Page 151 - The Lost Ways

- By S. Patrick –

“Feel what it’s like to truly starve, and I guarantee that you’ll
forever think twice before wasting food.”

– Criss Jami

I was born in Seattle, Washington, and since there’s not much in the way of

trapping going on up there, I was relocated at an early age to Lovell, Wyoming.

That’s not actually the reason my family moved, but once I developed my passion for

trapping, it was good enough for me.

In case you’ve never heard of Lovell, don’t feel bad. Until I was relocated there at the age
of eight, neither had I. In fact, I would guess that most folks couldn’t point to it on a map
without searching the whole state first.

Lovell is about 100 miles due east of what we call the park, which is Yellowstone National
Park. I don’t think Lovell has any bigger population now than when I was a kid 40 odd
years ago; it’s just stayed around 2,200 people.

The reason this area is so good for trapping is that it’s right at the foothills of the Big Horn
Mountains. It’s the prime area for many miles around for hunting, fishing, and trapping.

So like many young boys back then in a small town with those types of opportunities, I
trapped all winter and cut firewood and sold it or bucked hay and alfalfa all summer. I
have to tell you that I greatly preferred trapping to bucking for reasons you may well
imagine. Wyoming can get a little warm in the summer, and if you’ve ever bucked wet,
heavy alfalfa in the sun, I don’t have to tell you anymore.

150