Omaha daily bee., 1899-07-29

of 300 feet. Then he caught his legs and
got into a shallow ravine to the right. He
went down that like a steam pillow until he
reached a bank of earth and rock thirty
feet high. He could have got out of the
ravine to the right or left, but he charged
straight ahead at the bank. We didn't
think he could make 1t, but he did. He
went up that bank like a cat going up a
roof. but as he reached the top he set a
landslide in motion which brought down a
dozen carloads of dirt. That was the last
we saw of him and three bullets fired prob
ably added to his scare.
at wasn't the bravery of our burro which
saved us from an attack, but his fear. He
did just the right thing at the right time,
but he deserved no credit. When the bear
had disappeared we turned to find the burro
lying on the ground and as wet with sweat
as If pals Of water had been poured over
him. 1t was three hours before he could
stagger around and he didn't get his appetite
back for several days. We could trace the
bear back from the bush to where he had
first looked down on our camp. He had
stood for a while to make up his mind about
us, and had then descended with the de-
termination to pick a fight. Had he not run
upon the burro as he turned the bush he
would certainly have made things lively in
camp.
Hunt for a. Live Bear.
"The London Royal Zoo wanted a fun
grown grizzly, and through agents in New
York offered a cash prize which started out
a dozen different parties on the trail. There
were six of us in the Idaho party and every
man in it knew something Of the habits of
the animal he hoped to capture. To kill
a grizzly bear, even by a pot shot, is some
thtpr Ia Irnn ~ I,t -. aos1ta ILL.,. ;..z -
trap is a feat which has not been ac-
complished half a dozen times since America
was discovered. 1t is a well known saying
of the Indians that you can outwit a fox,
fool a lion, trap a wildcat or poison a wolf,
but when you pit yourself against the
grizzly you'lr get left. We started out
realizing that the only way to capture old
Ephraim was to outwit him, and a score Of
conspiracies were cooked up before the ex-
petition had made a days journey into the
mountains.
THE first move was to find our bear. The
grizzly is a puzzle to naturalists. Sometimes
he roams over a large area of country and
sometimes he sticks for months within a mile
OF his den. Sometimes he shows up only
after dark. and again he will roam all day
and sleep all night. AS a rule he Is always
encountered at unexpected times. When we
hdu peHelrdteu iltO the Dear country we
made amp and began to prospect. At the
end of three days the lair of a grizzly was
discovered about two miles away. II was
in a shallow ravine about half a mile long.
The west end of this rayne began at a cliff
and the east debouched into another and
larger ravine. The den was at the east end
and the bear had worn a regular path in
coming and going. 1t was Joe, the half
breed, who discovered the runway and the
den, and he hung about for three hours 10
get sight of the game, Old Ephriam finally
came in from a promenade and Joe came to
camp and reported:
"'Well, I have found him, and he is the
biggest bear ever born In Idaho
LAS said, We had invented various plans
for capturing our bear when he should have
been marked down. One of the cute lodges
was to doctor a piece Of meat with morphine.
A doctor had recommended this and estl-
mated tho proportions and 1t was at the head
of our program. We dosed a haunch of ven
ison and hung 1t w near the ravine, but
Joe, who was In hiding. saw a lion pull II
down and bear it away. We tried a second
piece and a big wolf got II. Then we turned
to our bear trap. We had brought with US
the biggest, stoutest trap ever made by man
and 1t was generally agreed that II would
hold an elephant. This trap was set fair on
the path, with its heavy chain fastened to
a tree. and things were covered up so deftly
that a fox would have trotted right onto