By Enos A. Mills THE GRIZZLY, OUR GREATEST WILD ANIMAL. Illustrated. YOUR NATIONAL PARKS. Illustrated. THE STORY OF SCOTCH. Illustrated. THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN WONDERLAND. Illustrated. THE STORY OF A THOUSAND-YEAR PINE. Illustrated. IN BEAVER WORLD. Illustrated. THE SPELL OF THE ROCKIES. Illustrated. WILD LIFE ON THE ROCKIES. Illustrated. HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY Boston and New York The Grizzly OUR GREATEST WILD ANIMAL [Illustration: A WILD GRIZZLY _Taken by Flashlight_ _Copyright, 1902, by F. C. Wolcott_] The Grizzly OUR GREATEST WILD ANIMAL By Enos A. Mills With Illustrations [Illustration] Boston and New York Houghton Mifflin Company The Riverside Press Cambridge 1919 COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY ENOS A. MILLS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED To Emerson McMillin Preface It would make exciting reading if a forty-year-old grizzly bear were to write his autobiography. Beginning with the stories from his mother of the long and exciting journey of his ancestors from far-off Asia and of her own struggle in bringing up her family, and then telling of his own adventurous life and his meetings with men and with other animals, he could give us a book of highly dramatic quality. Just what a wise old grizzly would say while philosophizing concerning the white race would certainly be of human interest and rich in material for literature. A vigorous, courageous adventurer himself, and a keen and constant observer, the grizzly would have clear-cut views concerning the explorers, early settlers, and hunters. The arrival of the early white people aroused his extraordinary inherent curiosity. He watched them with wondering eyes. He was even inclined to walk right into camp to make their acquaintance. He had no evil intentions, but he was greeted with yells and bullets. Relentlessly down through the years he was pursued. Dogs, guns, poison, and traps have swept a majority of the grizzlies away. Their retreat was masterly and heroic, but the odds were overwhelming. In the midst of this terrible hunt the Yellowstone wild-life reservation was established. Instantly the grizzly understood, years before other big animals did, and in its protection at once came forth from hiding, eager to be friendly with man. I should like to know his wonderings concerning this place of refuge--why its creation, why its mysterious, invisible boundary-lines, and why, outside of it, the fierce, never-ending pursuit for him has still gone on, until his noble species is verging on extinction.