March, 1920 
105 
forest and stream 
due to the locations of the mountain peaks. 
Although the situation of our tent, on a 
bench above the river in a little cove 
among the heavy spruce timber, protected 
us from annoyance by the wind, whirl- 
winds of sand and dust were in evidence 
practically all day long. This may seem 
queer in a place where there was also 
plenty of snow and where everything 
seemed so wet. But a few minutes of 
sunshine dries the sand and these whirl- 
winds do the rest. 
We were located at a good fishing hole 
and had a mess of trout every day. The 
meat of these fish, caught in the cold 
glacial stream, is just a little more firm 
than that of the fish caught lower down. 
get a better view. He said that the bear 
got up on his hind legs and executed some 
bear like antics, of rather doubtful pur- 
port,* before taking to the brush. How- 
ever, he did not act as though he had been 
hit. I hurried back to my companion s 
point of view, in order to get another 
shot, but was too late. The bear had dis- 
appeared. I have always contended that 
if this bear had been killed, and a stop 
had been made to skin him, we would not 
have realized on the event which followed. 
Two Grizzlies 
A S it was not yet eight in the eve- 
ning, and still quite light, we pro- 
ceeded up the river about a mile. 
There we sighted two grizzlies coming 
The distance across the river was not 
great at this point so if they came down 
the opposite bank they would present 
an easy target. After waiting a reason- 
able length of time for the bears to pass 
us, we concluded that they had gone 
down an old bed of the river, or slough, 
which ran parallel with the river 
through the willows. My companion 
knew that this slough joined the river 
about a mile below us and therefore 
advised that we drop down the river in 
the boat. As the bears were working 
down the river we would meet them 
either coming down the river or down 
the slough. 
With this idea in mind, we soon found 
ourselves settled on a most ideal spot 
for the work in hand. Imagine a little 
mossy bank, under a spruce tree, the 
branches of which hung down in front 
of us like a screen, with loop holes for 
our eyes and rifle. We were sure of a 
shot if the bears came from either di- 
rection. 
Soon one of them appeared, about one 
hundred and fifty yards distant, walk- 
ing down the slough towards us. We 
let him come on, hoping to see his com- 
panion and have them both in view be- 
fore shooting. All at once the bear in 
sight jumped back behind the bushes on 
the left side of the slough. He then 
raised up on his hind legs, as though in 
play. What he was playing with we 
could not see, for the bushes concealed 
all of him except his hind legs and the 
lower half of Ris back. He was appar- 
ently struggling with something, which 
turned out to be the other bear. Soon 
More Grizzlies 
I N the evening, after the wind died 
down, we went out to reconnoiter and 
soon came upon the tracks of three 
grizzly bears. They had apparently been 
walking together and abreast. Their 
tracks were all about the same size. These 
tracks were observed several times during 
our stay at this camp. As they always 
seemed to be in the same relation to 
each other, it appeared as though the 
three were travelling together. We called 
them the “Three Musketeers.” Notwith- 
standing our loud challenge, time and 
again, to come out in the open and fight 
it out on their own terms, we were never 
able to make them show themselves. We 
tried hard enough, and followed their 
tracks as far as possible, every time we 
found them. But so far as we now know 
they are still marching three abreast. 
While passing a little opening in the 
willows on our left the captain sighted 
a grizzly watching us at not over one hun- 
dred and fifty yards away. He called 
my attention to him, for I was walking 
about forty yards in advance. Looking in 
the direction indicated I could only see the 
bear’s head and neck outlined through the 
brush. I shot carefully, but whether the 
bullet was deflected by the brush, which 
was fifty yards nearer the bear than I 
was, or whether I made a clean miss, I 
do not know. At any rate, I saw no more 
of the bear except a sort of a shadow 
dance behind the willows. 
My companion saw him after the shot, 
and called to me to come where I could 
down the river on our side. They were 
about seven or eight hundred yards away 
and just leaving the lower end of the 
next bar above us and entering the 
brush along a cut bank. I hastened to 
meet them, expecting they would follow 
the edge of the river down to the head 
of the bar on which we were. My com- 
panion cautioned me, however, not to get 
too close to the brush and that we would 
have a better chance if we watched them 
from the other side of the river. Ac- 
cordingly, we crossed the river in the 
canoe and waited for them to come down 
on the opposite side out of the brush. 
he was either knocked down or severely 
cuffed and dodged out into the open. 
The Monster Grizzly 
I F fortune had given me a full view of 
both bears, thus playing or scuffling 
together, I would have shot one of 
them. The wounded one would then 
have immediately attacked his compan- 
ion. This would have given ample time 
to kill both. But luck was not with me 
and the playfully inclined bear, as 
though disappointed with the encounter, 
changed his course directly across the 
slough and started to enter the brush. 
