The fictional story of one orphaned buffalo calf, Little Thunder Hoof, becomes the vehicle for Bruchac’s tale of one extraordinary family and its commitment to saving the Buffalo People. In the 1870s, the American buffalo (bison) was near extinction when Walking Coyote, his wife, Mary, and son, Blanket Hawk, established a corral for animals left behind from the white men’s slaughter, where he cared for them until he could take them on the dangerous journey over the mountain to the Salish who welcomed the buffalo. Each year Walking Coyote took more bison over the mountain until the herd numbered in the hundreds and two ranchers, Michel Pablo and Charles Allard, joined the effort to return the buffalo to the prairie. Drenched in nature’s colors, the images of the Salish, the landscape and the animals illuminate this historical account as Farnsworth’s magnificent panoramic scenes capture the grassy pastures and valley that came to be home to the rescued bison. A first buy for public and school libraries. (Picture book. 6-10)
