Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1890-07-16
Threw Out the Bear.

One night a notorious old cattle
thief of grizzly came down out of
the Topa-Topa mountains in Ventura
says the New York Herald, and walk
ed over to jeff Howard's ranch TO get
some beef. The only beef in the COR
raj that night was on the bones of
tough and ugly old bull, and as soon
as the bear dropped to the ground
inside the fence he got into trouble.
The bull was spelling for fight, and
he promptly charged the bear, strik-
ing amidships and bowling him over
in the mud before he knew what was
coming. Howard was aroused by the
disturbance and went out to Investigate.
He saw two huge hulks charging
around in the corral, banging up
against the sides and making the dirt
fly in all directions, and he heard the
angry believing of the old bull and
the hoarse growls of the bear. They
were haying a joyous time all to them
selves, and Howard decided to let
them fight it out in their own way
without any interference. Returning
to the cabin, he said to his son Jesse
and an Indian who worked there for
him:
"It's that cussed old grizzly having
a racket with the bull, but l reckon
the bull is old enough to take care of
himself. Well bar the door and let
'em go it,"
So they barred the door and listen
ed to the sounds of the battle. 1t
didn't take the bear long to make up
his mind that he didn't want any beef
for supper. The bull was tough, any
way, and he would rather get light
lunch in the cabin. There was
great scratching and scrambling as
the bear began climbing out of the
corral. Then there was a roar and q
rush, heavy thud as the bull struck
the grizzly's rear elevation, a growl of
pain and surprise, and the fall of half
a ton of bear OH the ground outside of
the corral.
"The old bull has spoiled his appe-
tite," chuckled Howard. "He won't
come fooling around this ranch again.
I'll bet he's the sorest grizzly that
ever wore hair
The three men in the cabin were
enjoying the triumph of the bull when
bang" came something against the
door of the cabin. 1t was the dis
comfited but not discouraged bear
breaking into the cabin in search Of
provisions. With two or three blows
of his paw the grizzly smashed hole
in the door, but as he poked his in
quisitive nose in he met a volley from
two rifles and a shotgun. He was not
badly hurt except in his feelings,
which were panied by the inhospita-
BILE habits of the Howard outfit, and
he went away.
jeff and his son followed the bears
trail the next day and caught up with
him in the bushy canyon. The bear
was about a hundred yards above
them on the mountain side, and when
they fired at him he came down the
hill like an avalanche, breaking
through the manzanita and smashing
down young trees like reeds. His
lowered head offered no fair shot, and
only chance shot might have stop.
ped him, but the Howard's did not
try any experiments Of that kind.
They dropped their rifles and climbed
a tree. The grizzly watched them
for short time, but soon gave it up
as a bad job and disappeared in the
brush.
The Towards descended from the
tree, picked up their guns and decided
to have another shot at the bear if
they could find him, and for some time
they hunted cautiously about the
edges. The grizzly was there, but as
he was probably lying in wait for
them they did not dare to investigate
too closely. JEFF went to the wind
ward side of the brush patch and set
fire to it in several places and then
rejoined Jesse on the leeward side to
watch for the temperance of the
bear. The wind was blowing fresh
up the canyon and the fire ran wild.
ly through the dry brush, making a
thick smoke and great noise.
When the grizzly came out he came
out suddenly and from an unexpected
quarter, and the two hunters had Just
time enough to break for tree again
and climb out of reach.
This time the bear sat down at the
foot of the tree and watched them
with malicious patience. The wind
increased and the fire spread on all
sides, and in few moments it be-