By Enos A. Mills
THE GRIZZLY, OUR GREATEST WILD ANIMAL. Illustrated.
YOUR NATIONAL PARKS. Illustrated.
THE STORY OF SCOTCH. Illustrated.
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN WONDERLAND. Illustrated.
THE STORY OF A THOUSAND-YEAR PINE. Illustrated.
IN BEAVER WORLD. Illustrated.
THE SPELL OF THE ROCKIES. Illustrated.
WILD LIFE ON THE ROCKIES. Illustrated.
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
Boston and New York
The Grizzly
OUR GREATEST WILD ANIMAL
The Grizzly
OUR GREATEST WILD ANIMAL
ByEnos A. Mills
With Illustrations
Boston and New York
Houghton Mifflin Company
The Riverside Press Cambridge
1919
COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY ENOS A. MILLS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
To
Emerson McMillin
Preface
It would make exciting reading if a forty-year-old grizzly bear were towrite his autobiography. Beginning with the stories from his mother ofthe long and exciting journey of his ancestors from far-off Asia and ofher own struggle in bringing up her family, and then telling of his ownadventurous life and his meetings with men and with other animals, hecould give us a book of highly dramatic quality. Just what a wise oldgrizzly would say while philosophizing concerning the white race wouldcertainly be of human interest and rich in material for literature.
A vigorous, courageous adventurer himself, and a keen and constantobserver, the grizzly would have clear-cut views concerning theexplorers, early settlers, and hunters. The arrival of the early whitepeople aroused his extraordinary inherent curiosity. He watched themwith wondering eyes. He was even inclined to walk right into camp tomake their acquaintance. He had no evil inten[Pg viii]tions, but he was greetedwith yells and bullets. Relentlessly down through the years he waspursued. Dogs, guns, poison, and traps have swept a majority of thegrizzlies away. Their retreat was masterly and heroic, but the odds wereoverwhelming.
In the midst of this terrible hunt the Yellowstone wild-life reservationwas established. Instantly the grizzly understood, years before otherbig animals did, and in its protection at once came