Coaly was a black cocker spaniel and he was the family dog. I can’t remember him as a pup so I think he was around before me. To my father he was a great hunting companion. I remember going pheasant hunting with them and Coaly was indeed a good hunting dog. He would put his nose to the ground and go into cattails and weeds where a human couldn’t walk. He could smell a pheasant and would work the weed patch until the bird would take flight. I remember one trip where Coaly was on the track of a pheasant in some heavy brush and it would not take flight. It would just keep running. Coaly finally got impatient and just lunged on top of the bird and brought it to Dad and me. We had one pheasant in the bag without firing a shot.
My earliest memories of Coaly go back to grade school. He would follow Russ and me to school. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t get him to turn back and go home. I
I don’t know how long he would sit out in front of the school before he would give up and go back home. Early in the school year I would get to sit in the back of the class next to the windows but eventually the teacher would move me up front because I would spend too much time staring out the windows daydreaming. I remember one school day staring out the window that overlooked the school playground. There was Coaly sitting next to the big slide, just waiting . He finally gave up, relieved himself on the bottom of the slide and headed home. I made a mental note not to be the first to go down that slide at recess.
The family eventually moved 4 miles out of town so we now lived in the country. To Coaly and me this was the just the freedom we needed. Whenever Russ and I would go on an adventure old Coaly was at our side. On this particular day we were heading to the Sand Draw. The Sand Draw was created by a stream of water that flowed through very sandy hills and it eventually eroded into a deep canyon and ravine. At the upper end of the draw where we were headed , the canyon was very narrow and very deep. Enroute a blue belly lizard scampered across our path so the chase was on. Russ and I would occasionally catch these lizards and take them home. We would keep them around the house until Mom would find them and then they would disappear. You had to be careful trying to catch a lizard. They would run under rocks and when you lifted the rock to grab them there would be a couple of scorpions waiting for you. This lizard ran into a clump of sage brush and so we circled the bush and was sure that we had it cornered. Just as we were moving in old Coaly goes crazy and starts barking and even nipping at us. Just as I bent over to pick up a rock to throw at that crazy dog I see the rattle snake sitting under the sagebrush. This is one lizard that we are going to leave alone.
We finally arrive at the canyon. This canyon is so narrow at the beginning that you can jump across it. It is 15 to 20 feet deep, flows for about a quarter mile and then falls over a waterfall for another 15 feet. The water in the bottom of it is running very fast and is pure white. When you jumped across, you wanted to make sure you would make it to the other side because the ride down that canyon and over that waterfall would not be pleasant. Old Coaly must have felt young that day and tried to jump across but he didn’t even come close. He bounced off the other side and fell straight down into that rushing water. Russ and I run along the side of the canyon watching him tumble over rocks and eventually go flying over the waterfall. We are not sure that he can live through that and run to find a way down to the bottom. We finally get down and get to the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and there is Coaly shaking himself off and acting if nothing happened.
We decide to follow the canyon on down to where it falls into the Shoshone River and walk home from there. As we round the corner we can see where the east side of the canyon has caved in. The high run off we had this spring has changed the direction of the stream and it has carved a new route. As we climb the canyon wall to go around the cave in, the skeleton of a human hand is sticking out of the wall. We look above us and on the wall are more human bones. As we climb out of the canyon to see what is going on, we come across two old wooden caskets. When the river changed routes it cut through the corner of the old Lutheran cemetery and several graves had gone over the side with the cave in. I knew that Willie Korrel was a Lutheran and lived close by. We head for Willie’s place . We meet Willie on the road in his pickup and tell him our story. Russ and Coaly and I jump in the back of his pickup and head back to the cemetery. Willie says he will take care of it and offers us a ride home. As we jump out of the pickup at our house, Willie says that’s a nice looking dog. We say yep, he is a good dog.
That next winter my Dad accidentally ran over Coaly and killed him. It is the only time I saw my father cry.
My earliest memories of Coaly go back to grade school. He would follow Russ and me to school. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t get him to turn back and go home. I
I don’t know how long he would sit out in front of the school before he would give up and go back home. Early in the school year I would get to sit in the back of the class next to the windows but eventually the teacher would move me up front because I would spend too much time staring out the windows daydreaming. I remember one school day staring out the window that overlooked the school playground. There was Coaly sitting next to the big slide, just waiting . He finally gave up, relieved himself on the bottom of the slide and headed home. I made a mental note not to be the first to go down that slide at recess.
The family eventually moved 4 miles out of town so we now lived in the country. To Coaly and me this was the just the freedom we needed. Whenever Russ and I would go on an adventure old Coaly was at our side. On this particular day we were heading to the Sand Draw. The Sand Draw was created by a stream of water that flowed through very sandy hills and it eventually eroded into a deep canyon and ravine. At the upper end of the draw where we were headed , the canyon was very narrow and very deep. Enroute a blue belly lizard scampered across our path so the chase was on. Russ and I would occasionally catch these lizards and take them home. We would keep them around the house until Mom would find them and then they would disappear. You had to be careful trying to catch a lizard. They would run under rocks and when you lifted the rock to grab them there would be a couple of scorpions waiting for you. This lizard ran into a clump of sage brush and so we circled the bush and was sure that we had it cornered. Just as we were moving in old Coaly goes crazy and starts barking and even nipping at us. Just as I bent over to pick up a rock to throw at that crazy dog I see the rattle snake sitting under the sagebrush. This is one lizard that we are going to leave alone.
We finally arrive at the canyon. This canyon is so narrow at the beginning that you can jump across it. It is 15 to 20 feet deep, flows for about a quarter mile and then falls over a waterfall for another 15 feet. The water in the bottom of it is running very fast and is pure white. When you jumped across, you wanted to make sure you would make it to the other side because the ride down that canyon and over that waterfall would not be pleasant. Old Coaly must have felt young that day and tried to jump across but he didn’t even come close. He bounced off the other side and fell straight down into that rushing water. Russ and I run along the side of the canyon watching him tumble over rocks and eventually go flying over the waterfall. We are not sure that he can live through that and run to find a way down to the bottom. We finally get down and get to the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and there is Coaly shaking himself off and acting if nothing happened.
We decide to follow the canyon on down to where it falls into the Shoshone River and walk home from there. As we round the corner we can see where the east side of the canyon has caved in. The high run off we had this spring has changed the direction of the stream and it has carved a new route. As we climb the canyon wall to go around the cave in, the skeleton of a human hand is sticking out of the wall. We look above us and on the wall are more human bones. As we climb out of the canyon to see what is going on, we come across two old wooden caskets. When the river changed routes it cut through the corner of the old Lutheran cemetery and several graves had gone over the side with the cave in. I knew that Willie Korrel was a Lutheran and lived close by. We head for Willie’s place . We meet Willie on the road in his pickup and tell him our story. Russ and Coaly and I jump in the back of his pickup and head back to the cemetery. Willie says he will take care of it and offers us a ride home. As we jump out of the pickup at our house, Willie says that’s a nice looking dog. We say yep, he is a good dog.
That next winter my Dad accidentally ran over Coaly and killed him. It is the only time I saw my father cry.
6 comments:
Poor Coaly! I know he will be there waiting for you at the pearly gates of heaven just like he was for your dad! He may even mention the canyon incident but at least you'll get to thank him once again for saving your ass from a snake bite!
Oh how I love animals. I ran over Peppercat and killed her and I was so sad...you came to the rescue and got her taken care of for me.
Me
Hello, hello, is this thing working? Ha, I am so in love with coaly! Is that a real pic of her? This story sounds like a scene out of a movie, like "Goonies" or "Stand by me" I loved it, as usual.
Coaly sounds just like the perfect dog! So, were you more freaked out or curious about the bones? Keep them coming Wayne-O, I love reading these stories!
thats so san poor coaly :( i love these storys there so much fun to read
Dear sir, I'm from Italy and I opened a blog that I won't use but I had to to it to be able to write to you.
Searching on the Internet I came up with the picture of your dog.. it shokes me.. I is identical to the dog that I have!!! I see that there are different types of spaniel black cockers.. I wpuld like to know if you know how I can find anothe identical to your (and my) dog.. do they have a specific name? because there are many types of black spaniels.. I'm from Italy and I don't know how it's possible but all veterinarians say she is a half cast but she's not!
Thanks for the help! I wat to get another dog like her because she is getting old and one day I will miss her so much!
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