Little Books, Big Change

I lived in New Mexico for nine months and had never heard of Ernest Seton!

Ernest Seton, born August 1860, in England. He made his way to Canada and then to the Western Frontier in the 1893. He was hired to kill wolves, actually one wolf in particular, Lobo. The locals of this Ranch called Cross L, in Northwester New Mexico wanted Lobo DEAD.   That menacing beast that would kill their farm animals. And it was in New Mexico that his life would change, and his determination to kill the wolf would turn to helping the wolf.

Lobo had a girlfriend, Blanca. Seton successfully captured Blanca. The following morning he found her, with Lobo near by and shot and killed Blanca.  Lobo howled relentlessly that night. He began coming uncomfortably close to Seton's cabin. Seton had a plan. He used Blanca's scent as bait to real in Lobo.  Multiple traps were set up around the perimeter of his cabin. It worked. The following morning he found Lobo with traps on three feet and he was helpless. Seton did not kill Lobo. He had a change of heart, when a man sees that an animal has characteristic,and understand love, and loss/ When a man can relate to an animal/ something happens.  Not all men do this and for a man to go from killer/ hunter to conservationist for an animal is enough for people to stop and listen. Seton took Lobo home and he lived two days. Lobo seemed to have submitted to Seton, but also, given up and died of a broken heart.

Watch The Wolf That Changed America on PBS. See more from Nature.

I like this story, of course, because it encompasses the reason I began to like and understand the power of literature. The written word is powerful. It has the power to lead a country in another direction. I believe it is not by fate or chance that an author's work changes the direction of one life or many lives. It is divine intervention. For instance, Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is the epitome of this divine intervention.

America took on a new approach to the wild beast of this new land called America. The Conservation Movement was ushered in with the publication of his book, and other factors during the time. 1850-1920
The following page in the Library of Congress is interesting regarding this movement.
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/connections/conservation/history.html

Other Accomplishment not to be forgotten:
Seton establish Woodcraft Indians League 1902
Seton was one of the founders of Boy Scouts of American 1910