AMERICAN BEARS 



29 



a position so he would approach me head on, in that 

 I might get a between-the-eyes shot at him. He was not 

 far off, and pretty soon I heard him for the first time 

 giving little puffs and grunts of satisfaction, but no sign 

 that he had in any way taken alarm. It was after six 

 o'clock, and as I had to be back at sick-call in camp at 

 seven, I did not altogether fancy the way things looked. 

 As I straightened myself up to take a general look-around, 

 and to get the lay of the land as far as possible, a small 

 cherry tree, almost directly in front of me and not over 

 sixty feet away, was bent over as easily as I would 

 bend a broom straw. Noiselessly and rapidly I put 

 in for the point with my very best wits about me. 



Judging the distance as 

 best I could, I stopped 

 about twenty feet from 

 where the tree was bent 

 over. Crouching low, I 

 gazed steadily in among 

 the small tree trunks 

 and scattered underbrush. 

 Swish ! Up went the tree 

 again, locating the bear for 

 me with absolute certainty. 

 A moment more and I 

 saw him ; but only a small 

 part of his left haunch. He 

 was evidently a perfect 

 monster. I drew a fine 

 bead on the part, and was 

 deliberating whether I 

 should attempt to cripple 

 him or not. My carbine" 

 was a piece of considerable 

 power for rifles of that 

 period, shooting the .45 

 cartridge ; and ten times 

 that distance I had shot 

 through two big elk, killing 

 them with one ball ; but 

 wapiti and bear are two 

 very different kinds of, 

 animals. I had had a 

 friend or two torn up and 

 badly lacerated by Grizzlies 



after incautiously crippling the animals. However, as 

 I debated the matter in my mind, the bear moved a few 

 feet, thus passing still further out of view, and then 

 out of sight altogether. I waited patiently five or six 

 minutes, to see if he would not come my way again ; 

 but all was silent, no more trees pulled over, and I was 

 getting as mad as a hatter. I made direct for the place 

 where he had bent the tree over he was gone ! I then 

 took up his trail in a fit of desperation, but was soon 

 satisfied that he was through and was going home. 



Bouncing out of the swamp, I went rapidly up among 

 the boulders on the first foothill, mounting a sloping one 

 with a good, flat top, which afforded me a fair view. 

 Hardly had I done so, when I caught sight of the Grizzly 



Photograph by Elwin R. Sanborn. 



FINE SPECIMEN OF A BLACK BEAR 

 Figure 11. Usually this bear is very black, every hair of h 



exceptions to this law of nature are rare 

 with a white patch or a white collar. 



about one hundred feet ahead of me up the hill, and he 

 certainly was the most ponderous old brute in the shape 

 of a bear that I had ever seen. Time was limited, so 

 my only chance now was to bring him to bay. I drew 

 down on a spot just back of his ear, and let him have it. 

 No lion that ever lived let loose such a blood-curling 

 roar, and; rolling himself up in a ball, he came down 

 the hill. Quickly I had in another cartridge, and let 

 fly at him. I think I caught him high up in the bowels, 

 for he turned to bite himself most savagely just in 

 front of the flank. This time he saw me, and I began 

 to think he was my bear; but he was on his feet in a 

 jiffy, and, snarling and looking back, with a surprisingly 



rapid and shambling gait, 

 he was soon among the 

 boulders and close to a big 

 canyon. 



In a moment I was down 

 and after him. This time 

 he left a thick, scarlet trail 

 but it was of no use. 

 I was obliged to return, and 

 I knew it would take at 

 least an hour to follow and 

 overtake him ; so, disgust- 

 ed, I went back to camp. 

 Directly after sick-call I 

 started over to hunt him 

 up, accompanied by Delany, 

 General Crook's old guide, 

 and a few Indians. We 

 struck the trail ; but after 

 half a mile the bleeding 

 became very irregular, and 

 we followed him with ex- 

 treme difficulty. At last 

 the trail was lost at, least 

 I could not follow it and 

 gave it up. But I shall al- 

 ways think that those 

 Indians found him and 

 slew him ; or, what is more 

 probable, found him dead, 

 and passed him over to the 

 hostiles of their own tribe 

 all about us and that was the end of it. However, I 

 was not badgered quite as much as before, and in another 

 year I was continually in demand to join hunting-parties 

 for the killing of big game for the post. 



A writer (Morwitch), contributes an interesting and 

 instructive account of Grizzly bears, writing from Mis- 

 soula, Montana: "Most hunters have a mortal dread of 

 meeting a bear for fear of getting torn to pieces on 

 sight ; but I have found the cases very rare where a 

 bear was looking for someone to chew up. In nearly . 

 all cases the bear is as badly frightened as the hunter. 

 Bear hunting, as a rule, is too hard work for the ordi- 

 nary hunter, and to be a successful bear-hunter requires 

 a lot of patience, determination, and a thorough knowl- 



nd 



Occasionally one is found 



