By Morris R. Pike; illustrations by Chris Sheets
Chapter 1 – The move to Oregon
Snap Wolf lifted his nose and sniffed air. The blue haze that filled Hells Canyon nearly obscured the pale string of the Snake River that owed below him on the valley floor. Squinting his eyes to defeat the glare of the low-hanging sun, he scanned the distant mountains to the west.
Alpha, his father, was about to lead his pack across the river and settle them in the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon. Snap had always wondered what lay on the other side of the river and now he was going to find out. The Idaho wolves were meeting with them to say goodbye.
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Meanwhile, across the river, patches of pine trees and other hardy vegetation struggled to sustain themselves. However the clusters of trees and bushes didn’t complain . . . they seemed to understand that their job was to provide food and shelter for the birds and animals that lived there.
For centuries, the animals and birds that made the Wallowa Mountains their home, took advantage of the provisions the forests and prairie grasses provided. The animals and birds didn’t tell them that they loved them . . . but the trees and grasses knew.
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Meanwhile, the porcupines were petrified when they heard the wolves from Idaho were returning to the Wallowa’s. e badgers spread the word that soon everyone would be seeing gray wolves.
These Horse Creek dwellers, which were sure that the news would panic everyone, were surprised when they all simply shrugged and went about living their lives. e other birds and animals knew that all they could do about it was to stay alert. ey understood that no matter what, the wolves were going do what wolves do and they knew that they would continue to do what they did.
As for the humans who lived there, they were a mystery to all the animals. Yes, humans also do what humans do, but the animals never knew exactly what that was going to be.
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Alpha brought his pack into Wallowa territory and settled in the Imnaha Valley. He sniffed every rock, tree and bush searching for evidence of other wolf packs. He led a series of threatening howls to warn any wolves within earshot to leave or at least stay clear. So far no one had dared to challenge his leadership and it didn’t look like anyone would do so very soon.
He ordered his pack members to explore the wooded hills and pastureland along the Imnaha River to make sure there was a good food supply. They found the area well populated with both large and small animals. Alpha was con dent that he and his powerful family would own the Oregon Wallowa territory.
A Diary of Snap Wolf’s Journey to Find a Mate is available both in paperback and Kindle at Amazon.com
