Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-06-08
AN EXCITING BATTLE.
A WICKED ENCOUNTER BETWEEN A
MAN AND A BEAR. "

"
Down n snow Covered Mountain
side---A Close CaII, In Whioh tho
Man just Escaped with His Life.
To roll down q snow covered noun,
tain eide tightly clasped IL the embrace
Of a grizzly bear is an experience few
mon pass through and live to tell. But
that is what happened to Frank Lecky
Of Fresno, and when 1t was all over he
had only few scratches and bruises
and a big boarskin to show as signs of
his terrible encounter. . -. ....
cit was the wickedest fight I over
got into" said Frank when telling of
his experiences, "and l have been In a
good many, going out hunting in the
Sierras every winter, as do. .... =.
'"This big fight happened up In the
Whitney country. 1t was just a few
miles east Of the Minarets and In the
spot where fellow is always pretty
sure to find big game.
cit was pretty late in the afternoon,
and 1 was all alone in camp, as the
other boys bad not returned from deer
hunt they started on in the morning.
"I had been DOING in the tent ali
day. but came out to have look at the
sky AS I glanced along tho top Of q
bluff few hundred feet from tho camp
I saw something dark moving about.
'"That was enough for mo. got my
rifle and started right after it. The kind
Of game l was going after didn't con-
Germ me at all. but I really didn't ex-
pect bear. at least such big cantanker
GUS bear
"TalSing roundabout way through
tho snow, soon reached tho top of the
bluff and began to crawl along care
fully in order to get a good resting shot
und not come upon my gamo too sud"
denly.
"Finally caught close view of q
big dark body moving behind clump
|. Of bushes. 1t was so largo that for q
momont thought had been stalking
COW and was ready to kick myself
Then a long drawn sniff and deep
growl told me it was bear I was sight
ing. Instantly l was all excited with
interest and strained every nerve to get
tho beast in limo and so plant a bullet in
the right spot. Tho bear, however had
mind to keep his eyes on mo and kept
Il1OflHB bDOul tS Jl0 DGG"C0U GuO
branches of tho brush.
"Suddcnly ono of the horses down in
tho camp neighed loudly and attracted
tho bears attention. As tho bear turn
ed and exposed his side fired. Down
went tho bear like bag of wheat, and
! l thought my rifle ball must havo gone
clean through its brain. Without stop
ping to consider whether my shot had
really been fatal. l rushed forward. AS
stopped down to SEQ where tho ball
struck. the bear jumped up, and then
l knew had only creased it--that Is,
just grazcd its head or spinal cord and
knocked it scnselcss for moment.
''Beforo l could swing my rifle for
ward to get in q shot the bear had
knocked it out of my hands and was
right on top of me. Somehow 1 man
aged to draw my knife and get in few
jabs that did no damage. The bear
hugged mo tighter and tighter, and I
kicked harder and harder and jabbed
wildly with my knife. Then we both
rolled OH the ground, and the bear tried
to bite my face, but kept off his fast
clawing blows by hugging tightly
we rolled over and over, and the bear s
face and claws were pretty badly cut
and one Of his eyes was put out Of SER
vicC. Tho snow all around was torn up
and spattercd with blood
"Beforo l knew it we were just on
tho edge Of tho bluff, and an almost
vertical wall Of snow lay just below us
for over hundred feet to the bottom.
"This frightened me more than the
bear, for knew what it meant, but be-
fore could think of doing anything VIC
were over the edge and rolling down at
lightning speed.
cit could not have taken moro than
a few seconds, but it seemed to me like
years. Now was on top Of the bear,
and now underneath. Snow filled MY
eyes and s, and was scratched and
wound d and bumped until l thought
my end had como.
cit seems to mo that kept striking
Mt the bear as wo rolled, or rather shot,
downward, for wo were going at the
speed of cannon ball. Then there was
sudden bump while ] was on top and
the bear gave a moan Of pain and LET
go Of me
"That gave mo my chance, and
drove my knife into his heart
"The skin measured over seven feet
l found out while wo were cutting hin
up that when no struck the rock at the
| bottom of tho hill ho shattered his
spine. 1t was just piece Of luck that
the bear struck tho rock and not my
self San Francisco Call.