In both instances the men were not hunters out
after game, but simply cowboys, riding over the range in early morning
in pursuance of their ordinary duties among the cattle. I knew both
men and have worked with them on the round-up. Like most cowboys, they
carried 44-calibre Colt revolvers, and were accustomed to and
fairly expert in their use, and they were mounted on ordinary
cow-ponies--quick, wiry, plucky little beasts. In one case the bear
was seen from quite a distance, lounging across a broad table-land. The
cowboy, by taking advantage of a winding and rather shallow coulie, got
quite close to him. He then scrambled out of the coulie, put spurs to
his pony, and raced up to within fifty yards of the astonished bear ere
the latter quite understood what it was that was running at him through
the gray dawn. He made no attempt at fight, but ran at top speed towards
a clump of brush not far off at the head of a creek. Before he could
reach it, however, the galloping horsemen was alongside, and fired three
shots into his broad back.
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