The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-01-09

Tremendous Presence-A Hunter Saved
His Life by Doing a Circus Act.
Fifteen years ago. said George W
Rae, a Manitoba pioneer, the grizzly
bear was so plentiful among the Mani
toba Rockies that the Hudson Bay COM
pany annually secured many hundreds
Of their skins from the army of hunters
and trappers that had its range i'll that
wild region. but today this fierce and
ponderous beast-uowhere so fierce or
IF such enormous proportions as among
the Manitoba fastnessas-is quite a rarl-
~ in its old haunts. and | doubt if one
can now be come upon without "A diff.
cult and tedious journey of at least 800
miles into the interior wilderness of the
province.
The grizzly has met with almost d
hard a fate as the b%uffalo. although, from
tine nature and ~-olatIon of its present
retreats and the difficulties attendant on
hunting and tra ping for it, the grizzly
bear, like the \ nitoba moose, will new
er BECOME exit t i'll that country. / be-
Yieve that the moose. although the flesh
of . 1000 of the . i required TO supply the
military stat n in the territory alone
with fresh II at every year. i IA plentl-
ful today il it wild retreats as it has
beer at any time since the great inroadS
'of fur and pelt hunter were begun III
the territory.
know no reason why the grizzly bear
of the Manitoba Rockies should grow so
much larger than the grizzly of the
same mountains IN the States. but a long
and varied experience in hunting these
animals III their respective localities has
proved to me that such i the fact. No
grizzly bear that | ever captured or that
] ever knew to be captured south of
Manitoba measured more than - feet
from muzzle to tail. or weighed more
than 1.200 pounds. Blu it was no I'M
common thing in the palmy days Of
grizzly bears in Manitoba for rhe hunter
or trapper % be confronted 10y one Of
these monsters 8 feet in length and with
a bulk OF 800 pound, or more, | have
seen Manitoba grizzlies that when tn"y
threw them-elvr~ eu Jucir Launches and
rose erect lowered Nv feet and six ( RI
above M. aud | want 10 tell yJv futH n
takes a man with a Iar-- gr,.utity and
the best quality IF nerve 20 .rEII IN ti.a'
tremendous presence aHI prepared lu
do battle coolly ana with q level head.
Grizzly bars. like a.l the rest al the
bear family. have tine crrrIuI- Hauft of
rising against a tree. aut. reaching mp
a far a. they can with their fore paws
making marks in the bark 10y digging 1t
with their claws. nave more tlau
once come across these measuring. MARKS
of a grizzly. a. the mark, on the bark
are called. L feet above the ground.
Imagine oImu suddenly upon a beast
like that IN some deep ravine or isolated
spot almost impossible owing TO tn"
down climber heaped and tangled on the
ground aud surrounded by rocks and
thick uuderbru-n. The sight Of hi-
great jaws. open and red, and MS eve
flashing IN fury at you from the enOr-
nous mead that towers 30 far above you
i something only to be appreciated when
once seeL.
When there were b~ufaloes on the
plans, Manitoba grizzly bear, were keen
and persistent hunters of them. When
a grizzly and "A buffalo met. there was
sure to be a fearful contest, although II
seldom lasted long, and the buffalo was
usually the victim. The buffalo bull.
when confronted by a bear, would in.
variabIy charge ferociousiy upon its big
anG ugly foe. This was just what the
bear desired, and ne awaited, erect on
ais launches. the onset of the buffalo.
As the latter rushed forward with low
cred mead and was almost upon the bear
the immense grizzly threw himself
quickly TO one side. and with a blow as
quick as lightning with one Of his great
~forepaws seldom failed TO break his an
tagonist's neck. A Manitoba grizzly has
been known TO engage i'll rapid success
SION four and even five Infatuated buffalo
bulls and kill every one of them. 1t
sometimes happened, though, that a bull
younger and more agile than his ON
paniol Succeeded in eyading the fatal
lbloYA the grizzlys terrible paw long
r0ough to give in turn a deadly thrust of
his horn into the bears side, puncturlng
his yitals and making the contest a mu-
tual slaughter.
In general characteristics, of course.
the Manitoba grizzly is not in any way
different from others of the family.
While | believe that a grizzly bear will
sometimes wait and precipitate a fight
with a man and take pains to put him
self in the way of one, in the great ma
1ority of cases he will take a second
thought about the matter and back out
A queer instance of this disposition
came to m knowledge once where a
famous Manitoba guide c~ourageously
advanced upon three grizzlies, an old she
one and two half grown cubs, and, by a
series of ridiculous monkeyshines and
acrobatic maneuvers within a rod or
two of the threatening bears. filled them
with such establishment and apparent
fear that they retreated 10 the woods as
fast as they could go.
The hunters gun had snapped IN both
barrels. he having drawn on the old bear
before the young ones came upon the
- N Sc of daGnaFQflnn