Middletown transcript., 1892-08-18
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Thurldas Afssrnoon. August y. 1882
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TREEp BY a BeAR.
A Tenderfoot and y Silver TIP That Held
Remarkable Conference.
Il have heard and read many
thrilling tales of adventure in the
west, y said an old timer the other
day, abut have never heard or read
one that equaled an experience Of my
own way back in the sixties. was
a tenderfoot or the thing would never
have happened; at least not just In
the way it did.
.sIt was in the summer of 1868, and
myself and two, other fellows, well
known all over the state today, were
prospecting, and were camped in the
hills near the head Of one of the trib-
ataries Of Alder Gulch. Grub was
mighty dear in those days, and we
depended to great extent on the
game we killed for our meat. was
the best shot in, the outfit and did
most of the hunting.
'One day I was out looking for
deer when I saw a whopping big sill
yer tip way up on the side of noun
tain that was sparsely covered with
timber. Itswas the first bear had
ever seen, and at once determined
to kill him. So I crept cautiously up
the mountain, keeping out Of sight
of the bear as much as possible. !
got within 100 yards Of him, and
taking careful aim just back of the
shoulder, I LET drive. The bear fell
at the crack Of the gun; but he was
on his feet again in an instant, and
without stopping to take any aim at
all he came tearing down the noun
tain in bee line for where j stood.
NV rifle was muzzle loader, and
had no time, to reload it. In fact.
don't believe I would have had time
to reload q Winchester just then. ]
was not half SO anxious to kill the
bear as I was toesave my own bacon.
"a tree stood below me, and with
out stopping to measure its size or to
consider its adaptability as place of
refuge sprang to it and went Like q
coon chased by pack of hounds.
had reached the lower branches,
about ten feet from the ground, and
had not yet thought of looking down,
when heard the bear scratching at |
the foot Of the tree and imagined he |
was coming up after me.
ssWell, he didn't come, and when |
had climbed about as high as ] could
get I straddled a limb to await de-
velopments. Bruin stood ON his hind |
legs and scratched about peck of |
bark off the tree, growing and snarl-
ing all the time. Then he got down
on ,aa seqpss and after walking tive
or three times AROUND the tree he
finally lay down, resting his head on
his paws like a big dog.
II began to feel easy row and con-
graduated myself on my fortunate
escape. I thought the bear would
soon get tired of keeping watch and
would get up and go away. He did
nothing Of the Kind, however, and
hour after hour / sat there in that
tree, watching the bear. imagined
/ could see him move occasionally,
and each time I thought, Now he il
going to get up But he lay still,
and finally began to break branches
and throw them down on him, and
yelled at him until ] was hoarse. It
was all in vain. There he lay, and
he seemed determined to remain
there until he starved me out. My
situation began to grow desperate.
Night was approaching, and already
I was so stiff from my cramped posi-
ton that I could scarcely move.
Something must be done, and it must
be done quickly. There was but one
thing to do, and that was to get out
of that tree.
MY rifle lay on the upper side,
and the bear was below the tree.
climbed down to the lower branches,
and breaking off few of the small
er limbs / threw them down at the
bear. He did not move. He must
be asleep, / thought, and now was
my time. Carefully and noiselessF
I Skinned it down the tree until ]
was within six, feet Of the ground,
when ] sprang off on the upper side,
grabbed my gun and ran like a
scared wolf to some rocks fifty yards
away. When safely behind the
rocks l peeped out. The bear had
not moved Then l loaded my gun,
and drawing a careful bead with a
dead rest over a rock, I shot the
brute square between the eyes. Still
he did not move. Again I loaded
my rifle, cooked it and walked eau
tiously toward the bear. When
close enough I picked up a stone and
struck him with it. He did not seem
to mind it any.
'Then / mustered up courage to
close enough to poke him
with my gun, He was as stiff as
poker and had been dead for hours.
I had been in the tree all day, treed
by dead bearl As I said before, ]
was a tenderfoot then. New York
SIM