Tales of the Wild West Vol. 12: Campfire Stories, by Rick Steber, illustrations by Don Gray, Bonanza Publishing, Prineville, Oregon, 1994.
This is just that, very short stories, for telling around the campfire. Each story is one page only. I am sure a lot of these stories are nothing more than imagination, however this little book also includes a half dozen Indian legends, and some of the stories are based on fact, giving different experiences that happened to people as they settled the West. It is weighted to the Northwest, which is where the book was published. It tells how man got fire, with coyote tricking Skookum (evil spirits) to get it from them. It explains why the coyote has white on its tail, shy the squirrel's tail is crooked, and the frog has no tail. Later it talks about Skookum lake, which later became Devil's lake when renamed. There are also stories about the Oregon trail, and hardships on the way, as well as hardships faced by early settlers. There is a military story, of a man who was thought dead in crossing the Isthmus of Panama, but a young lady saw he was alive and his life was saved just short of burial. Another story where it appears that someone wasn't quite saved, and was buried alive. (that kind of story just gives me the creeps; I can't stand the thought of being enclosed in such a way.)
I enjoy short stories, and these are pretty good, and they keep moving.
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