The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1889-07-13
THEY MADE FUR FLY.
A Free Fight Between Two Lions
and a Grizzly.
The Bloody Battle Was Not Fought to .
Finish Owing to Interruptions In
the shape of n Hun
ter's Bullets.

have often met old hunters who
have heard Of battles between the
grizzly bear and the immense, tawny
panther of the Rocky mountains; but
Ihave only once known a man who
had seen such combat.
Sergeant Roseman, OF the TIL United
States Cavalry. whom met in Wyom-
ing while on a hunting expedition in
'86, told me of a fierce fight between
"Old Eph" and two mountain lions
which he had "umpired he put it
near Caspar Mountain several years
before.
At that time he was stationed at Fort
Fetterman. A party OF citizens had
come out from St. Paul. Mimi, to hunt
the big game, then so plentiful in East
ern Wyoming, and the sergeant, one OF
the best hunters in his regiment, was
allowed to go with them, taking a
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 which is their chief feature,
when the adventure befel him.
Il killed an elk" said he, "early one
morning, and as often did in region
where there were grizzly or silver-tip
bears, l 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 |
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 few rods of
your bait it isn't such desperate ad-
venture, the killing of grizzly. A
good gun, using heavy ammunition,
decent workmanship. and a 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 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-
ing asp thickets clustered around the
heads of these ravines, while the bot
toms, wherever vegetation could take
hold, were grown to willows, currant
and burberry 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 threes as the notion took us-I
found three of the St. Paul men taking
late dinner. l 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 EN-.
Twas welcome, they said, to gather all
the stray grizzlies in the region, and
put my particular brand on EN-.
$50 about three o'clock went up to
my bait alone. found undisturbed,
and perched myself in the crevice OF a
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 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.
81 found the crack. in which could
stretch myself at full length, such a
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 experience.
Il 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 burberry bushes, which
skirted the stream above the spring
where my elk lay. l pricked my ears
and looked sharply for the game, which
from the muffiled sound l 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,