The Ronan pioneer., 1917-08-03
HUGH GLASS, MONTANA PIONEER WHO FOUGHT DEATH THROUGH
WILDERNESS TO AvEM@E HIMSELF ON MEM WHO HIM

Here and there over Montana may
be found pioneers of the state, form
er employees of the American Fur
company. who relate the story of the
adventures of Hugh Glass, whose es-
cape from savage Indians and other
perils of the plains surpasses the
widest imaginative flights of fiction
writer's and made his name a house
hold word among the scattered white
population of what it now Montana
in the fur trapping days. His remark
able story is we'll authenticated, hav-
ing been investigated by numerous
writer's of the period, and the details
were we'll known to many pioneers.
Hugh Glass escape from grizzly
bear and the subsequent astonishing
experiences that had form a classic
in the story OF Montana adventure.
All that is known of his early history
is that he was born in Pennsylvania,
and that he was called an "old man"
as early as 1924. The first real
knowledge of him that has been
handed down came in 1922, when he
became member of the Ashley and
Henry expedition to the Yellowstone
river to establish trading posts
After taking part in several In
dian battles, Glass was chosen by
Major Henry as one of party to
travel to the Yellowstone river. Their
route lay up Grand river through a
country interspersed with thickets Of
brushwood. AS they depended on
hunting game for their food, it was
necessary to keep one or two hunters
ahead of the party, and Glass was
chosen for this work. On the fifth
day out he was short distance in
front of the party, forcing his way
through thicket, when he suddenly
came on grizzly bear which reared
its huge bulk in front of him.
Attacked by Grizzly.
Before he could "set his triggers"
or even turn to fly, he was seized by
the throat by the bear and lifted
from the ground Then, flinging
him down, the ferocious ami
NAL buried her fangs in his
flesh and sought to tear him
limb from limb to feed her
cubs, which were near by
Glass companion had ap-
peared by this time and was
making war on the cubs with
a club when one of them
drove him into the river,
where, standing waist deep
in the water, he killed the
cub with a shot. The main
body of the expedition now
came up, and after firing
several shots killed the She
bear as she was standing Z
over Glass PROSTATE body. I
Although he was still
alive, it did not seem posi-
BILE that Glass could live, as
his whole body was terribly ii
mangled. He was unable to
move and suffered excruciat-
ing pain. There was no sur =,
gical aid to be he'd and it
was impossible to move him.
Delaying the party might
mean disaster, yet the lead
ers refused to leave the suf- ii
ferer alone. In this predica- 4,
ment, Major Henry succeed ~
ed, by offering a reward of
$82, in getting two men to
remain with Glass until he
should die or recover suffi-
ciently to be moved to one of
the trading posts.
These men remained with
Glass five days, when, be-
lieving that he could not re-
cover and at the same time
seeing no prospects of his
immediate death, they cruel =
ly abandoned him, taking
with them his rifle and all
of his effects, so that he was
left without means of de- u
fense, food or shelter. They MI
then set out after the rest of
the party, and when they
had overtaken them, report
ed that Glass had died and
that they had buried him.
Glass Lives for Revenge.
But Glass, when he real
lied the tre.chery of his
companions, made up him
mind to live in spite of ev-
erything, if, for nothing else,
to have revenge on his be- II
trayers. There was small n
spring near by, and he "
crawled painfully to it. Over
it hung a few bushes with A Grizzl
wild cherries, and close
by were other bushes with buffalo
berries that he could reach. Here he
remained day after day, gradually
back his strength until he
felt he could travel.
With wonderful fortitude he set
out for Fort Kiowa, a post on the
Missouri river 100 miles away. He
was hardly able to drag one limb aft
er the other, with no provisions nor
means of securing any and in hos
tile country, but the deep purpose of
hold him I'm and finally he |