The Arizona sentinel., 1892-12-10
FREED BY A DEAD BEAR
A Tenderfoots Novel and Painful
 Experience in the West.
He spent Several Hours Up Tree Wait trr for Bruin to Leave, But Crow ing Desperate He Descends to
 Find His Bearship Dead.

'T have heard and read many thrill ing tales of adventure in the west" said an old-timer the other day to Butte (SIont.) Daily Intcr-Mountain reporter, but have never heard or read of one that eqralcd an experience of my own way back in the cos was a tender foot or the thing would never have hap pened-at least, not just in the way 1t did.
 ''It was in the summer of '63, and my self and two other fellows, well known all over the state to-day, were prospect ing, and were campee in the hills near the head of one of the trlbutarles of Alder gulch. Grub was mighty dear m 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 whopping big silver-tip way up on the side of a mountain that was sparsely covered with timber. It was the first bear I had ever seen, and mt once determined to kill him. So I crept cautiously up the mountain, keep ing out of sight of the bear as much as possible. I got within one hundred wards of him, and taking careful aim just back of the shoulder l let drive. The bear fell at the crack of the gun, but he was on his feet again in an in- stant, and without stopping to take any aim at all he came tearing down the mountain in a bee line for where l stood. My rifle was a muZzle-loader and had no time to reload it. In fact, I don't believe I 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 stopping to measure its size or to con- sider its adaptability as place of refuge I sprang to it and went up like coon chased by pack ot hounds l had reached the lower branches, about ten feet from the ground, and had not vet thought of looking down, when heard the bear scratching at the foot of the tree and imagined he was coming up after me.
 ''Weu, he didn't come, and when l had climbed about as high as Icould get I straddled a limb to await develop ments. Bruin stood on his hind legs and scratched about peck of bark off the tree, growing and snarling 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 a big dog.
 q began to feel easy now, and con- graduated myself on my fortunate es- cape 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. I 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 I was hoarse It was all in vain. There he lay, and he seemed determined to re- main there until he starved me out. My situation began to grow desperate. Night was approaching, and already was so stiff from my position that 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. I climbed down to the lower branches, and, break ing off a few of the smaller limbs, threw them down on the bear. He did not move. He must be asleep, thought, and now was my time. Carefully and noiselessly I shinned it down the tree until I was within six feet of the ground, when 1 sprang off on the upper side, grabbed my gun and ran like scared wolf to some rocks about fifty rocks peeped out. The bear had not moved. Then I loaded my gun, and, drawing a careful bead, with a dead rest over a rock. shot the brute square between the eyes. Still he did not move. Again I loaded my rifle, cooked it and walked cautiously toward the bear. When close enough picked up a stone and struck him with it. He did not seem to mind it any.
 ''Then I mustered up courage to ap- proach close enough to poke him with my gun. He was as stiff as a poker and had been dead for hours. I had been in the tree all day, treed by a dead bear! As I said before, was a tenderfoot then
 
 No Business with Views.
 Congressman Castle, of Minnesota, tells how duriOr- his first +arro in 4ba