force in St…
source date: 1890
availability: public-domain

force in St. Louis and patrolled one of the hardest beats in the city. He was prospecting in the upper part of the range west of Chloride on the side of a mountain. Having occasion to stop a few minutes he placed his Winchester by the side of a tree and hung his belt contain- ing his revolver and hunting knife on a limb. He stepped a few paces further to an open space, and while there he heard a crashing of the brush above him. On turning suddenly he was confronted by an angry she bear which was almost upon him. He had no chance to escape, nor time to get his gun. He braced himself for the shock, and as the infuriated animal was about to close in on him, planted a powerful blow squarely on the end of her nose. She rose to her haunches and he, fearful that she would use her claws on him, grabbed her around the body with a counter hug. The next moment they were both rolling down the steep incline and over a cliff 10 or 12 feet high. Hugh for- tunately landed on top and as the fall broke the clinch they both scrambled to their feet. She rose for another hug but only succeeded in getting his left hand in her mouth, when he met her with a stinging blow on her nose which knocked her down and released his hand but not until it had been stripped of its flesh. The next round she knocked him down, severely lacerating his shoulder.

ug but only succeeded in getting his left hand in her mouth, when he met her with a stinging blow on her nose which knocked her down and released his hand but not until it had been stripped of its flesh. The next round she knocked him down, severely lacerating his shoulder. Six rounds they fought without either getting any decided advantage. He soon found that her nose was the most vul- nerable part, and well directed blows on that organ kept her from getting close enough to take him in her embrace. She warded off the blows and struck as skillfully as a professional of the pugilistic art. Out of 5 rounds Hugh had only scored two knock downs while the bear had three. With the sixth and last he felled her so that her head hung over a narrow ledge under which was a large mass of slide rock. He jumped on her with both knees grabbing her by the neck with one hand and the tail with the other, tried to force her over. She man- aged to get her head around and caught him by the knee. In wrenching his knee loose, his hand slipped from her neck and she caught it. They had struggled until they were just balanced on the edge of the cliff. Hugh had all this time retained his death grip on the bear’s tail, now saw that he controlled the balance of power, easily turned her over into the loose rock at the foot of the cliff.