The Southern herald., 1886-03-13
A BLOODY CONFLICT.
A e-Cornered Fight Between
a Man, Indians and Bears.

You will see by the map that the
Salmon River, of Idaho, has its rise in
Che 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, l 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 of the Bit
ter Root.
On the first day of May l was left
alone. had horse, two pack mules,
rifle. two revolvers and plenty Of food
and ammunition. AS soon as the men
left me | pulled up stakes and moved
around to the east side of the mount
ain where there was less wind and
more sunshine. Between the foothills
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 preserved in pal
etable 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 dur
ing the winter, suddenly appeared
within two hundred feet of my camp
fire, coming up the winding valley
from the south. / was between him
and the horses, but the latteNwere so
terrified that had they not been stoutly
staked out they would have made their
escape,
The bear halted, as l said, and as he
displayed no intention to come nearer
] did not wish to provoke him by any
act of hostility. He was in lean con-
dition, with his shaggy coat in anything
but presentable shape. He stared at
me with curious eyes, shifted the air,
grew uneasy after a few minutes and
finally numbered off down the valley
out of sight. l was thoroughly glad to
be rid Of Bruin, but before 1 had fin
Gshed my breakfast he returned and
Brought two other grizzlies with him,
al full grown.
Well armed as l was, l realized that
4 stood no show against the three. The
horse was wild with terror, and the
mules were so overcome that they lay
down with weakness, piled on the
brush, and as the fire blazed and
cracked the bears took alarm and gal
iOped of, looking back as if to see if
they were pursued.
The presence of tho monsters an
1oyed me more than l can explain. ]
was more uneasy than as if had dis
covered three Indians prowling about.
A grizzly bear is the natural foe Of
everything that lives. He is 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 q Winchester
into him and not one may strike avital
spot. The sight of fame and smoke
had kept them from attacking me, but
I was by no means satisfied that they
would abandon the field.
The only plan to save the horses was
% build another fire above them. In
one spot the valley narrowed until il
was not more than eight feet wide, and
here I built a solid fire Of heavy limbs
---One which would last for whole
dsy. A quarter Of a mile below the
camp sound another good spot and
buit another fire, and then felt com.
parasirsly safe. The only fear was that
ROuld keep the bears away to bring
Endians down upon me. The heavy
fi6ke could be seen for twenty miles,
apdt seen by red men they would GER
szazy investigate.