The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1923-01-04

self, scratched at his fur, then began
10 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 hunt were progressing Ia
mously when there came a curious In
corruption. 1t was a peculiar growl,
quite low at first. II lasted q long
time, then died away. There was no
opposition To II. The forest creatures
had paused In their tracks at Its first
note, and now they stood rs IL the
winter mad come down upon them sud
denly and frozen them solid. All the
other sounds Of the forest-the little
whispering noises at gliding bodies
and ~tIuttering feet. and perhaps a
birds call in a shrub-were suddenly
stilled. There was a moment OF
breathless suspense. Then the sound
commenced again.
II was louder this time. II rose and
gathered volume until il was almost a
II carried through the siIences
in great waves of sound. And In II
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
ruccoon halted In his descent. then
crept out 10 the end of a limb. The
coyote, an instant before crawling
with body close to the earth. whipped
about rs IL 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 sku!ked Off deeper into
the coyerts.
The blacktail deer. the gray wolf.
even the stately Tawny One, stretched
in grace I'm his lair. Weakened from
sleep. The languor died quickly in
ihe ~iutter'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 hut a pretender. after all. The
afternoon nap and was starting forth
to hunt.
Even his little cousins, the black
bears, did not wait to make v
tion. They tumbled awkwardly down
the hill TO get out Of his way. For
the massive gray form-weighing over
half a ton-was none other than that
OF the last Of the grizzly bears, that
terrible forest hunter and monarch,
the Killer himself.
SO
L.ons age, when Oregon wis 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 r north OF the SiSkiyous
and west Of the Cascades. They were
u worthy breed! IL the words of GER
tain old men could be believed. the
southern Oregon grizzly occasionally,
in the bountiful fall days. attainetiaa
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 displeaslng habits.
They were much more carnivorous 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 n
full.grown steer and carry II off as .
woman carries her baby.
II couldn't he endured. The cattle
men had begun to settle the valleys,
and 1t 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 sfarther 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 IA famous bear
hat men called Slewfoot-a magnlfi-
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 q gray cliff. at any
turn In the trail. and his disposition
grew querulous with age. I'm fact, in
stead Of fleeing as most wild creatures
have learned to do. he vas rather
likely to make sudden and unexpected
charges.
He was killed at last and SEEM
ingly the southern Oregon grizzlies
were wiped out. But 1t Is rather easy
to believe that In some of his wander
ings he encOuntered-lost and far in
the deepest heart OF the land called
Trails End-a female Of his own
breed. There must have been cubs
who. In their turn, mated and fought
and died. and perhaps two generations