The Custer Wolf

The Custer Wolf by Juanita Amero
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Many of the outlaw wolves have become semi romantic characters much like the human outlaws of the Wild West. Their rampages and exploits were published in newspapers along side the articles of the human renegades. Although many of these last wolves were loners, it was not always the case.

This brings us to the infamous Custer Wolf of South Dakota. This wolf’s mate and pups had been killed many years earlier and he never again ran with other wolves. Although he reined his territory without the presence of other wolves, he took up company with a pair of coyotes. Not necessarily a friendly union, but he did use them in his methods of avoiding capture.

The Custer Wolf was by far the most notorious of the outlaw wolves, reputedly having slaughtered horses and cattle in the excess of 25,000 dollars! He is said to be responsible for the ruin of several ranchers during his time. That is not all he ruined however. The reputation of many “would be” wolf hunters and trappers were also demolished. The large bounty of $500 on his head attracted a steady stream of these like-minded men. It was a lure hard to resist for ranch hands bringing home around $25 a month in salary.

One such bounty hunter chased the Custer Wolf for 5 entire years, and another for 4 years before giving up.

With each unsuccessful attempt, the Custer Wolf’s reputation amplified. He made headlines in newspapers, both local and abroad.

One such article printed him as “”the cruelest, the most sagacious, and most successful animal outlaw” Another was read as saying he was “the master criminal of the animal world.” The most colorful article I have found was one saying this wolf was the product of a mating between wolf and mountain lion, “possessing the craftiness of both and the cruelty of hell.”

Then one day… he crossed paths with Harry Percival Williams!

Up to the point of Mr. Williams arrival, the Custer wolf had been regularly ranging over 300 square miles of South Dakota, and even sometimes being reported in Wyoming and Nebraska. Williams, a 44-year-old U.S. Biological Survey supervisor, knew he was in for a challenge. He had worked many years as the top government hunter, capturing over a thousand problem wolves throughout the country. So with Springfield rifle in hand, Williams was less than hopeful as he set out for the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The Custer Wolf’s hunting behavior and practices were deviant and abnormal. He was not killing for need, and killed far more than one wolf would ever consume for survival. He not only killed, but maimed the animals, leaving many ranchers to find cattle with sheared off tails or large chunks of flesh torn from the rump. He had acquired a taste for unborn calves. Cows were found dead; bellies ripped open, fetuses gone. Some say he was acting out revenge on humans who took his family pack from him.

A few days after William’s search began; he came across some wolf tracks he thought to be the Custer’s. He returned the next day wearing boots smeared with fresh female wolf scent and set some steel traps. As with most wolf trappers, Williams had his own technique for masking or eliminating human scent. The traps were boiled for half a day and buried in cow manure for many more. When setting the traps, Williams never set a foot on the bare ground, but always spread out a cowhide before dismounting. He sprinkled the entire area with female wolf urine before leaving.

As Williams expected, the traps remained empty. However, the wolf had shown great interest in the female scent. Williams explored the area further and found where the Custer wolf had began to excavate a former den, possibly in hopes of obtaining a new mate.

Williams trailed the wolf for many weeks. He did manage a glimpse of him on a ridge, but while reaching for his rifle, he spooked two nearby coyotes instead, alerting the already wary wolf. After several months, Williams had determined the wolf’s pattern of traveling a particular mountain ridge near a creek. The traps set there remained empty with the exception of a few tufts of hair.

There were times Williams watched the wolf from afar with his binoculars. One day he witnessed the Custer wolf scatter a herd of horses only to round them up again like a sheep dog before trotting off into the distance. Other peculiar behavior was observed when Williams found an empty beer bottle on the sandy dry creek bed. It took a while to read the story of the wolf tracks there, but he did determine the wolf had spent several hours playing with the can, his sole purpose being to stand it upright.

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