Old Yeller Study Notes

  • Travis’ father has left on a cattle drive to get money for the family and Travis is now the man of the house. – Travis is only 14 yo.
  • Travis wants a horse but his dad says he needs a good dog. Travis doesn’t want a new dog)
  • Old Yeller shows up at the house and steals the meat they have hanging in the dog run – Travis gets mad and wants Yeller gone.
  • Arliss wants to keep OY. Arliss is 5yo, plays naked in the drinking water, throws rocks when he gets mad, collects small critters in his pockets.
  • Bull fight in front of the house – destroys the fence, nearly kills Travis. OY runs and hides when he sees Travis with the whip.
  • Arliss and OY become best friends
  • BEAR ATTACK – Arliss playing in stream, Travis Chopping fence rails, Arliss catches a bear cub and Mama bear charges after Little Arliss. Travis comes running with his axe, mama comes running from the cabin but it is OY that saves Little Arliss by distracting the bear so the family can get away.
  • OY and Travis are now inseparable.
  • Family is visited by Bud S. and Lisbeth - warned of hydrophobia and learns that something is stealing food from the settlement. It is OY.
  • OY and Travis work to keep animals out of the corn at night.
  • Burn Sandrerson comes to claim OY – lets the family keep him, warns Travis of hydrophobia
  • Hog marking – Travis gets gashed in leg, OY saves Travis from the killer hogs but gets badly injured. Mama helps Travis save OY.
  • Bud Searcy returns with Lisbeth, warns family again of hydrophobia, leaves Lisbeth to help with farm chores while Travis and OY heal up.
  • Lisbeth brings a speckled pup to give to Travis.
  • Spot (milking cow) and roan bull both show up at the cabin at acting crazy. It is determined that they both have hydrophobia. To protect the family, Travis shoots the bull – they have to burn the bull in front of the cabin.
  • Travis follows Spot and shoots her – mama and Lisbeth have to go about a mile from the cabin to burn Spot (they burn the animals so the disease won’t spread to other animals)
  • Mama and Lisbeth are attacked by a rabid wolf (hydrophobia) on their way home at night. OY saves them but is bitten by the wolf.
  • Travis shoots the wolf – and then has to shoot OY because he was bitten by the diseased animal.
  • Papa comes home about a week later, brings Travis a horse.
  • Arliss is caught naked in the spring with the speckled pup.
  • Travis is still hurting/sad about losing OY, then speckled pup steals cornbread and makes a lot of noise just like OY used to.
  • Travis begins to feel better – takes pup and Little Arliss squirrel hunting.
  • READ THE SEQUEL!