Volume IX. 



RECREATION. 



AUGUST, J 898. 

 G. 0. SHIELDS (C0Q.U1NA), Editor and Manager. 



Number 2. 



A THREE CORNERED FIGHT WITH A GRIZZLY. 



W. M. JACKSON. 



During io years spent in the moun- 

 tains, as guide and hunter, I have had 

 the good fortune to kill nearly all vari- 

 eties of game to be found in the rocky 

 valleys, and on the slopes of the main 

 range. By far the most dangerous 

 animal, of them all, is the grizzly bear; 

 but although it has been my luck to 

 kill many, I have always found them 

 shy and invariably, when wounded, 

 they have tried to escape. Such, how- 

 ever, has not always been the experi- 

 ence of others. I know of several in- 

 stances occurring among the Stoney 

 Mountain Indians of the North — who 

 are great mountain hunters — in which 

 men have been killed, or maimed for 

 life, by coming to close quarters with 

 grizzlies. 



The following adventure happened 

 to a cousin of mine, at Two Medicine 

 lake, in the summer of 1890. I know 

 the story is true in all particulars, hav- 

 ing been on the ground myself a few 

 days after the occurrence. It is the 

 only case within my knowledge in 

 which a horse has been known to face 

 a bear. Usually the mere scent of 

 one will drive a horse wild. 



My cousin, Francoise, with his 

 family consisting of 3 women and 

 several children, had started for Two 

 Medicine lake, with the intention of 

 picking berries there. He left his 

 family in a good patch of berries, and 

 rode farther toward the lake to look 

 for other berry patches. He was 

 mounted on a small, Indian cayuse 

 mare, that he had owned and ridden 



for many years. He was armed with 

 a 44 Winchester carbine, and had but 

 6 cartridges with him, which were in 

 the magazine of the rifle. Coming to 

 the top of a small mound overlooking 

 the lake he saw, just below him, a 

 patch of berry bushes and in the cen- 

 ter of it a large grizzly feeding on the 

 berries. 



Francoise was a bold and deter- 

 mined man and a good hunter, having, 

 in Western parlance, " lots of sand." 

 Leading the mare by a long strap, one 

 end of which was wound around his 

 wrist, he walked down toward the 

 bear, whose back was turned to him. 

 He had reached some brush within 

 50 yards of the animal, when another 

 bear reared up close to him. This one 

 he immediately fired at and knocked 

 it over. Then 3 more, nearly full 

 grown grizzly cubs, scrambled up out 

 of the brush, all around him. He 

 fired 3 shots, and wounded 2 of them, 

 but they succeeded in getting away. 



In the meantime the old bear who 

 had been eating berries, had raised up 

 and was looking toward a grove of 

 dry timber some distance across a 

 small glade. The sound of the shots 

 had been distinctly echoed from the 

 woods, and the animal was evidently 

 looking in that direction for the cause 

 of the rumpus. Francoise was now in 

 the open and had a clear view of the 

 bear. Although he knew he had but 

 2 shots remaining, he did not hesitate, 

 but fired and wounded her severely. 

 She turned, saw him and, without a 



