I. PREFACE. 



THE object of this pamphlet is to produce a narra- 

 tive blending the history and romance of the 

 once plentiful Lion of Pennsylvania. While 

 pages have been written in natural histories describing 

 this animal's unpleasant characteristics, not a word has 

 been said in its favor. It has never even had an apol- 

 ogetic. In reality the Pennsylvania Lion needs no 

 defenders, as those who understand him realize the 

 nobility of his nature. From reading John W. God- 

 man's 'American Natural Plistory," published in 

 1828, one would imagine that the Pennsylvania Lion, 

 or, as it is most commonly called, the panther, was a 

 most terrible beast. Among other things he says : "In 

 the daytime the cougar is seldom seen, but its peculiar 

 cry frequently thrills the experienced traveler with 

 horror, while camping in the forest for the night." 

 Even jMary Jemison, "The White Woman of the Gen- 

 essee," speaks of "the terrifying shrieks of the fero- 

 cious panther,'' as she heard it in her childhood days on 

 ]\Iarsh Creek, Franklin County. In reality the pan- 

 ther was an inoffensive creature, desiring only to be 

 let alone, yet brave when attacked by dogs, and re- 

 spectful of man. A single hunter in St. Lawrence 

 County, New York, miet five panthers together, of 

 which, with his dog and gun, he killed three at the 

 time and the next day the other two. The first settlers 

 finding it in the woods set out to kill it as they did 



