Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-04-08

4
stantly the gambling ceased. Every
one turned on his stool and watched
Van Thusen. saw many revolver.
drawn and silently cooked. A great
silence settled over the room. Standing
erect, Van Thusen drew a white hand
kerchief from his pocket and wiped the
liquor from his face. Then, ask
ing for water, he bathed his burn.
ing eyes. Drying them, he replaced
his handkerchief in his pocket, and
looked at the man who had 80 outrage.
ously insulted him. He looked into the
muzzle of a six-shooter-looked beyond
it into the cowardly eyes of the brute
who held it. saw Van Thusen gather
himself and heard him say, in low,
clear voice: IS It may miss fire." TAX
ing the chance, bright, heavy loaded
knife flashed out from the back of his
neck and with forward stride he
struck q tremendous downward blow.
The sharp report of an exploding cap
and the body of the ruffian, with four
ribs cut off and split heart, falling
dead, showed that Van Thusen had sue
cessfully taken the risk of damp
charge or dirty nipple. Washing of
the blood from his knife in glass OF
water, Van coolly remarked, 'sThat
man was q coward. Now / win have
| my whisky.'' He drank it and walked
over to me. OF course, spoke my ad-
miration of the courage he had shown.
81 am not aware that have shown
any," he quietly remarked, but added,
| with flush that no one, unless it were
a drunken friend, could insult him with
out killing him or getting killed, and
then said softly: "Frank, 1 have never
insulted man in my life.'' While we
were talking some men carried the dead
man into back. room. Some one
cleaned the floor and the gambling was
resumed.
Mentioning that L had to cross the
Bitter Root Mountains and 90 to the
head waters of the Big Black1oot River
as soon as the storm broke, Van Thusen
said he would 60 with me. He wanted
to 60 to the Sun River Valley, and to 90
by the way of the Cadotte Pass, so the
trip'up the Blackfoot River would not
be out of his way. Next morning the
storm was over, and we rode eastward
over the Bitter Root Mountains, and in
few days were camped on the head
waters of the Big Rlackfoot. One night
we lay under our blankets on a tiny
branch of the river, far up in the mount
aims. I was just dropping to sleep.
when the unearthly cries of panther,
so like the screams of distressed
woman that for an instant I was de-
ceived, woke me thoroughly. We lay
awake, listening to the cries, when Ed
asked me if I had ever seen grizzly
bear.
eyes, have seen the brute, and 1
don't admire his physical or moral char
acteristics.''
Ed lay quiet for few minutes and
then said softly. ''That animal is the
only thing on earth fear.'' He stop
ped; then with little nervous laugh
said: " Don't laugh at me and will
tell you something" Without waiting
for me to reply he began:
"Once l was on my way for the
Kootenay Pass. 1 found a man alone
in little log hut, lying sick on his bed.
l stopped to nurse him. That man had
shot at a grizzly bear with an old muz-
zle-loading rifle. He had missed a
deadly shot. The bear rushed for him.
He endeavored to climb tree, and
thought he was far enough up to be safe
when the huge beast rose and struck
one blow at him, fairly tearing the calf
of his leg into strings, but not knock
ing him out of his crotch. Once safely
in the tree, the man outsat the bear, or
the bear got tired or sick from his
wound; at any rate the animal went
away, and the man descended and
crawled to his little hunting lodge and
got into bed. 1 nursed him until he
could hop on one leg. Then shot
deer for him and left him. had re-
solved to kill the first grizzly saw. I
was armed with an Allen rifle and had
plenty of cartridges. As you come up
into the Kootenay Pass there
is patch of bare ground. A few
shrubs grow on the thin, shallow soil in
clumps. Around this open there is a
wall of dense evergreen underground.
Riding up to the wall, looked through
and saw three. great grizzly bears, APP
parently eating something that they dug
out of the ground with theirhuge claws.
Here was my chance. Tying my horse
with rawhide rope to a stout tree; rifle
in hand, crawled through the under
brush until was within seventy yards
of the brutes. rested my rifle on the
dead stub of limb that stood out from
. pine and sighted at the heart of the
largest bear. just as was going to
pull the trigger there arose, as from out
Of the ground in front of me, the hunt
ing hut of the wounded man I had
nursed. One side of the hut was gone.
| could see into it. I could see the bed,
the man ON it, and Gin almost whis-
peri, Frank, I could see my
self binding and dressing the dread
fl wound. I dropped my rifle.
The vision disappeared. Three
times sighted. Three times in vivid |
distinctness arose this apparition of the
past. 1t cowed me. I was afraid to
shoot. l crawled back to my horse. l
sat on him trembling with nervousness.
was thoroughly ashamed of myself for
being such coward. 1 skulked and
hid in the brush, like cayote until
those bears went away" Then in low,
earnest tone, " But have resolutely de-
termined to shoot the next bear meet"
For few seconds he was silent, and
then, with q far-of look, softly added:
IS And I really believe the bear will kill
me-" With a distressed laugh he
Jumped up, rebuilt the fire, and said: