COLORADO
Unlikely heroes (and sheroes) come in all shapes and sizes, but perhaps one of the most unlikely we’ve seen materialized in the form of a 4-year-old Nigerian dwarf goat called Goldie. Back in July, when firefighters were battling the Rock Creek Fire in Colorado Springs, Colorado, “a surprise guest decided to keep them company,” KDVR reported. The spunky little goat evidently offered moral support and even some comic relief, as cute little goats are wont to do. But Goldie did more than that: She also acted like a project manager, guiding the crew through steep and rugged terrain and pausing to bleat out encouragement to the slower two-legged firefighters. As Shane Coyne, superintendent of the Southern Colorado Interagency Wildland Fire Team, told The Denver Post: “She wanted to make sure she knew all the humans got to the fire.” The blaze, which broke out just west of Cheyenne Mountain State Park, grew rapidly and devoured about 5 acres before firefighters were able to contain it by digging a line and using chainsaws. A helpful helicopter also dumped water on the flames. But it was Goldie who really shone that day. “She knew her area, and she understood the assignment,” Coyne said. Goldie comes by her firefighting aptitude naturally, since her owner, Pete Glader, is also a firefighter. Glader worked on this fire too, while Goldie also assisted with mitigation, helpfully munching down on the fire-prone underbrush. We don’t hesitate to crown her the GOAT of all goats.
CALIFORNIA
The mystery behind the eerie sounds coming from a hillside near the town of Weed in Siskiyou County, California, was finally solved, and the solution turned out to be “stranger and gentler than the internet guessed,” Active NorCal reported. Mount Shasta resident Karrie Ann Snure and her daughter, Jordan, stumbled on the source of the mysterious sounds while horseback riding off Highway 97. It appears that the noises, described as sounding like “distant screams,” came from solar-powered Bluetooth speakers planted in the ground; up to 200 had been scattered up the hillside and throughout the area. From a distance, the sound blurred into staticky white noise, though up close the speakers broadcast religious sermons. After the videos Snure posted of the “buzzing static-filled slope” went viral, she tracked down the individual who installed the speakers. Snure agreed to their request to remain anonymous and has not told anyone exactly where the speakers were located. The owner told her that they simply wanted to promote messages about “peace, compassion and veganism in an effort to elevate consciousness.”
There might be better ways to promote peace than by blasting out mysterious noises, but at least the solution is not as sensational as it could be. Online speculation had ranged from secret government experiments to the presence of a ritualistic cult. Active NorCal seemed unruffled, writing: “For a mountain with a century-long reputation for Lemurian legends, UFO sightings, and fringe spiritual communities, a field of talking speakers preaching kindness fits right in.” At last report, the audio was still playing, and the reporter sounded pleased, concluding: “Mystery solved, weirdness intact.”
MONTANA
On June 25, 1876, Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors defeated soldiers of the United States 7th Cavalry, including Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. To commemorate the 150-year anniversary the Real Bird Family hosted the 34th Annual Battle of the Little Bighorn Re-enactment along the Bighorn River, where the famous battle took place near present-day Crow Agency in southwestern Montana, KTVQ reported. The three-day event drew thousands of visitors, though one of them stood out among the crowd: A scruffy black-and-white dog called Young Man, who’d traveled 300 miles from Green Grass, South Dakota, to Greasy Grass. Young Man had been tied up outside his family’s home on June 8, the morning the Santee warriors readied their horses to ride to Greasy Grass. The little dog broke from his lead and insisted on joining them. From then on, Young Man hitched rides in a horse trailer to Lame Deer camp in Montana, ran alongside horseback riders to Busby, and continued running all the way to Crow Agency, with the riders looking out for him and making sure he got plenty of food and water. By the time he made it to camp, he had attained legendary status. Buffalo’s Fire reported, “No one planned on the little rez dog becoming the unforgettable story of the 150th anniversary of Greasy Grass, but this may have been what Indian Country needed.”
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This article appeared in the September 2026 print edition of the magazine with the headline “Heard around the West.”
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