Wolf Days in Pennsylvania Henry W. Shoemaker, Penn State University Libraries, Penn State University Libraries.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shoemaker, Henry W., Author.

, Penn State University Libraries, Author.

Contributor:

funder.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (130 p.)

Place of Publication:

University Park, PA Penn State University Press, [2025]

Language Note:

In English.

Biography/History:

Shoemaker Henry W. : Henry W. Shoemaker (1880-1958) was the author of more than twenty volumes of popular Pennsylvania literary folklore and numerous narratives about Pennsylvania's disappearing wildlife during the first half of the twentieth century. He also served as Pennsylvania's first state folklorist from 1948 to 1956.Henry W. Shoemaker (1880-1958) was the author of more than twenty volumes of popular Pennsylvania literary folklore and numerous narratives about Pennsylvania's disappearing wildlife during the first half of the twentieth century. He also served as Pennsylvania's first state folklorist from 1948 to 1956.

Summary:

Originally published in 1914 by the Tribune Press, Wolf Days in Pennsylvania preserves the fascinating history of Pennsylvania's lost wolves and their hunters, which was already becoming the stuff of folklore and myth during Shoemaker's lifetime at the turn of the twentieth century. With his characteristic penchant for juicy narrative and a naturalist's enthusiasm and respect for the animal, Shoemaker details the decline of the wolf in Pennsylvania during the westward progress of the state's settlement by whites, as its population dwindled over the course of the nineteenth century. He narrates stories of memorable chases and narrow escapes, and the hunters' bravery in their attempts to protect themselves and their communities. The book contains testimony gathered by the author, accompanied by interviews with some of the state's great wolf hunters and rare period photographs of the hunters and their prey.

Contents:

Frontmatter

INDEX

I. PREFACE

II. THE LAST WOLF-WHO GETS THE CREDIT?

III. THE LAST PACK

IV. THREE KINDS OF WOLVES

V. DESCRIPTION AND HABITS

VI. FORMER PREVALENCE

VII. THE BIGGEST WOLF

VIII. A WHITE WOLF IN SUGAR VALLEY

IX. DISAPPEARANCE

X. WOLF HUNTING IN PENNSYLVANIA / C. W. Dickinson

XI. POSSIBLE RE-INTRODUCTION

XII. SUPERSTITIONS

XIII. BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE

XIV. CATCHING WOLVES WITH FISH HOOKS

XV. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE

Notes:

This eBook is made available Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed November 07 2025)

ISBN:

0-271-10090-7