The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1869-10-21
A Terrible Fight with a Grz-

A correspondent of the Chicago
Tribune writes from the Wind
River Valley, Rocky Mountains,
as follows: ls6r.ief
After our camp had been pitch.
ed on Bear Creek, We sailed out
to gather some Of the wild cher.
ries. gooseberrics and .,cnrrants
that grow in abundance about the
camp. Mr., Crutcher, the guido,
Mai Gordon, Lieut.. Slambaugh
and several others Of our party,
accompanied by number of solo.
icrs, repaired 10 the creek near by,
and began eating the fruits with
which its hanks wero lined. Pre-
sently, Major Gordon's attention
being attracted By a peculiar noise
near him, he called to Mr.. Crutch-
l.er.and asked who tho man on his
right was, Crutcher gave one
lcok, shout of bear bearp and
beat q hasty retreat, Standing on
his bird feet. and drawing tho
limbs through his mouth with his
paws, was a monster Rocky Noun.
tain grizzly bear. All hands at
once refreshed to respectful! dis
tance, aud We were discussing how
we should attack the beast, when
shot rang out upon the air, fol.
lowed by crashing Of bushes and
cries of "helpl help - Rushing
forward, VIC witnessed q terrific
conflict 1t appears that at the
time Of our discovery cf tho bear
and his retreat, a private soldier Of
tho cavalry, named Eugene Lam.
bert. was so near the animal he
could almost lay his hand uron
him. Deeming fight impossible
0hough it is probable the bc' had
not yet seen him), Lambert, who
was armed with carbine, took dc.
liberate aim and fired. The bear
was standing with his breast to-.
ward the soldier at the time, and
the shot was we'll delivered below
the fore leg; but scarcely had the
rife cracked when tho monster,
uttering terrific growI, rushed
upon the unfortunate man But
little of the struggle could be seen
on account of the thickness of the
bushes. nor could any one fire for
the closeness of the combatants.-
The bear had closed with Lambert;
and although tho poor man 8 cries
were pitiiul, we could render him
no assistance. Over and over they
rolled on che ground, crushing the
brambles, and even shaking young
trees in their struggle, until at last
the bear was seen to suddenly re.
lease his hold OF Lambert and limp
away. All this occurred in less
time than it has taken to tell it,
We at once picked up tho poor
soldier. and found him insensible
and covered with blood. Near
him lay the bear, quito dead, and
on opening the brute we found
that Lambert's first shot had pierc-
cd the heart. With the aid of wa
ter from the brook we revived the
soldier, and boro him, bleeding to
camp.
Having no surgeon, soldier OF
tho name of White, who had once
served as q hospital steward for
some time, aided by Major Gordon,
proceeded 10 examine the unfortu.
nate mans wounds. Tho scalp
was torn from the crown OF his
head and hung down over the left
car, which was cut entirely in two
parts. Tho cheek was laid open
near tho temple, and the flesh on
the back, near the left shoulder,
had been torn so that the air from
the lungs escaped in small putfs.- -
In addition to these wounds. Lam
bert, in defending himself, had
thrust his left arm into the bears
mouth, and it was badly crushed
A bloodier or more pitiable objec
than the wounded man could mot be
imagined. After repeated applica-
tions Of cold water, tho blood was
stanched and the wounds sewed
up. No one thought he could live
but Lambert declared he would
speedily get well. During the
evening, three bears came down
and sat on bluffs near our camp,
but as the soldiers said. we had
not lost any grizzlies, and 80 did
not attack them. 1t was sad
night in camp, owing to the unfor.
tunate adventure in the afternoon
Nevertheless, we managed 80 cut
up a good part of the bear. His
flesh was pulatable, and he would,
when dressed, have weighed not
less than nine hundred pounds.
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