Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1874 — Caught in a Bear Trap—A Terrible Experience. [ARTICLE]

Caught in a Bear Trap—A Terrible Experience.

A party of hunters from this city, who have Just returned from an expedition into the Sierra Nevadas, about forty miles from town, relate the following remarkable incident: On last Thursday afternoon, about thfe&» o’clock, two of the party were on the trail of a deer'„ which led them into a remote ravine in the fastnesses of the mountain into which they had not before ventured. The snow being about two feet deep and the walking very heavy, they became discouraged, and losing.all hope of overtaking the deer, which they had wounded, they abandoned the pursuit. On their return one of them discharged his gun at a hare, and soon after a faint halloo was heard at some distance to the right, as if from some one in distress. Uncertain whether they were not mistaken, and had not been deceived by the whistling of the wind, they shouted aloud, when the cry was repeated. As night would soon come on, they held a consultation, and were about proceeding to their camp,' three or four miles away, concluding that the noise was made by wandering Indians or came from a party of wood-choppers. They started on, but soon a prolonged and mournful howl was borne down the wind and again reached their ears. They stared at each other a moment, and then by a simultaneous impulse turned in the direction from which the sound proceeded. They went on for some distance, floundering through the snow down a precipitous descent which led them into a gloomy canon As they drew nearer the voice of a human being could be distinctly heard calling for relief. They answered that aid was approaching. The man’s yells of misery changed to cries of joy, and they could hear him, at intervals, shouting: ‘ For God’s sake, don’t go away and leave me!” “ Come and get me out!” “ I am caught and starving!" Still they could see nothing. But, guided by the man’s cries and cheering him with hopeful answers as they advanced, they pushe forward and at last discerned what seemed to be a small cabin built of logs, without windows or doors. The snow had drifted against the side of the hut nearly as high as the roof, and as they could see no entrance they went ardhnd to the other side. As" soon as the occupant saw them he uttered exclamations of the greatest joy and explained his situation in a few words, by stating that he had built a bear-trap and caught himself in it five days before. The door was made of heavy logs and was so arranged as to slip down into its place from above. They tried to lift it up, but failed. Finally, by means of a stick of timber which lay near by, they pried it up sufficiently for the prisoner to crawl beneath. He appeared more dead than alive, but by judicious use of a flask of brandy they were able to get him into their camp about dark, where their companions had a blazing fire awaiting their return. The half-famished man ate ravenously. He was supplied with plenty of hot coffee, and smoked a pipe, after which his strength somewhat revived, and he gave the following account of how he got into the situation in which he was found: He said his name was Thomas Way, and that he had been engaged in chopping wood in the mountains during last summer. Since the first snow-fall, about a month ago, he had frequently noticed the tracks of bears among the pine trees, and had often tried to get a shot at them, but without success. At last the idea struck him to build a pen such as he had often seen grizzly bears caught in in Lake County, Cal., where he used to live He explained that the bear trap is made by building a small, square house of heavy hewed logs and covering it with a strong roof. The door is of heavy logs also, and slides up and down in grooves. When it is up there is an open entrance about five feet high and four feet wide. A sheep is killed and hung up inside of the pen attached to a rope, which is connected with a trigger, so that when a bear enters and seizes the mutton the door falls and he is caged. Way went to work and completed* his trap to his satisfaction, and intended to bait it the same night. Having a curiosity to see how it would work he went in and pulled the rope slightly, when the door fell down. He attempted to raise it, but was horror-stricken and his hair stood on end when he found that he was unable to budge it an inch. He worked and struggled., but the heavy weight refused to move. The pen worked only too successfully, and he was caught in his own trap. He yelled, shouted, called for help, but, knowing that he was miles from a human habitation, and in a savage locality where few persons ever ventured, he sat down in blank despair. He spent that night in agony, and got but little sleep. It commenced to snow, but fortunately he had a heavy blanketovercQat which kept him comparatively comfortable. The next morning he commenced shouting again until his throat was sore, but was only answered by the howling of the tempest. He had set his gun against a stump outside, and longed to get at it that he might fire it off and attract somebody’s attention. He soon began to get hungry. His thirst he quenched by thrusting his hand through the chinks between the logs and snow and eating it. Thus day after day elapsed, during which his mental sufferings were terrible. “I tell you, men,” said he, “I thought of everything I had done in all my life from the time I was a boy six years old.” At last a brilliant idea struck him*. He had matches and would burn his way out. With the heel of his boot he would kick and grind a log until he had accumulated a quantity of dust and splinters, which he would light with a match and blow the fire with his hat until he had burned a hole laree enough to cr-awl out. All the day previous to hat on which he was found he was thus employed, but on trial the scheme would not work. The wood refused to burn and he again lay down to die. That day passed, and the next day he had abandoned all hope and was calculating how long it would take a strong, healthy man to die of starvation. He was in a state of abject stupor when he heard tlie report of a gun. He was in doubt whether it was not the effect of his own maddened imagination, but he hallooed with all his might and kept on shouting. When his cries were answered he was almost delirious with joy. As the voices approached his visions of approaching death fled away and the realities of life came back like a flood. He was profuse in his gratitude to his deliverers, but declared his intention of getting out of the Sierra Nevadas as soon as possible and abandoning bear hunting. He said that he had had most too close a call and didn’t want any more of it in his. The next

morning he left for the camp of some wood-choppers, who were no doubt at a loss to account for his long absence.— Virginia City (Neo.) Chronicle. : J.