The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-08-20
BRUIN FOUGHT BUT
FAILED TO WIN
Old Pete MiIIer's Queer Experience 10 The
WiIds Of Potter County.
GOT HIS PRIZE MONEY AT LAST
A Two Days Tussie with n Bear at
One End aud Old Pete at the Other
End of a Rawhide Rope--Neither
Able to Get Loose--Bruin Tanned
at Last.


state. Pete has killed scores of bear.
deer and other large game animals in
his time, and helped to exterminate
the la It herd of elk that roamed the
Pennsylvania forests. He loves to tell
of the days of long ago, when from the
summit of any hill the herds of deer
could be seen grazing along the narrow
valleys. one of "Old Pete's" best stor"
les is Of his ludicrous adventure with
a big black bear which he undertook to
capture alive. 1t was in the autumn of
'73, some time in September, when he
wassforced to go into partnership with
Bruin and remain in the company of
shaggy enemy for two days.
1T happened in this way" said Pete.
you see, l formed an acquaintance
with Jim Davis, of York state, who
had promised me $25 If / would capture
for him alive a large black bear. /
didn't promise to get the beast for him:
but said l would think about the mat
ter, and let him hear from me later on.
Well, ! thought a good deal about the
! offer, because times were hard and
wanted to get a new repeating rifle,
and needed the $25 real badly.
FOUND BEAR TRACKS. a.. 90,
zone day while / was out hunting
| for some good places to set some traps
1 came across some monster bear tracks
and followed the trail to a rocky glen,
where two rapid streams met among
| ragged masses of sandstone at the foot
of an immense cliff. 1 found the tracks
| led into a den, and the last two or
| three impressions left on the soft clay
| convinced me that the fellow in the
hole was just such a chap as Jim Dav-
| is wanted. l said nothing, but wrote to
Jim and asked him if he still had the
| $25 and wanted the bear. Jim wrote
| back right away, and told me that he
wanted the bear real bad, and would
! give me $35 if l could manage to get
| him a good big one, and wound up by
| promising to come down in few days
and get the brute and take him up to
| York state.
| THE information made me feel as If
I had that new gun right in my hands.
| | got a lot of strong raw hides. and
! began to cut straps, and after | had
| about 80 feet of good rope l tied the
| pieces together carefully, and then
! tested the lariat by pulling on it as
| hard as / could.
THE next day l took the rope and
went down to the glen and began to set
a snare for the bear. / made a Slip
| knot and spread it over the entrance
to the den, keeping it apart by means
| of small limbs and so arranging the
supports that the loop would not tight
| en- up on the big brute till he had his
head and shoulders through it. Then
| l took the other end of the strap and
| fastened 1t to a tree trunk close to the
hole. Next morning came down to see
what the results were, but was disap-
pointed to find that the bear had been
| caught in the moose while going in
and had gone beyond sight and sound
with my rope. The end of the lariat
was still attached to the tree, and when
l gave it hard yank I heard some in
fernal savage growing inside. l be-
| gan to wonder what l was to do with
the bear when he came out, and hav-
ing never captured such a large brute
alive before, / confess that l began to
realize that there was a hard job on
my hands. But l needed $25 to buy
a gun, and had to get the old brute
ready for the market somehow, ana
l was not discouraged and began to
lay my plans.
BRUIN APPEARS.
Having no idea that the bear would
come out very soon, it struck me that if
l could get the end of the rope higher
up the tree and securely fastened it
would be impossible for the beast to
get away till he was reduced to a sub
missive state through a long fast. By
| tugging a little on the line / ged
to get about IA feet of slack, and, TAX
ing a good hitch around my body so as
not to impede my arms and hands,
began to climb the rough trunk of the
hemlock. 1t was hard work dragging
myself up hand over hand, but finally
! reached the first branches and then
had to stop, as the line became tight
l gave it a hard pull or two, and was
climbing again, when was startled by
loud snorting, followed by a 'woof!'
! 'woofn and out came Bruin, mad as a
tiger and ready to fight anything in
sight. l made all haste to get up high
er, and was trying TO get the rope fast,
when the cussed bear made a plunge
down over the rocks, and, as the lariat
was still tied about my shoulders and
chest, you can imagine what happened.
l was jerked off my perch and went
crashing down through the branches,
breaking off big limbs, and the racket
| made scared the bear so that he ran
as If he was sure his end had come,
He made straight for the headWaters
Of .the Allegheny, with his hair stand
ing on end, and as l had no time to
disengage mVself from the rope and
branches and smaI log had become
fastened IN "a coil of the iariat, he had
hard time dragging the miscellaneous
assortment of things at the other end
or his halter, -and soon stopped to in
vestigate matters a little and get his
breath. He sat up and began TO look
at me savagely out of the corners of his
wicked little eyes, and then, seeing that
he meant fight, l made up my mind
that the $35 would have to be earned
hard / reached for my hunting knife.
which was the only weapon l had, but
to my utter CONSERVATION found that
the belt containing the knife was gone,
and, 70 make matters worse my breech-
es, having no support, were dangling
about my knees. The burned old lariat
was twisted all around me, so that my
right arm was useless. Here was a
predicament sure, and I felt as If that
bear was going to get me instead Of me
getting the bear The big old fellow
was coming at me mad as a July hor-
net, but, fortunately, he came on the
wrong side Of a sapllng, which caught
the rope and held him back. l grabbed
up my breeches with my left hand and
began war dance that would have as
tonished Sioux Indian. The rope was
strong and slippery and the tree form
ed a sort of snubbing block, and every
time Bruin came near me I lodged
around another tree and managed Ia
get the rope drawn up tight, so that
the crazy brute could not reach me.
| THE FIGHT BEGINS