Butte record., 1856-03-01

+ wolves. We could tell by the numer-
! Gus gouts that he was shedding hi:
life blood, and about fifty PAGES fur
ther on we found him dead.
A shout apprised orr companions o.
our success and had commenced drag
ging back the prize, when wild erie:
, reached US from the platform-th(
, yells Of the men, the screams Of wo-
| men, mingled with oaths and cxclama-
tions of terror.
We ran to the mouth Of the track
On reaching it, sight was before Us
that caused the stoutest heart to trem-
bic. Hunters, indians and women,
were running to and fro in frantic con-
fusion, uttering their varied cries. We
knew our enemy at glance-the
dreaded monsters of the mountains
the grizzly bears!
There were five in sight: there might
be others in the back ground. Five
were enough to destroy our whole par
ty, Gagged as We were, and weakened
by famine.
They had reached the cliff in chase
of the Cimmaron, and hunger and dis
appointment were visible in their hor-
rid aspects. Two Of them had alrea-
dy crawled close to the scarp, and were
paving over and snufing the air, as if
searching for place to descend. The
other three, reared themselves up on
their hams, and commenced manicure
ring with their fore arms, in human
like and comic pantomimel
We were in no condition to relish
this amusement. Every man hastened
to arm himself, those who had emptied
their rifles hurriedly began re-loading
them.
'For your life don't'' cried Carey,
catching at the gun of one Of the hun
ters.
The caution came too late; half a
dozen balls went whistling upwards.
The efet was what the trapper an
ticipated. the bears maddened by the
bullets, which had harmed them 10
more than the pricking of as many
pins, dropped on their all-fours again,
and with fierce growls, commenced
descending the ella.
The scene Of confusion was now at
its height. Several Of the men, less
brave than their companions, ran off
to hide themselves In the snow, while
others commenced climbing the low
pine trees.
l''Cachc the gals!'' cried Carey. "Hy-
ar, yer darned Spanish greasers! if
yer won't fight, hook on to the weemen
a wheen Of yer, and toat them to the
snow. Cowardly slinks-wah!
''See to them DOCTOR" l shouted to
the German whom | thought, might be
best spared from the fight; and the
next moment the doctor assisted by
several Mexicans, was hurrying the
terrified girls towards the spot where
We had left the cimmaron.
Many Of us knew, that to hide, un-
der the circumstances, would be worse
than useless. The fierce but sagaci-
Gus brutes would have discovered us
one by one, and destroyed us in detail.
They must be met and fought; that
was the word, and we resolved to car
ry it into execution.
There was about a dozen Of us who
"stood up to it''-all the Delawares
and the Shawnees, with Carey and the
moutain men.
We kept firing at the bears as they
ran along the ledges in their zig-zag
descent, but our rifles were out of or
der, our fingers numbed with cold, and
our nerves weakened with hunger
Our bullets drew blood from the hide
Gus brutes, yet not shot proved
deadly. 1t only stung them into fer
Ger rage.
1t was fearful moment when the
last shot was fired, and still not an en-
emy less. We flung away the guns,
and clutcbing the hatchets and hunt
ing knives, silently awaited our grizzly
foes.
We took our stand close to the
rock. 1t was our design to have the
first blow, as the animals, for the most
part, came stern foremost down the
cliff. In this we were disappointed.
On reaching the ledge some ten feet
from the platform, the formost bean
halted, and seeing our position, heslta-
ted to descend. The next moment,
his companions, maddened with wounds
came tumbling down upon the same
edge, and with fierce growls, the five
huge bodies were precipitated in our
midst.
Then came the desperate struggle,
, which | cannot describe-the shouts
) of the hunters, the wilder yells Of In
dian allies, the hoarse worrying Of the
bears, the ringing Of tomahawks from
skulls like flint. the deep dull ''thud',
of the stabbing knife, and now and
then a groan, as the crescent claw tore
up the clinging muscle. 0 God! il
was fearful scene!
Z Over the platform bear and mer