Cheyenne Wells record., 1922-11-02

I,lace on a high limb, stretched him
self. scratched at his fur, then began
TO steal down the limb. He had Yong
way to 20 before dark. Hunting was
getting poor In this part OF the WOODS.
he believed he would wander down
toward Hudson's camp and look Tor
crayfish in the water. A coyoteiis'
usually listed among the larger forest
creatures, but early though the hour
was--early, that Ia for hunters to be
out-he was stalking a fawn IN q
covert.
All the hunts were progressing ia
mously when there came curious In
terruption. 1t was a peculiar growl
quite low at first. 1t lasted q long
time, then died away. There was no
opposition to It. The forest creatures
had paused in their tracks at its nrst
note. and now they stood as II the
winter had come down upon them sud
denly and frozen them solid. All the
other sounds Of the forest-the little
whispering noises of gliding bodies
and fluttering feet, and perhaps q
birds call in shrub-were suddenly
stilled. There was moment Of
breathless suspense. Then the sound
commenced again.
II was louder this time. 1t rose and
gathered volume until 1t was almost q
roar. It carried through the silences
in great waves of sound. And In 1t
was a sense of reslstless power: NO
creature in the forest but what knew
this fact.
1.-THE Gray King" one could imagine
them saying among themselves The
effect was instantaneous. The little
raccoon halted In his descent. then
crcpt out to the end Of limb. The
coyote, an instant before crawling
with body close to the earth. whipped
about MS II he had some strange kind
of circular spring inside Of him. He
snarled once In the general direction
Of the Gray King. Then he lowered
his head and skulked of deeper into
the coverts.
The blacktail deer. the gray wolf.
even the stately Tawny One, stretched
in grace in his lair. wakened from
sleep. The languor died quickly in
the latter's eyes. leaving only fear.
These were braver than the Little
People. They waited until the thick
brush, not far distant from where the
hull elk slept, began to break down
and part before an enormous, gray
body.
No longer would an observer think
Of the elk as the forest monarch. He
was but pretender, after all. The
renl king had Just wakened from his
afternoon nap and was starting forth
to hunt.
Even his little cousins, the black
bears, did not wait to make conversa-
ton. They tumbled awkwardly down
the hill to get out Of his way. For
the massive gray form-weighing over
half ton-was none other than that
Of the last of the grizzly bears, that
terrible forest hunter and monarch,
the Killer himself.
Long ago, when Oregon was new
land to white men, In the days Of the
clipper ships and the Old Oregon
Trnil. the breed to which the Killer be-
lOnged were really numerous through
the little corner north Of the Siskiyous
and west Of the Cascades. They were
a worthy breed! II the words Of GER
tain old men could be believed. the
southern Oregon grizzly occasionally,
In the bountiful fall days, attained
weight of two thousand pounds. No
doubt whatever remains that thou
sand.pound bears were numerous.
| E4,,f ,,Svilrn thm ll<<v~ Ma 49,
grizzlies developed displeasing habits.
They were much more carnivoroui' in
character than the blacks. and their
great bodily strength and power en-
abled them to master all Of the myriad
forms Of game In the Oregon woods.
BY the same token, they could take a
full-grown steer and carry It Of a. q
woman carries her baby.
1t couldn't be endured. The cattle
men had begun to settle the valleys,
and 1t was either case Of killing the
grizzlies or yielding the valleys to
them. In the relentless war that fol.
lowed. the breed had been practically
wiped out. A few Of them, perhaps,
fled farther and farther up the Cas-
cades, finding refugees in the Canadian
mountains. Others Travelled east, To-
eating at last In the Rocky noun.
tains, and countless numbers Of them
died. At last, as far as the frontiers
men knew, only one great specimen
remained. This was famous bear
that men called Slewfoot-a mamifi-
cent animal that ranged far and
hunted relentlessly, and no one ever
knew just when they were going to
run across him. He was apt suddenly
to loom up, like gray cliff, at any
turn In the trail, and his disposition
grew querulous with age. In fact, In
stead Of fleeing as most wild creatures
have learned to do. he was rather
likely to make sudden and unexpected
charges.
He was killed at last; and SEEM
| inR1y the HOufhorn nrooon o,v,,,,sa.