Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-05-03
A MONTANA WILD MAN
HE LIVES IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH
WILD BEASTS FOR COMPANY.

Wise River mountains, in tho southeast
ern part of Montana, about 40 miles from
| Butte is the roaming place of the most
! interesting and mysterious character of
| the state, if not Of the whole northwest.
The man has been a mystery to the people
of that section for more than a quarter of
century, and about the only positive
thing they have been able to learn about
him in that time was that his name is
George Pottingill.
Recently hunting party made a trip
| into the Wise River mountains and camp
ed for several days at the junction of the
Wise and Big Hole rivers, not far from
the reported habtation of the wild man.. "
| There was a natural curiosity to get n
! glimpse of the strange individual. A walk
of seN eral miles in the direction indicated
by the guide brought the party to a short,
narrow gulch in the foothills, where was
found the rude hut described as the home
of the wild man. The owner of the place
was nowhere to be seen. There was no
door to the entrance. The hut itself was
half dug into the hillside, and heothor half
was formed of bonded fir trees The in
side was about by 10 feet in size and did
not contain a single article of furniture
the bare floor on one side of the hut, where
the imprint of a human form indicated
the spot where the man had passed his
nights for n score and half Of years. A
| smoothly worn piece of wood served as
| pillow. Its middle was worn hollow,
showing that it had served its purpose for
many years. Not shred of clothing or
covering Of any kind was in the hut After
| completing an inspection Of the strange
place the intruders resumed their way to-
ward the mountains, but had not left the
hut moro than Is feet behind when they
| suddenly came upon tho object they were
looking for.
He stood like an apparition upon a
| knoll but few feet away and had evil
IDENTIFY been watching the trcspassors for
some time. An old army rifle was resting
across his arm, and when the correspond
ent made a few steps forward the gun
crept up toward the mans shoulder. The
two men stood startled and amazed, and
he as immovable as a statue. He is fully
6 feet inches tall and slightly stopped,
with massive chest, shoulders and arms
and with not an ounce of supcriluOus flesh
and weighing about 200 pounds. The
only piece of clothing he wore was rag
ged old army overcoat and a pair of old
breechcs that extended few inches be-
low his knees. His body was thickly COW
cred with short hair and his beard and
the hair of his head, which were of an iron
gray, hung in heavy matted curls about
eight inches below his waist. Each curl
was as thick as mans wrist and contain
ed more hair than the head of the average
woman. His feet were bare, and his legs,
like his body, were covered with a coat of
hair. He appeared to DO about 90 years
of age.
Are you the wild mani" finally ven
turcd Mr.. McKinstry.
The strange figure smiled, surprisingly
pleasant, and replied, Il believe that is
what they call me-"
do you live there?" was the next ques-
ton, indicating the barren hut.
Yes, that is my home, or rather my
headquarters but l do not spend much of
my time there, for l am busy rustling
most of the time. ="
The mans language was perfect Eng
fish and gave evidence of an educated
man. He took seat upon the knoll, and
his visitors, having become treasured, sat
by his side and for an hour or more en-
gagged in conversation with the strange
creature. All efforts, however, to learn
anything of his history were skillfully
parted. Once when question on that
point was rather bluntly put he said:
Every man has his secrets that the
world is bound to respect, and the sub
ject was dropped.
Concerning his life in the mountains he
talked freely. He believed that nature
f,,t, l,1 30, L.,
ed to the fact that he wore little or no
clothing even in the most rigid winters,
and yet in the so years which he had lived
in the mountains he has not known a
days sickness. He subsists almost en-
tirely upon raw meat, mostly game, which
he kills himself. Though he carries a gun.
he uses it only in self defense and never
to kill game. His method is to get on the
trail of deer, moose, elk or bear and run
1t down. He has been known to follow a
deer in that way for "a week or ten days,
and being tirCless himself the deer sooner
or later falls an easy victim to his knife.
1t is also stated that during such a chase
he never stops to eat but sticks to tho
trail until he overtakes the animal, and
after killingit he remains with the carcass
until it is consumed. Stories of his en-
counters with bear and elk driven to bay
are numerous. BY the strength and meth
DDS of Samson he is always victorious in
the conflicts.
AT intervals of from three to six weeks
he returns to "headquarters" to look after
few head of horses which he has run
ming on the range, but the only use he has
for horses, as he expresses 1t, is to remind
him Of the outside world and make him
feel that he is not entirely alone. About
twice year when game is scarce he makes
a trip to Dewey's Flat, small settlement
Of ranches about ten miles distant from
his headquarters, for supplies. His sup
plies consist of beef and tallow, both of
which he eats raw, and the latest maya
zines and periodicals He raises what lit
tie money he requires by selling horse
occasionally. The most remarkable thing
about this man is that he is well read and
well informed on the public questions,
though he is usually about six months be-
hind the times.
There are several stories told as to the
reason why Pettingill came to Montana
and adopted the wild life he Is leading,
and the most generally accepted is that
during the war he was a captain in COM
pany of Missouri volunteer infantry; that
he had quarrel with fellow officer and
was challenged to fight duel He accept
ed and killed his challenger and then de-
serted the army and escaped up along the