135 AT THE PAINTED WOODS. 
Deer Creek. In this I was successful, killing one and 
wounding another. After attending to the first deer, I 
followed the blood trail of the second, when lo, the 
fresh tracks of a big cinnamon bear was noted as sidel- 
ing in on the blood trail of the wounded deer, and follow- 
ing it. As the trail led into a heavy strip of willows, I 
recrossed the river and hunted up the help of Partner 
Williams, as the bear would have the advantage in thick 
willows. In the meantime the bear had come up to the 
wounded deer and after killing it made a good feast 
upon its fresh carcass, upon which he covered the balance 
with leaves, and then made off as we approached. By 
this time darkness came on and we were obliged to re- 
turn without even a shot at Bruin. Two years later the 
den to which this bear belonged was discovered by a 
man named Harvey, in Dry Point, nearthe old Indian 
village there, and with the assistance of a fellow hunter 
the whole family of five were killed, which closed out the 
last of the big cinnamons that had so long terrorized 
both men and animals in the timber bottoms of the 
Painted Woods. The bear who had stolen my deer was 
the old man of the family—as his big feet and long 
claws bore witness. 
Of the larger wild game about the Painted Woods 
and vicinity, next the buffalo and bear, the elk were the 
next to disappear, which owing toa kind of domestica- 
tion or attachment to the points where they were born 
and raised, they usually remained in the one neighbor- 
hood until exterminated by the great influx of hunters 
that came in with, or followed the building of the 
Northern Pacific rallroad. 
