Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-10-01
GRIZZLY AND SILVER TIT
Found in the Oanons of the Rocky and
Coast Mountains
of Tremendous Size and Strength
Three Distinct Types In Cnlifor-
nia-A Swede's Fight.

California Correspondence of the N. Y. Times.
The grizzly bears found all through the
canons of the Rocky and Coast mountains
and spurs of the Sierra Nevada range sell
dom descend from lofty attitudes. where
they manage year in and year out to eke
out a subsistence near the perpetual snow
line. An old and experienced hunter has
said that ANY mans a fool to go in arter
bear alone" The bruins Of the east and
the bruins of the west are almost totally
different animals. The Ursa Majors of the
Sierras are monstrous of size, end owed
with ugly dispositions and prodigi GUS
strength, and as for grit, they dispute-and
very often successfully, too-the sover-
eighty of the mountains and forests with
the king Of American beasts, the mountain
lion.
Hunters disagree upon the point of how
many different species of the bear tribe we
have in the southwest. There are at least
three distinct types of the family in Cali
fornia and Lower California-namely,
the grizzly, brown and black bear.
Besides these there are also gray
bears, cinnamon bears and the Sierra
grayback. The true gray Is seldom, II
ever, seen now as far north as the forty
fifth parallel and as far east as the main
divide; the cinnamon Is simply a cross be-
tween the brown and black bears, and the
mighty silver Zip is neither more nor less
than a mongrel Of the brown and grizzly,
partaking strongly of the natures of the
two but particularly Of the latter. All the
members of the species intermarry, and
the silver tip is the king Of the family.
This big fellow, springing from the griz-
ely and the brown, combines all the fe-
rocity and tough strength Of the former
with the agility and stubbornness of the
latter, each distinctive trait being more
prominent in him and possessed to q
greater degree than by the very animals
from whom he borrows them. The silver
tip is unquestionably the ruler Of the fam
fly by reason Of his greater size and tel
ligerent disposition. Lewis and Clarke, IN
their narrative of their journey to the Pa
cific coast nearly a hundred years ago,
speak Of meeting not only brown and black
3ears but also numerous white bears, that
made 1t perilous travelling at times for va
rious members Of that bold pioneer party.
In High Attitudes.
The woods of Oregon and Washington
are overrun with black bears. and there are
hundreds of them In California, especially
in Lower California, and among the San
Diego and San Bernardino mountains. The
largest black fellow the writer ever saw
was in the mountains near Mount Hamil-
ten, where the Lick observatory is now sit
uated. The black bears of this coast, as
well as the cinnamon, as q rule inhablt low
places, such as creek and river bottoms,
willow marshes and timbered spots, but
grizzlies and silver tips stick to high alti-
tudes, from which even hunger seldom
drives them. Grizzlies are generally credit
ed with highly cultivated appetites for
car nivorous food.
Campfire stories tell of the bloodthirstx
diet these monsters habitually thrive upon,
but were all the blood-curdling yarns aired
around the cheerful blaze carefully sifted
down for facts it Is to be feared that fully
90 per cent of the grizzly stories would turn
out to be fiction. A grizzly is not carnivor-
Gus from choice. He seldom descends from
his mountain home to the creeks and rivers
in search Of wild plums and chokeberries
the favorite diet Of brown, cinnamon and
black bears), but prefers to remain aloft
and feast upon the stores laid up for win
ter use by his Industrious neighDors, the
gophers and mountain squirrels. Pine nuts
are plentiful high up, and then the grubs
and worms found beneath old stones and
moss-grown boulders are good enough for
King Bruin while they last. When the
nut. berry and plum supply runs short
none of the family hestates to fall back
upon diet Of po.k, beef, mutton or veni-
son.
recent report from Highlends. in the
neighborhood of Arrow Creek and Mount
Grayback, says that more bears have been
seen this year than for ten years past and
that a number of cattle have been killed by
them of late. few months ago, at Null
lery's ranch, near Hemet, a big silver tip
came down out of the mountains one night
invaded the hog pasture of that industrious
ranchman,and IN very short time laid out
no less than thirty fine porkers. The hogs
squealed. made great fuss, of course, and
as long as there was show Of resistance
the bear never stopped boxing their ears
One blow of his mighty paw was enough
to kill a hog, and there is no telling where
he would have stopped had he not been
Interrupted in his pleasant pastime.
1t Was IA Big Fellow.
The grayback Of the Rockies is rather a
different brute from his cousin of the Adj
rondacks and the Pennsylvania hills. Per-
haps the eastern members of his interest
ing family never weigh more than 400 or
600 pounds. but out this way many of the
grizzlies and silver tips caught have touch.
ed the beam at 1,OoO and LOO pounds, and
even more.
Philip SulZer, ranchman living in Lyle
canon. a short distance from here, is said
to have shot one of the largest gray5acks
ever seen in the west. The hide was some
killed late in the fall, at a time when he
was plentifully supplied with bears
grease it would not pe wide of the mark
to estimate his weight when alive at 1000
pounds. Certainly the enormous hide justi-
fled these figures. and the claws and head
preserved would justly entitle him to the
credit of being the father Of the family.
AS a proof of the wisdom of The old
hunters warning about "gong in arter bear
alone,'' the following narrative will best
Illustrate it's truthfulness: A party Of gold
hunters started out from San Bernardino
some years ago to prospect the country to
the north and west of that mining camp.
The mer in the party were old tim rs, it'll
one or two exceptions, and among the lat
ter was a Swede, full of grit, who stood
nearly seven feet in his stockings. The
Swede, however, whose family name was
Franck, vas by no means q tenderfoot,
having dwelt some time in the Acton min
ing camps and boosted that "he had killed
bar in his day. and was afraid of mo
four-footed critter that roamed the noun
tains."
The party of twelve were climbing steep
mountain, darkness was coming on, and
prospects of a supperless night were III
view, when the seven-foot Scandinavian
volunteered to push on ahead in the hope of
securing an elk. deer. mountain sheep.
The foreigner was a good shot with his
rifle, and his immense strength and power
full physique rendered it extremely improb-
able that he would find his match in the
timber ahead. The hunter disappeared, and
the others toiled behind. climbing the
steep ascent, weary and footsore. At one
place the road wound around a steep preci-
pice. the sheer descent of the cut basaltic
walls on the left being something like a
thousand feet Far below the tops of giant
pines could be discerned, but in the awful
depth they appeared like stunted shrubs
and bushes. Near the summit and to the
no Lar cd