, 1889-09-10
OLD GRIZZLY.

~ tNtla years III nv llbus kilLLlN
has roamed through the rugged noun
tains in the northeastern part of Ven
uura county, Cal, raiding the cattle
ranges and sheep camps, and OCCASION
ally falling afoul of some hunter or
miner. His range extends from Mount
Pinos, the highest peak Of the coast
range, to the Sespe canyon, and from
the Matilda TO the Lieber mountain,
comprising a tract forty miles long by
twenty-five miles wide of the toughest
and widest country in California. Every
old settler knows this bear and has a
name for him, and he goes by as many
aliases as n burglar in active practice,
but he is best known as the Monarch o.
Pine Mountain.
jeff Howard, n cattleman who lived in
a valley pack of the Topa-topa range, had
the luck TO meet the Monarch several
times. jeff was a good shot. and a man
of nerve. but he never could knock out
the old grizzly. When the Monarch
didn't win the fight was n draw. JET
had an old buckskin horse that would
follow n bear track as readily as a burro
will follow q trail. and could be ridden
up to within a few yards of the game
jeff and the old buckskin met the Mon
arch OF q trail near the hot springs, and
started a bear fight right away. The
Monarch, somewhat surprised at the
novel idea OF n man %disputing his right
of way, stood upright and looked Mt JEFF,
who raised his Winchester, and began
working the lever with great industry.
jeff never was known to lie about n bear
fight, and when he told how he pumped
sixteen forty-four caliber bullets smack
into the Monarch's shaggy breast, and
never faxed" him, nobody doubted JeT's
story.
He said the Monarch stood up and
took the bombardment as n~onchalantly
as he would a fusillade from n pea
shooter, appearing 10 be only amazed at
the cheek Of the man and the buckskin
horse. When JeiT's rifle was empty he
turned and spurred his horse back down
the trail, followed by the bear, who kept
up the chase about a mile and then dis
appeared in the brush. Jeff's theory
was that the heavy mass of hair on the
bears breast effectually protected him
from the bullets, which do not have
great penetrating power when fired from
a forty-four Winchester with a charge
of only forty grains of powder.
About a week after that adventure the
Monarch called at Towards ranch to get
some beef. 1t was about midnight when
he climbed into the corral. The only
beef in the corral that night was on the
bones of a tough and ugly bull. and as
soon as the Monarch dropped to the
ground from the fence he got into
trouble. The bull was spelling for a
fight and he charged upon the bear
without waiting for the call of time,
taking him amidships and bowling him
over in the mud before the Monarch
knew what was coming. jeff was
aroused by the disturbance, and went
out to see what was up. He saw two
huge bulks charging around in h cor
raj, banging up against the sides, and
making the dirt fly in all directions, and
he heard the believing of the old bull
and the hoarse growls of the bear. They
were having a deuce of n time all by
themselves, and jeff decided to let them
fight it out in their own way without
any interference. Returning to the
cabin, he said to his son Jess and an In
dian who worked for him:
Its that old grizzly having a racket
with the bull, but l reckon the bull is old
enough 10 axe care OF himself. IL
bar the door, and let 'em go it,"
So they barred the door and listened to
the sounds of the battle. In less thar a
quarter of an hour the Monarch got a
beautiful licking and concluded that he
didn't wan any beef for supper. The
II was tough, any way, and he would
rather make a light meal off the grub in
the cabin. JEFF heard a great scratching
and scrambling as the Monarch began
climbing out of the corral. Then there
was a roar and a rush, a heavy thud as
the bulls forehead struck the Monarch's
rear elevation, a growl of pain and sur-
prise, and the fall of half n ton or more
of bear meat on the ground outside of
the corral.
81 reckon the old bull has made that
cuss lose his appetite" chuckled JEFF.
He won come fooling around this
ranch any more. I'll bet he's the sorest
bear that ever wore hair"
The three men in the cabin were laugh
ing and enjoying the triumph Of the bull