The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-09-12
THEY MADE FUR FLY.
A Free Fight Between Two Lions
and q Grizzly.
The Bloody Battle Was Not Fought to n
Finish Owing to Interruptions In
the Shape of a 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 man who
had seen such combat.
Sergeant Roseman, Of the -th United
States Cavalry, whom l met in Wyom-
ing while on a hunting expedition in
'S6, told me of fierce fight between
"Old Eph' and two mountain lions
which he had ''umpiredn as 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.
II killed an elk, said he, ''early one
morning, and as often did in a 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
freshly killed elk or 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 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 a great deal if the
bear fails to come.
This time had killed an elk in
Just such a spot and with just such sur
roundings as 1 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 l had ever seen it any
where.
"Ihe spot was only mile from our
camp, and when / came in from nv
hunt-for we hunted singly or in twos
and threes 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.
Ihey 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 |
'he stray grizzlies in the region, and |
put my particular brand on 'em.
90 about three o'clock / went up to |
my bait alone. l found itundisturbed. |
and perched myself in the crevice of a |
leage OF rock some thirty yards distant,
Snlch position / reached by making a |
iaader OF dry poles that lay among
some drift of recent 'washout. My |
nllding-place was perfectly safe from |
sne attack of bear, should be lucky |
enough to lure one within shot, as it |
:. vas fully fifteen feet from the base of
me ledge, at perpendicular height.
found the crack. in which | could
ssretch myself at full length, such a
place that l concluded to
masch all night, provided no bear came
= nv bait sooner. / had not long to
!, mels' however, before I was treated to
sue most thorough and thrilling sur
PRISE of all my hunting experience.
mad lain, perhaps, an hour. and
sne sun had just sunk behind the noun
vans BACK OF me. so that their shadows