July 3, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



473 



mind, the doctor took quick aim and lodged the contents 

 of both barrels in old Ephrairn's snout, and he tumbled 

 over as ignominiously slain as was Goliah with David's 

 pebble. 



This seems almost incredible, but is true beyond a per- 

 adventure. I wonder how many of us there are that 

 would coolly stand in the presence of such a foe and put 

 a theory to the test? Not many, I ween. 



I find a feeling of wholesome respect for the California 

 grizzly dwelling in the minds of all old-timers who had 

 anything to do with his bearship. They all with one 

 accord say that these animals were always ready for a 

 fight, and never knew when to quit. 



In the summer of 1850. G. W. Applegate and his brother 

 John were mining at Horseshoe Bar on the American 

 Eiver. The nearest base of supplies at that time was 

 Georgetown, eighteen miles distant by trail. One even- 

 ing in early summer, having run short of provisions, 

 George and his brother started out to walk to that camp 

 to make purchases, and have them brought over by pack 

 train on the ensuing day. Darkness soon overtook them, 

 and, while descending into Canon Creek, they heard a 

 bear snort at some distance behind. In a few moments 

 they heard it again, louder than before, and John rather 

 anxiously remarked tbafc he thought the bear was follow- 

 ing them. George thought not, but in a few seconds after 

 crossing the stream and beginning the ascent upon the 

 other side, they both distinctly heard him come — splash, 

 splash, splash, through the water directly upon their trail. 

 It was as dark as Erebus, and they were without weapons 

 larger than pocket knives — a serious position with an 

 angry grizzly dogging their steps. Their first thought 

 was to climb a tree, but knowing they were not far from 

 the cabin of a man named Work, they took to their heels 

 and did their best running to reach that haven of refuge 

 ahead of their formidable follower. They reached the 

 cabin, rushed in, slammed and fastened the door behind 

 them, and with breathlees intervals gasped out their tale. 

 Work kept a bar for the sale of whisky, and he and his 

 son, a stout youug man, with two or three miners, were 

 sitting on rude seats around a whisky barrel, playing 

 cards, when the two frightened men rushed in. 'The 

 cabin was built by planting posts firmly in the ground at 

 a distance of some three feet apart, and in the form of a 

 parallelogram, then nailing shakes upon these posts and 

 on the roof. The sides were held together by cross beams, 

 connecting the tops of the opposite posts. There was one 

 rude window, made by cutting a hole in the side of the 

 wall about four feet from the ground and covering this 

 with greased paper, glass being an unattainable luxury. 

 Notwithstanding that there is a belief that there was not 

 a man in those days but wore a red shirt and a big re- 

 volver, there was not a firearm in the place. 



In a few seconds the bear was heard angrily sniffing at 

 the door, and an instant later his powerful paw came 

 tearing through the frail shakes, and he poked bis head 

 and neck through the opening and gravely surveyed the 

 terrified party. It was "devil take the binclermost" then, 

 with a vengeance, and every man sprang upon the bar, 

 and thence to the crossbeams, with the alacrity only 

 given by terror. After sniffing a moment and calmly 

 gazing around the room and up at the frightened men, 

 the bear quietly withdrew his head and retired. After 

 an interval of quiet, the men ventured down and were 

 eagerly discussing the event, when the bear again made 

 his presence known by rearing up and thrusting his head 

 through the paper of the window. Upon this occasion 

 some of the men stood their- ground, and young "Work, 

 seizing an iron-pointed Jacob's staff, ran full tilt at the 

 bear, and thrust it deeply into his chest. The bear again 

 disappeared taking the Jacob's staff witb him, and ap- 

 peared no more that night. The following morning, 

 search being made, the bear was found dead some yards 

 from tbe cabin, with the staff thrust through its heart. 

 It proved to be a female, and was severely wounded in 

 several places with rifle balls. Subsequent inquiries 

 elicited the fact, that on the previous day a party of 

 bunters from Georgetown, had captured two cubs, and 

 wounded the mother, which had escaped. This was evi- 

 dently the same bear in search of her cubs, hence her 

 curious actions. 



One morning, in the same summer, and at the same 

 camp, the miners had just arisen, and had cooked and 

 were eating their breakfast. A large iron pot had been 

 filled with beans to stew over a slow fire during the day, 

 for the common meal in the evening. A liberal slab of 

 bacon had been put in with the beans, and the odor 

 thereof was spreading on the morning breeze. Probably 

 attracted by this a monster grizzly came slouching into 

 the midst of the camp, and began nosing around for 

 something to eat, paying no attention wbatever to the 

 affrighted men. The latter, with one accord, stampeded 

 and made for the nearest trees. In a moment some fifty 

 men could have been picked like ripe apples from the 

 tops of the surrounding pines and oaks. Not a man 

 among the lot had even a revolver on his person, and 

 they simply had to sit on their perches and watch Old 

 Eplrrahn demolish their pot of beans and bacon. This he 

 did in a most deliberate manner. He first knocked the 

 pot off tbe fire, and spilling its contents over the ground, 

 proceeded to gather them up when cool enough for com- 

 fortable eating. After picking up every scrap of food to 

 be found in the camp, and overturning every tent in the 

 place, he walked off as deliberately as he came, followed 

 by the curses of tbe despoiled miners. As soon as the 

 men had gathered their wits they apprised the men of a 

 neighboring camp, got all the firearms procurable, and 

 followed bruin's track up the mountain. None of them 

 being expert trackers, the trail was soon lost, and they 

 I spread out, forming a wide drive. One of them, a little 

 Irishman named Shea, came to a large cliff of rocks, the 

 face of which he proceeded to climb. When about half 

 | way up, and just as he raised his head above a shelf of 

 I the rock, he gave a terrified yell, and was seen by the 

 [men on his right and left to tumble backward, and roll 

 to the bottom of the rocks. His companions all rushed 

 up to ascertain the cause of the trouble, and see if he was 

 seriously injured. The breath was knocked out of his 

 body and all the sense out of his head, and all he could 

 say was to gasp out, "Howly mother 1 Is it dead I am?" 

 On his finally becoming assured that he was still alive, 

 he pointed up to the shelf of rock, and with his eyes 

 bulging out like a lobster's, explained, "B'ys, thatdivil of 

 a bear is lyin' up on yon' rock, an' whin I poked me head 

 up, the murtherin divil blew me backward off the rock 

 wid wan blashfc uv hia nose! Qch, may the hivins be my 

 bed this blissid night av I'm not ep'akin' the livin truths 



Surely enough, the bear was there, and was soon killed 

 by the united fusilade of the whole party. 



In the spring of the year, somewhere early in the fifties, 

 a party of five left the mining camp of Coloma for the 

 purpose of hunting deer for the market, in the locality 

 of Mosquito Canon. Meat of all kinds was then very 

 scarce and high-priced, and a carcass of venison was 

 worth two ounces of gold dust, although poor and out of 

 season. Therefore hunting was a profitable occupation. 

 On the morning of the second day in camp the party 

 separated, each going his own way to hunt, and at night 

 it was found that one of their members, named Broadus, 

 failed to appear. Thinking that some accident had be- 

 fallen him, the others started out in different directions 

 to search for him the next morning, and, after a day 

 spent in fruitless searching, they returned to camp only 

 to find that another of their number, named William 

 Jabine, was this night missing. After an anxious night, 

 chiefly spent in discussing the probable fate of their 

 missing companions, the remaining three started out on 

 the trail of Jabine, he having told them the previous 

 morning what part of the country he was going to travel. 

 Slowly and carefully following his tracks, left in the 

 soft soil and broken herbage, they found him about noon, 

 terribly mangled and unconscious, but alive. The flesh 

 on his face was torn and lacerated in a frightful man- 

 ner, and he was otherwise injured in bis chest and body. 

 Further search revealed, near by, the dead body of then- 

 other missing comrade seated on a boulder, by the side 

 of a small stream, with his head resting on his folded 

 arms, which were supported by a shelf of rock in front 

 of him. His whole under jaw had been bitten off and 

 torn away, and a large pool of clotted blood at his feet 

 showed that he had slowly bled to death, after havinj 

 been attacked and wounded by a bear. The groum 

 showed evidences of a fearful struggle, being torn up 

 and liberally sprinkled with blood for yards around. 

 The men were shocked and terrified, and hastily prepar- 

 ing a litter they slowly and painfully carried Jabine to 

 the nearest mining camp, whence others went to bring 

 in the body of Broadus for decent interment. Jabine 

 finally recovered, but he was shockingly disfigured for 

 life. He afterward told how he came upon the tracks of 

 Broadus that fatal morning, and on reaching the spot 

 where Broadus had received his death wound, he was 

 suddenly dashed upon by a huge she bear that was fol- 

 lowed by two small cubs. The bear had evidently been 

 severely wounded by Broadus and was in a terrible rage. 

 She seized Jabine before he could turn to flee, and falling 

 with her whole weight upon his body and chest began 

 biting his face. He soon lost consciousness, from the 

 pressure on hia chest, and remembered no more. The 

 poor fellow became a misanthrope, owing to his terrible 

 disfigurement, and was finally found drowned some few 

 years ago in the river near Coloma, his death having oc- 

 curred, as was generally believed, by his own act. 



In the summer of '51 a man named Jebson, or Jephson, 

 from Missouri, was mining on the American River some- 

 where near the mouth of Shirttail Cafion. He had a 

 Portuguese partner named Cardozo, and it seems they had 

 bad luck mining, and finally concluded to go on a hunt- 

 ing trip, as venison was still very high-priced in the 

 mines, being the only fresh meat to be had the greater 

 portion of the time. They procured rifles, pack mules 

 and a couple of worthless curs and went up above tbe 

 camp of Michigan Bluff (or rather, Iowa Hill) to a place 

 called Brimstone Plains. Here they formed camp, and 

 began hunting. They soon had a deer hung up, and the 

 following night a bear came prowling around after the 

 carcass, and was di-iven off by the dogs. The next day 

 Jebson,who was an old bear trapper, investigated matters, 

 and found bear signs quite plentiful. He and Cardozo 

 then went to work and "put up a deadfall, and baited it 

 with the entrails of a deer. They made one serious mis- 

 take, in that they built the trap too near their camp. 

 About midnight the trap was sprung, and. there was a 

 horrible bawling of a young bear emitted therefrom. The 

 curs rushed toward the sound, the men jumped out of 

 their blankets, and an instant afterward saw the dogs 

 racing back with their tails between then- legs and whin- 

 ing with fear, followed by an enraged grizzly. The dogs 

 came straight to the men for protection, and matters 

 looked serious. Jebson grabbed his rifle, and, it being a 

 moonlight night, fired at the charging bear. Owing to 

 the shadows under the trees his aim was not good, and he 

 made a clean miss. Yelling to Cardozo to climb for life, 

 he sprang for a tree himself, and was soon out of danger. 

 Cardozo was badly rattled, but made for the same tree, 

 and throwing his arms and legs around the trunk began 

 to climb. The harder be climbed the more he didn't get 

 any higher, until finally he felt himself sitting on the 

 ground at the butt of the tree, with his arms and legs 

 still around it, having simply slipped back in spite of his 

 exertions. Fortunately the dogs made for the neighbor- 

 ing brush, and the bear followed them, giving poor Car- 

 dozo time to recover his wits, and choose another tree. 



After a short circle, the dogs dashed through the camp 

 again, and this time the bear stopped, and in her rage, 

 tore at the men's blankets and belongings like a fiend. 

 Finally Jebson succeeded in reloading his rifle, and broke 

 the bear's neck. It seems tbat this bear had cubs, and 

 one of them got caught in the trap. This enraged the 

 mother, and when the dogs rushed at her, she was in a 

 perfect fury. I received thia story from an old Portuguese, 

 who heard it from Cardozo's own mouth, and he said that 

 the latter used to roar with laughter when describing how 

 he tbought he was making fast time up the tree, when in 

 Teality he was settling back little by little, until he 

 reached the ground. Cordozo used to wind up his story 

 by saying: "If you eva go trappa de bear, you no maka 

 de trap too neara de camp !" 



Tbe following encounters had no such happy endings: 



In 1850 a number of miners were camped on the spot 

 where the little town of Todds Valley now stands. 

 Among tbem were three brothers named Gaylord, who 

 had just arrived from Hlinois. These young men used 

 to help out the proceeds of their claim by an occasional 

 hunt, taking their venison down to the river when killed, 

 where a carcase was readily disposed of for two ounces. 

 One evening, when the sun was about an hour high, one 

 of the brothers took his rifle and went out upon the bills 

 and did not return that night. The following morning 

 his two brothers set out in search, and soon found him 

 dead, bitten through the spine, evidently by a bear. 

 His rifle was unloaded, and the tracks showed where he 

 had fled pursued by the vicious brute, been overtakes and 

 killed, Qn the succeeding day ft aunt was organized, and 



some twenty men turned out to seek revenge. The bears, 

 for there were two of them, were tracked into a deep, 

 rocky canon, running from Forest Hill to Big Bar. 

 Large rocks were rolled down its sides, the bears were 

 routed, and both killed. 



Many such incidents could be related, some fatal and 

 all dangerous, but only one more will be given. This oc- 

 curred in February, 1851, on tbe divide between Volcano 

 and Shirt-tail canons, about four miles above the Baker 

 ranch. There was about six inches of snow upon the 

 ground, and it was a pleasant day. A packer with three 

 mules left tbe Baker ranch with a load for the mining 

 camp at Damascus, and a party of threo deer hunters 

 accompanied him half way, intending, if they got any 

 venison, to have him bring it back to the ranch on his 

 mules, when be returned in the evening. The hunters 

 were armed with Kentucky rifles, and after parting com- 

 pany with the packer started off to the right over heavily 

 timbered ground sloping down toward Volcano Canon. 

 They had not proceeded more than three-quarters of a 

 mile when they perceived, coming up out of the canon 

 and about 100yds. away, a monster grizzly. One of the 

 party named Wright, an old bear hunter but new to the 

 habits of the grizzly, prepared to fire. His companions 

 begged him to desist, but he, laughing at their f ears, fired 

 and wounded the bear in the side. Tbe latter reared upon 

 his haunches, and, after waving his paws in the air two 

 or three times, came directly for Wright with a fierce 

 growl. The party all took to their heels and separated, 

 but the bear soon overtook Wright and with one blow of 

 his paw struck the man, face downward, upon tbe snow, 

 and began biting him about tbe head, back and arms. 

 The other hunters, seeing the desperate case of their 

 companion, rushed up and fired at the bear at close 

 range, fortunately killing him with a bullet in the base of 

 the brain. Wright, on being relieved of the weight of 

 his antagonist, sat up in a dazed condition, with the 

 blood pouring in streams down his face. He had received 

 several severe bites in the back and arms, but the worst 

 wound was on the head, where the bear had struck him 

 with his claws. His scalp was almost torn from his 

 head, and a large piece of the skull some three inches in 

 diameter was broken out and lifted from the brain as 

 cleanly as if done by the surgeon's trepliine. Strange to 

 say, Wright complained of but little pain, excepting from 

 a bite in the arm, and soon recovered his senses. Hia 

 comrades replaced the mangled scalp, and bleeding soon 

 ceased. A fire was built to keep him warm until the 

 packer's return, and while one watched with the wounded 

 man the other returned to the trail to intercept the pack 

 train on its return. On tbe arrival of the mules, Wright 

 was helped upon one of their backs, and rode unaided to 

 the ranch. A surgeon was sent for from Green wftod 

 Valley, who, on hia arrival, removed the loose piece of 

 bone from the skull and dressed the wounds. The mem- 

 branes of the brain were uninjured and the man quickly 

 recovered, but of course had a dangerous hole in his skull 

 that incapacitated him for work. One Sunday, some 

 weeks afterward, the miners held a meeting, subscribing 

 several hundred dollars, and sent Wright home to his 

 friends in Boston. Some months had elapsed, when one 

 of ; his comrades in the hunt received an Eastern paper 

 containing an acconnt of the affair, and stating that the 

 man was then in a Boston hospital ; and that was the last 

 ever heard of him in this country. Arefar. 

 Auburn, California. 



FISHING NEAR NEW YORK. 



XT' OR practical and specific directions to reach several hundred 

 fishing resorts within easy distance of New York city, see 

 issues of 1889 as follows: April 18, April 25, May 3, May 9, May 30, 

 June 6, June 13, June 20, Jnne 27. 



THE CONNECTICUT SEASON. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As the days of trout fishing draw to a close, I look back 

 over the season and come to but one conclusion : It has 

 been a most excellent year for trout fishing. Never in 

 the reeollection of the oldest inhabitants were there so 

 many trout taken in any one season; and they have been 

 very large for this locality too, often reaching 21bs. ; and 

 in some instances 31b. trout have been taken. And tbe 

 general catch of a day's sport usually shows several of 

 fib. and fib. All this in a locality where trout have been 

 scarce for a number of years, and caused probably by 

 stocking the streams with small fry. 



But the trout-hog abounds wherever trout are to be 

 found. I have a letter before me stating that a "man and 

 hia brother caught 239 trout in one day, week before last, 

 and it is added that "they weighed 191bs.," or an average 

 of l^oz. each. Now if they were all of this average 

 weight there was not a trout in the whole lot fit to save. 

 If this was not "hogging," I fail to know the thing when 

 I meet it. This is where the trout go. If we could have 

 laws passed prohibiting the having in possession as well 

 as the offering for sale of baby trout and also have the 

 limit set at 8 inches instead of 6 as at present, it would 

 help matters some. 



Now a 5-inch trout from an average of 10 taken from 

 different brooks weighs just a trifle over loz., while an 

 8-inch trout weighs a trifle over 2ozs., probably averaging 

 2-Jozs. as I weighed some weighing 2ozs. and some that 

 weighed nearly as high as 3ozs. ; and certainly a 8oz. trout 

 is small enough for any one to save. Notliks. 



CoiiEBROOK, Ct., June 23. 



Waterproof Boots.— Leavenworth. Kan., June 24.— 

 "Big Eeel" asks, in your issue of June 5, if there was 

 ever a leather waterproof shoe really waterproof, etc. I 

 don't know anything about shoes, but I have a pair of 

 boots built on the cavalry style, only more so, that I 

 have used for ten years, and they were an heirloom at 

 the time they became my property. They originally cost 

 $25 made to order, and the material is horsehide, witb 

 oak-tanned taps sewed on. I have worn out a number of 

 soles on them and the tops are as good as ever, and the 

 boots are absolutely impervious to water, and look to-day 

 as if they would outlast the writer. I generally get a 

 piece of oak-tanned belt leather and take it to my shoe- 

 maker, with strict orders to pull out all previous stitchea 

 and sew the new tap on through th« oldL holes.— Nomad, 



