The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-03-01
GIGANTIC BEARS.
he Grizzly and the Silver Tip,
the Black, the Brown, Etc.
Peuty Of Them In the Northwestern Ter
ritories-A Fierce Encounter Whore
Man and Bear Both Went
Over the Precipice.

The big grizzly bears found all
ihrough the canons of the Rocky
Hountains and spurs of the great range
Rldom descends from lofty attitudes,
siere they manage year in and year
eat 70 exc out a subsistence near the
pfpctual snow line. An old aud ex-
peaeneed hunter has said that "any
nan' ) q fool to 60 in arter bear alone"
Ihe bruins of the East and the bruins
dthe West are almost totally different
salmals. The ''Ursa Majors of this
hdtude are nlonstrous in size, endowed
Nith ugly dispositions and prodigious
strength, and as for grit, they dispute
and very often successfully, too-the
Nvereignty of the mountains and
Rests with the king of American
teasts, the mountain lion. Hunters
dsseree upon the point of how many
dderent species of the bear tribe we
lsEe in the Northwest. There are at
sast three distinct types of the family
Montana, namely, the grizzly,
tHosFn and black bear. Beside these,
t1srs are also gray bears, cinnamon
eeais and the Rocky Mountain gray
1ack The true gray is seldom, if ever,
1een now rs high as the forty-fifth
Rar.llel, and as far east as the main
alyide; the cinnamon is simply cross
] betafeen the brown and black bears,
snd the mighty silver tip is neither
Neae or less than mongrel of the
!own and grizzly, partaking strongly
the nature of the two. particularly
#M the latter. In fact. l think l am
ti6ed in asserting that all the men,
Es Of the species intermarry, and
.aat the silver tip is the king of the
snlily. This big fellow, springing
hon the grizzly and the brown, COM
slnes all the ferocity and tough strength
9 ne former with the agility and stub
eunness of the latter. each distinctive
RaM being more prominent in him, and
possessed to greater degree than by
ne very ANIMALS from which he bor-
Loss them. The silver tip is unques-
atnably the ruler of the family, by
.eason Of his great size and belligerent
QsPosition. Lewis and Clarke, in their
asfIatiye Of their journey through this
Nglon nearly one hundred years ago,
sfeak OF meeting not only brown and
oack bears, but also numerous white
als, who made it perilous travelling
y times for various members of that
1au pioneer party. There are no
4alte bears in Montana, Dakota, Idaho,
tne bordering possessions of the Cam
pllan Northwest. Probably the abb
Aes referred to were cinnamon bears,
no. early in the spring after coming
sas of winters sleep, take upon
eemselves dirty, yellowish-brown
sselor which. at distance and in a
sseW-coyered country, might readily
i mistaken for white bears whose coat
iur badly needed a bath. In one
aee' after coming upon so-called
saite bear, the journal describes him
possessing small black eyes (almost
se let beads), a hide of bright yellow
brown, the front of the fore-legs
y tle feet being quite black, and
ee animal itself of a ferocious and
afhke nature. This description of
H ae white bear of i804-5 tallies with
- Cinnamon bear of 1887, which
aaekes him about the same ugly Gus
'eer that he was hundred years
e. There are few black bears in
immediate vicinity, most of them
aoltlng the western slope of the
!, 9cky Mountains and the forests that
saee continue to the Pacific Ocean.
ne woods Of Oregon and Washing
are overrun with black bears.
iargest black fellow l ever saw in
hIe was in the woods of Washing
territory. near Mount Rainier.
Ii plack bears of Montana, as well as
elnnamon, as rule inhabit low
such as creek and river bottoms.
WV marshes, aud timbered spots.
azzlies and silver tips stick to