Lobo, King of the Currumpa: An Old West Showdown
Ever heard of "Manifest Destiny?" Back in 1845, that idea was all the rage, sending folks west in droves, chasing dreams. Fast forward to 1848, after the Mexican-American War, the U.S. scooped up a massive chunk of land – basically, California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming today. Throw in the transcontinental railroad in 1860, and the West was changing faster than a gunslinger could draw. Goodbye, tipis and bison; hello, homesteads, sheep, and cattle!
By the 1890s, the Wild West was starting to calm down, but a few places still held onto their rough edges. One of those was the Corrumpa Valley in northeastern New Mexico. Even the name "Corrumpa" had a wild ring to it, coming from a Native American word meaning just that: "Wild." It’s here, among the sandstone canyons, that a wolf named Lobo and his gang of furry outlaws made their final stand.
Now, wolves used to feast on bison, but with cattle taking over the landscape, the choice was pretty clear. Unfortunately for the ranchers, Lobo and his pack had expensive taste. Over five years, they’re said to have taken down around two thousand head of cattle!
And get this, they weren’t just eating anything. These wolves were picky eaters! They preferred the tender cuts from young cows, turning their noses up at old bulls or sheep (though they sometimes killed sheep just for kicks).
One night in 1893, a white female wolf (named Blanca by the sheepherders) and an old yellow wolf went on a rampage, killing 250 sheep and leaving the meat to rot. That was the last straw. The ranchers declared war on Lobo’s crew, putting a $1,000 bounty on the big guy’s head.
For five years, cowboys, hunters, and trappers tried to collect, but no luck. Finally, the desperate ranchers called in the big guns: Ernest Seton, a world-famous trapper. Seton arrived in New Mexico, thinking he’d make quick work of these wolves. After all, he’d practically written the book on trapping!
But Lobo was no ordinary wolf. Seton quickly realized he’d underestimated his opponent. Every trap he set was dug up, and Lobo would leave a little "present" on top as a sign of disrespect. Poisoned meat? Same thing. Lobo’s pack seemed to know every trick in the book.
Weeks turned into months, and winter rolled in. Seton was running out of ideas. Then, while tracking Lobo near a flock of Sandhill Cranes, he noticed something: a smaller set of tracks always close to Lobo’s. That’s when it hit him – Lobo was in love! Blanca, the white wolf, was his weakness.
Seton shifted his focus to Blanca. He set traps in a narrow passage, using a cow head as bait. It worked! Blanca got caught. When Seton found her, Lobo was there, howling. Seton and his partner killed Blanca and tied her to their horses. Seton said he could hear Lobo’s howls for two days – not the defiant howls of a king, but the wails of a broken heart. Even though Seton felt bad, he knew he was getting closer to his goal.
Lobo, despite the danger, followed Blanca’s scent to Seton’s ranch. He’d never revealed himself before, but now, grief had clouded his judgment. On January 31, 1894, Lobo stepped into Seton’s trap, each of his four legs caught.
Seton described the capture:
"I had my rifle, but I didn’t want to ruin his coat, so I got a cowboy and a lasso. We threw a stick of wood, which he grabbed, and then we lassoed his neck. I yelled, ‘Don’t kill him! We’ll take him alive!’ He was helpless, so we put a stick in his mouth and tied his jaws shut. He didn’t resist. He just looked at us, like he was saying, ‘You got me. Do what you want.’ And from then on, he ignored us."
They tied his feet, but he didn’t make a sound. They put him on a horse. His breath was even, his eyes clear, but he didn’t look at them. He stared out at his kingdom, where his pack was now scattered. He gazed until the rocks blocked the view.
At the ranch, Seton chained Lobo up and offered him food and water, but he didn’t touch it. He lay there, looking out at the plains, his plains. He didn’t flinch when Seton touched him. He was still staring at the prairie when the sun went down. Seton expected him to call his pack, but he never did. He’d called once, and no one came. He wouldn’t call again.
Seton wrote, "A lion without its strength, an eagle without its freedom, a dove without its mate – they all die of a broken heart. And who can say that Lobo, this grim bandit, could bear all three? All I know is that when morning came, he was still lying there, calm, but his spirit was gone. The old king-wolf was dead."
They took the chain off his neck and carried him to where Blanca lay. The cattleman said, "There, you came to her. Now you’re together again."
Seton’s experience with Lobo changed his life. He became a wolf advocate, saying, "Ever since Lobo, I’ve wanted to show people that our wild creatures are precious and we have no right to destroy them." He even talked to Theodore Roosevelt about protecting wolves.
Seton’s story, "Lobo, King of the Currumpaw," became a hit, changing attitudes about the environment and sparking the conservation movement. He also helped found what would become the Boy Scouts of America. Today, Lobo’s pelt is on display at the Seton Memorial Museum in Cimarron, New Mexico.
©Matt Doherty for Legends of America, submitted February 2024.
About the Author: Matt Doherty is a seventh-generation rancher from the Folsom area of New Mexico. Doherty’s family also owns the Doherty Mercantile building, which houses the Folsom Museum, where he sits on the board of directors. [Visit Folsom]
Also see:
[Rayado, New Mexico – On the Santa Fe Trail]
[Dry Cimarron Scenic Byway, New Mexico]
[Folsom, New Mexico – High Plains Ghost Town]
[John R. Abernathy – Wolf Catcher & Lawman]