Hu7tting the Grisly. zzz 



matter to catch him ; and his frequent charges scatter 

 his tormentors in every direction while the horses become 

 wild with fright over the roaring, bristling beast — for 

 horses seem to dread a bear more than any other animal. 

 If the bear cannot reach cover, however, his fate is sealed. 

 Sooner or later, the noose tightens over one leg, or per- 

 chance over the neck and fore-paw, and as the rope 

 straightens with a " pluck," the horse braces itself desper- 

 ately and the bear tumbles over. Whether he regains 

 his feet or not the cowboy keeps the rope taut ; soon 

 another noose tightens over a leg, and the bear is speedily 

 rendered helpless. 



I have known of these feats being performed several 

 times in northern Wyoming, although never in the im- 

 mediate neighborhood of my ranch. Mr. Archibald 

 Roeer's cowhands have in this manner caught several 

 bears, on or near his ranch on the Gray Bull, which flows 

 into the Bighorn ; and those of Mr. G. B. Grinnell have 

 also occasionally done so. Any set of moderately good 

 ropers and riders, who are accustomed to back one 

 another up and act together, can accomplish the feat if 

 they have smooth ground and plenty of room. It is, 

 however, indeed a feat of skill and daring for a single 

 man ; and yet I have known of more than one instance 

 in which it has been accomplished by some reckless 

 knight of the rope and the saddle. One such occurred in 

 1887 on the Flathead Reservation, the hero being a half- 

 breed ; and another in 1890 at the mouth of the Bighorn, 

 where a cowboy roped, bound, and killed a large bear 

 single-handed. 



