Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-02-18
A BLOODY CONFLICT.

A BLOODY CONFLICT.
You will see by the map that the
Salmon River, Of Idaho, has its rise in
the Salmon River Mountains. Two
small creeks, meeting at the north end
Of the mountains, form the Salmon,
but it is not much Of stream until it
receives Wild Cat, Bitter Sweet, and
other creeks down toward the Bitter
Root Mountains.
/ had journeyed to the forks Of the
Upper Salmon with band of hunters
and trappers, and, while they had
spent the winter in trapping for furs
and pelts, / had developed the fact
that coal, mica, slate, marble, copper
and other minerals were to be had for
the asking in the mountains. Owing
to the depth Of snow and severity Of
the weather, ! had not finished my
work Of prospecting when spring
came, while the trappers were ready
to abandon the exhausted field and
move east into the foothills ofthe Bit
ter Root.
On the frat day Of May was left
alone. had horse, two pack mules,
rife, two revolvers and plenty Of
food and ammunition AZ ,;sncG2snnl fnarttREa
nep III. LII me l pulled up stakes and
anbVed around to the east side Of the
mountain where there was less wind
and more sunshine. Between the foot
hills and the mountain was long,
narrow, winding valley, varying in
width from ten to fifty feet. The
snow was just leaving this valley, and
the grass Of last season had been pre-
served in palatable shape for the
horses.
Nothing of special interest occurred
until the second Of June. On that
morning, while cooking breakfast, a
monster grizzly, the first one seen dn-
ring the winter, suddenly appeared
within two hundred feet ofmy camp.
fire, coming up the winding valley
from the south. was between him
and the horses, but the latter were so
terrified that had they not been stout
ly staked out they would have made
their escape.
The bear halted, as said, and as he
displayed no intention to come nearer
! did not wish to provoke him by any
act Of hoafiI;tv He waa in lean non.
dition, with his shaggy coat 10 any
thing but presentable shape. He
stared at me with curious eyes, shifted
the air. grew uneasy after few min
ntes and finally numbered off down
the valley out Of sight. ! was thor.
oughly glad to be rid Of Bruin, but
before I had finished my breakfast he
returned and brought two other gris-
Slies with him, all full grown.
Well armed as I was, I realized that
I stood no show against the three.
The horse was wild with terror, and
the mules were 40 overcome that they
lay down with weakness. / piled on
the brush, and as the FIRE blazed and
cracked the bears took alarm and gal.
Hoped Of, looking back as II TO see II
they were pursued,
The presence OF the monsters an.
noyed me more than oan explain. III
was more uneasy than II I had dis
covered three Indians prowllng about.
A grizzly bear Is the natural foe OF
everything that lives. He 10 without
fear. His strength is something as
founding He will fight twenty men
as soon as one. Fire all the bullets
from the chamber Of Winchester
into him and not one may strike a vi.
tai spot. The sight OF fame and
smoke had kept them from attacking
me, but / was by no means satisfied
that they would abandon the field.
The only plan to save the horses
was to build another fire above them.
In one spot the yallew narrowed until
it was not more than eight feet wide,
and there / built solid fire Of heavy
limbs--one which would last for a
whole day. A quarter Of a mile be-
low the camp I found another good
spot, and built another FIRE, and then
felt comparatively safe. The only
fear was that I would keep the bears
away TO bring Indians down upon me.
The heavy smoke could be seen foi
twenty miles, and II seen by red men
they would certainly investigate.
! did not leave camp that day, be-
ing busy with specimens and 10 max.
ing repairs to my clothing, and the
day and night passed without an
alarm Of any sort. This put me IL
good spirits, and I permitted the fires
to die down to great beds Of Goals,
which would retain their heat all day,
and soon after breakfast shouldered
my rife and started off down the val.
ley to prospect and investigate. You
may believe that I kept my eyes open
fof sight Of grizzlies, but they seemed