The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-12-18
In O. Hear,s Den.

Will Valentine and John Ritter may
be chumps, but they got 81 big silver-tip
bear all the same.
Valentine and Ritter are young men
living on ranches at Canon Springs. AL
summer long-winded yarns about bears
weighing 4, 600 pounds and having jaws
twelve inches across, have been floating
over that country. Valentine and Rit-
ter thought they would just take good
long look into a cave that they knew
about, located about four miles from
their ranches. and which had been called
a bear cave Tuesday OF this week the
pair of bear hunters armed themselves,
Valentine with a 1890 WINCHESTER re-
peater, and Ritter with an old style
single loader. They approached the den
OF bears very much as a small boy does
a hornets nest with both eyes round
them and one behind them. You could
not have put case knife between them,
and the one with the longest nose was
probably about the sixteenth part OF an
inch ahead OF the other. "GolIy," said
Will, as they got down into the bottom
ofasteep and rocky canon, 1--WE neverwill
get out OF here if the old devil gets onto
u.s." mo-" said Ritter, 'swe,ll stay
with him, you bet, Will, But the old
varn1int hain't been out today; don't
you see the crust OF the snow Is not
broken anywhere? I don't guess he's at
home, maybe he's gone prospecting
"We'll see," said Will. The cave is in a
steep, rocky canon, the sides OF whic h
are built almost on the perpendicular
plan and the bottom IS narrow as a
letter V. The cave is up in the rocks
about, 8 feet from the bottom and un-
der q ledge OF overhanging rock. The
outer edge is banked up with sand and
shale SO us to protect the entrance.
Both men crowded cautiously up the
embankment side by side, until Ritter's
head was above and he had view oi
the entrance OF the bear'sden. It was
quite dark inside and he could not easily
discern the presence OF anything.
"He amt in,', said Ritter, in low
whisper OF disappointment. At that
moment both men became more resolute
and poked their heads up over the
embankment, and Ritter exclaimed
eyes, he is int" old bruin had become
aroused by this time. and sitting up OF
his haunches placed his fore paws OF
the edge OF his nest and poked his nos'
out towards the hunters, whose heads
| were not ten feet away. Valentine hae
bead on him by this time, and crack
went his As. "Ou-woosh!-'' and q
Ihavy fall came from the cave, and ther
there was rustling and paving aroune
tanlid the smoke Of the powder.
"Is he dead?" cried Valentine, stepping
back a few feet and to one side.
"No!' said Ritter, 1he's coming a
4 the same time falling back to the sid
4 OF Valentine. Old brllin came, and rear
ing up on his hind feet let forth tel
4 rible oath-HO HOu-woosh! A secont
crack OF Valentines 45 sent a bulle
quartering, in at the breast and out a
the loins, and cutting the butt OF tn
j heart in twain. 4
j The bear fell, rolling and shrieking, an
i passed in his checks IN few minutes
\ Maybe the two hunters did not keep a
j eve on the cave, to see that q secon
4 edition Of bears did not issue therefron
1, Upon examinati tion they found him to t
] a silver-tlp, weighing 600 pounds, an an
lL.that he had received a shot.in the hea
4 which broke his under jaw, and anotht
i through the breast.
. They then grew yenturesome and 9,
) pIored the den, and found it a cavity
: the rock about 6x10 feet and six fe,
!, high, in which the bear. had made
round nest about six feet wide out B,
grass and sticks, and about three fe
55- high. In this nest he was laying whit
h hunters surprised him. He had probab
u cone into winter quarters, as the sno
!, had not been broken about tho mou
d of the cave since the last storm q fe
Ii days before. The bear was brought
!. town; his meat is now hanging in t
i5E shop OF Lindsey & Smith, and
Y Abrahams has bought the hide fpr $5
r. The state and county bounty paid "