The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-24
By A GRIZZLY.
Tragic Fate Of the Prospecting Party
al Little Pass Creek.
Ephraim, in Ugly Temper, Invaded
the Camp by Night When the Rifles
Were Not at Hand-Nobody Pros
poets the CANYON Now.

Were Not at Hand-Nobody Pros
poets the Canyon Now.
From the New York Sun.
! "There is a tradition that there are
| rich placer mines somewhere about the
| headwaters of the Little Pass Creek, in
| the Medicine Bow region of the Rockies"
said Col. N. H. Parker of Gardeau, Pa,
who spent several years in that country,
''but guess nobody has followed up that
tradition since Bill Farley, Jack Shultz,
and Jim Wilson, on the strength of it,
went on there on the prospecting trip
that had such tragic ending.
"Shultz was an old time mountaineer
and prospector, but Farley and Wilson
| were newer hands at the business. They
| pitched their tent on the bottom, near
! where Little Pass empties into Big Pass
creek. have been to the locality after
| beaver, and there is, or was then. the
| biggest beaver dam in there that | ever
| saw. There is also the ugligest stretch of
| dense cOttonwOods and tangled chaparral
along these creeks at that point that ever
| stood as defiance TO man to go futher
| The camp of these men was about a mile
above the the upper border of that great
| Jungle. The prospectors had been there
| but day or two when they discovered
| that an enormous grizzly bear was prowl-
ing around, its big footprints in
the soft edges of the stream and beaver
| dam showing that it had one night APP
| preached to within hundred yards of
| the camp. This caused Farley and Viii
son a good deal of apprehension, for it
was only a couple of weeks before that
miner named Hogan, an acquaintance of
Farley's had been killed by a grizzly
within a stones throw of his camp
Shultz, though, having had experience
with bears to an extent that had gained him
quite a reputation as slayer and trapper
of these animals, quoted for a time the
fears of his companions by the as
surance that this providing grizzly
would find foraging rather slim in
that vicinity and would soon betake him
self to more favorable hunting grounds
But Schultz's Judgment was at fault
in the matter for the bear remained
thereabout, and his contiguity became
more and more alarming to Farley and
Wilson, and even Schultz himself began
to think that it would be more pleasant if
the big brute were out of the way. So
one night, as they lay in their tent, the
old hunter was telling the others of a
plan he had for capturing the grizzly and
putting an end to his career The camp
fire was smoldering a few feet away in
front of the tent. The rifles of the party
which was something I could never IN
| were also outside, leaning against a cot
| tOn-wood tree, off some distance from one
side of the fire. While Schultz was ex-
planning to his comrades what he in
tended to do the next day.toward bagging
| the bear, there came a sudden crashing
| and smashing in the bushes beyond the
Pickering fire, and out into the opening
slOuched the formidable object of the old
hunters plotting. There was plenty of
light for him to be seen distinctly, but he
was of such tremendous size that he
could have been easily seen without any
light at all.
"a grizzly bear is always in a bad tenn
per. He is mad while hunting food. mad
if he doesn't find any, and if he does lind
1t he goes at it savagely, as if he took it
as an affront that it should be lying there
to be found. This big four-footed ruffian
came into the opening growing and
| snarling, for there were remnants of the
| campers supper lying about near the fire.
and although that was what he was
looking for he was ugly because it was
there. The unexpected appearance of the
dreaded bear at their very door filed the
men with fear and CONSERVATION. Their
rifles were out of reach. Farley had a re-
volver and so had Shultz Wilson had
no weapon but dirk. Shultz knew that
after the bear had devoured all he could
find on the outside, the chances were a
hundred to one that he would push his
way into the tent to see what he could
find there to use his temper and his Jaws
on, and the old hunter was fearful of the
result. 1t would have been better, as it
unfortunately turned out, if the three
men had either remained in the tent and
met the entrance of the grizzly with their
pistols and knife, or rushed out suddenly
upon him, for the three against him
would have stood good chance ofgetting
away with him, as in the fight some one
could have also got rife and brought it
into use.
but Shultz thought that he and Far
ley could steal out of the tent by raising
the flap in the rear, and safely make a
detour to where the rifles were before
the bear detected their presence. Once
in possession of his rife Shultz had
no fear of the result. The two men stole
out of the tent, and had not reached the
point where Shultz said they would cir
Gle around to come up behind the tree
where the rifles stood, when Farley
stepped on the dead branch of fallen
tree. 1t snapped in two with noise
that could have been heard half a mile
around that quiet spot. If the grizzly
had been a brown or black bear
the noise would have sent him sour
rying away, half scared to DEATH but it
only served to give an extra ugly twist to
the grizzly's bad temper With a savage
grOwl he made a rush in the direction of
the sound. The tent stood in his path.
He tore that open with one sweep of his |
paw and tumbled inside. Whether Door
Wilson had made an attempt to escape
from the tent was never known. If he |
did he failed. Shultz and Farley stopped |
and looked back when they heard the |
growl and rush of the bear They saw
the tent sway under the violent entrance |
of the grizzly, and Immediately knew by |
the great commotiOn within that the |
monster had attacked Wilson and a battle !
to the death was on.
"Unless Wilson had help Shultz knew |
that the fight could have but one ending. !
He turned aid dashed back toward the |
tent, intending to get to the rifles and |
make an attempt to save Wilson at the |
risk of his own life. When almost even |
with the tent he stumbled and fell. AL |
most at the same instant the bear broke |
through the wall of the tent and rolled /
out nearly against the tree where the
rifles stood. Quickly rising the savage
brute faced toward Shultz, who had also
regained his feet. Wilson was nowhere
to be seen, and no sound came from the
tent. The bear stood only for a moment,
glaring at Schultz, and then charged
upon him. Shultz sprang to one side
and got up among the branches of |
a cottonwood lust as the grizzly threw