Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1889-08-03
TWO NARROW ESCAPES.
George Reese's Remarkable Ad-
ventures With Grizzlies.

Among the earliest OF the settlers in
what is now known as Montana was
George Reese, of the Upper Yellow
stone Valley, and after whom Reese
creek received its appellation. Reese
migrated to that locality some time
during the '60s, and has lived there
alone for over quarter of century,
most of the time entirely isolated from
any civilization. Those who are best
acquainted with this broad-chested
and massive built bachelor pioneer
assert that he belongs to a well-re-
spected Eastern family, and that there
is an interesting romance connected
with his history, and that the cause Of
his removal to the West arose from
disappointments in love, his suit being
rejected Whether this is true or not
we are not certain, although the
hermit-like life he has led for so many
years among the picturesque solitudes
and far from any settlements and sur
rounded by wild animals, some of them
very dangerous, would only serve as a
natural inference to establish this
opinion This has always been one of
the greatest game regions of the Terri
tory, and Reese has subsisted almost
entirely by hunting. He has had many
encounters with the wild animals par
ticularly with grizzlies, and two OF his
adventures with these latter he regards
as intensely thrilling on account of his
narrow escapes from death. The
writer of this article visited Reese at
his rustic log cabin near the banks of
the Yellowstone river. in the year 1882,
when he related in backwoods dialect
the accounts of these two singular ad-
ventures
One day he had killed a very large
elk, and after skinning the animal, as
usual he hung up the meat just back of
his dwelling in similar manner as
butchers hang up beef or hog after it
is dressed Being considerably alb
sorbed with his domestic affairs until
late he forgot the elk for time, and,
finally, as the weather was cool, con-
cluded to let it remain hanging where
it was over night He had scarcely
gone to bed, however, before he heard
noises among the bushes back of his
house, and close by where the elk was
hanging. Concluding that his pony
had gotten loose from where it had
been picketed, and was interfering with
the meat, he hastily dressed himself
and rushed around the corner of the
hut thinking that he would catch it or
frighten it away. His pony seemed to
be in the midst of the thicket, and was
making considerable commotion. Reese
slipped through the bushes, walked
straight up to the animal, and, as he
reached out his hand he gave it slap
and exclaimed "Whoar' in a loud tone.
To his great astonishment the animal
with a fierce, savage growl. instantly
wheeled its head toward him. and
would have caught him in its open jaws
had not the thick foliage of the bushes
prevented. Reese rushed for the door
way of his shanty, on the opposite side
OF the building. in twinkling, with the
'varmint'' in close pursuit, and he had
barely time to close the aperture and
make himself secure ere there was
fearful growing and paving on the
outside. 1t was huge grizzly, and
Reese actually ran against him in the
darkness. Said he: II was skeered so
badly that night that ! most feered I'd
shake the shanty down from tremblin
So. But | got my gun and give that elk
thief pretty tuff shot, and he bellered
wuss nor wild bull, and went off holler-
In. Yes, sir, stranger. it wuz nj on to a
leetle the clussest call with q grizzly
that ever lnow'd or had. 'cept one
"How about the other timepn
"Wall, sir, couldn't give nary a
picayune for my life that time nuther.
Twas just right up mung them sharp
pints O. mountins that you see yonder.
Every thing he'd bin chawed up bout
the shanty. Didn't hev nary hate Of
bite to eat, cept some tuff stuff that
made my jaws awful tired. So jump
ed astraddle of my cayuse and tuck
rite straight of that path leadin' to that
sort O coulee runnin' down, that you
see over thar, stranger Went hull
five miles 'foreI ever seed blessed
thing to shoot at, fer game was all-fred
skurce that day, and couldn't find
nuthin'. Bind by / cum to a leetle low
place atween the hills up thar, whar
thar's plenty O grass an water, an I
bounced off to size up the surroundin's
an let the pony hev bite He'd him
picketed out full length Of rope, an I
wuz busy knoclxin' roun' hero an thar
mung the grass an bushes ter SEQ Il