The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-02-06
BATTLING WITH A BEAR.
An Intrepid Hunters Conflict with
a Giant Grizzly

The carcass of a huge grizzly bear
was brought into town a few days ago
by Henry Robertson, who had killed the
animal the day previous in one of the
gorges of the Pinaleno mountains, lying
to the northeast OF this place. The
body weighed over twelve hundred
pounds, measuring five feet five inches
in height, while its claws are fully
four inches long and curved almost into
fish-hoolls. Robertson himself was in
need of medical attention, for his legs
and shoulder were badly torn and his
countenance decorated with numberless
scratches, indicating that the grizzly
had considered her life worth fighting
for. The hunter was accompanied by
his two dogs, which, while only ours of
mongrel breed, had, their proud owner
declared, undoubtedly saved his life in
the fight with the big bear, conducting
themselves with q courage and intclH-
gence that would have put to the blush
many of their pedigreed and high-brcd
brethren. The dogs, Nip and Tuck,
each exhibited severe wounds on the
head and body, and listened with evil
dent comprehension OF the story to
their master as he related it TO the
CIO"u BdlLtItu Ioh4ltl NllG uNdAl = lLLl
betraying at any mention of thcmsel
pleased and proud excitement, and
corroborating the narrative at intervals
with many short barl1s and wagEings of
their stumpy, yellow tails. Robertson
tells his story As follows:
was looking for no particular game,
and had started out toward the mount
aims more from idleness than any
thing else, and only from force of habit
had taken my rifle and belt, containing
revolver, hunting-knife and toma-
hawk. And, speaking of tomahawl1s,
III say right here that for fight at
close quarters with man or beast it is
the handiest weapon that was ever in
vented by white man or savage. The
Indians, who patented il, as you might
say, seeing that they had been hob
nobbing with them for hundreds of
years while the white man was follow
ing his plow's tail, knew more about
wild animals and fighting than that
white man, and he has never brought
out any thing TO equal the tomahawk in
a hand-tO-hand fight, for all his big
blowing.
Well, l was sitting down to rest on
the top of little ridge after jogging
along an hour or so when l heard the
dogs that had gone on ahead and gotten
out of sight barking as if they had gone
mad. / knew they had found something
worth having, so i went running down
into the little dip below the ridge, and
there l found them tearing round and
round an opening in a heap of rocks
sort of piled up till they made a good
sized cave, and acting like they had
l.. -.
cited as they were, it was easy to see
they thought it better to be pretty
cautious, too, for they would go rush
ing up to the mouth of the cavern and
then come tearing back in a big hurry,
as if they would almost make up their
minds to tackle whatever it was and
then on second thought give it up.
could not think what it was, for it never
occurred to me that it might be a
grizzly bear, for had not seen or heard
of one in these parts for ten years and
over.
So | stepped over a big log that Law
between me and the hole and looked in,
when heard a tremendous growl and a
rustling of dry leaves that told me there
was some large animal down there,
though l still could not place it. l stuck
my head nearer to the hole, and such
another growing and gnashing of teeth
was surely never heard. This time /
saw pretty plainly two big eyes glaring
at me out of the darkness like red-hot
Goals. 1 cooked my rife, but found the
log was too close for me to draw sight
on the animal; so j got on my knees,
and, leaning back on the fallen tree.
leveled my gun as well as / could, the
bear all this time tearing up the ground
and making the gorge fairly ring with
his furious cries.
The dogs stopped barking, though,
from pure excitement, and stood by me
with their very hair bristling up like a
porcupine's, and their tails as stiff as a
ramrod. The big shining eyes of the
beast seemed to get closer to the open-
ing In the rocks, so fired, aiming TO hit
between the eyes, but, as | found after
wards, the shot only passed through the
muzzle about an inch below them. and
seemed rather TO make her as mad a
fury than to disable her. Anyhow she
fetched yell to make a mans blood
turn cold, and came bouncing through
the smoke, rushing straight at me. j
jumped 70 my feet, and having no time
to aim and fire, made push at her with
my rifle, but she knocked the gun fifty
feet INTO the air with one stroke of her
paw, and with another slap knocked me