One warm afternoon my friend Me and myself thought
we would take a walk over to Pesedeo; that was about
three miles to the Pacific ocean. The seal rocks
is where the sea lions or seals can always be seen.
It was the entrance to the Golden Gates, where the
roar of the Pacific ocean is twice that of the Atlantic,
it being six thousand miles broad, twice that of the
Atlantic. On our way we stopped into a tent to
get a drink of water. We found it occupied by
three miners, one of whom was quite lame. I inquired
of him what was the matter. He said his hip had
been dislocated by the grizzlies. I asked him
how it happened. He said they went up to the
Trinity river to dig for gold. I knew that was
the most remote gold river. He said they were
lucky and found rich diggings, but after awhile their
provisions gave out and they could not procure any
unless they returned to the settlements. On their
way, returning on horseback, they came to three grizzly
bears grazing in a field. It was very dangerous
to attack them, but they were very hungry. They
thought if they could kill one of them it would supply
them with meat, so they finally decided they would
take their chances and fire on them, which they did,
and wounded one. The other two took after the
man whose hip was dislocated. He fled and came
to a buckeye tree, the body of which slants, and he
got up in it, the bears came on under it. After
awhile they found they could not reach him. It
being a low tree one of them commenced climbing it
after him. He thought his last hour had come;
all the events of his life seemed to rush on his mind,
and a picture of the old-fashioned spelling book,
where the man plays dead on the bear, came before
him, which I distinctly recollected. He thought
his only chance was to drop from the tree and hold
his breath, and play dead on the bear, which he did,
and fell on his face. One bear grabbed him by
the shoulders and the other by the ankle, and in pulling,
dislocated his hip. He had a thick overcoat on
which they tore to pieces. He held his breath.
After awhile they went off and left him. After
a little while he raised his head to see if they were
gone, and they came trotting back and smelt him all
over again, and went away again, he holding his breath.
Then he laid a long time, fearing to move, and his
companions came up
“Each fainter trace that memory
holds
So darkly of departed years,
In one broad glance, the soul beholds,
And all that was at once appears”
In the cases of imminent danger such is said to be
the case. It is evident that is what saved this
man’s life. Truth is stranger than fiction.
