Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1922-10-05

OF untamed passions and blOOdshed,
strife and carnage and lust and rap
Inc; and It didn't, unfortunately, have
particularly happy ending. The
players were beasts, not men. The
only human being anywhere in the
near vicinity was the old trapper,
Hudson, following down his trap line
on the creek margin on the way to
his camp. 1t is true that two other
men, with q rather astounding SINH.
larity Of purpose. were at present COM
Ing down two Of the long trails that
led to the region; but as vet the
drama was hidden from their eyes.
One Of the two was Bruce, coming
from Linda's cabin. One was Dave
Turner. approaching from the direc-
ton Of the Ross estates Turner was
much the nearer. Curiously, both had
business with the trapper Hudson.
The action Of the play was calm at
first. Mostly the forest creatures
were still in their afternoon sleep.
The does and their little spotted
fawns were sleeping; the blacktail
deer had not yet sought the feeding
grounds on the ridges. The cougar
yawned in his lair, the wolf dozed In,
his covert, even the poison-people lay
like long shadows on the hot rocks:
An old raccoon wakened from his
place on high limb, stretched him
self, scratched at his fur, then began
to steal down the limb. He had a long
way to 90 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
crayf1sh 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
covert.
All the hunts were progressing IA
mously when there came curious In
terruption. It was a peculiar growl,
quite low at first. It lasted a long.
time, then died away. There was no
opposition to it. The forest creatures
had paused in their tracks at its first
note, and now they stood as IL 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 a
birds call in a shrub-were suddenly
stilled. There was moment Of
breathless suspense. Then the sound
commenced again.
1t was louder this time. Il rose and
gathered volume until 1t was almost
roar. It carried through the silences
In great waves Of sound. And in it
was a sense Of resistless power; no
creature in the forest but what knew
this fact.
'The Gray King" one conld imagine
them saying among themselves. The.
effect was instantaneous. The little
raccoon halted in his descent, then
crept out to the end Of. a 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 Cray 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 drawer 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 Weakened from his
afternoon nap and was starting, forth
to hunt. a 4. E: fs
Even his little cousins, the black.
bears, did not wait to make CONVERSE
ton. They tumbled awkwardly down
the hill to get out Of his way. For
the massive gray form weighing over
half t6n-was none other than that
Of the last Of the grizzly bears, that
terrible forest hunter and monarch,
the Killer himself.
- - q 80
Long ago, when Oregon was "a new
land to white men, In the days OF the
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,
a worthy. breed! Il the words Of GER.
tain old men could be believed, the.
southern Oregon grizzly occasionally,
IN the bounttfll fall days, attained u
weight Of two thousand pounds. No
doubt whatever remains that thou
and-pound bears were numerous.
But unlike the little black bears, the
grizzlies developed displeasing habits.
They were much more carnivorouss ID
character than the blacks, and their
great bodily strength and power ems,
abled them to master all Of the myriad
forms Of game In the Oregon woods.
BY the same token, they could take a
Ga ri 4 - ~