The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-05-18
TREED BY A DEAD BEAR
q Tenderfoot's Novel and Painful
Experience in the West.
ITO spent Several Hours Up II Treo Wait
Ing for Isruin to Leave, But Grow
Ing DcspcrMte fIc Dcsccnds to
Find Ills Eearship Dead.


ing tales Of adventure in the west" said
an old-tiiucr the other day to Il Butte
(Slont.) Daily Inter Mountain reporter,
but have never heard or read of one
that equaled an experience of my own
way back in the COS. | was u tender
foot or the thing would never have hap
Pcncd-at least, not just in the way it
did.
1t was in the summer of 'G3, and nv
self and two other fellows, well known
all over the state to-day, were prospect
ing, and were campcd in the hills near
the head of one of the tributaries of
Alder gulch. Grub was mighty dear in
those days, and we depended TO Il great
extent on the game we killed for our
meat was the best shot in the outfit
and did most of the hunting.
"Onc day WAS out looking for deer
when saw Il whopping big slvcr-tip
way up on the side of n mountain that
was sparsely covered with timber. 1t
was The first bear | had ever seen. and |
1T once determined to Kill him SO I
crcpt cautiously up the mountain, keep
ing out of sight of the bear as much as
possible. got within one hundred
yards of him, and taking careful! aim
just back of the shoulder let drive.
The bear fell ut the crack OF the g,ln.
but he was on his feet again in an in
slant. and without stopping to take any
aim At all he came tearing down the
mountiin in Il bee line for where
stood. My rifle was IL rn,,.2lc-londcr
and l had no time to reload it. In fact
don't believe would have had time to
reload Winchester just then. was
not half so anxious to kill the bear as
was to save my own bacon.
"A tree stood below me. and without
stepping To measure its size or to con-
slider it's adaptability as Il place of
refuge spiT.ng 10 it ard went up like Il
coon chased b.y IL pack of hounds I
had reached the lower branches. about
ten feet from the ground and had moi,
yet thought of looking down. when
heard the bear scratching at the foot of
the tree and Imagined he was coming ND
after me.
We'll, he didn't come, and when
had climbed about as high as could ret
] straddled Il limb to await devotion
mcnts- Bruin stood on his hind lce-.;
and scratched about peek of bark off
the tree, growing and snurling all the
time. Then he got down on all fours.
and after walking two or three times
around the tree he finally lay down,
resting his head on his paws like n big
dog
Il bcgan.to feel easy now, and CON
graduated myself on my fortunate cs-
cape. 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 trco watching
the bear. imagined I could see him
move occasionally, and each time I
thought, now he is 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. 1t was all in vain. There he
lay, and he seemed determined to re-
main there until he starved me out. NV
situation began to grow desperate.
Night was approaching. and already 1
was SO stiff from my position that 1
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 the tree
My rifle lay on the upper side and
the bear was below the tree. climbed
Asp''ti w Liz ioNc DEttcIlcS. ana. break
ing of few Of the smaller limbs.
threw them down on the bear lie did
not move. lie must be asleep, | thought,
and now was my time. Carefully and
Eolscicssly 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 IL
scared wolf to some rocks about fifty
yards away When safely behind the
rocks pccped out. The bear had not
moved. Then loaded my gun, and,
drawing n careful bead, with n dead
rest over rock. ] shot the brute square
between the eyes. Still he did not
move. Again loaded my rifle, cooked
it and walked cautiously toward the
bear. When close enough picked up
a stone and struck him with it. lie did
not seem to mind it any.
Then | mustered up courage to ap-
proach close enough topolle him with
my gun. lie was as stiff as n poker
and had been dead for hours. had
been in the tree all day, freed by a
dead bear! AS ] said before, was a
tendcrfoot then"
No business with Views