Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1922-10-06


70 steal down fhe limb He lad 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
crsyfish In the water. coyote Is
usually listed among the larger forest
creatures. but early though the hour
was--eariy. that is. for hunters TO be
Out-he was stalking fawn In a
covert
All the hunts were progressing IA
mOusly when there came a curious in
ferruption. IL was peculiar growl,
quite low at first II lasted a long
time, then died away. There was no
opposition TO H. 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 futtering feet, and perhaps a
birds call In shrub-were suddenly
stilled There was a moment OF
breathless suspense. Then the sound
commenced again
II was louder this time 1t rose and
gathered volume until 1t was almost
roar. II carried through the silences
in great waves of sound And in it
was sense Of resistIess 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 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
snaried once in the general direction
Of the Gray King. Then he lowered
his head and skulked Off deeper into
the coverts.
The blacktai1 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 a pretender, after all. The
real king had Just Weakened from his
afternoon nap and was starting forth
70 hunt
Even his little cousins. the black
bears. did not wait to make CONVERSE
ton. They tumbled awkwardly down
the hill 10 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 a new
land TO white men. in the days Of the
clipper ships and the Old Oregon
Trail. the breed 10 which the Killer be-
Ionged 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 bountifuI fall days attained a
weight of two thousand pounds. No
doubt whatever remains that thou
sand-pound bears were numerous
But unlike the little black bears. the
grizzlies developed dispIeasing habits
They were much more carnivorous in
character than the blacks. and their
great bodily strength and power an
abled them TO master all of the myriad
forms Of game in the Oregon woods.
BY the same token. they could take a
fun-grown steer and carry il of as
woman carries her baby.
II couldn't be endured. The cattle
men had begun 10 settle the valleys.
and IT was either a 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.
fed farther and farther up the Cas-
cades. finding refugees in the Canadian
mountains. Others travelled east. To-
eating al 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 a famous bear
that men called SlewfOOt-a magnif-
cent animal that ranged far and
hunted relentlessly. and no one ever
knew just when they were going 10
run across him. He was apt suddenly
10 loom up. like a gray elf. az any
turn in the trail. and his disposition
grew querulous with age. In fact. in
sfead Of fleeing as most wild creatures
have learned 10 DO. be was rather
likely 10 make sudden and unexpected
charges.
He was killed at last; aud seem
inzly the southern Oregon grizzlies
were wiped our. Buf it is rather easy