Leon

Leon, also known as Valko, was a Rhode Island Red rooster and beloved pet of Juho Waara.

### Aliases

Valko (abbreviation of “Pieni Valkoinen,” or “Little White” in Finnish)

## Origin

Leon is first mentioned in one of Waara's large drug trafficking trips, carried off across sixteen states from North Carolina to the Canadian border on a chaotic eighty-six hour trip. According to the Archives, Waara was dared to bring three blocks of cocaine on the trip as well as a chicken by friends who knew that he disliked animals, namely his sister, Rennie Waara.

Leon's life as a cockerel is relatively unknown. It is stated that he was raised solely to father eggs and later to be farmed for meat, but "served a purpose in messing" (R. Waara) when Rennie Waara took him out of that system to mortify her brother.

Leon got his nickname of "Valko" from of video in 1921 when Kelly held him up and said "a prime little white hen," and Waara corrected him, saying that Leon was, "dark red, patchy, and male," the audio file followed by (what is supposedly) Leon clucking repeatedly as Kelly set him back down.

## Relationship with Waara

### Meeting

The first photograph of Waara and Leon was taken in December of 1921. Waara originally held Leon at arms' length and did not enjoy his presence. Leon, however, was indifferent to the circumstances and was cuddled up in Waara's hands with a chicken-sized Santa Claus hat lightly placed on his head, likely by Kelly or Rennie Waara.

Not long after, a five-second video was taken of them starting their trip to Canada, with Waara loading a five-pound bag of chicken feed into the car, a marker on the bag noting the intent to only use one pound of it. After putting Leon into the passenger seat, the two left and Waara and Leon shared the spotlight of the Archives for nearly four days.

### Presence in the Archives

Leon appeared again in the Archives on December 12, 1921, visibly comfortable around Waara at that point. Waara appeared to have grown agreeable with Leon, as well. In a video taken outside of the car, Waara first referred to Leon as "Pieni Valkoinen" before adjusting the phonograph reel, taking a glance at Leon, calling him "Valko," and giving him some chicken feed spread across the ground while Waara messed with his camera equipment that was not then in use.

One or more videos per day would follow that included Leon enjoying being on camera, likely because he was being showered with his morning and afternoon rations, respectively. By the third day, nearing their return across the state border into North Carolina, Waara was also showing his affection for Leon back. He was clearly more comfortable picking Leon up, having learned to do so properly judging by the rough footage at least showing that no longer felt the need to pin his wings down whenever lifting him and Leon no longer flapped wildly when lifted.

Upon their return, Waara and Leon were clearly all right together. Kelly offered to grill Leon to celebrate their return, unaware of the pet he had become, and Waara declined, stating that Leon was his "new, best son" (Waara). Leon was adopted into Waara's two-bedroom apartment, despite it not allowing pets, and was trained.