Bears are resilient animals that adapt quickly to changes in their surroundings so their behavior provides an interesting way of looking at Yellowstone Park history.
Bears
Tales of Two Grizzlys
This morning Scott McMillion posted a link to a story in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, “The Life and Times of Grizzly Bear 179.” Here’s how Scott described the story: "The story of bear 179, who has lived a long and productive life. As a yearling, she watched her mother tear into Joe Heimer and Sonja … Continue reading Tales of Two Grizzlys
A Tale: An Unfair Fight Between a Bear and a Pussy Cat — Ernest Thompson Seton, 1896
"Eighteen sharp claws, a mouthful of keen teeth, had Pussy, and she worked them all with a desperate will when she landed on Grumpy's bare, bald, sensitive nose."
A Tale: “The worst nuisance in the way of wild varmints is the bears.” Clifton Johnson, 1919.
"I used to have a mule that liked nothing better than to chase a bear up a tree."
A Tale: “Mr. Dooley, Her Story.” The Tragic Tale of a Captive Grizzly — Dan Beard, 1907
The trouble with Mr. Dooley is that she made the mistake of applying the Golden Rule to human beings, and the human beings did not appreciate the generous nature of the bear.
A Tale: “Bear That Killed Man Blown to Pieces” — 1917
When the bear came back under cover of darkness and nosed the bait, the mine was sprung and the dynamite did its work most effectively.
A Tale: Bears Entertain Yellowstone Campers — Dearling, 1900
By the 1890s, grand hotels had been built throughout Yellowstone Park and kitchen managers dumped their refuse in nearby woods. Bears soon began treating the arrival of garbage carts as invitations to dinner and watching them at the dump became a “must-do ” experience on par with viewing geysers, canyons and falls. In 1900, John … Continue reading A Tale: Bears Entertain Yellowstone Campers — Dearling, 1900
A Tale: Ernest Thompson Seton Describes a Bear Fight — 1896
"They clinched and rolled over and over, whacking and pounding, snorting and growling, and making no end of dust and rumpus."
A Tale: A Bear Fight in the Yellowstone Park — 1903
"A long legged cinnamon bear snatched the remains of some ribs of beef from under the nose of a big mother black bear at the moment she was calling her two little cubs to partake of the roast. "
Teddy Roosevelt Describes Tame Bears in Yellowstone Park — c. 1914
"It is curious to think that the descendants of the great grizzlies which were the dread of the early explorers and hunters should now be semi-domesticated creatures."
M. Mark Miller, Author 