The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-02-11
EXPLOITS OF OLD sHAKLEFooT.
Fer Many Years Terror to Pacific Coast
Frontiersman


YOU mountains, lying along the border line
of California and Oregon, huge grizzly
known by the title of sold Shac k1efoot.'
because OF the fact that he had injured one
of his feet in a bear-trap and therefore
made peculiar footprint. The mountain
rapchers had bad opinion of him. He had
stolen too many pigs to be in good odoI
with them. But l never saw a man who
had met him who did not speak of him with
the highest respect. | had a personal in
teryiew with him one summer when l was
out hunting win an old-tiine trapper. Ny
point of observation was the limb of a
young fir tree which had climbed in great
haste in pursuance of advice suddenly
given by my friend, who was already half
way up a tree when he gave it. From this
vanrage-point, vii h no weapon, we watched
Old Shacklefoot eat all our bacon and sugar.
spill our flour and coff ee on the ground,
and make a general wreck OF our camp
Having had good meal and MT being
angered, he then walked off into the TIM
her, 1t was with great deal of satsfac-
tiop q few Years ago that l read of the
death of this highway robner at the hands
of rancher whose squeaEng pig he was
caIriyng away from the. corral.
D~N-
erowess. There is a man named johnson.
living in Rogue river valley. whose chief
earmark is the absence of his lett ear. Old
Shaoklefoot amputared it for him. but he
never went back 10 claim it. He was oct
hunting in the mountains when this &C.
Cured, and had even expressed a desire to
run across this old campaigner. His de-
sire was gratifed. He made his camp OH
-, a hort
feet above the water One evening, return
ing to camp after days tramp. he found
an unlimited guest making free with every
thing it contained. he guest was OLD
Sbacklefoot. The bear had eaten up all the
provender that suited his palate, and
strewa everything else about in confusion
and ruin, and was sitting on his launches
with smile of welcome on his counte-
nance. Before johnson. on emerging from
tn bush, could decide whether to run,
snoot or shake hands, bruin gave MIN pat
on the side of the head. and amputated his
left ear and rolled him senseless down the
bank to the edge of the creek. The BEAST
followed him. rolled him over with his nose.
and being SO tisfied that he was dead, took
his departure. johnson returned to Jack
sonville with higher opinion of Old
Shacklefoot. 3
During the reign of this Siskiyou monarch
a young English lord passed down from
Portland to san Francisco. on his way to
India, where he intended to indulge In tiger
shooting, from fhe backs of elephants. lie
stopped off at Ashland TO hunt grizzly bears
in the Siskyous. and found two old noun
.ain men who were willing to risk their
lives in that pastime for British gold. He
had five different kinds of rifles for the big
game of Asia and Africa, but for such an
insignificant animal as bear he thought a
Winchester was good enough. He had shot
sprairie chickens in Iowa and antelope in
Montana, and now thought he would shoot
a grizzly or two in Oregon before he got to
the country where big game was to be
found The hunters said little to him
about he peculiaritles of grizzlies, except to
tell him if be met one that showed Gght, to
climb Al tree ard take his gun vii b him.
On morning while all were in camp,
three grizzlies emerged from the brush and
began to make themselves free with the
entrails OF a deer that had been shot the
day before. The hunters each made a
break for a tree and yelled to the prospec-
tive tiger shooter to do the same, and he
followed their advice in such haste that ne
forgot to take his gun. After disposIng OF
the entrails the bears investigated the
camp, and in few moments 1t reseinbled a
Kansas ranch after cyclone. The hunters
up the trees then began 10 fire at them, and
soon one lay dead. One shooter in his
haste jammed cartridge in his rife and
could do nothing with it, and the other
slipped on the limb of the tree he used for
q perch and spilled his cartridges on the
ground. There they were on their uncom-
Portable perches With two angry bears
charging about beneath them. and othing
to shoot with. The bears frequently
threw their heavy bodies against the trees
with force that seemed enough to break
them off, growing and making things IN
comforts bic generally. Occasionally one
of them went back to camp TO vent his
anger on the wreck, while the other re-
manned on guard.
Thus The day wore on and the freed hunt
ers became ravenously hungry and stiff and
sore. Late in the afternoon both bears
went to the camp, and the man who had
spilled his cartridges stealthi1y descended
and gathered up few of them, hastily
climbing the tree again the bears OBJ
served him and made a fierce charge. He
opened fire with great care and soon killed
one bear, but his last cartridge MAS spent
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS seeming TO have been
made on the other. The man with choked
gun then threw his cartridges to the other
hunter, but out of the whole lot only one
was caught, and this was lost in the bears
hide with the others. About dusk the bear
apparently tired out. wandered slowly
away, and after reasonable time the hunt
ers descended from their trees and gath
cred up the framents of their camp. They
cooked supper, built a circle of protecting
fires, and lay down to sleep. In the morn
ing they followed ihe blood trail OF the
wounded bear and found him lying dead a
few hundred yards from the camp. The
Englishman thought he had struck some
thing almost as exciting as shooting tigers
from the backs of elephants, but the hunters
assured him that thisGwas only kindergarten
griZzly-bear fight, and advised him to wait
until he had held a seance with Old Shackle
foot before he formed an opinion. The
hunters then started out for a two-days'
trip to civilization for new supply of
camp necessaries, leaving the young man
alone as camp guard.
Early on the morning of the second day