Chuck Cheesman: Music
Wolves of Lamar Valley
(words and music by Chuck Cheesman)
During the summer of 2001, my wife and I took our first trip to Yellowstone National Park. Although we usually prefer the solitude of the backcountry, our biggest thrill was watching the wolves of Lamar Valley - the Druid Peak Pack - from a hillside with dozens of other park visitors. Rick McIntyre is an author and ranger who spends his time studying the wolves and helping visitors to the valley understand the beauty and importance of the wolves' return to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. While we were there Rick was generous with his time and knowledge. As we left the hillside for the last time Rick said to me, "Go home and write a folk song about your experience here watching the wolves." So here it is... A couple of notes: "Think Like a Mountain" is recognizable to wolf lovers everywhere. It is an idea put forth by Aldo Leopold in his classic book A Sand County Almanac. "Dream like a child" is my addition to that. The children on the hill in Lamar Valley were the ones with the great questions for Rick - the ones with the curiosity to really make a difference in the future. We must never forget that our disappearing Wilderness belongs to them as well.
Rick spends hours on a hill in Yellowstone. He studies wolves there and teaches people what he knows. Little children look through his scope and smile. They see wolves there just about a mile away, and they can see the puppies play.
They ask questions the way kids do, like “Why do wolves howl?” and “Do they ever come right up to you?” Rick might tease them first, but then he’ll answer patiently. He helps us all to understand this wild thing we’ve come to see, and why the wolf should run free.
Think like a mountain. Dream like a child. You just might remember a part of you so wild. The Wolves of Lamar Valley are howling in the night, living life with all their might.
There hadn’t been a wolf in here in probably fifty years. Men had waged war on them way on back to the pioneers. Some would come and shoot them for the bounty on each head. Some set poisoned traps for them until at last they all were dead and gone. That’s when they knew the job was done, when there wasn’t even one.
The wolf returned to Yellowstone in 1995. They brought her down from Canada, and maybe this time she’ll survive. People come from all around just to take a look. They sit up there upon the hill, and maybe with a little luck they’ll see a wild wolf run free.
Think like a mountain. Dream like a child. You just might remember a part of you so wild. The Wolves of Lamar Valley are howling in the night, living life with all their might.