Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1893-11-09
THE MOUNTAIN KING.
Terrible Ferooity OF tho Bald-F Face
Boar.
lie Is Monarch Of the sawtooth Desperate
and Fatal Encounter with an Ami nal
More Dreaded Than the GrizSiy-
An Unheedcd Warming.

More Dreaded Than the Criz1iy-
An Unheedcd Warning.
There yet remain in the United
States but two great game preserves
wide sections OF country, rough noun
tains, broad tablelands and forests al
most impenctrable, where the native
denizcns of a century ago still range
without fear Of the hunters rifle. The
enterprise of sportsmen and the cupid
ity of pot hunters have In a great
measure pursued to the death the small
game Of the country. Coupled with the
march of civilization and the vigorous
pursuit of the larger animals of the
Wilderness they have been driven to
the deeper and more inaccessible re-
treats, until the remnant Of the many
monsters which once roamcd the plains
and inhabited the wilds are found in
the Olympia mountains in western
Washington and the Sawtooth noun
tains in northern Idaho, says the San
Francisco Call.
These Idaho mountains are in reality
n spur of the great range of the
Rockies, which extend like vast but
tresses across the entire middle west
ern front of the United States. In
many places the Sawtooth range is i'm
expressibly rugged and there are
stretches and depths which have never
been explored by any human being.
In these vast wilds are TO be found the
most dangerous animal of which there
is any record in this country, an ami
NAL which us far outraulis the dreaded
4. 4
paratively little brown bear, whose
chief mission is TO brighten children in
doors after dark and catch an OCCASION.
al straying shoat. This animal is the
bald-faccd bear. lie IL cmphatlcaliy a
royal edition of the graaly, has all the
tenacity of life and Is not only ubso-
lutely fearless, but persistcntly agrees
sivc.
The "bald-facc" owes his distinctive
title to u face which is white. lie Is
larger than the grizzly. Beginning
above his eyes several inches the dark
color of his body fades into dirty
gray, thence down to the point of his
nose and on either side it becomes pure
white Hence the name "bald-facc."
The grizzly will never run from man.
1t will move on its course frclucn Is
after il sights him; when wuuulcd IL
will pursue the hunter for n rcu ionablc
distance, and when bodily hurt IL some
times gives up the fray aud beats u re-
treat. Herein lies the dangerous diff
ference between the two species,
Pioneers and settlers of Idaho who
are acquainted with the habits OF this
bear which is not found, SO far rs can
learn or ever heard, in any other part
OF the United States, never think OF
attacking him. They never hunt the
bald-face for the reasons given. 10
begin an engagement with him is To
simply mean u fight TO the death.
shall never forget an experience
had with one OF these animals. 1t was
in 1892. In company with three other
young men, ! had gone into tae Saw
tooth mountains 10 hunt big game,
! deer, bear and such like. We had been
told of the bald-face, but having had
no experience with him, and having
| two grizzlies to our credit, our party
smiled increduously when Joe peuuing-
| ton, an old hunter and trapper who
had OF late years devoted himself u
the less hazardous pursuit OF chicken
rounding near Boise City, told us TO be-
ware of the bald-facc bear Ieing ia
miliar with the mountains, after con.
siderable effort we induced Pennington
to accompany our party, taking along
three excellent dogs, well trained and
courageous
But Joe stipulated that we were not
TO get into controversy with tho
bald-face, because he said IL would
mean the death of his dogs and the re-
treat of our party TO the foothills, II
nothing more serious.
We had been in the mountains n
week; had killed several deer and bluo (
bear and any number Of birds On the
morning OF the seventh day we left u
young Engiishman named Kingsbury
in camp, as on tho day before some
animal had visited our quarters, eaten
n lot Of bacon and played havoc gcLcr-
ally with supplies. There had been n
good deal Of chatting about the bald
face, and Pennington had grown tired
of warning us Of the danger of an en-
counter. However rs We left camp the
old trGppcr 6houtcd out, as nc whi5tled
30 his dogs and walked away; SAY,
kiugsbury, II YOU sec Il bnld-faco al
visc you e. riat'a break for the mule
and light ont for tha valley; for II you
lon't wen never collect enough Of the
r,maiE' to chip back 10 the folks at
| .n'0t"
The mule referred 10 was stakel out
.bout one hundred yards away in level
clear spot The Lngl shman didn't ro-
ply, but held Mp hi, ribs AMI a biz
hunting knife q, an answer.
We thought nothing more OF the cir
cumstanco. Tho days sport was fair y
good, one deer, one mountain sheep
and several birds being the result u
the hunt We met at an agreed hput
some three miles ffoa the camp aud
proceeded together 70 our quarters, ex'
pccting that King bury would have
a