New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-07-17
L4SSOING GRIZZLIES.
dangerous Sport That Has Nozc
Passed 1zcQy.

In the mountains Of the West the vast and
tumbled Rockies and the jagged. far reaching
Sierras, the grizzly has become the particular
desire Of the most modern OF hunters the men
who sally forth with rapid cameras instead Of
repeating express rifles. who press a high speed
shutter instead of a hair trigger. Il takes dar-
ing nerve TO face one Of these fierce, fight loving
creatures with nothing more death dealing than
camera and the Photographic hunters tell Of
many narrow escapes
They are not the first grizzly hunters. how
ever, TO scorn the rife in hunting the huge
bears One of the camera hunters found this
out a few weeks ago when he settled down for
rest by the Pacific in the Santa Barbara Val
ley after a successful. though bloodess. cam
paign through the California mountains. in
which he secured 4 number Of fine grizzly mega
uves- 1t was not long before the old Spanish
dons, who form the oldest settler" portion of
the population, heard Of him. and came around
to see his brave pictures" as they called them
No hunters ever knew the grizzly more init
mately than these men of mixed Spanish and
Mexican blood They hunted with RATA and
bowie knife. scorning the safety Of the rife as
do the camera hunters Of to-day But the game
they played was more dangerous. for they had
10 be in at the death. while with the man Of dry
plates and films there is no such end The ex-
element Of the personal conflict more than re-
paid the Spaniards for the risks they ran. and
they many, for in those golden days in the
Ojai and Santa Ynez valleys. there was q grizzly
for every acorn bearing wild oak. and some Of
them weighed more than ton. if the old dons
can be believed
The sight Of the grizzly photographs was
enough to make the old dons fight over their
battles, showing a scar for nearly every one
The photographer found many Of them in
crumbling adobe houses along the coast Their
hair is white. their steps lettering their eyes
half dim, and their speech growing thick but
they remember most vividly the battles of their
youth
The two most famous grizzly fighting dons in
Southern California died not long ago within
few months Of each other. They We're Carlos
Rodriguez and Emedi Ortega- neighbors and
rivals from boyhood- Different figures are given
of the number Of grizzly victims each man
claimed, and the question who was the more
sklfuI and daring fighter is often discussed.
one Of the most thrilling encounters in which
Don Carlos figured took place on mesa in the
Santa Ynez mountains. He herdng a big
bunch Of cattle there. with the help Of half a
dozen buckayros. one afternoon they located
grizzly, and ran him into a field Of chaIniso
brush which covered the centre of the mountain
fat
All Of the outfit were well mounted and eager
for a bear roping contest, which their IA
vorite diversion No amount OF yelling would
persuade the grizzly to leave cover. and one Of
the buckayros, a daredevil Mexican, offered to
go in and drive him out. He disrnounted and
entered the brush, while the others gathered
around. riatas in hand, ready to rope in the bear
the moment he appeared
The Mexican had not gone twenty yards into
the chaniso before his friends heard tremen-
dous growing and the rush of some heavy body
through the brush The next moment the Mexi-
can shot out from the middle Of the patch as
though sent from a. He was thrown
fully six feet above the top OF the thick brush
ard in falling back spread himself out in such
a way that the boughs supported him
The grizzly. not understanding the sudden dis
eppearance Of his enemy was rushing about
thoroughly angerec- 1t was only a question OF