Humans and bears - Wild encounters

[brotherbear]

The Beast That Walks Like Man by Harold McCracken.
The grizzly and the Indian have had a lot in common. Their 'pied-a-terre' had become firmly planted in America long before the first white man set foot on this continent. They had a certain synonymity of character and faced a similar fate - marked for racial destruction by the same natural enemy who chose to make their native land his own. Just as the cry of our frontier fighting army of the West became "The only good Indian is a dead Indian," the cattle and stockmen adopted a similar war cry against every grizzly bear that breathed. The only difference is that the determination of the white man to exterminate the grizzly has been retained more persistently and carried a great deal closer to an ultimate and complete conclusion. Reply

[brotherbear]

This Reckless Breed of Men - The Trappers and Fur Traders of the Southwest - by Robert Glass Cleland.
Next to the Indian, the grizzly bear was the trapper's greatest menace. "An enormous animal, a hideous brute, a savage looking beast," the grizzly, gray, or white bear, as the trapper indiscriminately called him, was one of the most formidable creatures modern man has ever had to face. He was enormously powerful, fearless, truculent, and crafty and as tenacious of life as a rogue elephant. Few trapping expeditions returned from the mountains without having lost some of their members to the savage fury of this great gray monarch of the wilderness.
In places the grizzly was found in numbers that now seem as incredible to us, the children of an overcrowded, over-civilized land, as the stories our grandsires told of the passenger pigeon and the buffalo. Pattie saw two hundred and twenty in a single day. "They were everywhere - upon the plains, in the valleys and on the mountains," said George C. Yount, "so that I have often killed as many as five or six in one day, and it is not unusual to see fifty or sixty within the twenty-four hours." Reply

[brotherbear]

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

Hutching's California Magazine, September 1856:

A Mr. Drury and his party were out on a prospecting trip for gold; and what was then very unusual, they were not well provided with weapons, but Mr. Drury concluded to have a shot at a bear that was near them, which he wounded, when he immediately took to a tree, and his companions ran off for rifles and men; but while they were away, the bear actually gnawed the tree - a mere sapling - in two, and after biting him through the body severely, left him for dead; but by timely assistance being afforded, he recovered, yet will be a cripple for life. Reply

[brotherbear]

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

Major Horace Bell, Reminiscences of a Ranger, 1881 ( 1927 ):

...In the '50s grizzly bears were more plentiful in Southern California than pigs; they were, in fact, so numerous in certain locations, as Topongo, Malibu, La Laguna de Chico, Lopez and other places, as to make the rearing of cattle utterly impossible. Those ferocious brutes were the terror of the aboriginal tribes, and dreaded by the California Spaniard, whose only weapon of offensive warfare against them were the lance and riata, more commonly called in gringo parlance the lazo ( lasso ). Reply

[brotherbear]

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

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, The Journals of Lewis and Clark, Elliot Coues ( ed. ), 1893:

Captain Lewis, who was on shore with one hunter, met about eight o'clock two white bears. Of the strength and ferocity of this animal the Indians had given us dreadful accounts. They never attack him but in parties of six or eight persons, and even then are often defeated with loss of one or more of their party. Having no weapons but bows and arrows, and the bad guns with which the traders supply them, they are obliged to approach very near the bear; as no wound except through the head or heart is mortal, they frequently fall a sacrifice if they miss their aim... On approaching these two, Captain Lewis and the hunter fired, and each wounded a bear. One of them made his escape; the other turned upon Captain Lewis and pursued him 70 or 80 yards, but being badly wounded the bear could not run so fast to prevent him from reloading his piece, which he again aimed at him, and a third shot from the hunter brought him to the ground. Reply

[brotherbear]

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

F.J. Teggart, The Portola Expedition of 1769-1770, Diary of Miguel Costanso, Academy of Pacific Coast History, Publications, 1911:

It was an enormous animal: it measured fourteen palms from the sole of its feet to the top of its head; its feet were more than a foot long; and it must have weighed over 375 pounds. We ate the flesh and found it savory and good.

... Some of the soldiers, attracted by the chase because they had been successful on two other occasions, mounted their horses, and this time succeeded in shooting one. They, however, experienced the fierceness and danger of these animals - when they feel themselves to be wounded, headlong they charge the hunter, who can only escape by the swiftness of his horse, for the first burst of speed is more rapid than one might expect from the bulk and awkwardness of such brutes. ...The one they succeeded in killing received nine bullet wounds before it fell, and this did not happen until they hit him in the head. Other soldiers mounted on mules had the boldness to fight one of these animals. They fired at him seven or eight times and, doubtless, he died from the wounds, but he maimed two of the mules, and, by good fortune, the men who were mounted upon them extricated themselves.

Last Edited By: Old Ephraim May 20 15 4:57 AM. Edited 1 time. Reply

[brotherbear]

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

Hubert H. Bancroft, History of California, Vol. ll, 1886:

The bears became so bold as to kill and eat cattle every day in full view of the herdsmen... The Indians were often chased by the bears, and one was killed by a grizzly. More than 50 bears were killed in 1801-2, including one who had distinguished himself by eating five mules and seven cows. She asses were so attractive to bruin that all had to be brought to the presidio for protection. Reply

[brotherbear]

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

William R. Garner, Letters from California, 1846-1847, 1970:

In short, from the moment that a person arrives at the spot fixed upon to lay wait for the bear's coming to the bait, until he is fast to a tree or killed, he feels himself elated. Every motion of those noble animals, the horses, which seems as if they were doubly proud when they feel the strain of the lasso from the saddle, and appear to take as much delight in the sport as the riders themselves, is ground beyond my power of description.

I have dwelt at length on this subject, because it surpasses everything of the kind on horseback that ever I either saw or read or heard tell of. Reply

[brotherbear]

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

Theodore H. Hittell, History of California, Vol.l, 1885:

( Governor Sola ) opened his eyes wide with wonder when he saw a grizzly bear, held by four mounted vaqueros each with a reata fasrened to a separate leg, bound into the areana, sruggling against his captors and snapping his teeth with such fury as to cause terror even in those accustomed to the sight. The governor turned with an inquiring look to the comandante, who replied that the bear was a specimen of the animals, abundant in the neighboring mountains, which often came down to regale themselves upon the cattle in the valleys.

August Bernard Duhaunt-Cilly, "Account of California," California Historical Society Quarterly, June 1929:

In California, three or four horsemen, armed with their ropes, look upon going to attack a bear as a pleasure party; they bait it with a dead animal and wait silently. If the bear defends itself, and wishes to rush upon one of them, the instant is favorable for the others to snare it from behind. If it flees, as happens most frequently, the best-mounted rider attempts to cut off its way and force it to fight. The first lazo ( lasso ) catching it leaves it only enough freedom to run upon the one who snared it; but the rest come and easily throw their own over it: they streach them in every direction, and hold it fast, while one dismounts and ties its four paws. It is then placed upon a hide and dragged where it is wanted. Reply

[brotherbear]

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

*Romualdo Pacheco, a skilled vaquero of bear hunting days, once discoursed on the grizzly bear roping subject with which he was thoroughly familiar.

"A Grizzly Bear Hunter in Congress," Defiance Democrat, Defiance, Ohio, February 21, 1878:

To understand the dangers and apparent impossibilities of this class of hunting one needs to take a careful and soul-searching look at the grizzly bear as he roams in his native wilds. No animal surpasses him in savageness and strength. His weight is upon the average from one thousand to twelve hundred pounds. One stroke of his paw, one bite of his jaws is a swift introduction to death to the unfortunate who comes within his reach. He nearly always invites attack. He runs from men at any extreme distance, but invariably offers the initiative in the shape of a savage charge whenever he comes within hailing distance. So then, one can imagine at once the dangers of hunting the grizzly bear with a lasso.

*Pacheco emphasized that such sport could be as unpredictable as it could be exciting when he recalled a combat with a grizzly that refused to be captured:

The only time I was ever whipped, out and out, by a bear was in 1840 ( 1850 ). A dead whale had drifted ashore, near our place, and the odor of it extended inland many miles. It brought out many bears, as they are very fond of eating this kind of carrion. There was a tremendous bear that was spotted coming down one evening. Bears, you know, do not move until dusk, and after. A party of us, fifteen in all, went out to the bluff overhanging the sea, and there resolved to wait for the bear's return. The path, leading down was all grassy and slippery with whale blubber. It was a beautiful moonlight night, clear and soft. We grouped about the head of the path and waited. It was not long. He was below, and scenting us, came up at once for attack. I saw his head above the bluff when we least expected him, and sang out; "Here he is, boys!" as I sent my lasso whistling for him. Then began one of the most remarkable fights I ever encountered. The bear was powerful, and so greasy that our lassos slipped off when he did not snap them off with his powerful jaws. He charged us and fought out of every entanglement for one hour and a half, until we, dripping with perspiration, our horse blown and lassos destroyed, were glad to retire and escape without loss of life. But such a defeat is unusual. It is a rare phenomenon to find a bear that has the strength to go through such a fight and not become cowed. In general, after the first struggle, a bear loses his courage. Reply

[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

[brotherbear]

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

Marysville Herald, September 20, 1850:

"What, you hev never seen a live grizzly!" exclaimed an old Oregon gold digger, with whom we were engaged in a "bar" conversation one evening on Jamestown Bar.

"Never," said I, in all seriousness, "it has never been my good fortune to encounter one of the beautiful varmints."

"Well, hoss, when you do, perhaps it won't be the most pleasantest minnit you've ever hed, for thar aint no varmint in these hills, nor any whar else I've ben, that kin kick wuss either round or sideways, than a full grown grizzly." Reply

[brotherbear]

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

J. Goldsborough Bruff, Gold Rush, the Journals, Drawings, and other Papers of J. Goldsborough Bruff, 1949:

He has never shot a grizzler, and often remarked that if one came down in range he would "blizzen" at him. And he is anxious to obtain the meat of one. I have protested against his molesting one of these Kings of the Sierra Nevada, assuring him that none but a practiced mountaineer can expect to fell him at the first shot, and if he but wounded one, his life would pay the forfeit of his temerity. Reply

[brotherbear]

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

Los Angeles Star, April 9, 1871:

Clubfoot, a bear so-called from having had one of his feet nearly cut-off some years ago by a steel trap has been found dead in the mountains; he is supposed to have been shot by John Searles.

Ventura Free Press, June 7, 1879:

"Old Jeff" ( Guiberson ) pretends to have found the tracks of "Old Clubfoot" a noted grizzly who used to range about Fort Tejon years ago. 'Twon't do Jeff, John Searles and the writer of this killed that bear on Posa Creek years ago. The brute weighed over 850 pounds. Reply

[brotherbear]

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

Los Angeles Times, June 11, 1901:

A big, brown grizzly bear is roaming in the mountains not many miles from Pasadena, killing luckless burros and leaving prints of paws so large as to indicate that he is of immense size. Six burros have disappeared from Sturtevant's Camp within the last two weeks and are supposed to have become the prey of old bruin, the mangled carcasses of two of them having been found six or seven miles from the camp. Tracks of the "varmint" have been found in the west fork of the San Gabriel River and in Shortcut Canyon, the prints of the forepaws measuring eight inches across, giving basis, in the minds of hunters, for an estimated weight of 700 or 800 pounds. Reply