The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1894-06-29
THE MARIPOSA wv HALE"
Some Great Exploits of a Giant
California Hunter.
His Fame to Re Ierpetuated by n Monu-
ment-Stronger Than sandow and
More Dc1trrous Than
Corbett-

! erect monument to ASberry Wills.
| 1 he famed Maripo giant, VINO used to
| whip bears single-handed and who
| could lift more than Sandow. and was
! altogether more formidable in his way
| than Corbett.
He was the most famous of all Cali
| fornia's strong men, and was probably
the most phenomenal man in his sue
| cesses as d hunter ever known on the
| Pacific coast. Asberry died over a
dozen years ago, and his body lies in a
| rocky defile near the edge of Kings
| Canyon. The determination on the part
of some California pioneers to build a
| monument to his memory has caused
! many remarkable stories of his prowesS
| to be related. His phenomenal
strength. coupled with his exploits in
! the Sierras, are fresh in the minds of
the Argonauts-
! Asberry was born in Mariposa county,
! and at the age of seventeen years
| stood six feet four inches in his stock
| ing feet, and was at once entitled to
| and received the sobriquet of the
| BUTTERFLY Whale" The word butter
| fly was the translation of Mariposa,
| which in the Spanish means butterfly.
! The name was originally bestowed To
! the county because of the very large
| number curious tnere-
| The Whale was exceedingly fond of
| adventure in the Wild mountains about
! him. He was of fine physique. pro-
| portionateiy built. and with eyes as
| sharp as an eagles. His hair and
| beard were as blac,l a ravens wing.
| and he always wore quantities of both.
This man was always accompanied
| bv two companions. whom he desig-
| mated as old IIell-in-the Brush and
Heart Deep" The former was a mag
| nificent London twist rifie-bore gun,
| which carried ounce ball 1t
| weighed eighteen pounds, and was
| old-fashioned muzzle loader. but never
| in any way went back on the name be
slowed on it by the butterfly Whale. =
| Heart Deep" was huge edouble-edged
| steel dirk weighing eleven pounds,
| which tine Whale welded as easily
| as the average man would penknife.
ON one occasion, while on u hunting
trip on the south fork of Kings river.
| he came To a meadow and concluded to-
! fence off little of it for the use of his
mustangs. lie and the single com
/ panion with him began Telling the
trees. BY some miscalculation one of
! the trees fell in different direc-
tion from what was expected and
caught the friend of the giant. crush
| ing him to the earth. 1t had been a
! very lofty tree, was two feet thick,
| where it c-ught the unfortunate man,
and was almost as heavy as lead But
| the Whale" was equal to the emerg-
encv- Concentrating all his giant
/ strength, he lifted the trunk from the
crushed and bleeding form. The man
soon died of his injuries but his last
| hours were much easier by reason of
the feat of his giant friend. Many
other feats of strength were per
| formed by him at different times His
| lifting power was nine times his own
| weight. or eighteen hundred pounds
One of his most phenomenal feats of
! strength. combined with his great pres
| encc of mind in time of danger, was il
| Illustrated while he was on the middle
| fork OF Kings river prospecting for
| gold. Just before dusk one evening
he espied a six-months-old grizzly,
weighing fully two hundred pounds, on
a shelving ledge of rock asleep. The
| Whale said he would capture the
beautiful thing alive, and begaN to
steal up on it. His companion, Lewis,
| advised him that he had better shoot
| it. but the Whale said he would en-
| iov the fun. At this Lewis climbed
tree to be out of any possible scrim-
mage. The giant advanced cautiously
up to the edge of the ledge and grasped
the young grizzly by its hind feet. The
| bear woke, was astonished- and for the
| first time in its life summoned all its
| young strength in desperate battle.
| 1t chanced that the edge of the bowl
der on which the Whale" stood was
sloping, and he could not get firm
foothold. A fearful struggle ensued,
and at length both bear and man
rolled off into the copse of yerba
buena and fern. The brute was pow
erful and set up yelling.
This called the mother, a huge griZ-
ZlY only few rods away, from the
brush. She came twenty feet at
bound. growing terribly, and with
eyes blazing like fire. Lewis, from his
perch in the tree, tried to shoot her
and fired several times In rolling over
with the bear the Whale had come
up on top. He realized Immediately his
precarious position, and grabbing the
cub by its heels, swung it with pro-
digious force, by a powerful swing of
his great arms, against the giant griZ-
civ. Its head struck the fiery brute
square in the mouth. and its bruised
and bleeding form dropped from his
hands. Quicker than il would be pos
sible to tell it the Whale had jumped
to the fore and buried the eleven
pounds of steel of Heart Deep in
the vitals of the old bear, killing her
Immediately. Lewis clambered down
from his tree and looked in vain for
marks of his bullets. He had not hit
the bear at all. Heart Deep" alone
had done the work.
The giant of Mariposa only met one
enemy to which he was forced To sue
cumb Mountain fever at last seized
his powerful frame, his mind departed,
and soon the reaper wrapped his thick
mysterious mantle of eternity about
him. On the left bank of the deep
and somber King river canyon beneath
few feet of granite soil and the shade
of wide-spreading juniper. wrapped
in his hunting garb, unwept. uncoffined
and unsung, except in local tradition
lies the hero of Mariposa, and above
his grave is only this inscription:
THE WHALE