The monument, near Old Eph's final stand, complete with a plaque.
THE killing of the legendary gigantic marauding grizzly bear known as "Old Ephraim" in Logan Canyon actually didn't stop the demise of sheep by bears for ranchers afterward.
For some time after Eph's demise, sheep were still being lost to bears.
Indeed, "Raid on grave of fallen monarch avenged by bears" was a Sept. 13, 1924 headline in the Deseret News.
(The story of Old Ephraim's death is well chronicled previously in this blog. See "Old Ephraim: Utah’s most legendary bear," July 16, 2015.)
This 1924 Deseret News story, just over a year after Old Ephraim was killed, stated that after Logan boy scouts had raided the gravesite of the famous bear, sheep killings got worse.
"The bears have been worse since the scouts were up here digging in Old Ephraim's grave than they have ever been before we came into this county with sheep." That was a quote from Frank Clark. who was the one who killed Old Eph on Aug. 21, 1923, talking about sheep deaths a year later in the summer of 1924.
"Contrary to bear habits and former history, the bears have been raiding the herds and killing heavily in the daytime, as well as at night," the Deseret News story reported.
Clark said that in just a week of the summer of 1924, he lost 10 sheep to bears in the same section where old Eph roamed.
"It seems that Old Ephraim's followers are still loyal," the 1924 Deseret News story concluded.
A Logan boy scout troop had visited the grave of Old Ephraim in the summer of 1924. They dug up the grave, took bones as souvenirs and the skull was sent to the Smithsonian. The skull has since been returned to Utah and is on exhibit at Utah State University.
THE killing of the legendary gigantic marauding grizzly bear known as "Old Ephraim" in Logan Canyon actually didn't stop the demise of sheep by bears for ranchers afterward.
For some time after Eph's demise, sheep were still being lost to bears.
Indeed, "Raid on grave of fallen monarch avenged by bears" was a Sept. 13, 1924 headline in the Deseret News.
(The story of Old Ephraim's death is well chronicled previously in this blog. See "Old Ephraim: Utah’s most legendary bear," July 16, 2015.)
This 1924 Deseret News story, just over a year after Old Ephraim was killed, stated that after Logan boy scouts had raided the gravesite of the famous bear, sheep killings got worse.
"The bears have been worse since the scouts were up here digging in Old Ephraim's grave than they have ever been before we came into this county with sheep." That was a quote from Frank Clark. who was the one who killed Old Eph on Aug. 21, 1923, talking about sheep deaths a year later in the summer of 1924.
"Contrary to bear habits and former history, the bears have been raiding the herds and killing heavily in the daytime, as well as at night," the Deseret News story reported.
Clark said that in just a week of the summer of 1924, he lost 10 sheep to bears in the same section where old Eph roamed.
"It seems that Old Ephraim's followers are still loyal," the 1924 Deseret News story concluded.
A Logan boy scout troop had visited the grave of Old Ephraim in the summer of 1924. They dug up the grave, took bones as souvenirs and the skull was sent to the Smithsonian. The skull has since been returned to Utah and is on exhibit at Utah State University.
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