The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-04-04

Col. r. y. sterrst secretary II the st.
Louis commission for the Omaha Exposs-
don. tells an interesting story Of Z bear
hunt in which he and Col Wnlam H.
Hines. the weii-known live stock dealer.
OF North 81. Louis. took part. The special
feature OF the affair was that after the
two colonies had hunted bear awhile, the
bear turned the tables and began hunting
the two coioneis with an enthusiasm that
made the AFFAIR thrilling before IL was
over.
hotel, IN Yellowstone park, with our fami-
lies. few summers ago. said Col s,er-
set. " and Ne h&d our curiosity aroused
by the stories We had heard ut the hotel
OF the abundance Of game In the vicinity.
The hotel was on the prairie. not far from
the edge Of a densely ttmhered forest The
refuse from the hotel was carried about
a quarter Of mile away and thrown on
the ground near the woods. Col. Hines
and I had heard there were any number
OF bear In the woods that came down to
eat the scraps from the hotel They came
down at night. and We decided to take
our positions In the prairie not far away
from the hotel refuse and walt No hunt
Ing Is. OF course, allowed In the reserva-
ton. and the only weapons We had with
Us In case Of need was my revolver. which
had smuggsed along with me. II 1t had
been discovered IL would have been sealed.
SO i could not be used while on the reser
walton.
1T was a beautiful moonlight nirht
when We took our places. lying down on
the prairie 10 watch for bear. and 1t was
not long before we heard the 'wcof! woof!
Of the big animals.
-Four OF them had come down to feed.
One was big cinnamon bear and the 9TH
er three we're black bears. The cinnamon
bear ran all three Of the black bears up
q tree. and taen II started 70 eat. Col.
Hines suggested something about captur-
Ing the three black bears in. the tree.
Anyway We both laughed and walked to-
ward the tree. The bear that was lowest
down on the tree saw us coming and,
with a startling 'Whoop! whoopr started
down. the trunk OF the tree. coming head
first. and he brought q rain OF twigs and
bark along with hs- rs he descended.
As he took the opposite side Of the tree
from us coming down. 1 felt reasonably
certain that he would make for the woods
as soon ~ he got down. ana there would
be no fear OF an attack from him Sure
enough he made bee line for the timber
as soon as he struck the earth. Col.
Hines and began throwing sticks at the
other two bears. and presently the second
one came down like the hrst, on The OPP
pered on into the woods AZ fast AZ he
could hustle. When the third bear start
ed TO move he gave an angry howl and
came right along down on our side Of the
tree, as II he didn't care whether We liked
1t or not.
There was something In the expressions
that bear used In coming down and some
thing In his manner that made me saw TO
myself. #. NJ. Sterrett. old fellow. Il II
Nj thx. ef~A&
making yourself scarce and with that
] called to Col. Hines to run. and made as
fast as i could for an immense tree that
had been blown over by storm, and
whose npturned roots stood fully twenty
feet i'm the air.
ION the way l fell into quagmire IN
to my waist, but little thing like that
could not stop me. was too anxious to
get To the fallen tree. climbed I'm on
top OF II Just In time TO see the race be-
tween Col. Hines and the bear from start
To finish. He did not begin 10 run until
the bear reached The ground, and then
when he saw that Mr. Bear meant husi-
ness. he seemed to have q yearninG for
me, and started In my direction and ran
az fast as he could. The bear was hump
ing itself Just behind him and sa,u;nr Al
every bound BY the time Col Hines
reached the tree he must have been able
TO feel the bears breath on him. There
was deep hole made by the lifting Of
the trees roots out Of the ground. and
into this hole Col. Hines tumbled, with the
bear seemingly right on top OF him
When I saw Col. Hines 60 into she hole
gave Col Hines up for lost. but the next
second saw the bear scramble up on the
other side and make for the woods Eyt-
IDENTIFY he had changed hts mind or had
forgotten all about the colonel So I
called out. Colonel Colonel. are YOU
hurte There was no reply, and started
toward the hole 10 see how badly injured
he was. Just as / neared the tree roots
the coione. iimped from behind them, sfiil
painting from the exer;ion OF his race.
Are you much hurt~ asked. No was
the reply. I'm not hur, at all. but Tm
the worst scared man In Yellowstone
park. That WAS about all the bear hunt
Ing we cared for on that trip. Whenever
we meet the story comes cut OF how We
were chased by hear."-Ss. Louis Globe.