Victor Krochovsky

Photograph of Victor Krochovsky in the Valentine Mob's camp outside of Rhodes. Photograph taken by Stanley Shelton in 1898

### Aliases

VickBear Killer

Bear Eater

### Relatives

Nastasya Krochovsky (Mother)Yuri Krochovsky (Father)

Antonina Medvedev (Sister)

Rudo Krochovsky (Brother)

Igor Krochovsky (Brother)

Cuprian Krochovsky (Brother)

## Prologue

Victor (Center) at Van Horn with Stanley Shelton (Left) and Dr. Klaus Gardner (Right) in 1898

Victor Yurianovich Krochovsky was born on an unknown date in March, 1865 to a wandering peasant family in Yekaterinburg, Russia. His father was a foreman at a local mine and his mother supported their family at home by caring for him and his many siblings, including his older brother and sister. His parents were both steadfast anti-imperialists and believed that the Romanov Dyansty would bring about the downfall of Russia. In the 1850s Victor's father lost his job as a repairman at the local dockyard, and so the family decided to move from their small home in St. Petersburg to Yekaterinburg, the farthest east they could possibly travel. This was primarily because of the better job opportunities that came with a wild frontier, but also to avoid the repercussions that came with their radical political opinions. From as soon as he was able to read and write, Victor was taught to shoot, skin, sew, and survive in the wilderness, all things that people living in Siberia must know. As soon as Victor turned 10 his father brought him to the mines to work with him and help support the family. While here, Victor was introduced to early steam engines that were being used to operate heavy machinery and minecarts, which carried coal out of the mine. He became fascinated with these machines and how they worked, and studied them very carefully, often accompanying the mine's head engineer to watch him take engines apart and rebuild them. One day while he was walking to work, which was many miles from his house, he took a wrong turn and got lost down a trail in the middle of the woods. He spent 2 days trying to find his way back before a bear came out of the woods and began angrily heading toward him. He took a revolver that his father had given him just in case something like that happened and shot the bear 5 times, swiftly killing it. Victor, having been starved for 2 days now, took his knife and cut the bear open, eating the raw meat and using the bear fur to stay warm. This act would earn him the name "Bear Killer" among local townsfolk, and later "Bear Eater" among the Pawnee people. He was rescued soon after however, as a local trapper heard the gunshots and informed the townsfolk, who had already sent out search parties to look for him. In the late 1870s, his family packed up and once again moved to Vladivostok, a growing coastal city near the Pacific Ocean that a family friend had told them about, that was supposedly free from Imperial rule entirely. While there, he was made an official apprentice to Grigory Makov, a local expert in machinery and the small town's main engineer. This position allowed him to get a job that he had long desired, engineer on a steam locomotive. He got a job tending to boilers on steam locomotives at the Vladivostok train station, learning everything he could about the machines.

Victor atop Mount Shann, one of his favorite places to visit. Photograph taken by Stanley Shelton in 1897.

## Move to America

His job as an official engineer would last long though, as Tsar Alexander II's authoritarian policies finally reached the town, and Victor's family was forced to flee yet again to evade capture. Victor and his brother Rudo were the first to leave, hopping a trade vessel headed for San Diego. Aboard the ship, they were discovered by a Chinese fisherman who shared sympathy with their position, and offered them food. When they finally arrived in San Diego they gave the Chinese man any money that had left, which amounted to 72 rubles. The two brothers, now penniless, sought to make a living for themselves. Rudo got a job tending tables at a local bar and Victor used his prior knowledge with machines to act as head engineer aboard a train line running from San Diego to San Antonio. As soon as they had saved up enough money, Rudo and Victor sent for their family to come move to America with them. They bought a small piece of land in Nebraska from a local who was in desperate need of more money and was selling everything he had, and a majority of the family moved there, except for Rudo and Cuprian, who stayed to continue making money. In 1885, they moved too. Victor was the only one who remained in San Diego, and continued sending a majority of the money he made to his family, saving only enough to get by and never really making enough money to buy a stagecoach ticket to Nebraska. In 1886, while he was doing one of his inspections of the train he was helping to operate, he stumbled across Juaquin Juarrez and Julio de la Sol, who were hiding from the Mexican Military in the train car. Victor remembered what the Chinese man had done for him and how he would not have been able to survive without him, so he showed them the same kindness and gave them cans of food that were stored aboard the train. Victor learned that the two were outlaws headed for San Antonio, but told them to hop off in the small town of Tumbleweed instead, as it would be easier to hide out there. Victor, sensing he could finally make a handsome fortune and join his family very easily if he tagged along with these bandits, decided to join them, and hopped off with them near Benedict Pass.