The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-01-08
THE ALASKAN BEAR.
A Desperate I;attio Betwcon Ono of tho
icrooious re turcs aud I'm Indian.

A Desperate Iiattio Bs,wcon ono of tho
crocious re turcs aud I'm Indian.
Goth tho courage and brute strength
of tho Alaska Indian aro phenomenal,
as was recently displayed in ono Of
MANY instances that havo como under
notice, says tho Rocky Mountain Nows,
i'll which powerful native OF Alaska
camo out victorious In hand-to-hand
struggle with a largo and fcrociouY black
bear.
ion, an Indian boy about siytoon years
OF ego, was out bear bunting on Admi-
rally Island, southeast of juneau, when
tho dogs ran largo black boar out of
tho woods, whom Jim. taking hasty aim,
fired, slightly wounding tho bear in tho
neck. Tho sting OF tho wound cnragcd
tho brute, and turning upon his assail-
ants no reached j i'm with n few bounds,
and together tho Indian and tho bear
went rolling over tho ground in ~ lifo
and death struggle.
In tho mcantiIao tho boy had taken to
his heels ont Of harms way. and sup
posing that his luciilcss companion was
clawcd into strings. FASTENED to camp
with tho ncws. Immediately upon per-
i
out his pondcrous hunting knife, and
tho first Gifcctionato hug from the bear
was rcciprocatcd on tho part Of Jirl by
thrusLinG this nurdcrous weapon
to tho hilt in tho bruto's side
In tho struggle Jim managed
to keep firm hold of the
handle of tho i.nifo, never withdrawing
1t. but using al his strength TO push
, tho blado in deeper, until finally it
reached o vital part, when tho bear re-
la%cd his grip and rolled over in tho
throca or death. jim, nanglcd and torn
aud bleeding from dozen ugly wounds,
lay exhausted upon tho ground for somo
ti:nc, but finally, with supcrhu:nan
effort. ho struggled 20 biz; feet. skinned
his pri:c, and. throwing tho skin over
his should +, started for camp, meeting
lis companions on Tho way. who were
coming TO gather up his remains for
cremation.
Upon examination lin found that ho
hal como ont Of tho fight with two
broken ribs, y deep sash il tho thigh
and y horrible and Dangerous wound
fro!a tho hruto'3 teeth, st2yiin,, in on
the LEFT silo OF tho nose, leaving tho
lover cyclid hung by . at:l;.ll particle of
skin, running back Under the left
temple, where y deep holo WIS made,
Glc. ending dowa under tho jaw, where
tho lower jawbono was broken. AS
fearful IS this last wound il, the hero OF
this h2tjlo il now doing well, and &C.
caGionully Ut;c!5 u snort of contempt 1T
tho cowarlly action OF his companion in
running cw.y aAd leaving him 10 tho
mercy Of IN cnragcl bear. Jicl will
Keep tho skin IS ilcmcnto Of tho
lcvdc5t-fouGht battle of his life
10 tho bear hunter the villas Of
Alaska Offer u paradise that can be
found IL no other country On tho globe,
% is attcstcd by tho yearly shipments
Of choice hides, which reach ca caor-
r.ou5 amount. Tho most choice Of
these arc tho black bear, which roam
tho woods by hundreds, and rvir,c Skins
CT which bring from twenty lyc dollars
UP 10 as high rs enc hundred dollars
cash in tho market. During the cxcur-
sion season tourists from all parts
OF tho globe mako thriving trade
fer Alaska merchants in the bear
skin lino. Tbcro GRO five distinct
species Of bear ii Alos!,a-tho
BLACK. brown, Or cinnamon, and cross,
which iahabis al portions OF southeast
On Al2s.l:. and the upper portion of tho
YUKON country. Further north in the
81. LliaS Alps, is tho homo OF tho So.
Elias grizzly, which, in size, fcrocity
C.!l color much rcscrblc3 tho Cri-.lio;
Of tho Sierra Nov3,i;G, 2Hl still further
north along tho lower reaches OF tho
YUKON end tho icc-ticll3 CT tho Arctic
ocean il tho white polal. beer AS bravo
and s,,iil.ul III hunting bear as tho Al
aa.ia Indian il, he seldom hunts tho ST.
EliaS Gri:-.-ly, both for tho reason that
there is but little profit in tho hides,
and the forocity Of tho beast makes
hnntinG it q most hazardous unlcrt2ls-
ing.
Their mcGc, however, Of killing them
il by shooting into them from q heavily
charged srlooth-b0ro rluskct q heavy
slug Of either lead. corp +, or iron. then
awaiting their charge, which mover
falls To follow the shot. with long,
heavy and strongly nl;:do spear. resting
tho buttof tho weapon on tho ground
end planting ono foot firmly against It,
The point Of tho spear rests at On anglo
to pierce Tho bear in tho breast, and tho
bears own weight, when it strikes tho
spear i'll its mad charge. is culcu-
lated to drive tho weapon through him
or pierce him deep enough to cause
death. AS will be readily soon. if at
this critical moment tho huntor's cour-
ago should fail him, or by miscalcula-
ton tho spear failed to irlpalo the charr-
ing beast, the hunter would Lc Knocked
scnsclcSs and Immediately torn into
6hroda This r,olo OF bear hunting nav
have lis advantages, but thcro IL none
but tho Alaska Indian who las the ncryo