Gift of the Sacred Dog by Paul Goble

                                                                                    Sacred Dog

The gift of the Sacred Dog is a book written by Paul Noble, one of his many that sing of the Native Americans, or The People. 

 

 

How the horse came to the New World is fairly well documented.  Spanish and French explorers shipped them over early on in their conquest of the New World.  

Some horses either escaped or were left behind.  These horses became the mustangs, the wild horses that filled the plains and dominated history for the Native Americans.

But, questions niggle at my brain:  what did the indigenous tribes think about the horse?  Did they realize what the horse would give them?  Did they view the horse as an extension of the Spanish, as an animal to serve them, or what??

The book, Gift of the Sacred Dog, grants the reader a better answer about the horse.

Horses by Picasso

The horse benefited the Native Americans, allowing them to survive and prosper.  At least for a while, anyway. 

 This celebrates the beauty, nobility, and power of the horse, one of God’s creatures. This praises the strength and resilience of the People who honored such creation. 

 

 

Sweetheart and Katie

 Dr Thomas passed away at Pleasant Hill on Friday, July 19th 1912. He was born at Louisiana, Missouri but was reared in this little city and was considered one of the best physicians in the county. 

 

                

 Dr Joel Smith Thomas... Highly Respected In Community, Always His Home.

My Aunt Vada had a number of stories about the community. Dr. Thomas once had to do minor surgery in the patient's dining room. 

 He was a strong character, yet was gentle and always kind to the poor. He was a Master Mason as well as a member of other societies, and enjoyed a lucrative practice, accumulating much wealth. His loss will be felt by his many friends. His family is buried in the community.- The Quincy Daily Herald
 

Sweetheart and Katie, the two faithful horses of Dr J Smith Thomas are buried at the bottom of the hill at Crescent Heights Cemetery. They were gentle, knew the rural community. When they sensed that they were headed out to the country, they would go with Dr. Thomas, and when he returned home, he could fall asleep and they would take him home the rest of the way.

                                       

Katie and Sweetheart are somewhere in this photo. They were ultimately at 

the bottom of the cemetery. At that time, horses were not

allowed to be interred in the cemetery.

 

 

 Part of my grandmother's extended family

 

The horses were buried at the bottom of the cemetery. Allowing animals to

be interred in a public cemetery was unheard of back then.

Sadly the headstones have deteriorated.

 

"A town, where all the people in it, are folks you like to meet,
They're all a friendly, busy folk, but never forget to greet
Their neighbors, with a friendly smile, and loved ones who return
From many a distant mile, so you might search the wide world o'er
But it would be hard to find, a little town more pleasant
Or people, more good and kind."

Compiled and written by Mrs. Etta (Wells) Bowen, For the Study Club - 1936

Wednesday Words for First Week of November

Source

Welcome to yet another site of Wednesday Words!  There have been some gifted writers who have provided challenging words to bloggers who would like to try something different!

First some history: Delores at Under the Porch Light started this meme ages ago but her computer rebelled.

River caught the ball and continued, 
until passing it off to Elephant’s Child.  

Some wonderful volunteers supported this excellent site:

 Jacqueline atRandomosity;   Susan at the most…of every moment; and,   Margaret Adamson and friend Sue. 

I will be tossing out some words for you to play and enjoy in the month of November.  Here they go:

depart

lick

register

free

text

shout

AND/OR

avenue

cower

charismatic

swim

fold

notebook

OR

Try this sentence prompt:

The horse came back alone.

I hope you'll think about these words and prompt.  You may even leave your written response in the comment section here.  Or, if you wish, post your writing on your blog and link it back to this site.  That's the only way we can find you!

Riding Rough

Riding a rough horse—

Cannot be reined in.

Jumps the fences,

Lands hard on stony ground.

Shoots along flat faceless land,

Ducks under spiny trees,

Sweeps through sage brush.

Won’t let rider dismount, no, no,

Wind chapped, finally brakes cold,

Shakes head, nickers, and tosses mane,

When the rider. 

Slams. 

Down.

What do you think this poem is truly saying?

Ode to my brother

Source:Abyla

Ode to an Impetuous Youth

He was an impetuous youth in the wrong year born.

 

Where others saw books and boards from a desk,

He saw

An open plain from his saddle on a horse.

Feet made for boots,

Hands made for ropes.

In a different time, another place, my brother

Would have been a cowboy.

The bold underlined words are prompts from Delores who gifted us with enigmatic phrases that fit well with my thoughts and mood.  
Thank you, Delores.
Please check the peaceful unfrozen stream 
in the upper right sidebar for a list of other participants.
I encourage you to join in.  
Please.  
Share your own mood and thoughts. 

Wednesday Words: Hal

Source

Hal opened his eyes to see an indigo sky dotted with stars.  That was when a surge of pain hit him.  Hal scanned back into the last thing he remembered.

Dusk…place to camp…horse stumbling over log…flying through the air… blackness.

Lying flat on cold ground, Hal’s thoughts registered with despair that his leg was badly broken. 

In the fog of his pain, Hal sensed that his leg had been splinted, a fire had been built, his saddled horse hobbled, and a woolen blanket covered Hal.  His canteen was placed nearby, full of water, along with a handful of nuts.  But how?  Who?

Sounds came from beyond the horse.  Hal ************

P.S.

Delores provided two lists for the bold and adventurous!  I, being the meek and cowardly this week, chose list #1.  

Please visit Delores at Under the Porch Light by clicking on the lovely stream in the right sidebar.  Some awesome writing will be had there!!

Okay, then.  What happens next?  Who is there?  Who cared for Hal?