Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1886-11-18
For the Ellsworth American.
OREGON, Oct. Is. 1856.

For the Ellsworth American
OREGON. Oct Is, 1856
M Editor:
When sailed up the Columbia River.
nearly year ago. III the steamship. State Of
California, was greatly surprised tlia, no
beautiful village of the New England char
aClcr presented Itself to nv view during the
whole distance from Astoria TO the city Of
Portland which is situated on the Willamette
River. a few miles from its junction with the
Columbia To be sure, occasionally there
would be little settlement of ten OF
ti'een houses bull, in the primitive, un.
picturesque western style; hut the tall. dark
trees would hover around them so closely,
and the bank Of The river would lin itself so
high above them. thar there scarcely seemed
10 be break in that gloomy. interminable
forest. clothing al. the visible hills and val.
ieys, and pressing To the very waters
edge.
his was indeed an unpleasant surprise,
and the more contemplated 1t the more un-
comfortable felt; for had no, lived in
Hancock County, the marvellous bear coun-
try. and witnessed the ravsges of that fero-
cious beast had not many a tine left
Ellsworth tssid TO he very good place
from which 10 start bear -hunting) for hunt
after small game and had large game un-
ccrcmoa.ously tnrust Itself upon me. result
lng almost invariably in nv being com
pe led in illustrate vigorously that triie. la
cnGlc SAVING. The world is but fee,iny
>hos ?" and had | not had ample experience
io realize that Wild beasts, and bears in par
'cular, decidedly unpleasant neighbors2
Not that lack in physical courage, assure
YOU II i not that, It is only because nv sus-
ceput lr nature receives impressions of dan
ger promptly aud very vi,idl,. Therefore
II can be no matter TO excite wonder, that
!, seeing this vas: forest, should at once
suppose Il 10 be infested viii Wild animals,
OF that ! should evince an anxious desire to
gain explicit Knowledge on this impoIian,
point.
Now, travellers Of the Intelligent sort. com
irs acro-. the continent, alus.. haye q
guide book descriptive of the country; 80
took mine out of my vslise and began to
pefase II hoping sincerely that the snImals
ferde nGfmrGe Of Oregon would prove TO be
heavens | read, "Wlld beasts of many
specie, inhebt this region, prominent among
winch are the deer, elk black hear. brown
bear amd panther or cougar" This use Of
TIE word 'promiHeat" Wa. apt. grew ex-
ceedng.y restless while contemplating the
possible prominence Of the cougar The fol-
lowing sentence did no, serve 10 aiav m,
ureasiness. In the southern part Of the
state, the formidable grizzIy may be found
~ a. BIS urs.ne ferocii,." 4 chill .e-mrd
y rnre!'p me. II Wa 1 severe Ii>appoint-
mrnL almost felt wrongtd. Common,
r.ain, o.d-tas shioned terocit, had always
been good enough FOR me. hadn't come
W'st for luxures. and didn't want an,-
body nor ANYTHING near me with such an al
Tribute as ''urs.9e ferociiy." But there Va,
the fact. and had TO make the best OF ii,
lhTiN-hse hundred miles are too far To
ave- t. be at once turned back by even
'a',ne fer.cil,."
Inc panther. or cougar, Is the animal
most feared in the northern part Of Oregon
and many story have | heard Of him In
order I" show some Of the pleasures OF
pioneer life. Will tel a. briefly as possible
four or five Of the incidents that have sciu-
ally happened in this vicinity.
Not many months ago, tso mes were
travelling along d trail leading from a small
settlement few miles inland through the
woods 30 The river. A. the custom !. IN
th.. country. they had rheir guns with them.
: The day being fai advanced. they we're hur-
RING 10 reach the river before nighifull 4,
last they came Ia d narrow creek across
which large tree had fallen. This would
serve a. an admirable bridge for men so we'll
accustomed 10 the woods Of Oregon, and
trey without hesitation began TO walk upc
it but Tie, had prcce-ded only few feet.
when they were suddenly startled by hear
ing peculiar noise behind them. Quickly
turning the, behed huge panther just in
the &C, Of leaping upon them. lnroluntaIiiy
they took step or two backward and lifted
their rifles. These motions seemed to stat
tie tie panther. and caused him to fall sholt
OF his apparent aim. He algh,ed upon he
tree but few feet from the mares, man,
who. with that presence of mind hahitual to
experienced hunters, almost instantly dis
charged hi. gun full in the face of the saw
age beast. The event proved the shot to
have been we'll aimed, for the panther rolled
from the tree into the creek dead
A short time before this two other men
had quite serious adventure with one of
these animals. They had been fishing on
the river for several hours, and had landed
on the shore TO prepare dinner. The
country being strange 10 them, they climbed
up tt. steep bank that they might look
about them. just as they reached the top,
they saw a panther moving slowly away.
One of the men went down to the boat after
his gun, and the other, though unarmed,
conceived the brilliant idea Of following the
beast so as not to lose sigh II him, an im=
prudence, by the way, that should BY no
means recommend. This attention was evi-
den.ly not reiished by the panther, who
shortly turned and sprang upon his follower,
biting him seriously on the head and infict-
ing dangerous wounds on The body with his
claws. Al this critical period. the other
man arrived on the spot with his gun.
Placing the mussle close TO the psnther's