The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1873-01-16

straight ahead, seecisu to lnterrogate !
the track in front of him,
Indians! ~ was our thought. a. we
glanced along the defile. Soon We
changed it at sight Of huge quadruped /
standing between two rocks. its body FL
ling up the intervening space.
"a grizzly. BY St. Huberti' w2s the |
exclamation Of MY companion, both Of I
US equally excited on seeing the famed !
monarch Of the Rocky Mountains, and |
both alike yexed on perceiving that the
animal was far beyond the reach of or
guns; for TO get within shot distance Of |
it we should have 10 ride nearly q mile.
At that moment Gather of as would have |
given a clear hundred dollars to have |
been in the position of the Pike Coun- |
ty' Perhaps, thought we. he would be
but too willing TO exchange with US. But
no. Instead of turning tail and falling
back upon the family wagon-as with
his four helpless chicks we faDcied he
wwuld have done-tha tall, bearded in
dlvidual showed no sign Of backing
His wagon was not yet in sight. or near
| and if it had been, beyond doubt, it
| would have made no difference. In
| Missouri he had to fit bar too often to
be scared by grizzly. These were his
words to US. on our making his acquaint
ance afterwards.
Placed as we were, completely hors de
combat, we could do nothing but remain
on the cliff and watch him. This did
we 10 our surprised may say astonish-
ment-for the affair that followed was
mystery, neither of us could for the time
comprehend.
Instead of retreating, the father of
the children. all four still sticking close
TO the horse, advanced toward the grim
creature that barred his path, apparently
defying him to come on. When within
about fifty PAGES Of the animal, he raised
his long rife, took sight. and then fred
at it.
To our surprise the shot seemed to
have no effect The bullet certainly
must have hit the bear, and in the head;
for we saw tuft of skin start up over
the animals head simultaneously with
the crack. Still he bear stirred not
from the place, nor made maseHent
: of any kind.
Pike Coun;. appeared equally sur
prised with Ourselves We could hear
an exclamation significant Of this while
his look and attitude clearly showed his
establishment. Only for moment did
he remain thus. Quickly reloading his
gun, he again took aim and fired; and
again with the ike result. As before.
we saw that his bullet had hit the bear ;
and, lust as before, Without causing the
animal to stir. It made no movement
either of limb ST body, nor from his jaws
came any growi.
Mere than ever were we puzzled, my
com panion and myself. We were truly
perplezed By an occurrence 80 ineompre-
hensible.
! The Missoulian seemed to share our
perpleAity; for now We could hear
growls from him-exclamations of be-
wilderment slightly iuteriarded with
oaths. 1t ended in his again reloading
the long gun, and firing a third shot at
the grizzly. This time he had dis
mounted. and stepped close up, within
less than tpenty PAGES of the animal
| He could not now be mistaken about
having hit it; he knew himself too
good shot for that yet the result was
the same The bear stood still where
he had been first seen, facing him fairly ;
without falling. as it should have done
having three bullets in its brain; with
out showing sign either of intention to
attack or retreat from him.
This vas too much even for US specta-
tors at a safe distance; my companion
and self were both in quandary, a CON-
plete maze of mystery. So, too, ap
peared the Individual in the defle be-
low; and now we could observe that
he trembled and showed signs of re-
treating. He who did not fear to en-
counter anything mortal, whether man
or animal, was awed by the supernatural
The thing that stood between two rocks,
as if jammcd there, could not be Of the
earth. 1t was no bear, grizzly or other
! wise, bur Jog5e, creature Of another
world.
The romantic mystery of the Rocky
| Mountains - the wild, wierd tales
carried thence by s-perstitious trap
pers-had given to this region singular
and solemn celebrity. Something of
this was no doubt acting on the spirit of
| Pike County for after firing the third
shot, he appeared as if about to retreat
back upon his wagon. Then a sound
broke the stiffness of the air, causing q
change in his design; at once clearing
up the mystery, and dispelled the awe
that inspired him. 1t was long, loud
peal of laughter, two voices taking part
| In il; while simultaneously stood out
from a rock two men, whom | and my
! companion recognized as the scouts who
| had advanced ahead Of u.s. The whole
| thing was nov explained. They had en-
countered the bear. while passing
through The defle. aud ucceydsd in kill
ing it Having passed the Missourian
on their way, they had resolved on hav
ing little fnn at his expense, and for
this purpose had propped up the desd
grizzly to represent living animal,
hiding themselves behind boulder Of
rock to enjoy their joke.
So far they had succeeded 10 psr.ee-
| tion-having it all their own way and
for time the cliff resounded with tleir
laughter, in Which Pike County took no
part But whenit came to the taking
off of the skin of the besr-which the
two who had killed the bear were pro-
ceeding to do--the peit being worth
| hines taok xr11Aep