488 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Oct. 18, 1913. 
Four Bears Creek 
From “Hunting at High Altitudes,” the Book of the Boone and Crockett Club 
O UT in Wyoming is a little stream known as 
Four Bears Creek. This name was given 
it thirty years ago from a bear-killing 
episode which took place near its mouth. In 
‘'Hunting at High Altitudes,” the last volume of 
the Boone and Crockett Books, Colonel Wm. 
D. Pickett, of Lexington, Kentucky, tells of 
the circumstances from which this stream re¬ 
ceived its name: 
In September, 1883, I was living on my 
cattle ranch on Grey Bull River, Wyoming, Big 
Horn county, with Jay Bradley and his wife 
as employees; Mrs. Bradley as housekeeper and 
cook, and Jay doing the outside work. 
I had determined with Bradley to take a 
hunt in the mountains to the west for grizzly 
bear and elk, the latter for winter’s meat. 
We were to have started the next day. 
Sept. 12, when word came that Otto Franc, my 
neighbor, six miles below, while gathering his 
beef cattle preparatory to taking them to Chi¬ 
cago to market, had met with a misfortune in 
which, during a stampede, fifty fat beeves, while 
attempting to cross a deep gulch, had been 
trampled to death by those following. The 
catastrophe had taken place about three miles 
below me, near the river, at the mouth of Rose 
Creek, a mountain stream, which, through a 
gorge about twenty feet in depth, entered Grey 
Bull River from the north. 
My neighbor, Richard Ashworth, had filed 
on the land around the mouth of this creek, and 
George Marquette was constructing the neces¬ 
sary ranch buildings just above the mouth of 
the creek. Among his other belongings, George 
owned an ornery bench-legged dog. 
The men in charge of the seventy-five 
beeves already collected, crossed the cattle just 
above the mouth of this creek, the cattle com¬ 
ing out of the river bottom on to the bench 
just opposite the tent occupied by George and 
his dog. As soon as the leaders of the herd 
emerged from the bottom, the dog burst out at 
them, barking fiercely. Fat cattle are usually 
easily alarmed, and in this case the leaders were 
greatly frightened. They turned square to the 
right, ran at full speed toward the gorge at the 
mouth of the creek, the others of the herd as 
they came to the top of the bench madly fol¬ 
lowing the leaders. The leaders, naturally hesi¬ 
tating on the brink, were swept into the gorge, 
followed by the balance of the herd. The finale 
was that the gorge was literally filled up and 
bridged over with a mass of fat beeves of 1,200 
to 1,500 pounds weight, about fifty head being 
trampled to death. 
From my knowledge of grizzly bears, I 
knew that all the bears from the surrounding 
mountains would be attracted to this pile of fat 
flesh, so I determined quietly to await develop¬ 
ments at home. 
Knowing the habits of these bears, it was 
evidently a discreet policy to move with a good 
deal of caution; not to show myself to them or 
to leave my scent around or near the bait late 
in the day. Alarmed in any way, they would at 
once become cautious, and would come to feed 
only at night. I accordingly scouted around 
early in the day on the outskirts of the locality 
to ascertain the route by which the bears ap¬ 
proached, and then late in the evening, watched 
the trail some distance back from instead of at 
the carcass. The bears soon found the feast and 
commenced their visitations. 
Four or five days were required to ascer¬ 
tain the direction from which they came and 
the route or trail they used. I found that one 
or more came down Rose Creek, or Four Bear, 
as it was afterward named, and one or two came 
down the river on the north side. Watching 
the trail on the latter stream, on two evenings, 
I saw a bear pass down about sundown, but on 
each occasion out of good rifle range. 
A few evenings afterward, the same bear 
again passed down the valley, but still out of 
rifle range. Unless sure of a certain hit, in a 
vital place, it was not good policy to fire. 
Watching the other trail, I selected a location 
near the carcass, to catch the bear coming down 
the river, thinking he laid up during the day in 
a certain thicket. Going early to a position at 
the head of the trail he traveled in coming from 
the thicket, a porcupine was encountered, and by 
punching him with my rifle, he was made to 
climb a small tree, and was made an object 
lesson—a sign that there was no danger. 
Soon after locating myself, a dark object 
was seen on the edge of the thicket, apparently 
peeping out. Fie soon satisfied himself that the 
way was clear, and walked rapidly toward me. 
He had reached the foot of the trail approach¬ 
ing me—about twenty yards distant—when I de¬ 
livered a shot, but it was not effective. As he 
rushed back toward the thicket, two more shots 
were delivered, when he dropped at the edge 
of the thicket, too badly hit to go further. This 
happened before night. He was disemboweled 
and the ranch was reached before dark. After 
firing several shots around a carcass, it was use¬ 
less to remain longer, as no bear would come till 
late at night. 
I now turned my attention to the bears ap¬ 
proaching from Four Bear Creek. The first 
evening’s reconnaissance came near success. 
Lying in full view of a trail, but close enough, 
with plenty of daylight for a safe shot, an old 
bear and two cubs came along the trail. In 
rising to a position for delivering a shot, the 
rustling of the grass attracted the bear’s atten¬ 
tion, and she stopped, the cubs sitting up and 
looking to see what was up. It had become 
dark, and the distance being 125 yards, I de¬ 
termined not to risk a shot, but wait for a more 
convenient season. They passed on down. 
A reconnaissance the next morning indi¬ 
cated that the bears laid up during the day in 
a willow thicket near the creek and about a 
mile above the pile of beef. I selected a place 
on the hillside near the trail they traveled, to 
occupy that evening. I was accordingly on hand 
about sundown, and was soon in position, 
dressed in a buckskin suit of the color of dead 
grass. 
The light was becoming dim, when a slight 
sound came from the thicket above, and soon 
there appeared on the trail a dark object, fol¬ 
lowed by two smaller dark spots. I at once 
realized it was the old bear and the cubs, and 
prepared for what was to come. The trail along 
which they approached passed within thirty feet 
of me. My first shot was delivered when the 
old she bear was within fifty feet. In the dusk 
it was not at once fatal, for she rushed toward 
me with two or three jumps, and then not know¬ 
ing exactly where I lay, stood on hindfeet to 
look for me. I was then ready for her, and a 
close shot delivered into her chest rolled her 
over. I then delivered a shot into each of the 
cubs, one of which managed to get back into 
the brush. I quickly followed, and by its squall¬ 
ing, I was satisfied it was dead. By the time 
these bears were dressed it was fully dark, but 
the moon was shining, although occasionally 
obscured by a cloud. 
I determined to make a scout around that 
pile of beef before bedtime. Mounting my 
hunting mare Kate, I made a circuit to the left 
for some distance, so as not to alarm any ani¬ 
mal there, either by scent or noise. Cautiously 
approaching, my mare was tied to a tree about 
three hundred yards to leeward of the carcasses. 
The mare acted very uneasy and must have 
scented the bears. 
I took the precaution to tie. a wad of white 
tissue paper on the end of the rifle barrel, over 
the sight, for night work, and cautiously ap¬ 
proached. My object was to slip up to the edge 
of the gulch and have a commanding view below. 
At such short range I could get one good shot, 
and then depend on having a second shot as the 
bear ascended the opposite side, which had a 
gentler slope. 
When within one hundred feet of the rim 
of the gulch, a coyote passed just in front of 
me and disappeared down toward where the 
bear would be found. I knew he would at once 
give the alarm. Knowing that animal’s char¬ 
acter for veracity, or, rather, for lack of veracity, 
I hoped the bears, if any were there, would pay 
no attention to him, so I walked rapidly toward 
the gulch. When within fifty feet of the brink, 
two dark objects appeared, walking rapidly up 
the opposite slope. The moon was clouded over, 
and as I was not ready to shoot. I at once 
dropped and lay prone and very close to the 
ground. When the bears reached the top of the 
bank they stopped, and immediately sat up and 
looked very intently in my direction. Then they 
walked away about fifty feet, turned and walked 
back again, and again sat up and looked. They 
moved about, back and forth, in a most intricate 
or fantastic fashion, sitting up occasionally to 
try to discover danger. They evidently had not 
believed the coyote talk, yet they were unwill¬ 
ing to take any chances. 
Discovering no sign of danger, and doubt¬ 
less being hungry, they returned down the slope 
to the feast. I was on the point of slipping up 
to the brink and delivering a shot, believing I 
could get both—the second one as he ascended 
the slope. Before I had time to move, however, 
the coyote, doubtless wishing a free hand at 
the carcasses, had insisted on his story, the two 
