Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1889-07-19
A DEADLY ENCOUNTER.

A DEADLY ENCOUNTER.
have often met old hunters who
have hcarl of battles between the
grizzly bear and the immense, tawny
panther Of the Rocky Mountains; but
have only once known man who had
such combat.
Sergeant Roseman of the -th United
States Cavalry, whom l met in Wyo-
ming while on a hunting expedition in
'S6, told me of fierce fight between
"Old Eph" and two mountain lions
which he had "umpired, AS he put
t,-near Caspar Mountain several years
before.
At that time he was stationed at Fort
Fettorman. A party of citizens had
come out from st. Paul, Mimi, to
hunt the big game, then so plentiful in
Eastern Wyoming, and the sergeant, one
Of the best hunters in his regiment, was
allowed to go with them, taking small
detachment of soldiers to look after the
camp, and take care of the game, The
party had been hunting elk among the
foothills of the Caspar range, and near
the great ragged mountain winch is
their chief feature, when the adventure
befcll him. - -saae
81 killed an elk, ssid he, early one
morning, and as often did in region
where there were grizzly or silver-tip
bears, left it where it fell, for bear
bait. There is nothing the big bears of
this region are more fond of than a
freshly killed elk or black tail. l had
already, at one time and another, shot
seven bears by batting in this way, and
watching by the bodies of the dead
clks
''Perched comfortably in the branches
of an evergreen, or lying upon the top
Of some high rock within few rods of
your bait, it isn't such desperate ad-
venture, the killing of a grizzly. A
good gun, using heavy ammunit on, 1e-
cent ma kmanship. and steady nerve
are all that is required. If you are fresh
at the business though, you probably
won't fret great deal if the bear fails
to come.
"This time l had killed an elk in just
such spot and with just such sur
roundings as l would have selected could
have had full choice. shot it in the
act of drinking at small basin of water
in the bed of a canon, which cut back
into the foot of old Caspar Mountain.
The side of the mountain on either hand
was rutted with deep gorges leading
into the canon. Quaking asp thickets
clustered arouu1 the heads of these ra-
vines, while the bottoms, wherever vere-
tation could take hold, were grown to
willows, currant and bullborry bushes.
1t was just the place for bears, and their
sign was as plentiful as / had ever seen
it anywhere.
"The spot was only mile from our
camp and when / came in from my
hunt for we hunted slngly or in twos
or threes as the notion took us,-I
found three of the St. Paul men taking
late dinner. told them of my sue
cess, and invtel them to go with me,
and lie in wait for bears that evening.
They declined, declaring that they
hadn't lost any bears, and, therefore,
didn't feel called upon to hunt for EN-.
was welcome, they said, to gether all
the stray grizzlies in the region, and put
my particular brand on 'em.
J. IS. SO about three o'clock went ua to.
my bait alone. found it uudisturbed,
perched myself in the crevicc of ledge
of rock some thirty yards distent, which
position l reached by making ladder
of dry poles that lay among some drift
of a recent 'washout.' My hiding
place was perfectly safe from the attack
of bear, should l be lucky enough to
lure one within shot, as it was fully
fifteen feet from the base of the ledge,
at perpendicular height
81 found the crack in which could
stretch myself at full length, such
comfortable place that / concluded to
watch all night, provided no bear came
to my bait sooner. / had not long to
wait, however, before l was treated to
the most thorough and thrilling sur
prise of all my hunting experiences.
II had lain, perhaps, an hour, and
the sun had just sunk behind the noun
tains back of me, so that their shadows
had crawlei over the tops of the lower
ones in front, when l heard the sound
of soft footballs lust on the other side