Last Grizzly in AZ

[Outdoor Writer]

4 hours ago, daverp said:

Was a kid growing up in near Flag in the early 70's.  The old man and some of his buddies knew an old houndsman (don't recall his name) who spent a lot of his time in Sycamore.  Guy had some outstanding artifacts in is den from his days of wandering the canyon.  His den was a mini-museum with artifacts acquired over many years of working that canyon.  At any rate, at the time, he was certain of a grizzly he knew of in the canyon back in the mid-60's or so.   Who knows if that was a thinly strung yarn or not, but the guy certainly did not seem to be the type to embellish, or have a need to do so.   He was of the opinion Sycamore would be about the last place in AZ to give up all of her secrets.  Eh, who knows.  Was fun to think about at the time.  

It wouldn't surprise me. Sycamore is a rugged area. I killed my lion there with Randy Epperson. We rode in quite a ways on horseback, spent the night in a USFS line shack and hunted the next day. Turned into a somewhat amusing and successful morning. When the dogs had the cat in the canyon, all we could do was sit on a rock ledge at the top and listen. 

[mrmlwhite]

If memory serves me correctly, on US 60 just east of Springerville there is a big plaque on the south side of the road recounting the story told by Leopold that the last Arizona grizzly was killed on Escudilla, with Escudilla visible in the background. Don't know if its true or not, but it is a very scenic spot.

[JLW]

saw this on the web

interesting even if not true

http://apachecountyatv.org/Outlaw_History.html

http://www.ancestorpages.com/fr_fred.html

james

[lefty]

i remember a sign on the mt wilson trailhead by sedona saying that back in 1885 mr. wilson was attacked and killed by a grizzly bear, i know that this doesn't pertain to the last grizzly but kinda cool to know there used to be grizzlys by sedona

[Outdoor Writer]

When I first began writing in the late 1960s, I was doing monthly articles for a magazine called Arizona Outdoors. One weekend, I was shooting in a metallic silhouette match at the Tucson Rod & Gun Club range and met a guy that was part of a group that was akin to the Bill Williams Mountain men.  Difference was these guys really enjoyed playing their roles. Anyway, he invited me to spend a weekend with them atop Mt. Graham. I decided to go along to get photos and do an article on them for the magazine. It was a fun time. They all dressed the part with homemade buckskins and such, slept in teepees, cooked over open fires and had the usual turkey shoots and hatchet throwing contests. 

When I got back, I decided to do a bit of research for the article by reading several books on mountain men from the library. In one, there was a journal story about a guy who was mauled by a grizz and left to die by two of his companions. His name was Hugh Glass and he survived. A year or two later, the movie Man in the Wilderness with Richard Harris came out. I immediately recognized the plot as the tale about Glass. And then more recently Leonardo DiCaprio reprised the role of Glass in the Revenant. Of course, parts of the films were Hollywoodized from the original true story for consumer consumption, but they followed the tale close enough to recognize the origin of the screen play.

[PRDATR]

1 hour ago, lefty said:

i remember a sign on the mt wilson trailhead by sedona saying that back in 1885 mr. wilson was attacked and killed by a grizzly bear, i know that this doesn't pertain to the last grizzly but kinda cool to know there used to be grizzlys by sedona

Unless you were Mr Wilson. People just don't realize how fast they can run, know of one tale where a guy on horseback was chased for close to a mile.  I was about 100 miles east of Nome hunting Caribou in the early 90's when my BIL's podner came back alone about 10:30 as it was getting dark.

Seems they flipped on of the quads and Gary went off and got lost. Big mountains but all tundra, cept for a few bottoms with sporadic willows. I had killed earlier in the day and after taking care of mine I helped the teenage son of one of the other hunters get his cut up and hung it in an old abandon building that had been part of a military radar base.

Darkness takes forever up there after the sunsets  but as it fell I started a  fire in a 55 gallon drum at the air strip as the others went off to find him. We were about 400 yards from the miners shack we were staying in and in the rush I left my sidearm and rifle back there not expecting to need them. I remembered Don telling me that one year they were sitting there in the same spot after dark when a bear walked past them  up to a quad that had some caribou quarters on the rear rack held down with bungee straps. It sniffed the meat, grabbed a quarter in it's jaws, pulled it free in one motion and sounded off into the night.

There was a "shed" at one end of the air strip where some hunters would stay. Maybe 10x15 with a makeshift bunk and like most remote buildings a few supplies people would leave rather than load up and fly out with. Kinda customary, from what I gathered, to leave what you brung and didn't use so people after you would have some supplies if needed for survival. There was a message scribbled on the wall that went something like " to the dirty son of a bich who took my stove,,,," seems someone had left it there.

I took another 55 gallon drum and used it to get up on the roof of the shed in case a bear decided to pay the fire a visit and so I could see past the brightness of the fire. It got cold but maybe only to about freezing and spent a few hours up there, only getting down to stoke the fire. I could see the headlights of the quads going back and forth in the distance and occasionally Garys flashlight. Finally about 1AM they all made it back. It was early September and earlier that day I was in a T Shirt but now it was pretty cold and Gary, even with his years as a Scout Leader, wasn't prepared for the emotional part of getting stranded. He had his Army P-Coat but was on the verge of hypothermia and even though back to us he was pretty unsettled.

We managed to kill two more caribou the next day and Jim Tweto came in late in the day and flew us back to Unalakleet.

 

 

 

 

[sjvcon]

I read somewhere it was in the late 30's, but who knows.

I do know this...reintroduction of that Species here is a fools errand, and will bring only trouble to both people and wildlife.  May as well reintroduce the Sabertoothed Tiger.

[biglakejake]

1979 Whiteman sow Grizz in the South san juans' in So. Colorado.  Last Arizona Cinnebar were cubs killed on Mount Baldy in 1937. i burned alot of gasoline and lamp oil and phone lines- what we do have-remaining- is Jag.

lee

[AZkiller]

AZCentral.com › 2019/06/27
More grizzly bears considered for Arizona, other Western states - AZCentral.com

[trphyhntr]

1 hour ago, biglakejake said:

1979 Whiteman sow Grizz in the Sangre de Cristos' in So. Colorado.  Last Arizona Cinnebar were cubs killed on Mount Baldy in 1937. i burned alot of gasoline and lamp oil and phone lines- what we do have-remaining- is Jag.

lee

I thought the last az grizzly was killed on escudilla with a spring gun?

[trphyhntr]

There was a grizzly killed in chihuahua Mexico in 1960

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvFxo8PgqY_/?igshid=1nr16l9tnos5e

[Couzer]

12 hours ago, mrmlwhite said:

If memory serves me correctly, on US 60 just east of Springerville there is a big plaque on the south side of the road recounting the story told by Leopold that the last Arizona grizzly was killed on Escudilla, with Escudilla visible in the background. Don't know if its true or not, but it is a very scenic spot.

Yep u are correct

[brademan76]

23-lovers-for-less-cattle-and-more-grizz crew GTFIH!

[Outdoor Writer]

Another good read on my book shelves for those who enjoy such is Meet Mr. Grizzly - A Saga on the Passing of the Grizzly Bear by Montague Stevens (1859-1953). He was a Brit who graduated from Cambridge and moved to Catron County in New Mexico where he became one of the more noted grizzly bear hunters of the time. He used horses and hounds for most of his hunts, and after 1888, he did it with one arm after losing the other one in a hunting accident. He actually wrote the book, which was first published in 1943 by the University of New Mexico Press. 

[Big Tub]

Growing up in Morenci and working with a grandson of 30+ years, I had heard a different story:

https://truewestmagazine.com/fred-fritz-and-the-grizzly/