A slew of encounters with bears around 1900 in Utah

                       A stuffed bear at the Prairie Scooner restaurant in Ogden.

UTAH residents had an unusually high number of encounters with bears around the turn of the 19^th Century.

Here are some of the tales:

-“Bear killed at Bountiful. Melon patch lured a grizzly too near a Sunday-School” was an Aug. 31, 1897 headline in the Salt Lake Tribune. A 400-pound grizzly took a Sunday morning stroll to a melon patch just as an East Bountiful Sunday School let out. Dick McLean grabbed a Winchester and downed the bear with one bullet. Simon Bamberger gave McLean $25 for the bear’s hide, while McLean dined on bear steaks.

The Logan Herald of Sept. 16, 1897 carried the headline, “Killing a bear.” Thomas Clegg killed a big brown bear in Provo Canyon, near a mill he operates. The bear was almost 600 pounds and Clegg expected to earn $50 from the animal’s hide.

 -“If you kill a bear in Weber County, you will get five dollars” was a headline in the Aug. 24, 1897 Salt Lake Tribune.

-“How bruin was killed” was an Oct. 14, 1897 headline in the Ogden Standard. Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company workers were on their way from Morgan up East Canyon, when they noticed a large black bear comfortably resting up a tree. Being without arms, some of the men watch the animal, while the others went in search of a rifle. The bear growled and snorted at his watchers.

“It took three well directed shots to dislodge him from the top of the tree … A couple of more shots laid him out,” the story stated. The bear weighed about 500 pounds and it took 4 men to drag him from the creek, where he had fallen.

The Salt Lake Tribune of June 12, 1903 had the headline, “Black bear killed. Herder slays beast short distance from Mt. Pleasant.” N.C. Peterson killed a large black bear while herding sheep. Six other bears have been seen in the area.

“Bear steaks in order. Gabriel Johnson brings bruin’s carcass to town after exciting hunt” was an Oct. 25, 1904 headline in the Deseret Evening News. A bear was killed in Parley’s Canyon. Johnson only had 5 bullets. He shot the bear twice with little effect and then the bruin came after him. Running away, Johnson fired two more, missing the beast. Finally, after a half-mile run and with just one shot left, he turned and fired, finally bringing the bear down. However, the noise brought other bears into sight and Johnson departed quickly. He returned the next day with a wagon to pick up the bear and sell it to a local butcher for $50.

“Adventure with bears. Miner on Gold Mountain chased by two ferocious beasts” was a March 21, 1898 headline in the Salt Lake Herald. William Morrison encounter two bears while leaving a mine near Richfield. “The grizzled terrors looked at him  and he looked at them; then they humped up, grunted and started for him,” the story stated. Morrison raced to a cabin and nearby woodchoppers chased the bears away.

-"Killed a Monster Bear” was an Oct. 17, 1904 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner. Frank Adams of Hooper killed a 900-pound grizzly

 “in a desperate encounter” in northeastern Weber County. The man only had a .22 rifle.

“With a nerve and accuracy which is astonishing under the circumstances, he began firing as rapidly as possible … The little missiles seemed to have no effect … Thirteen shots were fired while the bear was approaching, the last striking under the eye and penetrating the brain; but none too soon, for the brute literally fell at the feet of the brave hunter,” The Standard reported.