When European civilization first touched American shores, the grizzly bear ranged throughout western North America, from Mexico to the Arctic Circle. He was one of the largest and fiercest animals on the continent, easily entitled to the name he was later give, “Lord of the Wilderness.” But the grizzly bear shared the fate of many other wild animals who lived for centuries side by side with the Indians but whose existence was incompatible with the advance of white civilization.
As the West was settled, the ferocious grizzly gradually disappeared, and now only a few grizzlies remain. Colorado has several, and a few remain in Idaho, Washington, Montana, and Wyoming. In California—the state whose emblem is the Great Golden Bear—there have been no bears reported since 1922. Only in the wilderness areas of Canada and Alaska foes “Old Ephraim,” as the mountain men called the grizzly, still rule.
In the fascinating volume are collected stories about the various encounters mountain men, settlers, naturalists, scouts, and others have had with the grizzly bear. Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, George Frederick Ruxton, Kit Carson, and Joe Meek are only a few of the many whose experiences with the grizzly are here recorded.
This book will be of interest to sportsmen, naturalists, and all who are concerned with the history of the West.
