Most grizzlies comport themselves accordingly; those that don't need to be eliminated from the population. If not they will continue and in this case teach their offspring.
If they are anything like dogs and wolves, certainly individual bears must vary in personality, aggressiveness etc. much of which behavior is inherited (compare your average golden retriever to your average Jack Russel for example). I'm wondering if, back in the days, those grizzlies innately less fearful of people were more likely to be targeted, at least in retaliation, by humans. Even surviving getting stuck with arrows might seriously impede the subsequent survival of the bear.
In modern times it could be that this selection pressure against "problem" bears has decreased. I am not aware of accounts of guys being actively challenged for their kills much by grizzles in historic times as seems to regularly happen to hunters today, and while there are a few accounts of bears charging Indian camps back then, can one imagine the problems we would worry about if one set up an arch-typical Indian or Mountain Man-type camp in bear country today, especially if grizzlies today were as common and widespread as they were back then.
On the main topic, I'm inclined to view any large predator that doesn't turn and run at the sight or scent of humans as a suitable candidate for elimination, much more so for those that have already "crossed the line".
Maybe the fact that the injuns and Mt. men were mostly illiterate could account for the lack of stories about bear attacks in historical times. I'm not a history teacher so that is just a guess on my part.
Yet we have a large number of accounts and journals from our history from those individuals who were literate describing the lifestyles of those around them who were not. These written accounts increase greatly towards the end of the Nineteenth Century as the population and literacy rates increased and mass produced printed material become more popular. One of the best and most detailed written accounts is an early one; The Journals of Lewis and Clark. Those guys had a number of tussles with the "white bears" in their travels, most often initiated when they peppered said bears first with one or more round lead rifle balls
We have a number of detailed biographies of Mountain Men, often in their own words, and certainly by the early Twentieth Century numerous authors were recording the accounts and reminiscences of elderly Plains Indians.
One of the most famous 19th Century Plains Indians who's life we know about in detail was the Cheyenne leader Dull Knife (1810-1883), who's life encompasses much of our Western History. Dull Knife is famous as the guy who led the breakout of the Northern Cheyenne from Oklahoma in 1878, and again the mid-Winter escape from Fort Robinson, Nebraska in the middle of a blizzard in the middle of winter.
The name "Dull Knife" reportedly came from an incident that had occurred when he was a young man. A grizzly charged the column when the camp was on the move, whereupon Dull Knife, who plainly weren't no slouch, put himself between the column and the bear, engaging it with a knife which turned out to be not as sharp (or pointy?) as he would have liked.
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
I picked up "Lewis and Clark Among the Grizzlies" by Paul Schullery at the used book emporium the other day. I'll let you guys know how it turns out after I read it.
Momma bear, cubs, close quarters, a surprise to both parties. The bears did not survive the encounter, Glass of course did, but barely.
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
Maybe the fact that the injuns and Mt. men were mostly illiterate could account for the lack of stories about bear attacks in historical times. I'm not a history teacher so that is just a guess on my part.
mike r
When mountain men and Indians roamed the west, grizzly bears were on the plains. It is only in our lifetime that they have inhabited the mountains. So if mountain men were in the mountains where the bears weren’t, no conflict. If the Indians were in the plains where the bears were, they could see them for miles, again no conflict...
When mountain men and Indians roamed the west, grizzly bears were on the plains. It is only in our lifetime that they have inhabited the mountains. So if mountain men were in the mountains where the bears weren’t, no conflict. If the Indians were in the plains where the bears were, they could see them for miles, again no conflict...
Seems a bit simplistic.
What has changed about the mountains today that precluded grizzlies in early times? The friggin things are/were found from the Arctic tundra clear to Southern California. Surely every area of habitat that was habitable by grizzlies, was.
For that matter seems a real puzzle why they didn't occur clear to the Eastern Seaboard, for example early accounts speak of the waterways back east chock full of migrating salmon and shad in season to an extent unimaginable today..
Even Mountain Men had to cross the Plains, often, and ya can't see grizzlies for miles at night, when all the cooking fires of a large Indian camp would be sending food odors across the Plains.
Just wondering.
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
[quote] One of the best and most detailed written accounts is an early one; The Journals of Lewis and Clark. Those guys had a number of tussles with the "white bears" in their travels, most often initiated when they peppered said bears first with one or more round lead rifle balls
I have been doing a deep dive through Lewis and Clark's journals the last few months, and we hit a bunch of significant L&C historical spots on vacation this year. They absolutely hated the white and brown bears (they had not decided whether they were seeing different species or different color phases). Once, when they planned to attack one, they kept two people back to cover the retreat by holding fire and sent 4 people in the attack party. Four solid holes in the bear just got it mad. It still continued after taking the other two rounds, one breaking a shoulder. Lewis said that the only way to kill them with a single shot was by shooting them through the brains, which was difficult. He also said in the same passage that he would rather fight two Indians than one bear.
"Don't believe everything you see on the Internet" - Abraham Lincoln
What has changed about the mountains today that precluded grizzlies in early times? The friggin things are/were found from the Arctic tundra clear to Southern California. Surely every area of habitat that was habitable by grizzlies, was. .
Lewis and Clark nearly starved to death in the Rocky Mountains, nothing to eat. Grizzlies weren’t there for the same reason. You can’t judge frontier America by what today’s conditions are...
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