill dogs. Woodro is waiting at the Bridge but maybe his page can help other doggies and their humans.

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Last update: 15 March 2001