Humans and bears - Wild encounters

[brotherbear]

California's Day of the Grizzly by Willaim B. Secrest.

Isaac Jones Wistar, The Autobiography of Isaac Jones Wistar, 1827-1905, 1914:

With W. and J. I started off hunting at daylight, and soon struck a lovely grassy valley a mile long and three or four hundred yards wide. A creek lined with willows and similar brush, ran through the middle. Here we killed a deer, and fastened my horse near it, separated to hunt down the valley. W. and J. taking the west side and I the other, intending that each party should shoot the deer flushed by the other. In this manner we soon killed two more, and snapped at others, the guns missing fire as it was raining smartly, rather a novelty to us by this time. About half way down the valley, I heard a shot from the other side, followed by a shout and another shot and then loud and exciting yells to me. It was useless to take up the open mountainside where I could be plainly seen by Indians from both sides of the valley, so, running to the central fringe of brush, I waded the creek and cautiously peeped out beyond. The very first thing I saw was W. making his best speed directly toward my position, with a monstrous grizzly a few feet behind and pressing him hard. J. was gallantly following the bear, loading as he ran, and trying to draw off the enemy by shouts. Quickly taking a good tree rest, I fired at about 40 yards, hitting the bear, who halted, shook his head, and looked viciously behind, thinking the insult had come from that direction where there was just then certainly the most noise. His hesitation gave us each another good shot, and, in short, after a good deal of yelling and running about by all parties, Bruin succumbed after receiving eight balls, every one of which struck him somewhere. Though we had seen and shot at the smaller grizzlies of the Rocky Mountains, this was the first of either kind that any of us had actually killed and we could hardly admire him enough. - Welcome to California! Reply