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Show THE HISTORY BLAZER A7E\ S'S OF UTAH'S PAST FROM THE Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio Grande Salt Lake City LT 84101 ( 801) 533- 3500 FAX ( 801) 533- 3503 Roy Musselman and the Extermination of the Wolf IN THE EARTY 2m CENTURY~-. FEDERAL~- STAcToEu~@. ryjA ND - ux=& - government .,$ . - officials teamed up with livestock raisers in an intensive campaign to rid the entire state of Utah of predatory wild animals. With poison, traps, and guns, they moved to eliminate coyotes, wolves, and mountain lions from their traditional ranges. Among the most active and successful hunters and trappers was Roy Musselman who operated in southeastern Utah near what is now Canyon-lands National Park. A letter from the state livestock board to stockmen in 1920 clearly set out the long- term goals of the campaign: " It is our intention to carry on intensive trapping campaigns on the spring and summer ranges during the spring, summer, and fall, and poison and trapping campaigns on the winter ranges during the summer and early fall. . . . We feel that each stockman is interested in what is being accomplished, and in assisting us in every way to curtail livestock losses through the destruction of the animals that prey on their stock. . . ." The campaign had begun well before 1920. A1 and Jim Scorup hired Roy Musselman, an experienced trapper, in the early 1910s to help rid their cattle ranch of predators. Over the next decades Musselman worked the areas of the Elk and Blue mountains, usually in the employ of the Scorups, who eventually ran Utah's largest cattle operation, the Indian Creek Cattle Company, out of the Dugout Ranch just east of the Needles area of Canyonlands. A 1927 newspaper article reported Musselman's career haul as: ". . . 2100 lynx or bob cats, 6000 coyotes, 1500 foxes, 6000 skunks, 43 wolves and 4 lions. This does not include innumerable badgers, civet cats, crows, etc. He has turned loose thousands of skunks caught during the summer because their furs are not valuable at that season. " Musselman eventually became acknowledged as the best trapper in the region. Usually working and living alone ( he never married), Musselman collected pelts worth thousands of dollars. He was credited with destroying three particularly troublesome wolves, nicknamed Beef Basin, Black Mesa, and Big Foot. The successful hunt for Big Foot ( sometimes also called Pea Vine, Slick Horn, or Outlaw) solidified Musselman's reputation. Ranchers blamed the animal for thousands of dollars' worth of slain cattle, sheep, and horses over a period of ten years. The alleged culprit's tracks were distinctive, since one foot had been maimed in a trap years before. In addition to the normal state bounty, local stockmen put up a handsome offer of $ 1,000 for Big Foot's pelt. The wolf finally stepped in one of Roy Musselman's traps on March 24, 1920, then dragged the trap for miles before dying. Musselman found the dead wolf, skinned him out, and ( more) delivered the pelt- claimed to be eight feet from tip to tip- to the San Juan County commissioners. In March 1922 the papers reported that he had completed the job of eradicating wolves from the Indian Creek region. Roy's nephew, Rusty Musselman, hunted wolves as well. Rusty told outdoor writer Michael Kelsey that he believed he killed the last wolf in San Juan County in 1938, although he claimed to have seen another in the 1950s. Roy Musselman died at Rusty's home in Monticello on September 5, 1948. In the last third of the 20th century the wolfs reputation and future prospects have taken a turn for the better. Following the mandates of the Endangered Species Act, government wildlife officials and environmentalists have overseen the reintroduction of red wolves into areas of the Southeast, including Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while gray wolves have been reintro-duced into wilderness areas in Idaho as well as in Yellowstone National Park. Some environmen-talists have quietly suggested that the next logical site for gray wolf reintroduction would be the C o l o r a ~ o p ~ a ~ e a U , ~ n c l u d ~ n g S O-.- U-,.~--~..~, m.,- U ,~--~--,< - a - - a . - - ~ OM: & and Val@ 3Smcj, March 21, 1913; 35mes-- I@&, April 15, 1920; April 22, 1920; March 30, 1922; FebruPry 17, 1927; Sun Juan Rewrd, September 9, 1948; Michoel R. Kelsey, Hiking, Biking, and Qploring ~~ National Park and Vicinity ( Provo: Kelsey Publishing, 1992). THEH ISTORYB LAZER is produced by the Utah State Historical Society and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone 533- 3500. 950810 ( JN) |
