The L'Anse sentinel., 1922-12-22

place on nigh limD, stretched nim-
self. scratched at his fur, then began
to steal down the limb. He had long
way to go before dark. Hunting was
getting poor In this part of the woods.
He believed he would wander down
toward Hudson's camp and look for
crayfish in the water. A coyote is
usually listed among the larger forest
creatures, but early though the hour
was--early. that Is, for hunters to be
out--he was stalking a fawn In a
covert.
All the hunts were progressing ia
mously when there came curious in
terruption. 1t was a peculiar growl,
quite low at first. It lasted a long
time, then died away. There was no
opposition to 1t. The forest creatures
had paused In their tracks at Its first
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. II rose and
gathered volume until 1t was almost a
roar. 1t carried through the sllences
In great waves of sound. And In 1t
was a sense Of resistless power; no
creature in the forest but what knew
this fact.
"The Gray King" one could Imagine
them saying among themselves. The
effect was instantaneous. The little
raccoon halted in his descent. then
crept out to the end of limb. The
coyote an instant before crawling
with body close to the earth, whipped
about as 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 off 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
bull 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
real 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
tion. They tumbled awkwardly dowf
the hill to get out Of his way. Fol
the massive gray form-weighing ovel
half ton-was none other than tha
Of the last Of the grizzly bears, tha
terrible forest hunter and monarch
the Killer himself.
Long ago, when Oregon was a new
land to white men, In the days Of thu
clipper ships and the Old Oregon
Trail, 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
worthy breedl If the words Of GER
tain old men could be believed, the
southern Oregon grizzly occasionally
in the bountiful fall days, attained q
weight of two thousand pounds. NJ
doubt whatever remains that thou
sand-pound bears were numerous.
But unlike the little black bears, tn,
grizzlies developed displeasing habits
They were much more carnivorous II
character than the blacks, and theil
great bodily strength and power en-
abled them to master all Of the myriat
forms Of game in the Oregon woods
BY the same token, they could take [
full-grown steer and carry 1t off as |
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 tn,
grizzlies or yielding the valleys t,
them. In the relentless war that fol
lowed, the breed had been PRACTICAL.
wiped out. A few of them, perhaps
fed farther and farther up the Cas-
cades, finding refugees In the Canadian
mountains. Others travelled east, 10
eating at last in the Rocky noun
tains, and countless numbers Of then
died. At last, as far as the frontiers
men knew, only one great specimel
remained This was a famous bea
that men called Slewfoot--a magnifl
cent animal that ranged far an
hunted relentlessly, and no one eve
knew just when they were going t
run across him. He was apt suddenl
to loom up, like a gray cliff, at an
turn in the trail, and his disposition
grew querulous with age. In fact, II
stead Of fleeing as most wild creature
/. have learned to do, he was rathe
likely to make sudden and unexpecte
, charges.
J He was killed at last; and seen
, ingly the southern oregon grizzlie
were wiped out. But 1t is rather eas
. to believe that in some Of his wande
} lngs he ncountered--lost and far |
: the deepest heart Of the land calle