Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w. d i s t i n c t ly m o n ta n a . c o m 41 LItErary LoDE LItErary LoDE DEpartmENt LItErary LoDE A nother night of alternate tranquility and turmoil. But morning came, by and by. It was another glad awakening to fresh breezes, vast expanses of level greensward, bright sunlight, an impressive solitude utter- ly without visible human beings or human habitations, and an atmosphere of such amazing magnifying properties that trees that seemed close at hand were more than three miles away….Even at this day it thrills me through an through to think of the life, the gladness and the wild sense of freedom that used to make the blood dance in my veins on those fine overland mornings! Along about an hour after breakfast we saw the first prairie dog villages, the first antelope, and the first wolf. If I remember rightly, this latter was the regular cayote (pronounced ky-o-te)…He was not a pretty creature or respectable either. The coyote is a long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton, with a gray wolf-skin stretched over it, a tolderably bushy tail that forever sags down with a despairing expression of forsakenness and misery, a furtive and evil eye, and a long. Sharp face, with slightly lifted lip and exposed teeth. He has a general slinking expression all over. The coyote is a living, breathing allegory of Want. He is always hungry. He is always poor, out of luck, and friendless. The meanest creatures despise him, and even the fleas would desert him for velocipede. He is so spiritless and cowardly that even while his exposed teeth are pretending a threat, the rest of his face is apologizing for it. And he is so homely! Note. After more insults, Twain concludes by stating: We soon learned to recognize the sharp, vicious bark of the cayote as it came across the murky plain at night to disturb our dreams among the mail-sacks; and remembering his forlorn aspect and his hard fortune, made shift to wish him the blessed novelty of a long day's good luck and a limit- less larder the morrow. mark in twain montana Roughing It is a light-hearted account of Mark Twain's adventures in 1870-1 when he escaped the Civil War and joined his brother, recently appointed Secretary of the Nevada Territory, as they cross the West by stagecoach. In his first view of Mon- tana, Twain captures its essential spirit. He notices coyotes and this is how he describes them. (Note: He never claimed accuracy, asking only for readers indulgence, which they gladly gave.) This excerpt is from volume #21 in the Library of America series. Courtesy of The Library of America. e e To read more of Twain on "cayotes," go to page 561 in Roughing It www.distinctlymontana.com/twain151 DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL

• Cover