Volume VII. 



RECREATION. 



AUGUST, 1897. 



G. 0. SHIELDS (COQUINA), Editor and Manager. 



Number 2. 



A BAD GRIZZLY. 



GEORGE W. KELLOGG. 



In 1850 there were scattered over 

 the mountains of California adventur- 

 ers from everywhere, who had come 

 to dig for gold, of which there had 

 been so many wonderful stories. 

 Careless of danger, in their persistent 

 hunt for the precious metal, some 

 were left, mangled by wild animals; 

 some were scalped by hostile Indians 

 and some were stricken by the moun- 

 tain fever, and were never heard of 

 more. But, regardless of the dangers 

 and privations, many penetrated the 

 wilds of the mountains, exploring 

 every gulch and ravine, climbing hills, 

 examining streams and prospecting 

 for gold everywhere. Where all was 

 so wild and desolate then, towns are 

 now built up, railroads are winding 

 through, and the wild experiences of 

 45 years ago are almost forgotten. In 

 those days a person was seldom 

 know r n by his true name, but some 

 trifling incident would fix a nickname 

 to him that he would carry ever after. 



During the autumn of 1850 I was 

 with a companion called " Mountain 

 Joe," a hardy, resolute fellow, and we 

 prospected along up the Cosmos, and 

 afterward followed the Mokehoma 

 river to its head, probably then as 

 wild a place as man ever saw. Going 

 still farther North we passed over 

 what is now called Grizzly Flats. We 

 finally came down and located at a 

 place called Cold Spring, on Weber 

 creek, 5 miles from Coloma, where 

 gold was first discovered. 



During our prospecting tour we 



located some rich finds of gold, but in 

 some cases we could find no way to 

 bring in provisions, and in others the 

 hostile Indians kept on our trail, and 

 we had no time to do anything but 

 watch, fight or run. We had some de- 

 lightful times and some narrow es- 

 capes, but none that quite came up to 

 a certain adventure, or what some 

 would call " a lively episode," crowded 

 into a few seconds. 



In November I had left Cold 

 Spring, alone, and, going farther up, 

 had come across an acquaintance 

 whom I had known by the name of 

 ' Jim." He was mining in a small 

 stream, at the foot of the mountain, 

 in company with a man named White. . 

 Jim was a good-natured fellow, and 

 about as resolute and hardy a man 

 as could be found. White was a 

 great, strong, muscular fellow, and 

 afraid of nothing. They had a cabin 

 and had lain in provisions for the win- 

 ter. I was invited to stay with them 

 awhile, and decided to do so. 



One night, soon after I reached 

 there, we heard something rummaging 

 about, outside the cabin, and White 

 said it was probably a bear; but, as 

 we could not fight a bear, very well, 

 in the dark, he thought it best not to 

 disturb him until daylight, and then, 

 if he stayed about, we would have 

 some bear meat. As soon as it was 

 light enough we took our guns and 

 strapped on our knives. I had a re- 

 volver, which I shoved into my belt 

 When we opened the door and looked 



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