160 The Grizzly Bear 



In a knapsack on my back I had my tripod and flash- 

 pan, the switchboard, and the connecting wires. In one 

 hand I carried my camera, while in the other I had a 

 covered sheet-iron box containing six dry batteries, the 

 whole being securely tied with a small rope. I intended, 

 on my way to camp, to see the agent of the transportation 

 company, and arrange for a seat on an outgoing coach 

 for the next morning; and to this end I approached the 

 rear of a small mess house belonging to the transportation 

 company, situated behind and on one side of the hotel. 

 Now it happened that back of this mess house two barrels 

 of refuse had been left standing. This was contrary to 

 the regulations of the park, and Major Pitcher, the acting 

 superintendent, told me afterward that all the trouble 

 they have ever had with grizzlies arose from breaches of 

 this rule. However, knowing nothing of this at the time, 

 I was walking along without making any noise, and when 

 directly back of the building, and not more than fifty feet 

 away from it, I heard a sudden rattling among the cans, 

 and out shot two grizzlies, followed, at a distance of about 

 twenty feet, by a larger one. Taking it for granted that 

 they saw me, and having, under such circumstances, no 

 fear of the animals, I kept straight on, and thus, after a 

 few steps, interposed myself between the last bear and the 

 barrel from which he had been feeding. This he seemed 

 to resent, for he turned angrily and started toward me. 

 The whole situation developed, and indeed concluded, 

 suddenly, so that I had no time for conscious planning. 

 As the bear turned toward me I stopped rather mechani- 

 cally, thinking that he, too, would stop before he came up 

 to me; for I had never, in all my experience, had a bear 



