The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-08-28
A BOYS ENCOUNTER WITH 4 BEAR.

Mr.. D. McPhail gives the following par
ticulars of an encounter with bear, which
took place in the township of Fullerton, on
Wednesday, the 18th ult. On the morning
of the day mentioned, Mr.. James Foster,
farmer, on lot No. 4, West Mitchell road,
heard hog making considerable noise, and
set his son George, lad of some fifteen
years of age, to see what was the matter,
when, on returning to the scene Of trouble,
the lad saw what he supposed to be large
black dog, belonging to Mr.. McPhail, and
with the intention Of releasing his pigship,
threw stick at the ruthless aggressor,
when, to his CONSERVATION, a huge bear, in
stead of the supposed dog, relinquished his
hold upon the hog and made for himself
Being totally unarmed, and no assistance
within quarter of a mile, he at once made
for an iron-wood tree of about Eve inches
diameter; having got up the tree, what was
ing him hastily up the branches Of the sap
ling. Having recoved his breath, he scream
ed for help, and in order to retard the pro-
gress of his assailant, began to shake the
sapling; but bruin had clutched the branch
es With on iron grip, and evidently calculat-
ed upon dainty morsel for breakfast, and
continued to raise paw after paw on the
branches, till he approached so near as to
be almost within reach. The poor lad
screamed Justify, and endeavored to break
off some of the branches by kicking them
down with his bare feet. In this he partial
" succeeded, when the bear made vigor-
Gus stretch of her muscles and seized the
lad by the foot, sinking one of her fangs un-
der the ball of the great toe, on the right
foot, and slightly scratching the side of the
foot with her other nipper teeth. At this
juncture, the shaking to and fro of the
saplins, with their united weight upon it,
caused it 70 bend over until the top nearly
approached the g,o ind, when providential-
", the monster lost he hold, and young
Foster, bravely c,iaging to HIS grasp with
unshaken nerve, was elevated by the rising
of the sapliug. Bruin, however, did not
loose her determination to feast upon his
body, and again sprang to the tree, bot was
evidently too much fatigued to rise on so
slender a ladder. At this stage of the con-
test, the boys father reached the spot, and
saw the huge monster standing on her hind
legs, her body extended up the treel albwl-
ing fercely, the lad nearly exhausted, cling
ing to the tree, only few feet up, with the
blood streaming from his lacerated foot
On approaching to the rescue of his son,
the infuriated beast turned upon him; but
he. with club IN hand, showeda bold front
although out Of breath with running. His
eldest son now arrived from another part
o. the farm. when they succeeded in rcscn-
ing George from his retreat. Meanwhile
several other persons arrived on the spot,
and lad was dispatched for Messrs. Will
liam and Walter Walcom, who were soon on
the spot, with dog of more than usual size
and courage, which Immediately seized the
bear by the rootof the ear, and in the strug-
gle brought him to the ground. Bruin now
got hold on the shoulder of the dog, and
nipped him so tight, as to make him relin-
qnish his hold. But the courage Of bruin
gave way, and ,he made an attempt to tree,
when "Keeper' again seized her by the
thigh and brought her back. She now made
for large elm, and ascended some forty
Eve feet, and 3erched in crotch to scan
her assailants. A man was then dispatched
for two of our Nimrods, who, by joint at
tack, both in trot and rear, brought her
bearship to tn, ground by a we'll directed
hre.-Strattord Beacon.