Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-07-29
TOM WILSON AT HOME.
HE IS THE GREATEST LIVING AMER
lcAN BEAR SLAYER.

-
B~.,-soms Hard FiEhss Big ros Hss
Had ~ish Bruins-Keeptng Up . Fire
All Night 70 Keep the Game Co . Tree.
Around Asheyille are many interesting
points. but none % highly novel - the home
of Big Tom Wilson. the most noted living
bear hunter in America
Big Tom has killed up TO the present writ
ing just 357 bears. exclusive OF the cubs b
has captured and killed
He was born and raised at the foot Of
Black mountain, one Of the highest peaks in
western North Carolina. and has been hunt
ing bear since a mere boy.
1t is worth the ride Of thirty five miles ON
horseback through the mountains from Ashe-
VILE to visit the home Of. and $50 and talk
with. Big Tom
TYPICAL MOUNTAIN aoMk
small log hut, with stick and mud chin
ney, at the foot Of Black mountain and on
the edge Of a small stream known as Caney
river There is not another house within
ten miles, and to any but the most expert
enced mountain guide the place is inaccessi-
bic. there being only one small gap through
tho mountains by which it is possible to
reach the place. for Caney river a short dis
:@nce 5a.os the hunters mountain home 70
suddenly lost from view and appeass above
ground again miles away on the other side
of the mountain
Thus Big Tom IL monarch Of all be sur
veys
Tom has a wife and fourteen children, all
Of whom live in the one room Of the small
log cabin But children are not the only live
49, r.. -. -. k...~
three large black pet hears These are his
dogs or his hunting companions
Tom is a great buriy fellow. q feet inches
tall, with broad shoulders and muscles Of
steel His beard is long and black, slightly
tinged with gray His hair il a. straight as
an Indians, and hangs down over his shout
ders His eyebrows are long and bushy, while
beneath them is piercing pair Of gray
eyes as one could imagine. He is a perfect
type of the ideal mountain huntsman, and .
mere glance at him would indicate to the
most conservative that he could grapple with
and conquer. empty handed, the most Zero
cous bear.
But Tom has had one tussle empty handed,
and says he never wants another. As . con
sequence his face and body are covered with
scars, and one finger Of hisright hand il gone.
1t was in the fall Of 1852. He had been
hunting over the mountains, and having
struck no game had rested his rife against a
tree and lain down for a nap He awoke
suddenly to find a big black bear on his hind
legs, with the gun clutched between his paws
and almost over him. Tom jumped TO his
feet in an instant But the bear was equally
quick, and, dropping the gun, made for Tom.
They grappled, and, as Tom expresses 1t,
there was the greatest hugging match for
half an hour you ever saw"
Tom held his own admirably at first, but
the bear bit and tore at his clothes until they
were all off, and then tore the flesh from his
shoulders in hunks Tom was choking the
bear with his great hands Of iron and the
bear was hugging and tearing at his arms
and shoulders He was bleeding from dozen
different wounds and rapidly growing weak
when he stumbled on a rock and fell, with
the bear on top His back struck something
hard 1t was his rife. His hopes arose, and
with great effort he turned. caught tho
muzzle of the rife with one hand. pressed It
against the throat Of the bear and quickly
pulled the trigger with the other
The ball crashed through the neck and
brain of the bear. and he fell over dead. Tom
was saved, but to use his own expression, he
will never tackle another bar without ole
trusty," his rife
TRAINED FOR HUNTING.
Tom was never known to trap a bear. He
says that is taking an unfair advantage Of the
CRITTERS
Just after his single handed experience
with the bear Tom got three large ones out
Of one tree He and his boy were going over
the mountains unarmed They were nine
miles from his cabin. and it was late In the
afternoon when he spied three bears In the
limbs Of a chestnut tree eating the fruit He
Immediately built a large fire around the
trunk OF the tree and sent his boy home for
his rifle, while he remained to keep up the fire
and prevent them from getting away.
The trip was long and rugged one, and
the boy did not return until the next morn
ing, but Big Tom kept the fire burning and
watched all night At sunrise the boy had
returned, and Tom got all three in that
many shots
Big Tom don't hunt as much now as he
used to, but he never returns without game.
The three bears he has at his home be raised,
having captured them when cubs They are
rs obedient to his command as dogs, and al.
ways accompany him on his hunts He says
they never fail to fluid bear and as a wild
one seeing them will approach. he can kill
them without difficulty Two Of them are
SCARED and bitten up quite badly, for some
times Tom carries them out to see them eight
with and kill the wild ones around the noun
tains
They sometimes. however, have very tough
fights. and on one or two occasions Tom has
bsan compelled, in order to save his pets, to
enter the melee armed with Q knife and ~
sist them in the fight
At home they are generally chained, but
the big mans children play around them and
the little ones often ride on their backs
around the cabin.
Tom says he Is getting old now, and is 60
ing to give up bunting bit those who know
him say he will never give it up until he Il
too otd to climb the mountains He Is now
apparently about s. years Of age, and per-
haps the most perfect specimen Of physical
manhood to be found in this country. -Ashe
vile IN e. Cor Atlanta Constitution