Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1916-12-25

shot he fell and the dogs piled in on
him, but he was up instantly, and
before old Lion could get out of the
way he had him. Trailer was swing
ing to his ham, but he paid no atten-
tion to him. / bore down closer and
strung the bullets as fast as could
work the lever, and he had to let go,
and at it they went again. They had
him rearing, plunging and tearing
around until it seemed like | couldn't
get in a dead shot to save my life.
Trailer did some Of the best work |
ever saw him do in all my hunting,
and once when l got in close he got
them entirely loose. Here he came
straight at me, mouth open, ears laid
back and hair all up the wrong way.
The dogs were both behind him, in
line, and ! dare not shoot, so l ran
back several steps to get to a tree,
but it was not necessary. They both
had him in little or no time and
swung him around. AS they let go
to get but of the way let drive
again. Over he went, down the hill,
and landed in a flat place next to the
gulch and brought up in bunch of
brush. Here he regained his feet
again, and, backing up so the dogs
could not get around behind him,
he stayed right there and stood them
off. All they could do was to bark
in his face. I got around now and
crossed the gulch above and came on
the other hillside above him, and
thought / would take my time and
shoot him in the head. 1t had been
several minutes since l fired the last
shot, and l had fired every cartridge
but had not discovered that fact, but
my sister at homo had kept count,
and when she heard the fifteenth
shot she ran for her horse and was
coming across the field as fast as
she could. This / did not know, of
course, and when | got around to
where l could get fair, square shot
I pulled up. took good bead on the
side of the head, and snap went the
gun. / thought | had forgotten to
load. Down and up went the lever,
and snap again. I suddenly realized
I was up against it. There was.
good trail going down the gulch, and
| lit out down this trail, but had not
gone far until saw my sister COM
ing on a dead run. went out and
met her at the fence, took the box OF
cartridges and hurried back. When
| got back l thought l would try one
shot for the bears heart, so l pulled
in behind the shoulder and shot. l
hit him square in the heart, but still
he did not succumb for several min
utes and / had to give him another
in the head and he rolled over The
dogs were too much exhausted to
even touch him, but both of them lay
down and painted for long time be-
fore they would start home. AS l
said before, this was one Of the larg-
est black bears ever saw. He was
coal black, with large white spot in
his breast, and white with fat. When
we came to skin him we found that
he was literally riddled with bullets.
It took the dogs several days to
get over this scrap, but they got rest
ed up, and one morning when l got
up they were gone again. That af-
ternoon got on my horse and took
the same old route. l followed the
ridge clear back to the head of Sterl-
ing creek, then down to Griffin creek
and down that creek and home, and
no dogs. l got up the next morning
and no dogs. rode the country
over that day, over in back of Jack
sonville, Poor Mans creek, and got
back late in the evening, half expect
ing to find them at home, but in this
was disappointed. l was getting
pretty uneasy now, and | lay awake
a long time that night, studying the
matter over. At last / made up my
mind that I would go up Griffin
creek until 1t made the bend towards
Sterling, then turn east and go up
the ridge towards the head of Cole
man creek. Having decided, / was
anxious for morning to come, so at
daylight / had breakfast and was off.
| went the route I had planned, and
along about 10 o'clock had got away
up on top of the mountain. When l
made the turn l stopped and listened.
At first l could hear nothing, but
waited, somewhat disappointed, and
at last was rewarded by the sound OF
Trailer's voice, the old familiar bow,
WOW, WOW. Well, now, listen to me.
Hundreds and thousands, and might
say millions, remember how they felt
when they heard Wilson was elected
after hearing positively that Hughes
had been elected. Well, multiply that
feeling by ten and you will have a