The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1891-09-08
FIGHTING GRIZZLIES.
EXPERIENCES OF A MINER IN THE
JAWS OF AN ANGRY BEAR.

The Shaggy Monster Lacerated the Hunter
Most FrightfulIy and Then Watched Over
he Body Until Satisfied That Life Was
Extinct.
The name of a well known citizen OF
Humboldt county on the Russ House
register a few days ago recalled to his
friends the story of a desperate fight
with grizzlies in the early days.
It was in the fall of 1851, and three
starving men crawled through a thick
growth Of Humboldt county timber and
found themselves facing eight monster
grizzly bears. Goaded to desperation by
hunger the men determined to attack the
ferocious animals. The heart of Thomas
Seabring failed as the little party drew
near the bears, and he sought shelter by
climbing a tree.
The other men, S. K. Wood and Isaac
Wilson, threw prudence to- the winds
and advanced to within fifty yards OF
the bears. Wood fired his rifle and the
nearest bear fell, biting and tearing the
ground as thoughin the agonies Of death,
While Wood was ~reloading his rife
Wilson brought down a bear.
Five Of the grizzlies retreated up a
~ravine, but one shaggy monster remained
with her fallen companions. She sat
erect on her launches and turned he1
eyes on tile men as if daring them tC
battle.
Wilson, awed by her aspect, ran for a
tree, while Wood tried to reload his gun,
but found himself unable to ram the ball
down on the powder. While in this pre-,
dicament the grizzly that had not fled
rushed at him. Wood succeeded in get
ting into a small buckeye tree, and used
his gun to beat the bear off as she at.
tackled the tree with the intention OF
shaking him out.
IN THE JAWS Of A GRIZZLY.
While he was engaged in fighting off
this bear, Wood, to his horror, saw the
animal he had wounded rise and rush to.
ward him. No blows that he could in.
fict on the wounded animal could check
her. At the first spring she made the
tree broke and the bears jumped fol
Wood. He gained his feet and made
with all speed down the mountain, where
another small tree stood about thirty
yards away. He reached the tree with
the wounded bear at his heels, and, seiz-
ing the trunk, he swung his body around
SO as to give the bear room to pass him
which she did, plunging headlong down
the mountain about twenty yards.
Before Wood could, with his failing
strength, swing himself into the tree the
second bear bounded up and seized his
right ankle. By this time the wounded
bear returned, and as Wood fell she
snapped at his face. He lodged, and she
caught his left shoulder.
Then commenced a terrific struggle.
The maddened animals tugged in oppo-
site directions at Woods ankle and shout.
der, and he was in imminent danger of
being torn to pieces. He fought as best
he could, but each exertion he put forth
only intensified the rage of the bears.
When he was almost fainting with
pain the bear that had not been wounded
dropped his ankle and trotted slowly
after his companions up the ravine. Then
the wounded bear let go her hold on his
shoulder. Wood sank back on the
ground, and lay perfectly quiet as though
dead, hardly daring to breathe. The
grizzly stood majestically over him,
watching for the slightest movement,
and snarling with rage. The pain that
racked the mans frame was frightful,
and he risked his life in an effort to as
sumo an easier position.
RESCUED IN BAD SHAPE.
At the first movement the grizzly,
roaring furiously, rushed at him. She
showed her nose close to his face and
shifted at him, but Wood was again mo-
t~ionless, and the bear, raising her head,
gave vent to unearthly screams
Wood, knowing that his life depended
on it, remained m~otionless, and the bear
trotted after her companions up the
ravine.
When he attempted to rise Wood found
that his right hip was dislocated and his
left shoulder chewed to the bone, while
his clothing had been stripped from his
body and his flesh had been chewed in a
hundred places. Inch by inch he pain
fully dragged himself from the spot, I'M
til Seabring and Wilson, accompanied
by David A. Buck, the latter of whom
had been left to guard the camp, found
him and carried him to their quarters.
At this spot the party remained twelve
days, subsisting on the meat of the bear
that had been killed. They were lost in
the mountains, but finally Wood, despite
his agony, insisted upon being tied to a
horse and accompanying his friends in
search for a path to civilization. During
the ten days that followed, every step OF
the horse that Wood rode caused I'M
speakable torture to the rider, but Wood
bore it like a martyr, and an occasional
groan was all the complaint that escaped
his lips.
Finally they found a road out of the
mountains and reached the farm of Mrs.
Mark West, thirty miles from Sonoma,
where Wood was cared for, and in six
weeks was able to join his friends in San
Francisco.
The injuries inflicted by the grizzlies
made Wood a cripple for life and event
ually were the cause of his death, and
it was his son who told of this fight with
the grizzlies. San Francisco Examiner.
Welcome Visitors.
First Little Girl-Aunt Maud and Amt