The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-12-03

0E9@gnG nome &@ G@@Es &AAk0@4 W 90
q tree and, to the dehght and aR1ase-
naent OF the younger generation. kept
is Cor some tma.
In the course Of time the bear took
a molten to make 8 meal OF OF one
Of NathAn's calves. There was o tar
rife struggle under the tree, to which
the unfortunate bovine had wandered.
In the midst Of 1t Dempsey came
home. BE entered the nght and soon
found himself graphing with the
bear. who, having had o taste Of blood,
was OF q mind to put % his place
this human who was about to come
between his bearship and a ~succulent
dinner. The bear wa@ Choked to death
by Dempsey with bis bare hands.
Wac a e~uperman.
"Uncle Dave" Angel, 8 Civil war
veteran now eighty-twO years old. was
a boy Of ten when Nathan was in his
prime. He saw him make his famous
charge with the fence rail. That was
when some Of the neighborhOOd boys
undertook to accomplish by force Of
numbers what not n OF them could
do single-handed. When the fracas was
over, there were a large number OF
fellows in sore need OF a doctor and
a nurse. But Nathan himself still
stood upon his two feet, with no Wis
ible marks Of violence upon him.
II never saw such a man," Uncle
Dave says. "Why, he was a giant. He
was a superman. There wasn't q man
In all western North Carolina that
could whip him. I guess there were
not FIVE all put together that could
have done It. Johnny McPeters, an
unusually strong man, challenged
Dempsey to a fight once But the bat
tie never came of. Dempsey knocked
Daddy Mac unconscious In the mean
time and McPeters never set a definite
date for the encounter"
A few relics Of old Nathan still are
left at BurnsvilIe. There is the bear
tree on the land Of James r. Hyatt
the public square where the majority
Of the fights were held, now beauttfed
and modernized and with paved streets
leading through II, and the site OF the
Dempsey cabin, now buried some
where under the Miller hotel, where
the ancient logs serve to form the
supports for one Of the inner walls
Yancey county in those days included
what is now Avery, Mitchell, Madison
and the present Yancey county. Bui
the memory Of this mighty man re
mains clear IN the minds Of thOs'
who knew him-then boys of ten ant
twelve years, who drank with aviditl
the stories OF the prowess Of thi
mighty fellow.
"YOu just couldn't hurt him." Uncb
Dave declares.
But apparently he could be pegtered
Enough of one thing, evidently. wa
enough. When the crowd ganged hir
one day in the belief that cO-opers
ton might accomplish what individus
bravery had not, Dempsey reache
down and got a fence rail in one han
and charged into the crowd Of hi
tormentors. A short time thereafte
the injured were carried home by thei
friends. Dempsey was not anon
them. The fence rail was ruined "a
any purpose except to be used as Or,
wood. Uncle Dave Witnessed this hgf
with his own eyes.
In all his career, however, Dempse
never killed a man, and never beat hi
wife. This last was unusual, for ives
ern North Carolina was a wild plaS
, In those days, and not much fuss we
, raised about a little thing like wifi
beating, according to Uncle Dav
Mrs. Dempsey, he says, was a tir
I the happiest one in all Yancey count
d Nathan was good to her. Rough touf
? he may have been, he left his nghtiE
and drinking of when he went HON
q Or perhaps he was under the san
[ sort Of dominion that some Of US
: the present day are. The battle do
not always go to the strong, especial
I when a woman takes q hand In It.
What Nathan Dempsey followed
q business nobody remembers. "Y,
I wouldn't hardly expect Us boys to I
Y member what he did. We were int
ested in his lighting" they say arOul
Burnsville. And they are still tai
d ing about 1t after IS years, partiC
L larly since they have learned that t
o redoubtable Jack has accepted him
bis grandfather.