A Horse’s Tale
The Travels of W’uks-Cha-Ska-Ha
Story #1 “1890’s”
The Tall Wheat
William’s Story
Main Character: William was a young boy about 11 years old. He was working on his parents’ farm during harvest time. He
doesn’t like to do chores. He recently has moved from Illinois to Ritzville, Washington.
The horse wooden horse is named Patch at this time.
Summary: This story was about a boy who moved to Washington State in 1890. His grandpa gave him the wooden horse that
he had carved. William wanted to get out of working on kitchen duty with his mother and wanted to work with his dad with
the farming. He was lying in the wheat when the thrashing machine almost ran him over. His family had to move from their
farm. During the move he had lost Patch. When Patch had fallen out of the wagon, a Native American had picked it up and
traded the wooden horse for a pouch of tobacco.
Story # 2 “1900’s”
Uncle Twin Star’s Gift
Elsie’s Story
Main Character: Elsie was a Native American girl. She was given the horse by her uncle. She had to leave home to go to the
mission school.
Summary: This story was about a young Native American girl who was being forced to leave her home to go to the mission
school. She was given the horse by her uncle to help her with the move. She was able to find comfort having the horse to
remind her of her family. When she was older, she had sold the horse to a customer. The customer was a black man who
wanted to give the horse to his younger brother.
Story #3 “1910’s”
Missing Friends
Albert’s Story
Main Character: Albert was a ten-year old black boy. His big brother, Sam, was in the army and he gave the wooden horse to
Albert for a going away gift. Albert’s dad was a coal miner in the town of Roslyn.
Summary: Albert lived in a coal mining town. He was sad that one of his friends moved away and his brother was in the army.
His family lived in Roslyn. One day he and his dad went fishing. They caught a lot of fish and he was feeling pretty happy. At
the end of the story, one of his friends that had moved away moved back to town, right next door. Albert’s mom tricked him
by having him take some of the fish to the new neighbors. When he got there, his old friend opened the door surprising
Albert. Later on, Albert got really sick with the flu, his mother had taken all of his belongings and through them into a burning
pile to get rid of the germs. The horse was in the belongings but somehow survived the fire.
Story #4 “1920’s”
The Footlog
Henry’s Story
Main Character: Henry, almost twelve years old live in Darrington, Washington. He lived with his mother. His father was
killed in a logging accident.
Summary: Henry’s uncle found the horse in a pile of ashes near the mine in Roslyn. He fixed up the horse and gave it to
Henry. Henry goes to the logging camp with his uncle so he can go fishing. He has to cross a footlog, which is a log used for
crossing a stream. Henry doesn’t like heights and doesn’t like to cross any footlogs. His uncle gets hurt and Henry has to run
and get help. After helping save his uncle, Henry had to move. Patch was placed in a box.
Story #5 “1930’s”
The Mysterious Delaneys
Katie’s Story
Main Character: Katie is a ten-year old girl. She loves mysterious and Sherlock Holmes. She lives in Mason City near the
Grand Coulee Dam.
Summary: Katie was very curious about the new boy Ralph. She and her friend, Babette, spy on Ralph and find out the Ralph
has a sister. Ralph’s sister, Marie, is crippled with twisted legs and can only get around in a wheelchair. Katie goes over to
Ralph’s house to meet Marie. She and Marie become friends and get to meet President Roosevelt. The horse is used as a
prop for the model of the Grand Coulee Dam. Katie gave the horse to Marie to comfort her for her surgery on her legs. Marie
gave the horse away to a girl in the hospital. The horse ends up in a second hand store.
Story #6 “1940’s”
Not Much, But Enough
Mariko’s Story
Main Character: Mariko Kubota is about 12 years old. She was a Japanese girl who has been interned in Puyallup because of
the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor.
Summary: This story is about a Japanese girl who was in an internment camp. She found the horse in a second hand store
prior to the start of the US declaring war on Japan. She called the horse Far Strider. She meets a very sad girl named Yoshimi.
Yoshimi can’t understand why Mariko is so happy. Yoshimi will not speak to anyone. Mariko explains to her why she is happy
and gets Yoshimi to start to talk with others. Mariko is moved to another camp and loses the horse at the camp.
Story #7 “1950’s”
To Fish or Fly
Ole’s Story
Main Character: Ole Rolvaag is the young boy who has to go work on his dad’s fishing boat.
Summary: Ole has an older brother, Soren, that has polio and he can’t work on the boat. Ole wanted to go to the airshow
with his uncle and brother but has to work on the boat. Soren gives the horse to Ole to take on the boat for luck. Ole gets to
see the Sputnik satellite but while doing so loses the horse overboard when hit with a big wave. The horse ends up drifting
around Puget Sound.
Story #8 “1960’s”
Around The World’s Fair
Julie’s Story
Main Character: Julie is a young girl from Longview, Washington.
Summary: She found the horse one summer while on a beach in Olympia. The horse was always with her wherever she went.
Her family had traveled to Seattle to go to The World’s Fair in Seattle. She and her sister were looking at displays with her
mother. Her mother had left her in charge of watching her sister. For a brief moment she had lost her sister, which had cause
to her to panic. She lost the horse but did find her sister.
Story #9 “1970’s”
Jump Rope Friends
Amone’s Story
Main Character: Amone is a young girl whose family had immigrated to Seattle from Laos.
Summary: She was not very comfortable with having to leave her bilingual language class to join her general education class
full time. She wanted to stay with her friends. She had received the horse in a box of items given to her family by their
sponsors to America. She met a classmate that took interest in her and her friends. Amone overcame her fear of leaving the
bilingual class. She had lost the horse while shopping for apples in a fruit stand in Yakama.
Story #10 “1980’s
A Gift From The Mountain
Eduardo’s Story
Main Character: Eduardo from Yakima was an 11 year old boy. He missed having a birthday party.
Summary: Eduardo’s uncle gave him the horse after he found it in the apple stand. Eduardo was upset because he didn’t get
to have a birthday party. Mount St. Helens erupted on his birthday, which was on March 18th. The volcano destroyed a lot of
things and caused ash to cover everything. Eduardo’s mother was throwing a birthday party for his little sister (so she said).
Eduardo met a scientist who gave his a vase made from the ash. It was very beautiful. It made Eduardo’s anger disappear.
Eduardo’s mother threw him a surprise party for his missed birthday. The next day, Elena had her party and Eduardo gave her
the horse. She called it Caballo (horse in Spanish). The horse was happy because Elena had placed it out so it could see what
was going on.
*When Elena grew up, she had moved to Bellingham to go to school. She lost the horse but another student from Western
Washington University happened to find it on his way to his accounting class. Kyle thought his dad would really like it and
maybe his 4th grade teacher could use it for her class as well. Mrs. Lindquist had read a story called a Horse’s Tale. Hmmmmm