The times., 1899-05-24
FIGHTING A GRIZZLY.
WISCONSIN Man Who Claims to
Have Killed One With "a knife.
CFrom the New York sunl

that such a thing is perhaps possible. but
say they have never known IL TO be done.
John w. Raught says that it has been done,
and that he is one man who did it. He is
farmer living in the town OF Mitchell il
this county.
Did you ever stand face to face with
a grizzly?" he asked in speaking OF his
experience. III you didn't, you don't know
what bear looks like. / have hunted
and shot everything to be found on the
American continent. from red squirrels TO
the grizzly and mountain lion, and the
king of the Rockies is the only living thing
l ever was actually afraid of. II your i'm
agination is vivid enough, just picture a
beast Weighing 1900 or 1850 unds coming
at you like a whole army OF wildcats.
mouth wide open. foam dripping from his
long yellow teeth, tongue hanging
from his jaws and rolling side
to side, his little eyes cleaning and
glowering until they almost throw out
sparks, and every hair on his big body
standing on end and quivering as if 1t
had life of its own-iust picture that COM
ing at you with the speed OF a locomotive
and half-sideways motion. and you've
some idea how a grizzly looks when he is
thoroughly mad and bent on mischief. /
saw only one under these conditions, but
that will last me all my life
Mr.. Raught was in this city a few days
ago TO see a physician. sleigh loaded
with wood had tipped over and part of the
load had fallen on him and injured one
arm. He went to DR.. Otto Book to have
his injuries dressed. and when he had
striped for the examination peculiar
condition OF skin, flesh and bones was Ie-
vealed. The left shoulder had apparently
been crushed to pulp at some time The
left arm had been broken in three places
and the bones in knitting had contracted
hnl narIT frfr hat
the arm was left drawn and twisted. The
entire left breast bone had been crushed
in, and great white and red marks ex-
tended down from the shoulder 10 the
waist line.
Il should guess said DIR. Book, that
you had been run through threshins
machine in mistake for bundle OF wheat.
You bear all marks of very good thresh-
ing machine too.
Doe" said the farmer. ''if you can
think of anything alive that is as bad to
tackle as ten or fifteen of the biggest
threshing machines you ever saw all rolled
into one you may guess what struck me.
Not grizzly said the physician.
Nothing else" was the reply. "and
would you believe it? | went at him
with a knife How did it come out? Well.
I'm here. and you don't see anything of
the bear. do you? II you know anything
about bears you know that the grizzly
didn't quit until he was dead. as long as
you have evidence that am alive
Then he told the story
ION November I, 1876" he said. my
partner and | were camping in the Siwash
Mountains. in what is now Pitkin county
Col The shooting was good, and We were
getting all kinds of game except bear; We
had agreed that as long as the grizzlies
left us alone neither of US would tackle
one of them. That November afternoon
was as warm as day in June. and hah
loosened up WY shooting blouse, unbucked
the strap supporting the little bag contain
ing my cartridges-they were not using
the looped belt then-and had sat down
under an evergreen tree to rest | had
been clambering over rocks and powders
all DAY and was nearly worn out, and In
ten minutes was half asleep. l was awak-
ened by realizing that my eyes were fixed
on something that wasn't part OF the rocky
point before me- but il took fully minute
to comprehend that it was the muZzle OF
grizzly that was bobbing in and out.
The bear was not forty yards frcm me,
and why he hadn't scented or seen me
! cannot imagine to this day.
We'll. when / saw that grizzly down
( there. within easy pistol range, l forgot
my promise to my partner. and had my
rife up in a second. I was using Spring
/ field, single shot, breech-loader. 43-I0 calf
/ bre. as handy a gun as man could get In
/ those days | had heard that the grizzly
was hard TO kill, but l knew l had this one
nailed, as at forty yards that old Spring
/ field would put a hole through him as big
! as an apple.
/ Il was sitting on the grass. and resting
/ my left elbow on my left knee. | lined
/ the sights on his neck. right back OF ani
| below the left ear His head went behind
/ the point of rock, then came out. Then
/ it went out OF sight. and reappeared in
| the same spot Both times my sights got
precisely the same spot. The next time
| the head went back and reappeared and
the sights were right. l touched the trig-
! ger There wasn't even roar 10 answer
! the crack of the gun. When the smoke
| drifted up the canyon the grizzly was on
| the ground, his full bulk exposed by his
| lunge forward and he looked as II he
might have been dead a week so Tar as
any movement was concerned
u was excited. there is no use denying it.
and il l hadn't been excited | wouldn
have started down that sidehill without
the little bag with my cartridges in it.
or at least without a fresh shell in my gun
| Tenderfoot act? Worse than that; il was
! an insane mans act. The fact Is that
when I saw that grizzly there dead l lost
my head At any rate started down tht
hill with an empty rife in my hands anf
no cartridges about me. When l was with
in ten feet of the dead bear saw my mis-
take There were two grizzlies. and one o
them was alive.
Il didn't have time to move, II seems .
me. before we were face to face. SEe
came at me like a dozen charging bulls
| all rolled into one; only that don't de-
scribe how she looked. | knew what had
happened; | had shot a half-groWn cub
and now tine mother was going to wips
me out l felt that | had about twenty
seconds, or perhaps thirty at the outside
to live: and in those thirty seconds
made a very thorough review of my life.
II never intended to fight that grizzly
was licked man as soon as l saw her
lust dropped my gun by accident ant
pulled my hunting knife by instinct.
guess. because l don't remember intending
to do it. should have thought a kifc
with an efght-inch blade about IS effectiy,
i against a full grown grizzly as a goose
Quill toothpick against a caramount-
u haven't much remembrance OF thl
fight There is recollection OF the rus:
of the great brute and her foul breath il
NV nostrils; there is a picture of her hai
ali on end, OF her yellow white teeth anC
lolIing tongue; then a crushing blow tina
seemed to tear my arm out by the root:
and another glancing stroke that tool
clothes and flesh and sinews and pieces o
bone with it, Then we were all mixed up
l couldn't tell. seemingly. which was IN,
and which WAS the bear. knew that
was thrashing around with my knife al
the time-cutting and lunging three times
four times. perhaps a dozen times. TheI
went rolling down the steep bank. think
ing as consciousness went that was dy-
ing
1T was November that went out fror
N71 = n & Z q i Ezl ksl[l[llz1l