RECREATION. 



Volume IX. 



NOVEMBER, 1898. 

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



Number 5. 



A HOT CORNER ON BEARS. 



DR. A. J. WOODCOCK. 



I made the acquaintance of George 

 B. McClellan (" Bear George " his 

 neighbors call him) in February, 1896, 

 when we made a flying ride from 

 near the mouth of the Nowood river 

 to the Two Bar ranch in the Big Horn 

 basin, a distance of more than 100 

 miles, to see a sick cow puncher. The 

 ranchmen along the route had speedy 

 horses stationed every 12 or 15 miles, 

 and messenger and doctor jumped 

 from saddle to saddle. McClellan 

 stopped me on the back trip and made 

 me promise to pay him a visit in the 

 near future. So one horribly cold Feb- 

 ruary day found me " riding a grub 

 line " between the Palace and the gov- 

 ernor's Red Bank ranch. 



My first . stopping place was the 

 ranch house of ' Uncle Billy Rob- 

 inson," at the mouth of the Spring 

 Creek canyon. Uncle Billy was a pro- 

 duction of the frontier. He was short, 

 and in his prime had been thick set 

 and close built. Time had whitened 

 his grizzly locks and beard. His ex- 

 perience of a long life had been along 

 the lines of a hunter, trapper, pros- 

 pector, packer, rancher, and freighter. 

 Many years ago he was kicked in the 

 face by a mule and nearly killed. His 

 "ace is one mass of cicatricial scars 

 tightly stretched over the jammed up 

 facial bones, but this cannot hide the 

 kindliness of soul which beams from 

 his remaining eye. 



Next day Bob Wain, a friend of 

 Uncle Billy's, accompanied me up the 

 Spring Creek canyon. Well within the 



mouth of the canyon he showed me the 

 remains of what had once been a hap- 

 py hunter's camp. Here the wall was 

 projected well out above a recess or 

 square corner in its base. A circular 

 wall of stone with a heavy door in it 

 completed a comfortable hunter's 

 camp. In one corner of this fortifica- 

 tion was a rude but safe stone pantry 

 for storing the precious grub stake. 

 Bob said George McClellan and Uncle 

 Billy Robinson had built the camp and 

 hunted bear in this part of the basin in 

 the fall and winter of 1885-86. They 

 built large, strong bear pens several 

 miles above .in the canyon. There was 

 a bounty on bears at that time, and the 

 hides and oil commanded ready sale 

 at good prices. Between the bear pens, 

 the 50 pound traps and their rifles the 

 bear hunters did well that season. At 

 one time they killed 23 bears in 6 

 weeks. 



In due course of time I continued 

 the pleasant occupation of " grub line 

 riding " and broke bread with Joe 

 Henry on Crooked creek, and later 

 with McClellan on Upper Canyon 

 creek. The governor's ranch is re- 

 markable for its elevation. It is nearer 

 heaven (in more ways than one) than 

 any ranch in the Big Horn basin. 

 Nevertheless alfalfa thrives there and 

 the ranch is a good and paying one. 

 It goes without saying that there is 

 plenty of snow there in winter. On the 

 wall of the bunk house hangs the .50 

 calibre needle gun mentioned in De- 

 cember, 1897, Recreation. There is 



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