The Southern herald., 1886-03-13

sound there was no other noise than
that of low growing and the click Of
claws on the rocky floor.
What had happenedP l had run into
the den of the bears seen in the morn
ing, and the Indians had followed. The
bears had come home from their morn
ing walk, and the result must have
been disastrous to the Indians. AL
though fully realizing the ferocious
nature of the animal, l was not as
fearful of him as l had been of the In
dians. A full-grown grizzly could
hardly squeeze his way down the drift,
and Twas certain to kill him if he tried
| to.
After a bit l crept carefully forward
until | could see into the chamber. 1t
was a sight to make one sick. Two
bears lay dead on the floor, and third
was lying on his belly and licking the
blood which flowed from several
wounds. But others had suffered
more had two dead Indians in the
drift and five others lay in the cham
ber-btten, clawed and torn until the
spectacle was a hideous one to gaze
upon. There was blood everywhere
and upon everything, and pieces of
bloody flesh were mingled and mixed
with patches of Indian dress and fire.
arms.
While [ stood looking at the horrors
the wounded bear rose up with fierce
growl and attacked the corpses. His
hurts drove him mad, and he wanted
revenge on the dead. l saw him put a
paw on the breast of an Indian, seize
the throat in his teeth, and at one sin
gle wrench he tore the head from the
body. He seized another by the leg
just above the knee, and | heard the
bones crush like glass as his teeth shut.
He jerked and twisted two or three
times, and the leg was torn Of
1t was the frenzy of death. AS the
bear bit and tore at one of the corpses
he suddenly tottered, braced his legs
and then sank down and rolled over,
and soon breathed his last. / was so
spellbound that it was two or three
minutes before 1 could move. The
spectacle was even more horrible wheD
stepped out and secured a stronger
light, and directly my nerves were SO
unstrung of what had occurred that ]
rushed out of the cave in the open air
AS I gained the outside it struck me
that the Indians had doubtless left one
of their number to watch the horses
As / went down the ravinc I deter
mined, if this was the case, to attack
him, with the hope of wiping out the
whole party.
When crept out of the ravint
another bloody spectacle awaited me
The Indian ponies had been hobbled tc
prevent them from wandering away
and none of the party had been left in
charge, The grizzlies had come upon
the horses first, and every one of them
was dead on the grass and horribly mu.
tilated. They had not been killed te
satisfy hunger, but to crafty ferocioul
whim.
After q few hours, during which
time returned to my own camp, tc
find everything safe, / re-entered the
cave and secured the firearms of the
dead redskins, The stuff at their camp
fire consisted of blankets, robes, am
munition and powder. While none oi
the party were in war-paint, there was
nothing to prove that they were out or
Il hunt. They had, perhaps, DETECTED
from some march to discover what haC
caused the smoke.
Four weeks later, when party o
hunters from Boise City, headed by
Captain Hall, stumbled in on me,
turned over to them, as relics of thu
singular three-cornered fight, the fire
arms, bows and arrows, the claws o.
the grizzlies, two full suits of buckskin
three scalps of white men, and enough
pipes, beads, knifes, charms ant
feathers to start a museum. Thes,
relics are still on exhibition in tht
Sheriff S office at Boise, and bear wit
ness that l have given you truthful
narrative. N Y. Sun.