f DEATH STRUGGll.I
| WITH A GRIZZLY I
The following narrative is a
true account of the adventures
and experiences of the author,
J. M. Christie, whilst prospect
ing in the Yukon district, and
the injuries received by him in
his struggle with a grizzly bear
are in no respect exaggerated.
The marks of the encounter are
plainly visible on his head, face,
arm, body and leg. Although
two years since the accident, he
is still suffering from the after
effects.
Had it not been for the united
efforts of his partner, Mr. Chris
field and Mr. and Mrs. Ferrell,
who nursed the victim for
| months, until able to proceed to
where medical aid could be ob
tained, he would undoubtedly
have succumbed to his injuries..
fPontiniioH from vpstprilnv^
On reaching the Indian camp, which
was on our way to Lansing, the Indi
ans were most unwilling to go farther,
as they seemed to think I was going
to die anyway. After a good deal of
pow-wow among the natives, and some
forcible language on the part of my
partner, we at last got under way
again, and made about six miles for
ther that day. The second day's trip
was also a terrible experience. We
had a mountain divide to cross, and
no trail to guide us. One of the In
dians went ahead to cut a trail, while
the other drove the dogs, my partner
handling my cariole and keeping it
from upsetting in the rough trail,
which made him put forth strenuous
efforts.
We went into camp on the summit
of the divide long after dark, with all
hands played out, and passed the
night on the snow with such covering
as we possessed. That made the third
night since my tussle with the bear,
■ and my sleepless tortures continued
unabated. We were now within
twenty miles of Ferrell’s post, and 1
had a great longing to reach there in
a day at most, imagining that if we
could do so I would pull through. By
promising the Indians double pay, we
were again on our way long before
daylight. Many times during that day,
when the dogs would stop, and then
start up with a jerk—causing me in
tense pain—I wished it was all over.
Periodically, during the day, one or
other of the Indians (if I happened to
be quiet for a time) would uncover
my face and ask me the interesting
question, “Are you dead, Jim?” When
I answered forcibly for a man with
broken jaws, they would seem quite
disappointed, and encouraged at the
same time.
Just before dark on the fourth day
after the accident we reached Lansing
and I think my companions were quite
as glad as I was to get there, all three
of them being completely worn out
from their exertions. Letting me rest
for an hour or so, Ferrell and Cris
field then cut off my clothes which
had been on since the battle with
bruin. After cleansing the clotte
blood from my wounds, and trimmim
up my scalp as best they could. I thei
settled down to ten days of a struggle
in which my life was hanging on
slender thread which more than one
I would gladly have wished broker
The suffering I underwent then, I d
not care to think of.
Where I was then camped wa
about three hundred miles from Daw
son, where the nearest doctor wa
available. It being impossible for m
to travel farther, both Crisfield am
Ferrell volunteered to make the trl
for a doctor. However, after talkim
the matter over, and knowing tha
this would take at least a month, am
by that time I would be either on th
road to recovery, or dead, wo decide'
for ine to take a chance where I was
By this time I was in a high fevei
sufferirig intensely, and having a har
time to keep from losing my reason
One of the most painful wounds I hai
was my wrist, the bear having put hi
teeth right through it, crushing th
joint into many fragments.
About the tenth day after the fight
began, for the first time, to ge
snatches of sleep, and during all o
those long and terrible days eithe
Ferrell or Crisfield was by my side
After the tenth day I began to mend
and a month later I was able to movi
15**1,-. A non V»V '
snowshoes again a little each day. Po
six months I was unable to take any
tl’.'ng but liquid food on account o
my jaws setting in such a way tha
my teeth would not meet within hal
an inch, making mastication impos
sible. As we had an abundance o
good moose, mountain sheep and cari
bou meat, I got along fairly well oi
soup.
On the first day of January, 191(
(two months after the fight), I decides
to tackle the trip to Dawson, buoyes
by the hope that, on reaching there, i
surgeon woulil be able to fix me. Ths
first hundred miles of our trip was
through, a mountainous country, witl
one divide to cross, and no trail. Foi
the first hundred miles Crisfield ac
companied Ferrell and myself, afte
which he returned to resume his trap
ping, a,nd Ferrell and I went on ts
Dawson alone. From the place whers
wo parted with Crisfield, a trail has:
been broken. From Lansing, we hat
to travel very light, as the snow was
deep, and it was necessary for us tc
get through as quickly as possible.
It may be of interest here to de
scribe our mode of travel.
Two of us would go ahead of ths
dog trains, of which we had two ol
four dogs each; we broke the trai
with small snowshoes, thereby crush
ing down the deep snow as much at
possible and thus enabling the dogs
tc pull the toboggans, with the thlrc
man driving both dog teams. At night
when the other two were making
camp—being on account of my broken
wrist unable to assist—I would breai
a trail ahead a couple of miles, en
abling us to get an early start in the
morning.
Tne days at that time of the year
near the arctic circle are very short,
and, as we had to make/Camp before it.
became too dark to cut wood, we had
to make the best possible use of our
time. We camped out, with nothing
overhead but the stars, and whoever
felt cold first would replenish the
camp fire, which we kept burning all
night. In the morning after break
fact, and before daylight, while my
< partners were loading the toboggans,
1 I would go on ahead and break trail
; until they caught up, when they would
i relieve me. At the end of a week
, Crisfield having left us, Ferrell and I
i on the seventh day reached Mayo
) bridge after fourteen hours’ travel,
. and most of the time, while, crossing
j Mayo lake, we were in a blizzard.
This lake is twenty miles long, and
, we had great difficulty in keeping to
, the trail. Needless to say, on reach
s lng the bridge, we were both greatly
3 exhausted, but it was a matter of no
j small satisfaction to me to flniah the
3 day quite as strong as my companion,
5 who was a heavy man, and not so
t agile on snowshoes.
i On reaching Mayo bridge, which is
s the headquarters of a small mining
I camp on the upper Stewart river, we
. looked up the mining recorder, Mr.
, T. H. Hinton—whom we both knew.
I He recognized our dogs but failed to
. recognize me, as I was so changed.
I After enjoying Mr. Hinton’s hospi
* tality to supper, we prepared to ex
3 perience once again the luxury of a
comfortable bed. Ever since we left
I Lansing, we had been sleeping in a
t hole dug- in the snow wherever we
S happened to- camp overnight on our
- way, with Klondyke feathers (in other
. words spruce boughs) for a mattress,
, and the vast canopy of heaven for a
> roof, which is all very well in mild
’ weather, but scarcely desirable with
• the thermometer ranging between
- forty and sixty degrees below zero,
f We remained there the next day, rest
: ing and enjoying the hospitalities of
’ Mr. Hinton. On the third day we
- again hit the trail for Dawson, and at
’ night camped at Minto bridge, twenty
■ miles farther on. The weather sud
i denl.v turned cold, and we were forced
to lie over for two days, being lios
i pitably received by Mr. and Mrs. Cun
ningham, who kept a store there, and
1 also a roadhouse to supply the needs
. of the ntiners. When the weather
i moderated we continued our journey
! without interruption to Dawson, where
; we arrived on the seventeenth day
' from Lansing—three hundred miles
• distant. When we reached Dawson I
• felt in the best of spirits, being^Bpe-'
■ ful of getting proper surgical treat
' ment there, but I was doomed to dis
i appointment, for, on consulting a sur
geon who looked at my head and brok
en jaws, he informed me that he could
do nothing for me, as I had been too
long without surgical aid. I was so
disgusted that I did not mention to
him my broken wrist and other
wounds.
Needless to say, this was a great
disappointment to me, but after hav
ing struggled so long—-when it would
have been much easier to quit—I did
not propose to give up. On the follow
ing morning I got Dr. Thomson, of the
Royal Northwest Mounted Police, who
is a personal friend of mine, to look
me -oyer. He told me that, whilst he
would not care to operate on my jaws
himself, not having the requisite mod
ern surgical appliances beside him,
he advised me to go on to Victoria,
British Columbia, and there place my
self in tne nanus oi ur. u. m. Jones
for treatment.
During the week spent at Dawson 1
was the recipient of many kindnesses
from friends who, with the character
istic generosity of the men of the
North, made me many voluntary offers
of assistance.
The weather again moderating, 1
once more started on my travels, this
time bound for Victoria—Ferrell re
turning on his solitary journey to his
post at Lansing, and I cannot express
how grateful I feht toward him when
we parted for his faithful attendance
on me, but for which I could nevei
have got as far as I did.
On the journey to Victoria I trav
eled to Whitehorse by stage, a dist
ance of three hundred and fifty miles
making the trip in five and a hall
days. On my stage journey I had the
pleasure of the company of Bishof
Stringer, who had just come through
probably as hard a deal as myself, he
having got lost and almost starved tc
death crossing the mountains from the
McKenzie river to Dawson. He had
many reminiscences to relate of his
long sojourn in the North. Anothei
stage passenger from Dawson whc
helped me in many ways was Jacle
MacDougall, customs collector there
and then on his way to Ottawa.
Having arrived at Whitehorse, we
then took the train over the White
Pass and Yukon railway to Skagway
Alaska, a distance of one hundred ane:
ten miles. In Skagway we hud to la>
over a couple of days waiting for s
boat to co.nvey us to Victoria, a thou
sand miles off. After a stormy trip we
reached Victoria by the middle ol
February, where I immediately con
suited Dr. Jones who, after examin
ing me, gave it as his opinion that !
had no right to be alive. Acting or
his advice I went to a specialist tc
have my head photographed by the
X-rays. On completion of the photo
graph Dr. Jones decided to operate
and he gave the cheering news that
he would be able to fix me up so that
I would manage to eat a beefsteak. 1
then went to the Jubilee Hospital and
two days later the doctor removed
the joint of one of my jaws which the
bear’s teeth had crushed into pulp. A
month later, when I had sufficiently
recovered to undergo some more carv
ing, the doctor operated on my arm,
removing part of the wrist joint and
wiring together what w'as left. At the
end of another month I had a further
operation, having my back teeth re
moved and part of the jaw bone taken
out.
1 was in the hospital at Victoria for
three months, after which, being very
tired of hospital life, though treated
with the greatest kindness by sur
geons and nurses—-by whom I was
jocularly known as the “Bear ^an,”
and who thought nothing too good for
me, I left the hospital against the
doctor’s wishes and came to Manitoba
where I remained for months con
valescing.
About the first of August, 1910, the
call of the wild proved to be irresist
ible and, although not yet fully re
covered, I again “hiked” for the North,
reaching the Stewart river early in
September. My intentions were tc
put in the winter either mining or
trapping, but on getting down to busi
ness 1 was forced to admit having
over-estimated my strength, which we
are all prone to do.
I remained in the Yukon territory a
little over a month and as the winter
was setting in and knowing from ex
perience that that country is no place
ior a cripple to winter in, I very re
luctantly headed south to Winnipeg,
where, through the kindness of
Prmier Roblin, I obtained employment
with the Provincial government, with
whom I have been ever since.
Six months later I was again com
pelled to undergo an operatiqn. Since
that time I have been in fairly good
health, with the exception of my wrist,
which will always be weak. As Dr.
Jones foretold, I can make a favor
able impression on a beefsteak, al
though my jaws are not as strong as
formerly.
Should I ever have the good or bad
fortune to meet another grizzly and
have sense enough to follow the ad
vice of any one of scores of advisers.
I do not anticipate any trouble in de
patching yie grizzly. That such ad
vice emanated from hunters whose,
only conception of a mad grizzly was
in all probability obtained from watch
ing the antics of a stuffed teddy bear
at Christmas time, in no way detracts
from its value. However, as I spent
thirteen years in the North, and dur
ing that time have traveled overland
from the Bering sea to Edmonton,
and on many occasions have had to de
pend on my gun to procure food for
myself and dogs and have also killed
many bears—grizzly and others—the
chances are that, should I get near to
another grizzly, 1 would forget all the
! proffered advice and trust to my own
initiative.
! A little advice from the writer to
prospective bear hunters may not be
amiss in conclusion.
It is this: that, unless you are up a
tree or are a dead shot, and you see
bruin in the open, if he leaves you
alone (which in ninety cases out of a
hundred he will do), you had better
leave him to his meditations, and at
tend to any pressing business you may
have at a distance from the vicinity.
I have been frequently asked what
I did with the bearskin. The reader
will understand that anyone in my
then condition would be more inter
ested in his own skin than that of
bruin; at least, that was the view
I tpok. However, my partner, accom
panied by an Indian, returned later to
the scene of the battle and recovered
my rifle and snowshoes and also the
front paws of the bear, which was all
the wolves had left of the carcass.
*
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