As a boy, Buffalo Joe was the most unlucky Indian that ever walked the
land. Joe lived with his family in the beautiful Mustang Meadows. As
a child, he was constantly finding himself getting in to trouble.
Poor Joe, he just could not catch a break. He had a hard time
making friends. He was always the last one picked to play
games and he was never invited to sleepovers.
One day the hunters left for the big hunt and Joe rode with them.
No one wanted him to go because they knew that he was bad luck.
His father (the Chief of the Creature Canyon Council) wouldn't hear
of this nonsense and took the boy with him.
The hunters returned weeks later and had not seen a singe Buffalo.
The tribe was sure that they would starve and everyone blamed Joe
and his bad luck.
Some of the mean boys built a small statue of Joe as a
token of his bad luck! They would hide it in each others beds
and it was said to bring them Joe's bad luck!
One night Joe's mother read him a story about a great land where
the Turtles played in the Cove and the Otters swam in the Creek.
This sounded so wonderful to him! A place where no one lived
and his bad luck couldn't find him.
One night, Joe decided to take his pony and run away. He snuck
out of his bedroom window and went to the stable with only a nap
sack of food slung over his shoulder. When he got to the
stable, he found his horse was missing.
Sadly, he decided it was just more of his bad luck and started to
walk away from his home and make his way through the Raccoon Valley.
He was not sure where he was going, he just knew that he wanted to
stay away from the Panther Pass or the Black Bear Cliffs!!So the lonely boy headed
for his fathers favorite hunting grounds, Deer Valley. This
was the only way he new to go.
The boy walked and
walked and walked and walked. He took a wrong turn somewhere
and found himself lost.
As luck would have it,
he found himself right in the middle of Wolf Creek!!!! He was
frightened to hear the howling of the wolves and could tell they
were closing in on him! Was this the end of poor Joe?
He ran and ran as fast
as his legs could carry him.
The wolves trailed close behind! As he looked over his
shoulder, he saw the pack closing in. He saw and Eagle flying
high over head and the rumbling of the falls ahead. As the pack of wolves were about to strike, he
ran up a fallen tree and jumped right off the water fall at the end of the creek.
He splashed into the stream below. He found himself
surrounded beautiful and playful river Dolphins!!! He splashed
and played with the Dolphins for hours until he finally got out of
the stream and headed towards the sun set.
Joe was so lost. He was felling sad that his bad luck had made
him get so lost and he was almost out of food. Worst of all,
he was never going to find Turtle Cove. : (
He pitched camp and went to bed feeling sad and lonely. In the
morning, he headed across the hills and smiled as he saw the some
Fox pups playing near their den.
The pups made him think of his family and feeling lonely as ever, he
began to cry. Walked over the last hill and gazed at the bay.
Suddenly he heard a thunderous roar. He felt the ground rumble
and dust filled the air.
Before he knew what was happening, he was surrounded by a stampede
of Buffalo!!!!
He was frozen with fear. Suddenly, he saw his pony galloping
towards him. He grabbed on to his pony's mane and climbed on
to his back.
He rode with the Buffalo on his pony until he was at the front and
he found that the herd was following him at every turn.
When he rode past Coyote Mountain he saw his father and the others
on their horses waiting with their arrows drawn.
It was the all the fathers from the Council! His father had
been out looking for him and the Buffalo. The tribe had the
best hunting hunting trip ever!
Once they got back, they
had a huge party to celebrate their good luck charm! Buffalo
Joe!! Joe went on to become the best chief ever for the
Council.
It is believed throughout the Council
that all of Joe's bad luck was pored into the statue. The
children would sneak the statue into each others beds and in the
morning, who ever has the statue would be bestowed bad luck!
So, if Buffalo Joe shows up in
your bed, don't let anyone see you and hide it with another tribe!
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