Wichita eagle., 1888-07-14
A PANTHER'S CAVE.


the fighting tribes Of Indians was broken, a
white man could get almost any sort Of ad-
venture west of Omaha at a very early hour
in the morning. The Blue mountain country
of Oregon, in which rise two Of the branches
Of the Columbia river, was once hunters
paradise, and it YVES there the cinnamon and
the grizzly bears grew the largest and were
always aching for row with some one The
first few white men in there after pelts
CHANGED SO many perils that it was almost
miracle if any Of them got out alive The
Indians were numerous and watchful, bears
and panthers as thick as mice in farm house,
and an adventure Of some sort was sure to
occur daily
had been in bit Of cove OF valley On the
eastern side Of the mountains for ten o.
twelve days before got anything like
scare. 1t was within forty miles Of the south
line Of Washington territory, and the country
for hundred miles around me was in the
same savage state as when Columbus discov-
cred the continent The Indians were further
east, on the Snake river, or further west, on
the Columbia and its branches, and only de-
tached parties were to be feared While this
was great burden OF my mind, the bears
and panthers were so numerous that was In
state Of constant alarm through the day,
and dared not shut both eyes TO sleep at
night had pack and a riding mule, and
On the first night Of my arrival, while had
bright fire burning, and the animals were
tethered within q stones throw, panther
sprang upon old Bob, my riding mule, and
clawed him IN terrible way before could
get near enough to settle him with a bullet.
Three or four bears prowled around my
camp all night, and the screams Of a panther
kept my eyes wide open until daybreak.
However after l had thinned out the colony
by dozen or fifteen, the vsrmints began to
give me rest
On the tenth or eleventh day Of my stay !
left camp at an early hour IN the morning
loaded for bear l followed the valley up
for half g mile, and then turned into a
ravine which was the bed of a creek during
the melting of the SHOWS 1t assembled very
gradually, and had been following it for
half an hour when it took sharp bend to
the right. At this point there was hole in
the right hand elf, and IS l halted to look
at it wondered if it was not the home Of
some savage beast had moved on about
500 feet when grizzly, which had been "
ing down among the broken rocks, suddenly
but his appearance YVES so sudden and he
showed fight SO quickly that my heart was
beating altogether too fast as pulled up for
shot. 1t mad to be a snap shot, for not
more than thirty feet separated Us Mine
was single barreled rife, and | also had q
knife and revolver The bullet struck bruin
il the left shoulder, and be spun around a
dozen times like top. / was retoading
horr S~f oil
enca He had worked up the ravine and
had worked down, and We were now 100 feet
apart l knew I could not finish loading
beaDre he reached me, and thsre was no other
way but TO run for it and hope that he was
too seriously wounded to overtake me-.
In those days could run like a horse, and
was accustomed TO al sorts Of ground, but
hadn't made ten jumps on this occasion be-
fore my foot slipped on a stone and / went
down with a crash Old grizzly was within
twenty feet of me when l got up, and
pitched my rife into his face as took new
start The roar he uttered lifted me foot
high, and made dozen extraordinary leaps,
bat it wasn't minute before realized that
he was holding his ground, if not gaining a
lttla No man can guess how far a wounded
and enraged beast viii pursue him be-
d i
the mouth of the ravine, but if he pursued
me far enough he would be certain 90 over
take me. l made up my mind as ran that
( would try the hole il tie cliff. It was
large enough for me to enter, and might be
large enough for the bear, but once inside l
could turn and use my revolver. Old grizzly
was hardly more than a rod behind me when
plunged into the hole and scrambled ahead
- l.
ten feet the hole turned TO the left and mar
rowed considerably, 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 q spit that
told NE that a kitten panther was present
/ felt su around me in the black darkness, but
( the kitten was the only living object He
was q little fellow, not more than or 6
/ weeks old, but ready to bite and scratch if
my fingers touched him
/ The grizzly did not follow at once into the
cave It was FIVE minutes before heard him
working his way IN, and by this time had
recovered my breath and nerve. ! was Ger
tain he could not reach me within six feet,
and YVES rather glad 70 hear him wheeling
and snoruRg ss he pulled himself along. By
and by saw his eyes same. He could come
no further. His claws dug a. the rocks and
his rOars OK rage desfened me, but was safe
1t was now my turn, and l gave him two
shots from the revolver which caused him 10
retouble his rosEs OF rage For about ten
minutes felt very queer over tbs situation,
but all Of & sudden il struck me- that hsd
gained nothing By the change. In place Of
being a fugitive | was prisoner. The bear
showed no disposition 20 retreat, and ! low
became aware Of the fact that the cave had
s rank smell, and that the body OF tie bear
prevented the fresh air from entering. / felt
tia. must drive him cut, and | did a very
foolish thing. | edged nearer 70 him ard
put four bullets into his bead, and after q
long drawn moan he closed his eyes and died
congratulated myself for moment, bUs
then 1t dawned upon me that ! had checked
Up the passage 10 liberty with tie carcass os
bear weighing Il. lees. GO po0ndA l
thought might be able Co push it before Ule,
but when made the attempt could not STIR
it an inch. ! haG done sn idiotic thing, and
there was no way TO repair the error.
/ was wondering how | shoaid &c. out u
I It, wien heard the scream Of another ami
nal az the entrance OF the cave, and u e no.
men, more realized that tie usothsr o. tbs
cub panther lad arrived |: was vel for me
thu. tks body ot the bear blocked tie e.
trance TIE panther went Wild with fury
when her kitten began 20 call Sic lit and
clsved ct the bear, and by great effort
pulled i back q few sncheA Had not the
space asen 50 contracted soe cosllo probably
have drawn It cut. out she did not nave fair
show TO use Ger strength H1 eyes looked
At ne over tie body Of the eear, AID II one
ever saw fury IL WIS in these or6A l gave