Memories of a Bear Hunter 



inated. As they were hungry, they readily con- 

 sented to wait. Corey then made for them a "dry 

 fry," and they fell to and seemed greatly to enjoy 

 their meal. The bridegroom and his friends 

 seemed grateful that their feelings had been re- 

 spected, and that they had not lost their anticipated 

 feast. That a hungry Indian should refuse to par- 

 take of an attractive feast merely because a certain 

 ingredient is used in its preparation, shows that 

 some deep-seated religious or superstitious belief 

 controls him. 



Major Pease, of Bozeman, Montana, was long 

 the Indian agent of the Crow Indians. He once 

 stated to me, in answer to an inquiry, that from 

 all he could learn there was an old well-defined 

 tradition of the Crows that they were descended 

 from the grizzly bear, hence the superstition. 



On June 15 we had come to within a few miles 

 of Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone, and camped 

 on a fine trout stream called Moose Creek. 65 It 

 was necessary to raft our property across this 

 stream, which was high from the melting snows of 

 the mountains, and a raft was constructed in a 

 situation suitable for poling it into the current and 

 drifting with it to a suitable landing point on the 

 opposite shore. I shall describe the building of the 

 raft and the manner of drifting it to the opposite 



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