The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1888-10-12
A HUNTERS STORY.

/ Rnce oil tDe D1IdlD, anu DtAbAC AAS tfC'~-
OF the fighting tribes of lndians was
broken, a white man could get almost any
sort of adventure west OF Oniahaa avery
carly hour in the morning.
The Blue Mountain country of Oregon
in which rise two Of the branches of th'
Columbia River, was once a hunter:
paradise, and it was there the cinnamon
and grizzly bears grew the largest and
were always aching for II row with some
one. The first few white men in there
after pelts CHANGED so many pcrils that ii
was almost a miracle If any OF them got
out alive. The Indians were numerous
and watchful, bears and pantliersas thick
as mice in a farm house. and 80 adventure
OF some sort was sure to occur daily.
had been in a bit of cove or valley OF
the eastern side of the mountains for ten
or twelve days before ] got anything like
ascare.
1t was within forty miles of the south
line of Washington Territory. and the
country for Il hundred miles AROUND me
was in the same avage state as when Col
umbus discovered the continent. The
Indians were further east, on the Snake
River, or further west, on the Columbia
and its branches, and only detached par
ties were to be feared.
While this was n great burden off my
mind, the bears and panthers were so nu-
merous that | was in a state of constant
alarm through the day, and dared not
shut both eyes to sleep ut night.
Ihad a pack and IA riding mule, and on
the first night of my arrival, while | had
a bright fire burning, and the animals
were tethered within II stones throw, a
panther sprang upon old Bob, my riding
mule, and clawed him in Il terrible way
before l could get near enough to settle
him with a bullet. Three or fou bears
prowled around my camp all night, and
the screams of a panther kept my eyes
wide open until daybreak.
However, after | had thinned out the
colony by a dozen or fifteen, the varmints
began to give me a rest.
On the tenth or eleventh day of my stay
I left camp at al early hour i'll the morn
ing loaded for bear. | followed the val
ley up for half IL mile, and then turned
into a ravine which was the bed of n creek
during the melting ofthe SHOWS.
1t assembled very gradually, and | had
been following it for half an hour when
it took a sharp bend TO the right. At this
point there was n hole in the right-hand
cliff, and as l halted 10 look at it l Won
dered if it was not the home of some saw
age beast.
had moved on about five hundred feet
when a grizzly, which had been lying
down among the broken rocks, suddenly
rose before me. ] was looking for his
kind, but his appearance was so sudden
ana he showed fight SO quickly, that my
heart wds beating altogether too fast as L
pulled up for a shot. 1t had to be Il snap
shot, for not more than thirty feet separ-
| ated us. Minewas a single barrelled rifle,
and I also had a knife and revolver.
The bullet struck bruin in the left
shoulder, and he spun around a dozen
times like a top. l was reloading when
he got ready to form a closer acquaint-
anee. He had worked up the ravine and
l had worked down, and we were now &
hundred 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 l could run like a horse,
and l was accustomed to all sorts of
ground, but l hadn't made ten jumps on
this occasion before my foot slipped on a
stone and l went down with a crash.
Old grizzly was within twenty feet OF
me when l got up, and l pitched my rifle
into his face as L took a new start. The
roar he uttered lifted me a foot high, and
Imade a dozen extraordinary leaps, but
it wasn't a minute before l realized that
he was holding his ground, if not gaining
a little. No man can guess how far a
,ror,laI onl ann cod hast will nTrrsua
him.
believe I could have kept clear of this
bear down to the mouth of the r%avinc,
but if hepursued me far enough he would
be certain to oyertake me-. made up my
mind as l ran that l would try the hole in
the cliff. 1t was large enough for me to
enter, and might be large enough for the
bear, but once inside 1 could turn and
use my revolver.
Old grizzly was hardly more than q rod
behind me when l plumbed into the hole,
and scrambled ahead on hands and knees.
After going in about ten feet the hole
turned to the left and narrowed consider
ably, and seven or eight feet further On l
came to the end.
AS l did so my hand encountered some
thing soft and furry, and there was a hiss
and a spit that told me that a kitten pan
Their was present. felt all around me in
the black darkness, but the kitten was
the only living object. He was a little
fellow not more than four or six weeks
old, but ready to bite and scratch if my
fingers touched him.
The grizzly did not follow at once into
the cave. 1t was five minutes before l
heard him working his way in, and by
this time I had recovered my breath and
nerve. Twas certain he could not reach
me within six feet, and was rather glad
to hear him wheeling and snorting as he
pulled himself along.
BY and by l saw his eyes shine. He
could come no further. His claws dug at
the rocks and his roars OF rae deafened
me, but l was safe.
1t was o my turn, and / gave him
two shots from the revolver which caused
him to redouble his roars of rage.
For about ten minutes l felt very queer
over the situation, but all of a sudden it
struck me that ! had gained nothing by
the change. In place of being a fugitive
| was a prisoner. The bear showed no
disposition to retreat, and Inow became
aware of the fact that the cave had a rank
smell and that the body Of the bear pre-
vented the fresh air from entering.
I felt that | must drive him out, and I
did q very foolish thing. lodged nearer
to him and put four bullets into his head,
and after a long-drawn moan he closed
his eyes and died.
congratulated myself for a moment,
but then it dawned upon me that l had
choked up the passage to liberty with the
carcass of q bear weighing at least Coo