A Brave Dog Named Dinkey
Back To My Pal Mel
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A strange coincidence occurred when I wrote about camping at Dinkey Creek with Mel and family. The very same day while reading Cathy Rehart's "Legends And Legacies III," I came across this account of Dinkey Creek and how it was named. Believe it or not! Byron Eisner |
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The naming of cities, rivers and mountains is a serious business. Often names are given to honor a person, but, in the case of one stream in the Sierra, the honoree was a dog. It came about in this manner.
Frank Dusy, one of our valley's earliest sheepmen and mountaineers, discovered Tehipite Valley in 1869. He always traveled through the mountains with his camera and took the earliest existing photos of the valley and the Sierra. One day, Dusy, accompanied by his little black-and-white dog, Dinkey, was returning from Tehipite Valley. He was walking along the bank of a stream and came face-to-face with a very large bear. Startled, he put his rifle to his shoulder and aimed it at the bear. He didn't aim as well as he should, however, and, instead of killing the bear, he only wounded him.
The bear became enraged and charged at Dusy. Dusy slipped and fell. The bear lunged over him, missing him, but only by inches. In the excitement of the moment Dusy dropped his rifle. Now, frantic to find it, he searched for it, all the while thinking that the ferocious bear was probably going to kill him. The bear turned around and faced Dusy. He started to charge the man when Dinkey, seeing his master threatened, jumped into the fray. Dinkey, who had very sharp teeth, sunk them right into the bear's nose and held on to dear life. The bear was distracted by this long enough to give Dusy time to find his rifle, pick it up, reload it, and fire one more time. This time Dusy took careful aim and killed the bear with one shot.
Our story does not end here. Sadly, before Dusy took that final shot, the bear lashed out at the dog. With one large paw, he pushed the dog away from him. His sharp claws tore the dogs side wide open. The poor animal crept over to Dusy and died in his weeping master's arms. Dusy named the mountain stream Dinkey Creek in honor of the brave dog who saved his life. Today, not only the creek, but a section of the Sierra called Dinkey Creek bear his name.