The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-08-06
HAD LUCKY ESCAPE
HUNTER, ARMED ONLY WITH
SHOTGUN, MET GRIZZLY.
Fierce Attack of the Monarch of the
Woods Met with Discharge Of the
Weapon and the Monster Fell
Dead-Perfect Specimen Of It's
Species.

A 12-bore shotgun was the weapon
carried by F. x. King and 1903 re-
peating Savage was the armed equip
ment of his partner, N. P. Peterson,
when they went prospecting in
Homestake creeksAt the base Of the
Sawtooth mountains, lin Alaska. The
men are proprietors of the Nugget
roadhouse across the Nome divide.
After walk of several miles they
sighted bear tracks and little later
came upon grizzly. Peterson
dropped to one knee, took steady
aim and fired. The bullet struck.
but not in vital spot, and with a
sroWl of rage and pain the wounded
bear gave a spring over the cliffs
and rolled almost to the bottom, sons
three hundred feet below, where she
regained' her footing and vanished
among the rocks. Chagrined at the
failure, Peterson turned and was hor.
rified at seeing another grizzly, about
twice as large as the other, spring
upon his partner, Mr.. King, and was
more Mortified when he remembered
that his was the only available gun.
and as the magazine was out of re-
pair could only be reloaded by remov-
ing the empty shell by hand. When
the bear sprang at King the latter,
with habitual presence of mind in
herent in the backwoods hunter,
thrust his shotgun into the face of
his assailant, which was advancing
with open mouth and extended claws.
In the twinkling of an eye the. bear
had grasped the muzzle of the gun in
his teeth and was crunching the gun
barrel. Towering two feet higher
than King, the latter realized that
the only hope for him was to pull
the trigger and maybe stop the beast
until his partner could reload the old
rifle, or until they could procure safe
ty by flight. A loud report, a sullen
roar and the bear gave spring in
the air and fell to the ground.
The men beat quick retreat, and
after covering considerable ground.
turned, and were surprised to see the
bear still lying on the spot where it
had fallen. They waited for a few
minutes, in the meantime reloading
the rifle, the shotgun being broken at
the stock and the muzzle left in the
mouth of the bear.
After throwing several rocks from
a safe distance they ventured nearer
and found the bear stone dead.
The men went back for sled, and
after several hours managed to get
the bear to the Nugget roadhouse,
and then started for Nome with nine
strong dogs to draw the heavy load.
1t took them three days to reach the
Sour Dough roadhouse, where the
bears remains were put in cold stor-
age. The big brute was taken to
Nome and placed on exhibition at
the Golden Gate hotel. It is a per.
feet specimen of the grizzly, and the
skin is a beautiful one. The bear.
disemboweled, weighs nearly 600
pounds. The skin was sold for $125.
and the meat was purchased by local
restaurants at a dollar a pound.
A remarkable thing was the enor'
nous power of the jaws shown by
the deep indentations made in the
barrel of the gun by the bears teeth.
not only the barrel being bent, but
marks were made in the steel con-
Meeting pieceyabout one-fourth of an
inch deep.