Introduction 



"All wondered that in peace I took my rest 

 That, all unharmed by deadly snake or bear, 

 My tender body lay unconscious there." 



Quintus Horatius Flaccus. 



ris a great pleasure to present the story of the 

 Musquaw, or Black Bear of Pennsylvania, from 

 the gifted pen of Mr, John C. French, premier nat- 

 uralist of Northern Pennsylvania, with chapters con- 

 tributed by sudi observing woodsmen and nature 

 lovers as Jacob W. Zimmerman, Daniel Mark, A. D. 

 Karstetter land others. These pages contain, in con- 

 densed form, a reasonably complete record of the 

 habits and customs, appearance and folk lore of the 

 Black Bear, as well as some of the achievements of 

 the men who have hunted 'him). An animal of such 

 unique and curious interest deserves protection, and 

 it is to be regretted that selfish minded persons seek 

 to use him to divert attention from the depredations 

 made on live stock' by half wild, unlicensed dogs. 

 Pennsylvania set a noteworthy example to the whole 

 world of sport by protecting bears and forbidding 

 the use of steel traps and bear pens. This law was 

 passed in 1915, at a time when the Black Bear of 

 Pennsylvania was on the verge of extinction, from 

 wholesale trapping at all times of the year. For 

 example, the "Democrat", of Lock Haven, Clinton 

 County, in 1901, told of a family of hunters residing 

 at Shintown, in that County, T'ripp by name, who had 

 trapped six bears that Autumn. Bears would soon 



