w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
39
Thus Lewis, making what he thought might be his last
stand, "faced about and presented the point of my espon-
toon," while "at this instant he arrived at the edge of the wa-
ter within about 20 feet of me..."
As he put himself "in the attitude of defense," he noticed
that the bear "sudonly wheeled about as if frightened" and
"declined the combat on such unequal grounds," running
back to the hills as if terrified.
Later, Lewis wrote that "I now began to reflect on this no-
vil occurrence and indeavoured to account for this sudden
retreat of the bear... the cause of his allarm still remains with
me misterious and unaccountable." Regardless, he resolved
"never again to suffer my peice to be longer empty than the
time she necessarily required to charge her."
Bears would require new safety rules for the whole expedi-
tion. On June 29, a couple of weeks after Lewis first reached
the Great Falls (and 10 days after John Colter, himself fa-
mous for the harrowing Colter's Run, was nearly attacked by
a grizzly), the explorer's weariness of the constant company
of his "gentlemen" companions is palpable.
Your
Yellowstone
Country
Agents
www.yregroup.com
1019 W. Park St.
Livingston, MT 59047
(406) 333-0139
THEY KILLED
AT LEAST SEVEN BEARS
WHILE AT CAMP,
TAKING ADVANTAGE
OF THEIR
COMPARATIVE DOCILITY.
