fear had been lest all the grizzlies
be killed before I reached the Rockies; barring such dire calamity, I
had never had a doubt of my prowess. But somehow, when at last I found
myself alone in the dark forest, it seemed the better part of valor to
postpone the actual encounters until I should become more skillful with
my old black-powder rifle. So obsessed was I by the thought of bears
that on my first excursions into the wilds, a rock never rolled down a
slope nor dropped from a cliff, a crash sounded in a thicket, but that
I was sure a bear was mysteriously responsible. I dreamed of them, day
and night, until they became bugbears, grizzly bugbears!

Considering my long-avowed intentions, my first camp alone in the Wild
Basin country was not entirely unfortunate, for there, that first
exciting afternoon, I met a bear face to face. Of course, I gave him
the right of way. Was I not the intruder and he the rightful resident?
Though years have elapsed since I dropped my rifle and sped in instant
flight down the mountain side toward camp, I still like to think that
my marvelous speed discouraged "ursus horribilis" and, therefore, he
turned tail.

During my first summer in the mountains, I saw bears several times, in
each instance going about their business and making no move to attack
me. After these glimpses of them I gathered courage and decided to
postpone my career as a hunter no longer. Bears were the objectives of
my hunting expeditions, but they always succeeded in eluding me. Many
times in stalking them I came upon fresh tracks showing they had broken
into flight at my approach. One day I turned homeward, empty-handed,
and learned later I had been within gunshot of one without catching
sight of him.

Gradually my respect for them grew. The one I had watched stalk the
marmot increased my admiration of their cunning. I eventually learned
that they are extremely alert and agile, despite their seemingly stupid
lumbering about, that they employ keen eyes and sensitive ears and
high-power noses to the best advantage. As my respect for them grew,
my ambition to become a mighty hunter of them gave way to a desire to
learn more about them, to observe them in their natural state and study
their habits. Just as they had inspired the most heroic dreams of my
childhood, so they came to interest me more than any other animal of
the wilds.

To the south of the Parson's ranch lay a wild, rugged region, which I
c