Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-01-04
lie GO ZzLlES o. IDAHO.
A Tacit \ greement With Men In the Early
Days Not 10 Modest Each Other.

"A latlA ~ AtAA a4FA 1T Nih h-A- -
Days Not 10 Modest Each Other.
Speaking of grizzly bears" said
Judge Henry 1. Warren of Albuquerque,
I'VE didn't look on these animals as
particularly dangerous in idaho when
was the United States district attorney
Of that territory. If 4 man attacked one
at close quarters, he sometimes got kill
ed, but at a little distance not much
more attention was paid to bears than if
they had been so many hogs or cattle.
Between human beings and the bears
there seemed to be at that time a tacit
agreement to let one another alone.
zone of my hardest horseback trips
led me through wild region where ]
often saw bears AT one point the trail
crossed an open valley, dotted with scat
tering big trees and clumps Of under
brush, and on the farther side wound
up a steep mountain side through thick
oak and pine woods. Coming down into
that valley one day saw, little way
of Oh my right, five bears-twO very
large ones and three smaller ones-con-
shutting possibly family party. They
were running about here and there nos.
ing the ground, turning over stones aud
knocking to pieces rotten logs, hunting
for mice and grubs. They apparently
paid no attention to me as | rode past,
/ 90 yards away. My horse looked lit
tie wild and fidgeted some at the sight
of them, but l kept him in the trail
without difficulty.
"At another time a bear gave me
considerable of a scare. l had crossed
this same valley and was just beginning
to ascend the wooded heights beyond it.
had dismounted and was leading my
horse up the steep hillside when a bear
broke out of the bushes little behind
me and came for me furiously, showing
her teeth and growing. l stood still,
expecting to be torn to pieces the next
moment, from the determined way in
which she came-it was a she bear
but she stopped just short of seizing me
and turned to dash in the same way at
my horse, and at that l dropped the
bride and made up the trail as fast as
could go. My horse, instead of turning
back to run for life in the clear open
ground Of the valley, when she charged
at him, made a detour mp the hill and
came back on the trail behind me. The
bear looking mighty ugly with her
frothing mouth and bristling hair kept
up her demonstrations, directing them
principally at my horse. You know how
horse, when thoroughly frightened,
will seek the company and protection
of humanity, and so, do all l could to
drive him away, my beast all the time
kept right behind me, with his nose at
my shoulder, trembling with fear, but
refusing to leave me, as the bear kept
making dashes at us out of the bushes,
sometimes from one side and sometimes
from the other.
II didn't know then what I have
learned from the habits Of the animals
since-that the bear was running a
bluff on us and did not mean so much to
harm us as to scare us away. She un-
doubtedly had cubs concealed close, by
in the bushes and resorted to a common
trick Of the female bear TO drive away
intruders. Probably if l had stood my
ground she would have tackled me, and
in that case it would have been all up
with me. She followed us 100 yards or
so, and then seeming satisfied that she
had got us fairly on the run fell back
into the bushes and watched us out Of