Butte semi-weekly miner., 1888-03-14
How Three Men Killed 'lle
Beast After he Had
Broken His Back
Graphic Sketch of all Ad-
venture Near Baslll'
The Feelings of Men When
Attacked by Wild
Beasts.

R,srN Cry. March .. - Correspondent
=. tha M;ner1-A few miles from BASIN
Citv. in Jefferson County, Montana d snolO
xav ND a branch gulch that leads rom '''e
hills to Basin creek, is the prospecCore
ca bin occupied by three persons "ho a'o
driving a tunnel to develope the rle' "a
gonant mine. The country around a'ouO
ia broken. and the several hills or noun
t.;ns denseiy clothed with timber. lhere
are very many rocky caverns to oe !o""u
in the vicinity, some OF which are 'er'''o'1
chambers, thickly streWn with oecaSe"
wood brought down from the hills ana oe-
nosited there by floods during the Ions
oeriods of which men know little. lh's
debris along with the large quantities VI
dry leaves that the winds have blown il'11
these caves, afford excellent beds ana ma
ing places for owls, rats and the larger al'u
mich tiercer wild beasts that are to DC
found thereabOuts.
Dnrine the recent cold spell-much colder
in these great hills than few mixes pe'n"
in the valey--tbe water courses a"u wv
surface of the ground were tlshbiy iHLVh
and the consequence was that, plnched nT
hunger ana CQlTSt, tIlt ibCtt'DeiH "
beast families became much more braNe
and daring than at other times. Inc
gentlemen who, us before stated, occuPt
the ca bin have been frequently surpr'Seu
nv the feroCiuus and blOOd-Curdllng CRIES "l
these animals at night and on more in"h
one occasion have heard Them skniklng
around upon the ice and snow i'll front o!
their cabin door, seeking and deVourlh@ all
the scraps of food that might be lound
there-remnants OF their miners meals.
A day or sp ago the weather moderated
| q little and The sun softened the crust as
that the tracks of the hungry prOwlers
could be seen in the morning. Awatch wus
set in vain on several occasions, and yet,
as soon as all became quiet and tn" llghts
| were out, the animals would begin their
night foraging expeditions. Night before
| last, or rather in the dawn Of yesterday,
the most unearthIy cry, the most weird
and wretched moan that ever broke upon
mortal ears, awoke a member OF the
party, who called to his comrades. The
noise kept up, and two of the boys crept
out to see what sort of living ANIMAL or
ghost, il not an animal, the sound emf
mated from. There is not a gun, pistol or
rife IN the party. An ordinary
butcher knife is the most
dangerous death instrument here.
Cautiously creeping along and secreting
themselves in the shadows OF the great
| thick-limb pines, the two moved along IN
the direction OF the spot whence the noisa
seemed to come. Some time passed; the
noise ceased and the daylight made all
things visible. Meantime the third person
had started out and moved incautiously
toward one his companions. 1t is proba.
BILE that his approach alarmed the animal
which the others had SO long vainly tried
to find. 1t should be stated that about
$50 feet up the gulch from the cabin is {,
spring. The excessive cold had frozen the
waters so that a sort Of pyramid OF ice
formed around the spring by the overflow
of the waters, and these, running down the
gulch on the surface OF thesnow, had flooded
the entire surface and made long sheet OF
ice as slippery as anything could be. Upon
a sudden the party who approached his
comrade called: "Look up there" point.
ing to the point of cliff above one OF
those caverns and immediately over the
ice. Its q mountain lion, and a dandy,
too" yelled the astonishcd man.
All were in a quandary. No gun; no
weapon of attack or drfense placed the
boys i'll the predicament OF the little fellow,
who cried to his mother: II want to 60
home"
For few moments there were three
hearts busily beating. and if the lion felt
as the boys did, there were four hearts that
would not be still. AS soon as possible
one OF the boys spoke-spoke not loudly
you may be sure-and suggested that il
was cold out, and inside the house wOuld
prove more comfortable. In fact none o.
them were angry with the lion; poor fellow
he was cold and hungry and had not il
any way interfered with anybody or any
thing. AS they turned to move the crust
on the snow broke with sharp report anc
the lion began some manRuverS thai
suggested to the boys the pruprietv O.
Fastening home. Haste may not always
make waste, bul it surely affects q noun
tain lion sometimes. AS the men moved
OIL the lion did SO too. 1t might not hav,
been critical moment but the bows
thought it was. They were alarmed, and
SO was the lion. Like the boy who whistlec
while passing through the graveyard tc
Keep his courage up and scare away the
ghosts, some one of the boys yelled. If a
bomb-shell had burst under that lion the
effect would not have been more not icea Bile
High in the morning air he leapcd, aiming
apparently, to jump right into the face O
the man nearest to him. 1t was all done
IN moment, yes, in a seconds
time. The leap was about twenty feet in
height, and perhaps some sixteen in dis
tance off from the cliff. The man did not
yell-he screamed With an instructive
effort he sprang off, fell on the ice, anC
went sliding down the gulch as if propelled
by the force OF circumstances, AS doubtless
he was. At the same instant the graa
beast passed through the air and struck
standingly on the ice field. With a crx
that eclipsed all the roars thai
mortal ever heard most proba
bly,, he seemed to double ur
and hump himself. Then he rolled and
slipped, and slipped and roared in a wav
that sent the blood flying along each mans
veins. There coulI not possibly have
passed more than minute or two, while
th's was gong on, but to the writer it
seemed longer than the battle Of the
wilderness. Oh! Lordy, but it was irving
The boys rolled into the cabin. who OF
IN first will lever be known But they got
In. Nobody said anything lust then. In
TACT, nobody could conveniently think q,
any hing to say.
Alter recovering their nerves and bres n
IN part, one spoke to inquire if eve Are oil
mere Then cautiously tiptoeing t, tn,
window he looked out. The lion was tn, 20
st1li houndering on the ice, and each
moment getting nearer the cabin. Matters
were getCins distressing. If that lion was
| playing possom, 1t was no Joke to tLe
inmates OF that cabin. If he was reaIlI
stunned by his gallant feat of tobegga ninS
~ was OF especial Importance that some
step be taken to continue his stnnn;nn 1Gn,e
f1naiiy one started, then the rest took .
step forward: The door was cautionsIv V
opened and the boys as can.
tlously, crept out. Inst thn', .'',
lon naue supreme effort to arise, and il
was evident he could not. Then the ,''i,' hors ~
l'le brave: An axe was found, and While
one armed himself with it, the others nro' ,e
cured two large clubs, and in a few O n,o-
Me Men.s more the gallant king of the Rock I v
iceudaad' ousalns lay stretched full length on the
m Inc skin was intact, not a break ;n -
In Inc hon had broken his back vi what' ~,
Ne P struck the ice, and slinnino "feII faIi
put bless your soul, if there ep,ns' ayar H. lel'.
'Sera peen any three men i'll this world 'nre whe
for q .Iore sh5ist disturbed than those three were
nercv o't ~, th' .llne' may the good Lord have
oNE OF THE THREE.