Buffalo in Harding County, South Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Three-Toes, The Wolf
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 24, 2023
1. Three-Toes, The Wolf Marker
Many people say that Harding County's two most famous characters are a horse that could not be ridden and a killer wolf that played havoc with the ranchers. Tipperary was the horse, and Old Three Toes was the wolf.
Three Toes was a ruthless predator of the range. Three Toes had age, cunning, stamina, and a killing lust. It is estimated that between 1909 and 1925 he killed over $50,000 worth of livestock. At today's market price, the livestock would be worth well over $250,000.
Three Toes was a large gray wolf of peculiar traits. When chased, he would trot through a ranch yard like a dog. He was unafraid of humans and would watch a lighted window at night as if he yearned for the friendliness of men. Trackers read his signs like a book. Some ranchers wondered if he had once been a cub in captivity or had escaped from a sled team in the northland. Others thought he was born about 1907 right there on the Little Missouri River 10 miles north of Camp Crook.
Harding County of World War I period was fenceless, open range, populated by herds of cattle, horses, and sheep. Ranchers used corrals for cattle and boarded tight stockades with locked doors for sheep. It kept stock from scattering during night storms and provided protection from predators. Three Toes leaped in and out of 7-foot high stockades at will, leaving death and terror behind him.
In 1909 Charley Wilson and Bill Foreman were riding when they saw a wolf limping toward them. The wolf stopped at a distance and lifted a bloody front paw like a dog asking for help. When Wilson pulled a rifle out of a scabbard, the wolf jumped into a gully and disappeared. About the same time Eric Haivala, a rancher, found the pinched off toes of a wolf in one of his traps.
In 1912 a dozen sheep were found killed in a locked stockade. The night raider left his trade mark
this page online
When hard pressed by pursuers Three Toes employed such tricks as circling, back-tracking, breaking circle, leaping over ground or snow drifts that would leave a trace of his passing, then charging into a bunch of cattle or sheep to scatter them so they would obliterate his trail. One time he hid in the carcass of an old horse. Another time being hard pressed by a pack of hounds, he jumped up over a 12-foot bank and left the dogs behind him. Three Toes was a powerful jumper. One time he made a flying leap across a 30-foot wide chasm to defeat pursuing dogs and men on his trail.
Three Toes killed cattle, horses, hogs, and sheep at will. His favorite prey was calves, colts, and lambs. One rancher lost 42 sheep in two nights of raiding and killing. The Haivalas lost several cattle. Lahtis lost 24 registered bucks in a month, and Matt Henry found 24 sheep dead when he opened his locked stockade gate.
In 1923 Three Toes killed $2,000 worth of stock.
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 24, 2023
2. Three-Toes, The Wolf Marker
The marker is on the heritage walkway in Centennial Park.
These coyotes took lookout positions around the wolf while he dozed in the sunshine. They covered his trail with their tracks; they got in the way of hunters trying to shoot. Many of these coyote followers were poisoned with bait, shot by ranchers, or trapped; but others always joined up.
The Haivala boys ran Three Toes for 140 miles without getting a shot at him. Another hunter used 7 horses in relays on an extensive chase without results; in fact, the wolf stopped in flight to kill 15 sheep in a corral while the chase was in progress.
John Martin, state hunter, spent months on the job using traps, bait, rifle, and chasing methods. His greatest drive came in 1924 when Martin ran the wolf for three days, covering 200 miles of meandering trail, and almost got him. Three Toes was so exhausted that he fell 6 times and rose to struggle on again. This time, he hit the ice on the Grand River, leaving no trail to follow. When Martin rediscovered the trail Three Toes had tracked up both sides of the river bank to confuse Martin again.
When ranchers became so desperate that they offered a $500 bounty on his scalp, the government's predatory control service sent Clyde F. Briggs, its master wolfer, to South Dakota. In less than two weeks after his arrival at Buffalo, the great range outlaw Three Toes, was dead. Young Gus Haivala, the state coyote trapper at the time, who later became sheriff of Harding County, was with Briggs on the hunt. Using special traps in sets of twos, Briggs transplanted a sagebrush near the traps and told Gus, “This is where we'll catch him.”
The next day on the morning of July 23, 1925, he caught the old wolf in that very trap set. Three Toes had worn himself out trying to pull his legs out of the two traps and lay in exhaustion when found. Briggs wired his jaws together so he could load him, still in traps, into the back seat of a touring car and bring the “prisoner” in alive. Gus Haivala was in the back seat, with the wolf's head basically in his lap.
Such humiliation of the big, bad wolf would have been the crowning triumph of “man over beast”. It was more than Three Toes could endure. Enroute back to Buffalo, SD, Clyde Briggs turned his head to survey his trophy, the wolf's eyes were fixed on him in a dull stare. Briggs stopped the car, but Three Toes was already dead.
On July 23, 1925, Old Three Toes, “Died of a broken heart”, men of the range said.
[image captions]
• Clyde Briggs & Old Three Toes
• The skull of Old Three Toes as it appears in the Smithsonian Institute
Erected by Buffalo & Harding County, South Dakota.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Animals • Law Enforcement. In addition, it is included in the Believe It or Not series list. A significant historical date for this entry is July 23, 1925.
Location. 45° 34.857′ N, 103° 32.77′ W. Marker is in Buffalo, South Dakota, in Harding County. It can be reached from Theodore Roosevelt Expressway (CanAm Highway) (U.S. 85) just south of Connel Street (State Highway 20), on the left when traveling north. The marker is in Centennial Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 91 US Highway 85, Buffalo SD 57720, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in West River. It is also in the American Lewis & Clark Corridor, on the prairies, and on the Northern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Tipperary (here, next to this marker); Centennial Park (here, next to this marker); The Establishment of Harding County (here, next to this marker); Energy Production in Harding County (here, next to this marker); Cattle Ranching in Harding County (a few steps from this marker); The Buffalo "Paints Himself Red" (a few steps from this marker); The Homesteaders (a few steps from this marker); Medora - Deadwood Stage Line (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Buffalo.
Also see . . .
1. Three Toes of Harding County (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: Three Toes of Harding County was the nickname given to a solitary male Great Plains wolf who killed livestock at ranches in Harding County, South Dakota, United States, over a thirteen-year period in the early 20th century. His hunting range extended into southwestern North Dakota and southeastern Montana.(Submitted on June 26, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)Three Toes began his depredations in 1912, becoming a fully fledged livestock killer by 1917. In an example of surplus killing he is known to have killed 66 sheep in two nights shortly before his capture. He was pursued by over 150 men, only to be trapped on July 23, 1925, in the Kahoun pasture, near Gallup, South Dakota, by Clyde F. Briggs, the state deputy predatory animal inspector. He was thought to have been 20 years old, and measured 6 feet in length and weighed between 75 and 80 pounds.
2. Three Toes, The West’s Most Notorious Livestock Killer.
(by Spencer Neuharth, Apr 29, 2020) Excerpt: South Dakota drew all sorts of larger-than-life Old West characters prior to statehood. A relatively lawless territory prior to 1889, the Black Hills attracted the type of folks looking for quick money, slow justice, and open space, especially during a short-lived gold rush. Wild Bill Hickok, Crooked Nose Jack McCall, Calamity Jane Cannary, Colorado Charlie Utter, and Potato Creek Johnny all resided in The Rushmore State, some more permanently than others (Bill, Jane, and Johnny are buried there). But, the most savage outlaw of them all didn’t arrive until 20 years later — Three Toes the Wolf.(Submitted on June 26, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)According to legend, Three Toes was the last remaining gray wolf in the tri-state area of South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana. He gained reputation as a bloodthirsty killer in 1912 thanks to regular livestock massacres and an unmistakable paw print.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 26, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 25, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 49 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 26, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
