The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1888-08-23
A HUNTERS PLIGHT.

! nCaTaQ &C o. the LulIalO, anu DcI0rc tne
power OF the fighting tribes Of Indians
was broken, a whito man could get al
most any sort of adventure west of
Omaha at very early hour in the morn =
! ing, The Blue Mountain country Of
| Oregon, in which rise two of the
| braa ches Of tho Columbia river, was
! once a hunters paradise, and here it
was the cinnamon and the grizzly bears
grew the largest and were always ach-
| ing for row with some one. The first
white mon in there after pelts chanc
so many perils that it was almost mir
aclo if any of them got out alive. Tho
Indians were numerous and watchful,
bears and panther1 as thick as mice in
farm house, and an adventure Of some
sort was sure to occur daily.
Ihad been in bit of cove or valley
on the eastern side of the noun tains
tor ten or twelve days before l got any
thing like a scare. 1t was within forty
miles OF the south line of Washington
Territory, and the country for a hun
dred miles around mo was in the same
| savage state as whom Columbus dis
covered the continent. The Indians
were further east, on the Snake river,
or further west, on the Columbia and its
branches, and only detached parties
were to he feared. While this was a
| great burden off my mind, the bears
and panthcrs were so numerous that l
was in q state Of constant alarm throu h
the dav, and dared not shut both eyes
to sleep at night. had a pack and a
riding mule, aud on the first night Of
my arrival, white l had a bright fire
| burning, and tn animals were tethered
within a stones throw, apanther spran8
upon old Bob my riding mule, and
clawed him in q terrible way before l
could get near enough to settle him
with a bullet. Three or four bears
prowled around my camp all night,
and the screams of panther kept my
eyes open until daybrcak. However,
after had thinned out the colony by a
dozen or fifteen, the varmints began to
give me a rest.
On the 10th or nth day of my stay l
left camp at an early hour in the morn
ing loaded for bear. l followed the val
ley up for a half a mile, and then turned
into a ravine which was tho bed Of a
creek during the melting of the SHOWS.
1t ascended very gradually, and l had
| been following it for half an hour, when
it took q sharp bend to the right. At
this point there was hole il the right
hand cliff, aud as l halted to look at it
some savage beast. I had moved on
about 500 feet, when grizzly, which
had been lying Down among the broken
rocks suddenly rose before me. l was
looking for his kind, but his appearan ce
was so sudden, and he showed fight so
quickly that my heart was beating alto
gether too fast as pulled up for a shot
1t had to be snap shot, for not more
| than 80 feet separated US. Mine was a
single barrelled rife, and l also had q
knife and revolver. The bullet struck
bruin in the left shoulder, and he spun
around dozen times like top. l was
reloading when he got ready to form a
closer acquaintance. He had worked
up the ravine and had worked down,
and we were now 100 feet apart
knew l could not finish loading before
he reached me, and there was no other
way but to run for it and hope that he
was too seriously wounded to overtake
me.
In those days I could run like horse,
and l was accustomed to all sorts of
ground, but hadn't made ten Jumps
on this occasion before my foot slipped
on stone and l went down with 6
crash. Old grizzly was within twenty
feet of me when I got up and pitched
my rifle into his face as | took new
start The roar he uttered lifted me &
foot high, and l made a dozen extraor-
fore l realized that he was holding his
ground, if not gaining little. No mar
can guess how far a wounded and en-.
ragged beast will pursue him. I believe
1 could have kept clear of this beaI
down to the mouth of the ravine, but il
he pursued me far enough he would be
certain to overtake me. l made up my
mind as l ran that l would try the hole
in the cliff. 1t was large enough fol
me to enter, and might be large enough
for the bear, but once inside l cOulC
turn and use my revolver. Old grizzly
was hardly more than a rod behind mt
when I plumbed into the hole ant
scrambled ahead on hands and knees.
After going in about ten feet the hol'
turned to the left and narrowed consi
sFahly, aud seven or eight feet furthe