Happy Valley Farm

Happy Valley Farm stretched along the Prairie River and was a popular farm. People enjoyed coming here in spring to see the newborn farm animals, in the summer to picnic along the Prairie River, and by the man-made lake simply referred to as The Duck Pond. During harvest time they came to buy the fresh-grown vegetables. Then one day things went from bad to worst. The farm relied on the Prairie River for irrigating their crops and for water for the farm. Besides that, there was a deep well that seemed to have a very low water level now and the sun seemed to blaze upon the farm until the Prairie River just dried up and all that was left was a deep, dry river bed. Farmer Brown was considering selling the farm.

The Visit of the Indian Chief

Farmer Brown was surprised the day an Indian chief with two tribesmen came to see him. The chief explained that he had heard about the troubles at the farm. In his opinion, a river just does not dry out and he thinks the farm has been cursed. The farmer looked at the chief and shook his head. It was just not possible he could think of no one that would put a curse upon his farm. He thanked the chief for thinking about him but felt that nothing could be done. The chief explained about their rain dancing ritual to call out the Indian rain god Ra, who would bring torrential rains, make the river flow again, and the curse would be broken. But the farmer did not believe there was a curse and thought it useless to have the Indian go through a ritual.

The Gypsy Caravan

The following day the farmer and his wife stood looking over the fields of crops with sorrow. The crops were still holding on but withering fast. Martha took her husband’s hand and reminded him of something he had forgotten. Two months previously gypsies with three carts had stopped by the farm on the low road that ran past. The gypsy leader had wanted to spend the night there but the farmer was afraid that during the night the gypsies might steal something or worse yet steal some animals. He told the gypsy leader that it would be best if they rode up the nearby hill and went into the valley to spend the night. They did not want to listen and finally, the farmer was able to get the gypsy leader to take some eggs and move on but he did so unwillingly. Sighing the wife also reminded him that unhappy gypsies do put curses on people and places.

Indians Have Moved On

Farmer Brown didn’t argue with his wife. He had forgotten about the gypsies and the Indian ritual might not help matters but it would not make things any worse. He went to where he knew the Indians were camping. However, when he got there he discovered that since he had said he didn’t need their help they had moved on. He returned to the farm with a heavy heart as if now it was all his fault for the downfall of his once prosperous farm.

Boris the Bull Makes Plans

No one would believe it but so it was that Boris was not only an intelligent bull he fully understood the English language. Boris knew what was happening at the farm and if he had been gifted with the ability to speak in the human language he, himself would have reminded the farmer about the gypsies before the Indians had left. As it was he worried about what would happen to all the barnyard families. All the animals were close friends and losing the farm also meant they might be sold to other farms dotting the valley and might never see each other again. He had heard the Indian Chief explain the ritual and hoped that his friends could help him. Boris was convinced that they could summon the Indian rain god Ra if they followed the ritual as it was meant to be done.

The Indian Rain Ritual

After the farmer and his wife had gone to bed Boris called his friends. There was the ram, the hog, the plow horse, the donkey, and several farm dogs. They all had families, they were all friends, and they wanted to save the farm. Boris explained the ritual to them and they began. To anyone who might have seen this, it would look strange. The animals ran about, did hops, looked up toward the sky and made loud noises, and used their hooves to bang on tin pails and tin washtubs. The noise was a cacophony but finally, the horse called their attention to the sky. The clear night sky had filled with dark clouds that seemed to be twirling.

The Rain God Ra

Suddenly a large golden eagle came swooping out of the sky and landed on the barn roof. He looked down at the animals. He agreed that the ritual they had done was very unusual indeed but they had made enough noise to awaken him. He was willing to help them and warned them that till daylight a torrential rain was going to fall. Then Ra disappeared into the sky, lightning bolts could be seen, and a very loud clap of thunder brought the torrential rain. All the animals ran into the barn and Boris snuggled down beside his Bessie and laid down his tired head and slept.

The Morning After

Everyone was awakened by the sound of the four roosters crowing loud, clear, and with joy. The animals ran out of the barn and saw the grass green and lush, the heads of the crops in the fields standing tall, and a swiftly flowing river running by. The farmer and his wife ran out of the farmhouse and could not believe their eyes. The farmer told his wife what he had seen the night before. He could not sleep and lit his pipe and sat in the rocking chair and looked out into the barnyard. He saw Boris with the other animals standing semi-circle in front of him and after the animals seemed to be doing the strangest things. They seemed to be doing a kind of dance, calling up to the sky, and banging on the pails and washtubs with their hooves. After a while, he had put down his pipe and gone to bed. His wife just nodded her head we have a very intelligent bull in Boris she told her husband and after seeing all this I think I would just about believe anything.

The Myth and the Announcement

The farmer made a decision. He went into town and went to the local newspaper office. There he put in the story about what the animals seemed to have done making it like a myth about how the Boris River came to be. He had decided that his bull Boris deserved to have the river named after him. No matter how strange it all seemed everyone would believe he had written the story in a clever way to say the Happy Valley Farm was saved. Then he placed a notice:

Happy Valley Farm on the Boris River Welcomes you.

After people read the story they passed it on. Soon people from the town and from far and wide came to the farm. They wanted to see the animals that had saved the farm and see the Boris River for themselves.