The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-12-18
HERE IS SOME BEAR
STORY
e1y1JNN
A FAMOUS NATURALIST TELLS
HOW He NAILED FIVE GRIz-
lilies IN A BUNCH.

Spokane. Wash.. Dec. III shall
never forget the frs; time saw the
trail of q grizzly bear, If for no other
reason than that for several years it
and its maker interested me. cost me
many excr:ions. brought me amounted
disappointments. and, finally. figured
In the most successful encounter /
ever had with bears
William II. Wright. naturalist and
grizzly bear hunter Of Spokane. who
has spent a quarter Of century in
western forests studying what he calls
.the noblest wild animal of North
America made the foregoing obser-
walton rs an introduction To a story
Of his early experiences In the Clear
water country. southeast of Spokane
where he brought down u quintet of
grizzlies with five shots in us many
minutes.
The veteran, who Is familiar with
every range of mountains i'm which
Ursus horribilis Is found. from Alaska
to Mexico. utterly upset d lot of pre-
conceived notions rs to the sort Of
''critter' he found the grizzly to be in
his native Wild. discrediting. too.
great deal OF the material received
from the old-fashioned hunter with
reference to the animals vindicfive
fierceness and marvellous endurance.
He also put down the legend that the
grizzly could not be killed with
single shot. attributing this to the lack
OF power I'm the guns and ammunition
employed in the carly days. He has
killed scores Of bears with single
al rafr IInra f. re-.
greatest feats In the Idaho woods in
his own words:
THE trail in the canyon was n hun
dred feet wide and had been worn by
an old and large animal The ground
on the sides of the gully was too hard
TO show his footprints, but. coming
and going. he always seemed to cross
at the same spot. and | thought it
would be an easy matter to watch the
trail and shoot the bear However.
after watching for week. off and on.
and seeing nothing. concluded the
bear had abandoned the trail. and so
! dismissed the matter from my mind.
However, a few weeks later. in
passing the spot again. saw fresh
tracks. and knowing that the bear was
still I'm the vicinity. resumed my
watching. but without result. Then
tried still-hunting the canyon II
crawled through every thicket and
looked into every place where L.
thought bear could hide, but aside
from 14-inch track and d few hairs
that lie would leave sticking TO trees
as he passed l saw nothing that |
looked like bear; in fact. | was al /
most willing To swear that no grizzly /
had ever inhabited the canyon
For two years continued at in
tersais to see the big tracks in this !
canyon. but not once did | see the /
bear. Finally. having gained wider ,
knowledge and experience. / made up
my mind that. If such a thing We're !
possible. ! would at least SET eyes on
him. and ! got man IT, go with me
to look after the camp and horses 50
! would have nothing to do but hunt. |
We made camp about two miles from
the canyon. and my first excursion !
showed me that my old friend with
the big feet was still In evidence.
The upper edges of this canyon
were heavily timbcrcd. and above this |
timber on one hand stretched an open
hillside facing the south. Near the /
head of the canyon this hillside was
cut into by many small rasines. and |
along the edges between these the saf- +
Wis berry grew.
As | had never succeeded i'm get
ting sight of the bear I'm the canyon
itself. l decided to watch the hillside
and perhaps catch him as he came out
To feed: SO | selected IA point which
commanded view al the whole hill. I
and every morning from daylight until t
10 o'clock found mo on the lookout
Ssa N..I fs4 Ia
and from ) o'clock until dark | was
In the same place.
Day after day passed AMI brought /
no bear. and at last the camp tender.
while he did not say right aut that /
he thought | was lacoea.' intimatea /
II broadly For his part, he said. lac .
did not believe there was bear In I
the whole countrs..