Bear Stories!
Our ancestors in the US faced all kinds of challenges, many of which have been overcome or lessen through time, such as transportation difficulties, food spoilage, lack of medical care, and slow or nonexistent communication methods.
Goldilocks?
A common predator which still threatens humans and our pets remains though -- BEARS! Yes, we have bears in south King County! Years ago I used to get milk from a family locally in Black Diamond. One week when I stopped by for my gallon of milk, she told me that a bear attacking their beehives out in the orchard scared the cow which was giving milk and made her dry up! I guess it's true that bears love honey.
A year or two after that, as I was coming home in the evening after dark, I saw shadowy figures on the road. As I slowed, I thought, what are clowns tumbling across the road for? As I got close enough for the headlights to let me see just who was crossing the road, I saw a mama bear and her two cubs walk into the woods! No clue why my brain went for "clowns" instead of BEARS! Neither of these little stories has much to do with family history, but wait until you hear MaryLynn's story about one particular bear and her three times greatgrandfather.
Not just a fish story
My daughter and her husband live in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. For those unfamiliar with Canada, Prince George is quite far north and gets very cold and snowy in the winter. They often post pictures of moose wandering through their cul-de-sac or the college campus where Ron teaches.
In their backyard, they have a fishpond water feature that they recently winterized as some of the fish spend the coldest months in a deep section.
But, a neighborhood bear had other plans. One evening they heard noise in the backyard and found a bear in the fishpond. While they were able to chase the bear away, it was not before quite a bit of damage to the fish and the pond.
These pictures they posted on Facebook show the holes in the lining which allowed the pond to drain.
The fish will have to spend the winter in other accommodations. Little does my daughter know that she has a heritage of bear encounters, inherited from her 4 great grandfather.
It runs in the family
From a journal written by Horace Stow, born in Croydon, NH 1805. "Uncle Solomon" mentioned here is the 3 great grandfather of MaryLynn Strickland.
"Now I want to relate an incident
that occurred when we were living in New Hampshire, but I must first describe
the place. We lived about a mile perhaps a little more from Croydon mountain.
It was a noted place for bears. On its steep sides were numerous caverns that
were inaccessible to almost any other kind of animal. They frequently came down
among the farmers on foraging expeditions. They sometimes came in the night,
and sometimes when they came in the daytime if they were discovered, the near
neighbors are notified and they surround and capture him if they can. When one
comes in the night they can’t do that. My father, Uncle Asaph, and
Uncle Solomon lived near the mountain. Grand Mother Stow lived in the house with
Uncle Asaph but had a room to herself. Once she came over to our house on a
visit and she took me home with her. I was then about 3 or 4 years old. I staid
with her and went to school with Uncle Asaph’s children. I think I told you
about this school, where the teacher used an hourglass for a timepiece. One
evening when we came home from school, Uncle Asaph and some of his neighbors
had a bear hung in his woodshed that they had killed and dressed and we had
bear meat while I staid there.
"Uncle Solomon lived a short distance on the road we went to school. He had a pig in a pen near his house. One night he heard the pig squeal and went out to see what the trouble was. A bear had got his pig out of the pen and had started down the road with him in his arms running on his hind feet. Uncle started after him without stopping to put his clothes on. Bruin had but a few feet the start of him, but he had to run about half a mile before he got near enough to make him drop the pig. He did not seem to be much hurt, and Uncle got him back home and put him in the pen and had just got in bed when he heard the pig squeal again. He knew what the matter was now, and lost no time in getting out there, but Bruin had got about the same start as before, so they had another half mile race to run. But this time the pig by the bear hugging him so tight was hurt so that Uncle had to carry him home. He butchered him, and when dressed weighed 80 lbs. and when alive must have weighed 100 lbs. or more. But Uncle saved the pig, and the bear missed his supper. I don’t know whether Bruin was afraid of ghosts, but I think he was or he would not have dropped the pig after working so hard to get him. Uncle had no gun but when I think when he saw such a spectre (wearing only a nightshirt) so close behind him it is no wonder he was afraid. The bear is not a very shy animal, but he is very shrewd and often puts the farmer up to all he knows to keep even with him, and then he often gets away with a sheep or pig. But when the farmer gets him, he makes him pay for it. Besides the meat he gets the oil and the skin, which is quite an item, or was then."
Do you have family stories?
October is Family History Month and we would love to have your stories. Long or short, new or time worn, please share your stories and pictures. Send to m.strickland@skcgs.org
Valorie Zimmerman and MaryLynn Strickland
Coincidentally, we have had bear paw prints and droppings around our 3 acre place in the last couple of days. Nice they are still around.
ReplyDeleteMy maternal grandfather cleared virgin land in the Mississippi Delta in 1918 when there were still bears in the woods. When they killed one, my grandmother cooked the meat to feed the farmhands.
ReplyDeleteWe have regular bear sightings in our Black Diamond neighborhood. A very large and very beautiful bear, with gorgeous black, glossy fur wandered across the Auburn Black Diamond Road last spring. I wish I could have had a closer look. He was stunning!
ReplyDelete