These hunters, George who was six and Pete who was five, with their father, Thomas Jefferson Hudson Goodmon and these two dogs, posed outside the tar-papered door of the garage, looking for the start of the next wolf hunt, to find the wolves that prowled the southeast Kansas country side.
Their mission was to clear, the farmland of the pestilent animals, who would turn a farmers chicken, and sheep, and cattle into a nights meal. Some might have had coon dogs, Thomas had wolf dogs, and the ears of the wolves were sent in to the state of Kansas, and three dollars reward were given on every pair.
Close to 100 years have passed since these Goodmon boys packed what goods they had; took carbide lights, small duffels with enough groceries to feed them, and traveled off into the darkness of the early ‘20’s to bring home the nights reward. Permission was always needed and sought. They would walk the private lands of Wilson County, through the trees, and wrapped up forests of dark leaves and nighttime fears.
The dogs would bark the wolves trail, and run fast through the woods, and bellow out their call, and bring the hunters closer, where they could hear the wolves barking back, all with the evil of the night, tearing and curling and making their way through the brush.
Tom would look for the boys, find them in his sight and then call his mark with the single shot shotgun, and it would crack its loud report, as the wolf fell, the dogs were barking crazy, and they would bring it up and pull their reward into the pouch, and set off again.
Their little brother Dude would come into play, when George and Pete were old enough to carry shotguns, and they would all head in to the nights darkness, wrapped with woods of the day, and bring home their rewards of a good night spent .
Ralph Peck
Photo provided by
Dorothy “Chub” Perry
Neodesha Kansas
Comments