Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1882-08-19

H. j. Shelton. lot long ago, left the
Cooper river, on tie Pecos river, III
search OF game IL order. as he himself
expressed It IL the language ut the board
OF trade, to cover his shorts in the line
of fresh meats. and especially induced
thereto by the fact that he had several
times heard Of AL elk Of euormou. di-
mensions havi"g been recently seen a
few miles up the river As Nr. Shell
ton was renowned throughout the camp
for his skill with the rifle much interest
was manifested by the min. rs aud others
II the expedition, some of the more SAN
guine even Offering ODDS that not only
dld that particular elk stand TO mortal
show for prolonged existence. but
that Mr.. Shelton would bring back with
him provisions enough 10 supply tn,
whole camp for the coming season. They
accordingly ga hered around his cabin,
drank his health numerous times IN the
vintage of the Pecos and gave him three
rouslng cheers, as, armed with Spring
field rifle, mounted on his horse. and ac-
companied by bis constant burro, he
gallantly struck ont for the unknown
wllds of the Upper Pccos.
Saturday night he camped at the
upper forks of the river and Sunday,
bright and early, was again on the
march. About o'clock III the after
noon the burro, which had wandered
nhe ad. came running back, apparently
T III great terror, ears and tail erect, ewes
glaring, making that mournful sound
for Which Its species Is noted and re-
fnsiuG to be caught or comforted. Not
being able to make out from tue con
fused burro just what had happened,
Mr.. 5. cooked his gun and advanced
slowl = and cautiously on the unknown
enemy. Crawling along on his hands
and knees for about quarter of mi e
he at length doubled bend IN the river
and there, standing in full view in the
meadow, aid Eot moro than 15O wards
away, he saw huge grizzly bear with
three cubs, and, just beyond the bear
and HI direct range with her, an animal
that he at once recognized as the long
soughtfor elk Neither of the beasts
was aware OF his approach, so, quietly
nslng upon one knee and resting his
rifle across the other, which Is Mr. 5. y
favorlte position III shooting, he took de-
ll5erate ann, Intending. as was his GUS
tom in attacking grizzlies, to break the
b >ar's spinal column. This, as Mr.. 5.
afterwards expla inel, lncapacitates them
sistance. Bang went the gun, away spe
the bullet and down fell two animals
in fact, thrce-the bear, the elk and Mr..
S. hlmself. The bullet had cut the
backbone of the bear completely III two,
ana, passing on through, had lodged in
the heart of the elk; and the extraordi
nary task to which the rifle had been
subjected produced such a violent recoil
thut the hunter himself was stl fetched
fiat lpon the ground. Recovering him
self speedily, Mr.. S. advanced upon the
prey, hunting-knife in hand, but lifeswas
extinct in both animals. The little
cubs, on hearing the report of the gun,
fled but, being only few weeks old
were speedily captured, tied III bags and
fastened On the back Of the horse. On
examining the elk Mr.. Sheldon found il
20 be not ah elk at all but an enormous
deer = species unknown measuring
eleven feet eight inches from the tip OF
his nose to his hind feet, and standing
somewhat over SIX feet high across the
wlthers.
When the story was first heard til,
accuracy OF Mr.. Sheldon's tape-line VA!
doubte !; but. after one of tho feet of the
BEST was seen-ab.ut the size Of, th.
back of All ordinary rocking chair-and
We had heard half a dozen fish and cam
palgn stories around the camp fire tha
same night, we came to the conclusion
that Mr.. S. had rather drawn it mile
than otherwise At all events. with tn
aidof several men and horses he brough
back to the camp on the Monday follow
ing. the deer, the bear and cubs and tn
entire population of Cooper county hav'
been feasting off the hind quarter Of tha
deer ever since.