The Lobo Wolf

On the heavy forested slopes of the Kaibab Forest in Northern Arizona, in the spring of 1910, was born a wolf that was later to become famous for his ruthless destruction of livestock and his habit of traveling and killing alone. So notorious did the exploits of this beast become, that the conservative cattlemen of the Arizona Strip offered a reward of $500 for his capture, dead or alive. It was in this forest that the wolf took a mate and the two came off the west side of the mountain, no doubt intend­ing to prey on the cattle ranging west of the Kaibab Plateau in the desert around Fredonia. Soon after leaving the forest, the she wolf had the misfortune to step into the jaws of a trap. Her mate was left to travel and kill alone.

From this time on, which was after the wolf had reached the age of one year, he was never seen in the company of another wolf, nor did his tracks ever reveal that he had a mate or a partner in his depredations. From his habit of traveling alone, he came to be known as the Lobo Wolf, under which title he was known throughout the Arizona Strip. The Lobo Wolf chose for his range, that part of the Strip, which is bounded on the east by Fredonia, on the west by the Hurricane Fault, north by Orderville Creek, and south by the Bull Rush Wash. The approximate center of this region is Pipe Springs where Leonard Heaton was its caretaker and was the only man ever to see the Lobo Wolf more than once.

Leonard and his father, Charles Heaton, first saw the wolf near Shiprock, approximately five miles west of Fredonia. The wolf had just killed a calf when he was surprised by the approach of the two on horseback, Char­les decided to rope the wolf and take him alive, inasmuch as they had no guns with them. He uncoiled his rope and gave chase. His horse could outdistance the wolf but would refuse to draw near, shying at the crucial moment. This occurred in the spring of 1911, shortly after he began kill­ing among the cattle herds. Leonard saw him again in the fall of 1913 near Moccasin but could not get a shot at him before he disappeared over the Sand Knolls. Two Orderville men, Earl Lamb and Fern Esplin, came upon him suddenly and shot at him with a 22 caliber automatic pistol but with-out effect,

In the winter of 1914 O. F. Colvin and his family occupied the old fort at Pipe Springs. Many times in the middle of the night the members of the family were startled into wakefulness by the howling of the wolf. Early morning investigations proved that the Lobo had indeed chosen the fort as a place for his serenade. Although the wolf seemed to make the vicinity of Pipe Springs his headquarters that winter, and although his howl was heard on many a night, the Colvin family was never able to get a sight of him,

As his age increased, his desire to kill seemed to increase in even great­er proportion. He reached the stage where he no longer killed only to satisfy his hunger, but he seemed to kill for the joy of doing it. Many calves and cows who had fallen victim to his fangs were found to have only a few marks of the teeth and claws of the killer on them. These were usually found in the region of the udder or some other part which the Lobo Wolf determined as choice meat. No longer did he confine his attacks to calves and young cattle. He now had the courage and the strength to attack a thousand pound cow, and many an animal of this size was found to have been slain by him. No record of his ever having killed a horse is recorded but colts were to be numbered among his victims.

His habits were those of an animal who dreads the presence of man and fears to be sighted by him and yet who has a native curiosity as to the nature of his natural enemy. Many times the tracks of the wolf were freshly printed in the tracks of men and riders preceding him. After a camping party had moved and left the ashes of their campfires, he delighted in rolling over and over in the dust of the ashes. He seemed to remain on the fringe of mans vision, curious, but cautious to such an extent that he was very rarely seen.

George T. Gilkey, a noted trapper, who had heard of the exploits of the Lobo Wolf and also the reward for his capture, came to Moccasin in 1921 with the determination to trap the wolf and take him alive. He openly boasted that the animal did not live which was smart enough to avoid his traps. Accordingly he set about to catch the wolf with a skill which con­vinced even the most skeptical that he really understood trapping. Gilkey found the favorite haunts and trails of the wolf and set many traps with the hope that one of them would be sprung on the killer. For many months it seemed as if the trapper had met his match. The wolf either avoided the traps entirely or he contrived ways to spring them without injury to himself. Trap after trap was visited only to be found rusting and buried in sand, or there was evidence of a detour by the intended victim. From outward appearances Gilkey was discouraged and ready to quit.

One of the favorite trails of the wolf crossed under an old pole fence northwest of Moccasin. Under this fence Gilkey had set three traps. In one of these he had, much to his disgust, caught a small rabbit, in an-other a small bird had flown with similar effect on the trapper's dis­position. The other was left to rust while the trail of the wolf now led to a point further down the fence.

It was the yearly custom of some of the Indians living near Moccasin to go to Panguitch, Utah during the haying season where they were hired by the farmers of that vicinity. Some of them traveled by horse and buggy, but the majority of them walked and hunted for rabbits and other small game enroute. John Merricats, a Paiute Indian, was one of those who had chosen to walk. He was approaching the old pole fence where the unsuccessful trapping had taken place when he saw the head of an enormous wolf, through the pole fence, The wolf was apparently laying down, but John was not one to hes­itate and taking careful aim he fired and the wolf rolled over, the victim of a well placed shot in the head, To his surprise and also to his fear, he not only saw that the animal was the long sought Lobo Wolf but also that he was fast in the old rusty trap which had been placed and practic­ally forgotten by Gilkey. The Indian quickly and skillfully skinned the wolf and hung the hide in the tree. He then departed in a hasty manner. The next day, an extremely hot one in August, 1922, Gilkey approached and saw only the skinned wolf still held fast in his trap. His anger was be­yond his control and he raced his horse the entire ten miles to Moccasin where he obtained the service of the Deputy Sheriff. When they returned to the spot and were taking note of the tracks of the accused thief, they chanced to notice the hide hanging in the tree and Gilkey's anger was cooled somewhat. His disappointment was still very great however, as it had been his cherished dream to take the Lobo Wolf alive. The wolf was a giant of his species, He measured 6 feet 11 inches from tip to tip and weighed 96 pounds. He was of a light gray color. His tusks showed the results of a strenuous life. Many of them were broken off, some even to the gum line. The reward of $500 dollars was never paid, but a few of the cattlemen got together a total of $100, which in addition to the hide, was the amount Gilkey received for a year of effort.