The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940 Page: 330
576 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
that child closed our mouths and joined universal nature about in
unbroken silence for the night.
At the new frontier home, we were in camps for a month or
two. Log houses were to be built, and, until that was done, we
were in camps. Except whatever of childish fear of Indians 1
felt, I was able to enjoy myself more here in this frontier life
than any place we had ever lived. I was now about nine years
old and had been trained to the use of a gun from the time
I was five years old. I had been killing turkey, squirrels, and
other things for some time previous. An Indian had trained
me to hunt for deer and other game. I had been bred and
born in the woods. Game of some kind was in sight of the house
almost every hour in the day. The bottoms of North Sulphur
and its tributaries abounded in bear, panther, and all the small
varmints.
BEAR AND WILD BEES
As I have said elsewhere, my father loved the sport and excite-
ment of bear hunting. He kept a pack of trained bear dogs.
Soon after we moved to this place, these dogs began to go out
on a hunt before day. Often of a morning they would have their
wild varmint treed and be baying it when father woke up. He
always went to them and killed whatever they had.
At this time I had never killed a bear, had no thought of
such thing. But soon, unlooked for, I had the most exciting
experience of my life. I was out with my gun enjoying my
daily hunt and not far from the house, following a dim trail
made by buffalo and deer, along up a steep branch. As I ap-
proached the head of the branch, I noticed a waterfall and a
cave extending up under the bank. Coming a little closer, I saw
something that looked exactly like a large bear skin rolled up
in a large bundle. But in a moment I knew that it could not
be a mere bear skin. I soon discovered that it was a veritable
bear and no mistake. Boy-like, as soon as I discovered that it
was a bear, I took a powerful scare. I ran I suppose at least
a quarter of a mile. When I stopped, I was out of breath and
covered with perspiration. I sat down to rest, supposing that
I was out of danger. While resting, I recovered my senses.
Reason told me that I had played the coward-that I had such
a good chance, I ought to have been more brave. I summed all330
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940, periodical, 1940; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101111/m1/354/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.