Review by Mandy Ainsworth
Colorado Animals – December 1994 – Colorado Central Magazine
Four-Legged Legends of Colorado
by Gayle C. Shirley
published in 1994 by Falcon Press
ISBN 1-56044-262-X
It’s a rare children’s book that can hold an adult’s interest, and Four-Legged Legends of Colorado qualifies for both style and content.
The prose is clear and easy to follow, yet it never becomes cute or condescending. It offers a baker’s dozen of well-researched tales about animals in Colorado, ranging from Buffalo Bill Cody’s favorite horse, captured in an 1869 battle with the Cheyenne on the upper reaches of the Republican River, to Yogi the bloodhound, an Aurora police dog who in 1993 found the missing body of kidnapped five-year-old Alie Berrelez.
Along the way, some of Central Colorado’s critters get their own chapters.
Since this book is aimed at youngsters, too, I passed it along to 14-year-old Mandy Ainsworth of Buena Vista for her perspective. She wrote that these were “strange but wonderful stories,” and “If you are an animal lover as I am, you’ll love this book.” Her further comments are sprinkled along the way here.
Old Mose’s career might explain why many ranchers sound less than thrilled about reviving Colorado’s grizzly-bear population. For a quarter of a century or more, the 1,200-pound bruin roamed the Black Mountain country between South Park and the Arkansas River; outwitting scores of hunters and would-be bear trappers, he was blamed for killing three men and 800 head of livestock valued at $30,000.
Mandy: This will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Two courageous men hunted “the most dreaded grizzly bear in the United States.” Definitely a thriller!
On Front Street in Fairplay is a monument to Prunes the burro. Shirley tells the usual romanticized story, but adds a welcome dollop of informed speculation that the tale might not qualify as unvarnished truth. She also passes on the lesser-known account of Bum and Shorty, dog and burro companions memorialized elsewhere in Fairplay.
Mandy: Burros seem to be popular with Fairplay folks. An 80-year-old prospector discovers that his 60-year-old burro, Prunes, has no teeth and is beginning the slow road to starvation. The little burro, weak with hunger and in pain, gets stuck in a shed during a fierce winter storm. A very touching tale. As for Bum and Shorty, it’s a sad but funny tale of a dog that needs a friend pairing up with a blind burro who needs a guide.
Among the others are Elijah the horse, known to his Buena Vista owners as Bugs, who had hay dropped from airplanes to help him survive a winter on a ridge by Mt. Yale. Another regional horse that hit the big time, albeit posthumously, was Snippy.
Mandy: Do you believe in UFOs? If so, “Snippy, Headless Hoax” is the story for you. It tells about the mysterious death of an Appaloosa mare. Many people blame aliens, but you might just have to read it to find out.
The joint conclusion of a 44-year-old and a 14- year-old: Four-Legged Legends is a fine collection of well-told tales, interesting and informative for local youngsters — as well as their parents.
— Ed Quillen & Mandy Ainsworth