The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1889-07-13
THEY MADE FUR FLY.
A Free Fight Between Two Lions
and a Grizzly.
Tho Bloody Battle Was Not Fought to a
Finish Owing to Interruptions In
the shape of n Hun
ter's Bullets.

grizzly bear and the immense, tawn,
panther of the Rocky mountains; bu
Ihave only once known man whc
had seen such combat.
Sergeant Roseman, of the -th United
States Cavalry, whom l met in Wyom
ing while on a hunting expedition il
'S6. told me of a fierce fight between
"Old Eph" and two mountain lion.
which he had "umpired"- he put i
near Caspar Mountain several year.
before.
AT that time he was stationed at For
Fetterman. A party of citizens hat
come out from st. Paul, Mimi, to hum
the big game, then so plentiful in East
ern Wyoming, and the sergeant, one O
tho best hunters in his regiment, wa:
allowed to go with them, taking 6
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 Caspal
range, and near the great ragged
mountain which is their chief feature
when the adventure befel him.
II killed an elk" said he, "early one
morning, and as often did in region
where there were grizzly or silver-tir
bears, left it where it fell, for bear
bait. There is nothing the big bears
of this region are more fond of than
freshly killed elk or a black-tail.
had already, at one time and another,
shot seven bears by batting in this
way, and watching by the bodies of the
dead elks.
"Perched comfortably in the branches
OF an evergreen, or lying upon the top
OF some high rock within a few rods OF
your bait. it isn't such desperate ad-
venture, the killing of Il grizzly. A
good gun, using heavy ammunition,
decent workmanship. 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 | 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 II canyon, 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 canyon. Quak-
heads of these ravines, while the bot
toms, wherever vegetation could take
hold, were grown to willows, currant
and bullberry bushes. 1t was just the
place for bears, and their sign was as
plentiful as | had ever seen it any
where.
THE spot was only mile from our
camp, and when | came in from my
hunt-for we hunted singly or in twos
and threcs as the notion took us--I
found three of the st. Paul men taking
a late dinner. told them of my sue
cess, and invited 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 'em.
/ was welcome, they said, to gather all
the stray grizzlies in the region, and
put my particular brand on 'em.
$50 about three o'clock l went up to
my bait alone. l found itundisturbed,
and perched myself in the crevice of u
ledge of rock some thirty yards distant,
which position reached by making
ladder of dry poles that lay among
some drift of recent 'washout.' My
hiding-place was perfectly safe from
the attack of "a bear, should be lucky
enough to lure one within shot. as it
was fully fifteen feet from the base of
the ledge, at perpendicular height.
II found the crack. in which could
stretch myself at full length, such
comfortable place that l concluded to
watch all night, provided no bear came
to my bait sooner. i had not long to
wait, however, before l was treated to
the most thorough and thrilling sur
prise of all my hunting experience.
- had lain, perhaps, an hour, and
the sun had just sunk behind the noun
tains back of me, SO that their shadows
had crawled over the tops OF the lower
ones in front, when heard the sound
of soft footballs just on the other side
OF fringe of bullberry bushes, which
skirted the stream above the spring
where my elk lay. pricked my ears
and looked sharply for the game, which
from the muiiiled sound took to
be two or three bears running down
the canyon.
IL had no time to speculate upon the
nature of the animals, before there
bounded in sight two big tawny noun
tain-lions They were racing down the
canon. jumping sidewise and running
against each other in way that was,
no doubt, intended to be playful, and l
was Just about to stop one of them with
n shot from my rifle. when in the same
breath each of them caught scent OF
the elk's carcass, and came to sudden
halt
"They stood for II moment with
heads erect, ears pricked forward, and
tails switching eagerly, their yellow
eyes cleaning and scintillating. the
white spots on their breasts Offering a
splendid target If ] had cared to. shoot
at once. They were fine, sleek animals
with glossy coats, far more imposing
In looks, and much larger than the