WEBVTT - Ep. 282: Bear Grease Time Machine 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:08.520 On this episode released on Christmas Day twenty twenty four, 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.320 We're going back to revisit some iconic moments in the 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:15.480 last three and a half years of the Bear Grease podcast. 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:18.640 When I thought about what moments stood out to me, 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:21.759 I quickly just rattled off five right in a row 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:25.479 without really even thinking about it. So today we're gonna 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:30.560 hear clips from Arizona cowboy Warner Glenn. We're gonna hear 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:34.080 from ninety year old East Tennessee bear hunter Britt Davis. 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.240 It's number two. We're gonna hear the account of Erskine's 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:42.680 death in eighteen forty one from a bear attack. The 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:46.080 fourth one, we're gonna hear from Stony Edwards talking about 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:50.720 the murder of his great uncle Carl Edwards. And lastly, 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:55.080 we're gonna hear a clip from the Donnie Baker episode 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:59.440 Donnie's from Missouri, and it's him talking about the moment 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:02.720 that he is legally killed a two hundred and nine 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:06.760 inch white tail. It's like the Bear Grease time machine. 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:09.640 We're gonna go back and it's gonna be a lot 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.119 of fun. And I really doubt that you're gonna want 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:15.480 to miss this one. And while you're listening, I'd like 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:18.959 to ask a favor of you. Email us at bear 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:22.560 Grease at the Meat Eater dot com and tell us 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:35.479 your favorite bear Grease moment. My name is Klay Nukem 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:39.119 and this is the bear Grease Podcast, where we'll explore 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:43.919 things forgotten but relevant, search for insight and unlikely places, 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:47.640 and where we'll tell the story of Americans who live 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:52.720 their lives close to the land. Presented by FHF Gear, 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:57.960 American made purpose built hunting and fishing gear that's designed 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:00.760 to be as rugged as the place that's we explore. 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:11.560 Warner Glenn is an eighty nine year old rancher from 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:15.520 southeast Arizona who's made his living as a cattleman on 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:20.440 his Malpie ranch, of which his southern fence line is 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:24.560 the US Mexican border. No kidding. Warner Glenn is also 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:28.240 a houndsman and a legendary dry ground mountain lion hunter. 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.400 Dry ground meaning they're hunting in the desert without snow. 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:34.680 That's why I knew him. He's got to be one 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:37.959 of the oldest still working line hunters and cowboys left 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:41.720 in America, known to put on twenty five hundred plus 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:45.880 miles per year on his mule. Even today, Warner is 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:49.840 one of the most humble, toughest, and hardest working men 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.680 that I have ever interfaced with, and you kind of 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.080 just get that sense when you're around him for a 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:59.200 few hours. This clip is from twenty twenty one, when 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:01.760 I asked him about a turning point in his life 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.920 when he got into some trouble with the law. This 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:09.760 clip was pulled out of episode twenty two titled American 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:17.760 Cowboy in Open Country Warner Glenn Part one. The fruit 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:21.959 of success almost always grows from the seed of failure, 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:25.760 and sometimes that part of the journey is overlooked. An 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:29.160 influential event in mister Warner's life took place in the 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:33.160 early nineteen eighties, long before the success of the Malpi 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:37.040 Borderlands Group, and I want to see if mister Warner 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:41.120 is open to talking about it. You got in a 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:43.160 tussle with one of the border agents. 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:44.560 Yeah, I did. 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:49.440 Did that change the way you saw that you needed 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:51.520 to deal with people? Can you talk to me about that? 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:53.480 Well? Sure, you bet that did. 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:56.000 The kind of tell me the story and then tell 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:56.920 me how it affects. 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.800 I had a pretty pretty volatile temper when I was younger, 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:04.000 and a lot of stuff. But I did them that 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.160 I wouldn't do that day. I did my butt take 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:09.640 down anyway, I. 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:11.120 Don't know, you still look pretty wiry. 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:15.240 That fellow was. That fellow was out of line, no 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:17.440 doubt about it. He told me what he could do 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.760 in anywhere he wanted on my feet land and I had. 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.200 I couldn't do anything about it, and I told him 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.680 I thought it could, and he said, well, you sure can. 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:29.240 So I did. But anyway, it got me in a 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:31.480 big trouble. Yet, one thing about it. He was a 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:35.479 federal uniformed officer. My docture took him to the ground 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.000 and rubbed his head in the dirt. 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.039 I mean, it was just a how old were you, 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:41.719 mister Warner? 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:46.080 Probably forty seven, forty eight? Okay, Well I could go 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.360 on and on about that, but that, of course, that's 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:54.159 a felony. Anytime you had touch a federal officer in 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:59.159 assault a federal officer, that's a fellay charged. And there's 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.400 no doubt about it. I did it, There wasn't and 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:05.520 I never made any excuse. I just told him why 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:08.200 I did it. And I didn't go to prison, but 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.000 I came that close. And also if you have a 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.280 fellow in charge, you can't have a fire on him 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:16.120 for so many years, and it affects your way of life. 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:18.640 So just taught me, big boy, you better be careful 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:22.000 what you're doing. And they told me some of the agents. 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.880 They had an agent that dealt with things like that, 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:26.920 and they came and talked to me, and they said, 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:29.039 wonder what you should have done is gone to his 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:33.160 supervisor and let them take care of it. And I said, well, 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:36.640 now I can see that. At the time, I was hot, 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:39.839 I was tired, and this guy was telling me one 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.640 and he was standing on my private land and we 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:46.640 were talking about the effect of vehicle traffic over my 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:51.240 private land where there was no roads. I just figured 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:54.039 that in my way of thinking, right then I had 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.800 a right to protect my problem too. But he was 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:01.279 but he wasn't a federal. I wasn't wrong, no doubt, 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:06.279 but so was he. And well, the way it turned out, 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:08.720 I didn't go to prison and they shipped him out 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:12.279 of here. Yeah, and it was, but it was a 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.200 thing that I wished I had gone about it well. 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.640 But what I take away from it is that later 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:22.520 you became very skillful in dealing with these people, and 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:26.360 that that event changed the course of kind of how 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:28.920 you were and how you worked with these Absolutely. 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:34.400 Yeah, And really I respect the law enforcement. I mean, 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:38.080 there are some guys in law enforcement that probably don't 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:41.480 deserve to be there, but by and large I had 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:46.640 backed those guys, and part of that's just I kind 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:49.599 of learned. You know, they've got a they've got a 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:53.599 job to do, and it's a tough one. I'm not 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.480 ashamed that that happened, but it taught me a good lesson. 0:06:56.600 --> 0:07:00.400 You know, I deeply value that you can say that, 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:03.320 because a lot of times negative things happen to people 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:07.120 and it shapes them and makes them bitter and changes 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:10.400 their life for the negative. But what I respect about 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.880 your character is that that you know you can own 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:15.840 up to it. But I think it I think it 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:16.960 changed you for the better. 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:19.720 I'll tell you a little. I went and told Daddy 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:22.320 because I knew he was gonna he was gonna play out. 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:26.440 And he sat there and listen. After I through telling me, 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:28.680 he said, I didn't know, as you get a lot 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:29.920 to hit one of those best. 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:37.360 Man, your dad, he was taking your side, wouldn't he. 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:42.880 That's all good. Dad's supposed to do. I hope you 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:46.160 don't get the wrong idea about Warner. If you listen 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:48.440 to the series, you'd see why this was such a 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.480 wild moment because it was so out of character for 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.800 him to beat up a federal officer. But it highlights 0:07:55.840 --> 0:08:00.160 the gritty underbelly of Western ranchers and especially those on 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:04.080 the Mexican border. I'll never interview another man like Warner. 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:04.400 Glenn. 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:09.480 I was forever impacted by his character, and for that reason, 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:13.240 he's in the Bear Grease Hall of Fame. Warner series 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:19.440 was episodes twenty two through twenty six. In this next clip, 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.440 I want to go back to East Tennessee in Cock County, 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:25.840 in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. This was just 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:29.720 a short interview. It wasn't even the main interview, but 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:34.320 we're speaking with eighty nine year old Britt Davis, who 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:37.400 is the father in law Bear Grease Hall of Famer 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:41.679 plot hound bear hunter Roy Clark, who you may remember. 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:44.800 This is on episode eight. It's way back in the 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:49.120 beginning in a podcast titled fifty Years in the Backer Field, 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:53.360 where Britt talks about his upbringing and chokes up when 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:57.440 he talks about his father's death. Mister Britt, how old 0:08:57.440 --> 0:08:57.720 are you? 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:00.800 If I lived the second dead June, i'll. 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:03.160 Be ninety ninety. What year were you born? 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:04.240 Thirty one? 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.880 Nineteen thirty one, so you grew up you were? Were 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:09.120 you born in this hollow? 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.599 Yeah? Right up a little there, about two miles. 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.120 Now what kind of work did you do your whole life? 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:21.680 Well? I farmed some, I log some, and I worked 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:25.000 about a year on this interstate down here, and then 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:29.480 I went to work for the county Road Department and 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:30.880 stayed dead, little retard. 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.400 Have you ever have you traveled much out of Appalachia? No, 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:36.200 you've stayed right here. 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:39.720 I went to Texas one time whenever Roy was an 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:44.120 army out there, and that's on the trip I ever made. Really, 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.880 I lived on up in the Gulf up third Well, 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.280 I'd say we was up for about four or five years. 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:56.160 So my daddy got killed up there, and I enjoyed 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:57.959 dead up our lord? 0:09:58.160 --> 0:09:59.439 How did your father get killed? 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:01.680 Of the log? The log rolled over? 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:03.120 Really? How old were you? 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:04.880 I was about twelve year old? 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:05.840 Wow? 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:08.679 How did that impact your life? 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:22.920 Well, it made it rough on me for a while. Yeah, 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.839 it was up there whenever they about the time it 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:29.160 started logging it, but he got killed. We left at 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:30.640 a long time before the gut loom. 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.080 So did you have to kind of were you the 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:37.600 oldest son his illness son, so you kind of had 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:39.040 to take care of your family? 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:40.400 Yeah? 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.000 Really, so was that a lot of responsibility for you then? 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:47.760 Yeah? We moved back home here up here, and my 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:52.680 grandparents hit me with it and I raised a crop 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:56.160 of the bicker and boughket a place where I lived. 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:58.920 M How old were you? 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:01.679 I'd say I was about thirteen? 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:04.920 Really, So you you raised a crop of tobacco when 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:08.719 you were thirteen? Yeah, and bought a piece of property. 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:10.079 Wow. 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.560 And that's the property that we went to earlier today 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:13.840 up at the head of this holler. 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:15.600 She gonna pull out here. 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:16.200 Yeah. 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:17.760 Yeah, so you. 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:21.560 Bought that place when you were thirteen. Yeah, I'll be daring. 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.559 And so you've lived you've lived there your whole life, Yeah, 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:30.120 whole life. What What are your earliest memories, mister Britton? 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:35.000 Oh low, I can I can remember things back then, 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:40.880 buttering again now, really, I can remember a carrying me 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:45.760 and us is stopping and talking to our neighbors. That 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:47.920 was before we moved the good. 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:50.480 So that was in the nineteen thirties. Did your family 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:52.520 have a car that had an automobile? 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:53.240 No? 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:56.000 No, what how did you get around? 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:57.800 Walked? Walked? 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:01.000 You didn't everything you needed you could walk to get. 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:06.160 Yeah, this little stores all around here, M three or four. 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:09.840 Well of the first I'd say it was in the 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:14.600 late thirties of the early forties. Before that, there's there 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:18.240 was a car in this country, Is that right? Yeah? 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:20.439 The doctor lived right up the older. 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.959 He had to first tell me about how the doctor 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:26.560 worked in this community. 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:30.960 He'd go around in the and he's with his horse 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:35.800 and people wanted to be doctored that tie read or 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:38.679 a white flag on the mail walks, and. 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.440 Each he'd ride his horse up to your house and 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:43.280 knock on the door and say what's wrong. 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:47.720 And then he finally got a car, and it didn't 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:48.920 they do the same thing. 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:51.400 Do you ever remember being sick and him having to 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:53.319 come to your house, the doctor on you? 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:54.160 Yeah? 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:56.800 Really, what would you have been sick from? 0:12:57.120 --> 0:12:59.960 Maybe the strip the old or something like. 0:12:59.920 --> 0:13:02.440 That, and he'd come give you some penicillin maybe or something. 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:05.559 That's what he doctored with penicillin. 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:06.679 Wow. 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:08.640 When did electricity come back in here? 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:13.000 I'd say it was about fifty two or fifty three 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:14.040 before I got it. 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:18.600 So you were in your twenties before you had electricity. Yeah, 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:19.960 do you remember those days? 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:20.720 Oh? Yeah? 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:22.840 What would what would you do? Once it got dark? 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:24.280 Would you light the house with. 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:26.720 Lamp? 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:29.960 Or what kind of lamp? Was the coal burning? And 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:32.720 you would what would you do? You would sit around 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:33.280 with the family. 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.240 We'd just sit around and go to bed. I guess 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:37.959 that's they finally got a radio. 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:43.800 Mister Britt. Do you remember when John F. Kennedy died President? 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:44.800 Yeah? 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:47.920 Do you remember where you were? Was that a significant 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.719 where I was at where we are we enter. 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.199 I was running the road rider over on Tom's Creek, 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:58.840 and I just fardy got a paste an old man's house, 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.760 and he come out and run up a little behind 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:04.839 me and hollered at me and told me about. 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:12.520 Do you hear what they're saying, mister Britt? They're saying, 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.400 because because you were the only child, you've been spoiled 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:18.560 your whole life. Do you agree with that? 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:21.920 I wouldn't hardly say that. 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:29.080 I've never forgotten that. When Britt was thirteen years old, 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:33.080 he raised a crop of tobacco and bought a place 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:37.360 for him and his mother to live after his father died. Today, 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:40.880 mister Britt is ninety two years old and still drives 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.880 the roads listening to bear races in the fall. I'll 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:52.880 never forget that moment. This next clip is a little different. 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.120 It wasn't an interview, but it's a reading of the 0:14:56.160 --> 0:15:01.040 first hand account of the German immigrant to America Gershtalker, 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:05.720 recounting the death of his hunting partner Erskine in eighteen 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:11.760 forty one. It's a wild story from episode four titled 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:16.240 Death of a Bear Hunter. There are too many of 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:20.480 Gershtalker's incredible stories to tell on this podcast, but I 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:23.560 want to tell you one that cut me to the 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.840 quick when I first read it. It involved a man 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.600 being killed by a bear in a creek drainage less 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:32.520 than twenty miles from where I live. I was shocked 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:36.360 and slightly offended that nobody ever told me this story. 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.920 I want you to hear the first hand account from 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:45.000 Gershtoker of the death of his friend Erskine. This is 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:49.720 an excerpt from the book Wild Sports, published in eighteen 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:56.920 fifty four. This story is taken out of context, so 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:00.760 there are some characters you'll need to know well as 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:05.320 Gershtalker's older American hunting partner and friend with hair as 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:09.800 white as snow. He said, Conwell lived in Arkansas. Wachiga 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.800 is a Cherokee that became a trusted friend and hunting 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:18.520 partner of Gershtalker. And you'll be introduced to young Erskine, 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:23.040 who Gershtalker had met some years before in the back country. 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:29.880 So we were off again before noon and gain the 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:33.600 source of the hurricane. Rode across the Devil's stepping path, 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:37.120 a narrow rock with a precipice on each side, left 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.560 the pilot rock on our left, and came towards evening 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.960 into the pine forest where we were sure of finding kindlers. 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.240 Descending the steep side of a mountain, we observed a 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.480 thin column of blue smoke by the side of the stream, 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:54.680 showing that some hunters were in camp there. We went 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:57.040 straight towards it and found it to be an Indian 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:02.480 camp in our former acquaintance young Erskine. Among them they 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:05.840 were Cherokees with three young chop tawls. These two tribes 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.399 being on good terms like ourselves, They were out bear hunting, 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.520 but it had better luck. A quantity of bear meat 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:14.880 was hanging about the camp and even the dogs would 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:18.320 eat no more. Casting ourselves down by the fire, one 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:20.960 of the squalls, for there were several women in the camp, 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:28.119 immediately cooked for us some bear, which we duly regaled ourselves. 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.919 Night came on, and soon we were all sunk in 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:37.240 deep repose. Early in the morning we began to move, 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.840 dividing into two parties for the better chance of finding game. 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.080 Conwell went with some of the Indians, amongst whom he 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.920 had found an old acquaintance, to make a circuit round 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.600 the pilot Rock, while Erskine and I, with three Cherokees, 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:54.480 proceeded to the sources of the frog Bayou. Knight found 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.000 us far from our camp, so we made one for ourselves. 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:00.159 Where we were on the morning of February first, we 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:03.760 had hardly started ere we heard the dogs, which he could, 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:06.879 declared instantly that they were his brothers, and disappeared behind 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:10.240 the rocks without another word. As we stood listening, the 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.080 sound seemed to take a different direction. We ascended the 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:15.399 mountain as fast as we could to cut off the chase, 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.000 but found that we must have been mistaken, for in 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:21.040 a few minutes all was as silent as a grave. 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.040 Once we thought we heard a shot, but we couldn't 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.359 be certain. We ascended to the highest terrace and walked 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:30.639 slowly on, looking out for fresh signs, and listening to 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:34.080 catch the sound of the dog below. Amongst the broken 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:37.200 masses of rock, they might be near without being heard. 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:40.200 Along the mountaintops, they are audible at a great distance. 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:44.280 It may have been two in the afternoon, and we 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:47.840 had seen nothing when bears grease raised his nose in 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:50.280 the air, remained for an instant or two in a 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:54.200 fixed position, then given a short smothered howl, dashed down 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:58.000 the mountain side. Listening attentively, we heard the chase coming 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:01.960 down the Hurricane River. Erskine and called out triumphantly, we 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:05.040 shall have plenty of bear this evening, and dashed after 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:08.080 the dog. I was soon by his side. I must 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:12.080 observe by the way that we were both very hungry. Presently, 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.439 a bear broke through the bushes. A projecting rock stopped 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:18.240 him for an instant when Erskine saluted him with a ball. 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:22.480 He received mine. As he rushed past and disappeared. The dogs, 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.920 encouraged to greater efforts by our shots, and the stronger 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:29.240 scent followed him out. Bear's grease, who was quite fresh 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:32.880 leading the van. Soon they came upon him and stopped him. 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:35.840 We rushed to the spot, without waiting to reload, and 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:38.439 arriving in time to see the beast, excited to the 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:41.760 greatest fury, kill four of our best dogs with as 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:45.240 many blows of his paws. But the others threw themselves 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:48.320 on him with greater animosity, and if our rifles had 0:19:48.359 --> 0:19:51.280 been loaded, we could not have used them. Just as 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:54.920 a large, powerful brown dog, which had furiously attacked the bear, 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:58.960 was knocked over, bleeding and howling, Erskine called out, Oh 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:02.240 save the dog, threw down his rifle and rushed on 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:06.199 with his knife among the furious group. I followed on 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:10.040 the instant. When the bear saws coming, he exerted still 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.280 more force to beat off the dogs and meet us. 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:18.280 Seizing his opportunity, my comrade ran his steel into his side. 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:21.960 The bear turned on him like lightning and seized him, 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:27.199 and he uttered a shrill, piercing shriek. Driven to desperation 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:30.440 by the sight, I plunged my knife three times into 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:33.760 the monster's body with all my force, without thinking of 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:37.439 jumping back. At the third thrust, the bear turned upon me, 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:40.919 seeing as Paul coming. I attempted to evade the blow, 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:45.000 felt a sharp pang, and sunk senseless to the ground. 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:50.840 When I recovered my senses, bear's grease was licking the 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:54.160 blood from my face. On attempting to rise, I felt 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:57.160 a severe pain in my left side and was unable 0:20:57.200 --> 0:20:59.840 to move my left arm. On making a fresh effort, 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:03.480 I succeeded in sitting up. The bear was close to me, 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:07.919 and less than three feet from him, lay erskine, stiff 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:11.639 and cold. I sprang up with a cry of horror 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:14.760 and rushed towards him. It was too true. He was 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:18.640 bathed in blood, his face torn to pieces, his right 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:22.359 shoulder almost wrenched away from his body, and five of 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:26.640 the best dogs ripped up with broken limbs, lying beside him. 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:30.119 The bear was so covered with blood that his color 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:34.160 was hardly discernible. My left arm appeared to be out 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:37.000 of socket, but I could feel that no bones were broken. 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:40.000 The sun had gone down, and I'd hoped that the 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:42.720 other hunters might have heard our shots and the barking 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:45.600 and howling of the dogs. It grew dark. 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:47.040 No one came. 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:50.679 I roared and shouted like mad, but no one heard me. 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:53.160 I tried to light a fire, but my left arm 0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:55.800 was so swelled that I gave up the attempt. But 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:58.480 as it would have been certain death to pass the 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:02.040 night under the circums dances without a fire, I tore 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:04.600 away part of the back of my hunting shirt, and 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:08.119 the fore part, being saturated with blood, sprinkled some powder 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.080 on it, rubbed it well, and with my right hand 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:13.879 I shook a little powder into my rifle. Placing the 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:17.040 muzzle on the rag, I fired, blowing it up to 0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:19.760 a flame. I piled on dry leaves and twigs, and 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:22.920 succeeded in making a good fire, though with great pain 0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:26.240 and trouble. Now it was dark, I went to my 0:22:26.359 --> 0:22:29.679 dead comrade, who was lying about five yards from the fire. 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:33.320 He was already stiff, and it was with great difficulty 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:36.040 that I could pull down his arms and lay him straight, 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:40.040 Nor could I keep his eyes closed, though I laid 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:44.359 small stones on them. The dogs were very hungry, but 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:46.480 it was impossible for me to break up the bear, 0:22:46.960 --> 0:22:50.119 only ripped him up and fed them with his entrols. 0:22:50.480 --> 0:22:54.560 Bear's grease laid himself down by the corpse, looking steadfastly 0:22:54.560 --> 0:22:57.080 in his face, and went no more near the bear 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:00.760 and hoping of obtaining help, I loaded and fired twice, 0:23:00.760 --> 0:23:10.639 but nothing moved. The forest appeared one enormous grave. I 0:23:10.680 --> 0:23:14.920