THE EXTRAORDINARY PUPPIES FROM BUFORD MOUNTAIN

October in Missouri can be glorious, all azure skies and golden trees, or drizzly, cold and miserable. Of course, it was in this kind of weather that the two young hikers trekked to Buford Mountain in Iron County. Even for the rugged Ozarks, Buford Mountain is considered formidable. Would be campers and hikers choose more accomodating state parks with shower stalls and toilets over the impenetrable wilderness of Buford Mountain. But these two young men thought it would be an adventure to try really "roughing it." Neither was willing to admit it to the other, but the drizzle had considerably dampened that spirit. But both soldiered on, keeping misgivings to themselves.

While one hacked away at a camp site, the other wandered off in search of dry, seasoned wood. Given the weather, not an easy task. He had a sparse armload of dry branches, not enough to keep a fire for the night, when he stumbled on a treefall. The branches were seasoned, but not rotted. He pulled to free the tree limbs from the surrounding bracken. The tree whimpered. He fell backward, clutching a broken off branch. Cautiously, he pulled at the tree again, and heard the whimper, soon joined by others.

He stuck his head into the thicket and saw a soaked cardboard box, rapidly disintegrating in the drizzle. He knelt and pulled the box from the thicket. It broke apart and five small, furry bodies fell out. Puppies! He was so shocked, he couldn't move. But as the puppies crowded around him, he took his jacket off and began scooping them into it, wrapping them from the cold. Wood forgotten, he headed back to his campsite.

His partner had created a small clearing for the tent and the campfire and was understandably somewhat put out when there was no wood to build this campfire. But the squirming jacket was another problem that had to be dealt with first.

There was a lady they had heard of, somewhere around the highway, a kind lady who took in strays. They walked, taking turns with the puppies, carrying them down off Buford Mountain, on back country roads, through fields, five miles to Kris. When she answered the door, saw the puppies and heard their story, she opened her arms. The puppies were warm, safe and dry that night.

The two young men turned back to resume their interrupted camping sojourn on Buford Mountain.

Kris is one of the volunteers for St. Francois Society. She called to tell me about the puppies, probably Shepherd mix, "oh", most had a lot of black on them, "oh", not fuzzy cuties, rather ordinary, "oh". We just knew we were going to have them for awhile.

First adoption weekend came for the puppies from Buford Mountain. Kris drove them from Iron County to Brentwood. Their survival was already incredible, but they needed homes. For ordinary looking, Shepherd mix puppies, this would most likely be difficult.

The puppies were put into a puppy corral. Then something extraordinary happened. People ignored the other, prettier puppies and the puppies from Buford Mountain were picked up, one by one, until all were adopted.

We were flabbergasted. These puppies kept beating all the odds against them. They are truly "The Extraordinary Puppies From Buford Mountain."