American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-12-27
IN PARADISE VALLEY.

Show bound in the Sierra Nevadas.
A few weeks ago six miners, bidding
good-by to the world, climbed the tow
ering heights of Kings River Canyon.
California, and passed into Paradise
Valley, where they are now snow-bound
for the winter. They could as easily
tunnel their way to the Antipodes as es-
cape from their camp after the first
SHOWS of November, so until May of
next year they will dig for gold, giving
no thought to the summer companions
from whom they are eXiled. The valley
is eight miles long and about one mile
in width, itself 10000 feet above the sea,
while the cliffs encompassing run per-
pendicularly 1000 feet further. Until
last year it was deemed impossible for
men to pass winter in the valley. Then
four hunters, w. A. Clark, William
Hicks, William Hilton and l.. NJ. Grover,
tried the experiment and met with sue
cess. They built cabin and stored
away a pack-train load of necessaries.
To their surprise they found deer and
bears under the cliffs throughout De-
cember and January. One afternoon
Clark cornered a buck and doe at the
head of small canyon, where the cliffs
were too steep for them to climb. He
determined to catch them without using
a rifle. He stunned the doe with stone,
and tied her down. The buck, pow
erful fellow, made frantic leaps toward
a small torrance over his head till his
tongue hung from his mouth, and
tumbling 60 feet down precipce broke
his neck. Looking down from their
cabin one moonlight night the hunters
saw three cinnamon bears climb to the
retreat of a mountain ram, whose de-
tense was fierce, but Intellectual. On the
18th of January an avalanche of snow
and rocks swept down, burying two of
the men Is feet. The men had heard
the thunder of its approach, and rooted
themselves deep under a neighboring
ledge, from which they dug their way
out through the snow in five minutes. A
remarkable phenomenon, of which they
had the benefit, was double sunset ev-
cry day-one at 80 p. m, when the
sun passed behind towering cliff into
obscurity for two hours, and another at
o'clock.
While the four mountaineers were inn
prisoned for the winter in Paradise Val
ley Clark climbed to a bluff three thou
sand feet above the valley to kill grouse.
1t was in the latter part of April, and
the bears had emerged from their win
ter quarters. He was on the point of
descending when three bears bounced
out into his path. He looked about for
place of refuge. A dead pine stood a
little way to his front. To divert the
approaching beasts he sent one shot
from his only weapon, Colts heavy
dragoon six-shooter. One bear dropped
but got up again and joined in the rush.
A second shot was of more account, for
the fellow that was hit rolled over, while
the others made loud and indescribable
bear music over him. Clark reached
the tree and about twenty-five feet up
found a strong limb, over which he put
his leg and rested, putting and blowing,
while he viewed the new situation. The
last bear shot lay in its death struggles,
with a ball through its heart; the other
two pranced around and occasionally
made toward the hunter. Hoping his
companions would come to his assist
ance, Clark resolved to discharge his
four remaining shots in quick succession
at the bears, wishing, if possible, at the
same time to kill one or both of them.
He emptied his pistol accordingly, but
neither bear seemed to be badly hurt, if
struck at all, and his comrades thinking
he was shooting at grouse, did not come
near him. An interesting predicament
this. At last, after half hour or more,
the two surviving bears, having eyed
and howled at him to their hearts
content, loped off, the large one
behind being somewhat disabled. Once
in 4 while as this old bruin disappeared
in the distance he sat down and east a
wistful glance at the tree, evidently feel
ing that Il mortal was there whose bones
he waited to crack Fhiiadelptia
Times.
OF the 200 inmates of the State Aims