Mike was both history and legend. On September 10,
1945, a young Wyandotte rooster, Mike, was about to become the dinner of
Fruita, Colorado, farmer Lloyd Olsen. With a sharp ax in hand, Mr.
Olsen firmly held Mike, preparing to make the bird ready for his wife
Clara's cooking pot. Mr. Olsen swung the implement, thereby lopping
off poor Mike's head. Mike stumbled around for a bit before shaking
off the event, then continued trying to peck for food.
Mr. Olsen opted not to try the ax a second time.
Instead, he took Mike to Salt Lake City's University in Utah where scientists
discovered that his head was gone, but not all of his brain stem and one
ear. Enough of the brain was left to regulate all those involuntary
things, like breathing and digesting.
Mike and his remarkable brain stem were spared, and both
were on their way to fame. Mike and the Olsens began a national
tour, garnering awe and astonishment at every stop. He received
sustenance through corn and water, both being dropped down his throat.
This feeding routine went well for a year and a half, until that fateful
day in Arizona when Mike choked on a piece of corn too big for his gullet.
Some may think it's not proper to celebrate a botched
beheading job, but we at Recipes of the Rockies see it differently.
That plucky little chicken not only had the strength to overcome
adversity, but exemplifies the embodiment of the determined spirit of
Fruita, Colorado.
