72 pioneer life; o::, 



discovered a bear eating berries. Having eight or 

 ten good dogs with us, we thought it was a fine 

 chance for sport, and accordingly gave chase. In a 

 short time he ascended a tree, but it was too high for 

 our purpose, and we withdrew until he came down, 

 when we forced him up another. We continued in 

 this manner driving him from one tree to another, 

 until we had him up one about fifteen feet to the 

 lower limb. One of the young men proposed to 

 take the bear alive, but another said it could not be 

 done ; but I concurred in the opinion of the first, and 

 we began laying a plan to accomplish it. In the first 

 place we peeled bark, with which we made ropes, 

 with a noose in the end of each. We then made a 

 scaffold by the tree, upon which one of the party 

 stood, and with a pole slipped a noose over the neck 

 and another over the fore paws of the bear. We 

 now had him in our power, and drove him down the 

 tree nearly to the ground. We then tied a pole 

 across his neck, each end of which was taken by a 

 man, and in this manner we drove him a couple of 

 miles, when we concluded he had given us sufficient 

 amusement, and cutting the ropes set him at liberty. 

 Bears from six months to three years old can easily 

 be taken in this manner, but old ones are not so 

 easily managed. During the months of January and 

 February was a favorable time for taking bears by 

 tracking them to their dens. When the hunter had 

 found the den, he approached it, well prepared with 

 dogs and guns, and threw in burning sulpuur, which 

 soon started them out. Thev could then be shot as 



