Connecticut western news., 1888-07-04
A HUNTERS PLIGHT.

twenty years ago, peiole Iuo ulsdp. pearan ce of the buffalo, and before tho power or tho fighting tribes of Indians was broken, white man could get al most any sort of adventure west of Omaha at very early hour in the morn = ing, Tho Bluc Mountain country of Oregon, in which rise two of the bran ches of the Columbia river, was onco hunters paradise, and hero it was the cinnamon and the grizzly bears grew tho largest and wcro always ach- ing for row with some ono. The first white men in ther. after pelts chanced so many perils that it was almost mir acle if any of them got out alive. The Indians were numerous and watchiul, bears and partners as thick as mice in farm house, and an adventure of somo sort was suro to occur daily.
 Ihad been in bit of covo or valley on the eastern side of tho ntains for ten or twelve days boforo I got any thing liko scare. It was within forty miles of tho south line of Washington Territory, and the country for hua- dred miles around mo was in the same savage statc as when Columbus dis covered tho continent. The Indians were further cast, on the Slako river, or further west, on tho Columbia and its branches, and only detached parties were to be feared. Whilo this was Q great burden off my mind, the bears and partners were so numerous that l was in state of constant alarm through the day, and dared not shut both eyes to sleep at night. had pack and Q riding mule, and on the first night of my arrival, while I had bright fro burning, and the animals were tcthercd within stone's throw, apanther sprang upon old Bob, my riiing mule, and clawed him in a terrible way before I could get near enough to settle him with bullet. Three or four bears prowled around my camp all night, aad the screams of panther kept my eyos open until daybrcak. However, after I had thinned out the colony by a dozen or fifteen, the varmints began to give mo rest.
 On tho 10th or 11th day of my stay l left camp at an early hour ia the morn ing loaded for bear. followed the val ley up for half mile, and then turned into ravine which WIS tho bed of Q creek during tho melting of the snows. It ascended very gradually, and l had been following it for half an hour, when it took a sharp bend to tho right. At this point there was hole ia the right hand cliff, and as halted to look at it wondered if it was not the home of some savage beast. I had novel on about 800 feet, when grizzly, which had been lying down among the broken rocks, suddenly rose before me. Twas looking for his kind, but his appearan co was so sudden, and he showed fight so quickly that my heart was beating alto gether too fast as I pulled up for shot. It had to be snap shot, for not moro than 30 feet separated us. Mine was a single barrelled rife, and also had Q knife and revolver. Tho bullet struck bruia in the left shoulder, aad he spun around a dozen times like a top. was reloading when he got ready to form a closer acquaintance. He had worked up the ravine and had worked down, aud we were now 100 feet apart. l knew could not finish loading before he reached me, and there was no other way but to ruin for it and hope that he was too seriously wounded to overtake me.
 In those days could run like horse and I was accustomed to all sorts of | ground, but hadn't made ten jumps on this occasion before my foot slipped on stone and went down with a crash. Old grizzly was within twenty feet of me when I got up, and pitched my rife into his face as 1 took new start. Tho roar he uttered lifted mo a foot high, and made dozen cxtraor- dinary leaps, but it wasn'ta minute be- fore realized that he was holding his ground, if not gaining little. No man can guess how far wounded and en- ragged beast will pursue him. I believe I could have kept clear of this bear down to the mouth of the ravine, but if he pursued ne far enough he would be certain to overtake me. made up my mind as I ran that would try the hole in the cliff. It was large enough for me to enter, and might be large enough for the bear, but once inside I could turn and use my revolver. Old grizzly was hardly more than rod behind me when I plumbed into the holo and scrambled ahead on hands and knees After going in about ten feet the hole turned to the left and narrowed consi |. crably, and seven or eight feet further on came to the end. As did so my hand encountered something soft and furry, and there was hiss and spit that told me that kitten panther was present felt all around mo in the black darkness, but the kitten was the only living object. He was little fel- low, not more than four or six weeks old, but ready to bite and scratch if my AassEs touched him.