EARLY IN THIS CENTURY the high mountain country of south-central Colorado was home to a monster with a reputation that sent chills up the spines of strong men. If word went out that "Old Mose" had been sighted, ranch wives kept their small children indoors, and men were seen to inspect their rifles with special care. All of them knew they were dealing with the biggest grizzly bear ever known in those mountains. They also knew this bear had tasted human flesh.
Under the best conditions men and grizzly bears have never been very good neighbors. This feud between man and these giant North American bears began when explorers first invaded the bear's habitat. Lewis and Clark, exploring up the Missouri Valley,met the grizzly and were amazed. Then the famous mountain men, Jim Bridger, and all the rest, had the grizzly bears for neighbors. Neighborhood relationships never did warm up between the two species. Men despised the grizzlies for killing calves, sheep, and colts, and for threatening people. But they hated the grizzly most for another reason:; the giant bears were hard to kill. Sometimes a man would have to shoot a grizzly half a dozen times. Any bear that didn't know when to lie down and die was not to be trusted.
These biggest of the bears,known for their humped backs and dish-shaped faces, once roamed over most of the western half of the United States. Rifles, traps, and poison took care of that. In the United States today, the grizzly bears are in Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, and even there they stay far back in the wilderness minding their own business most of the time. But,even though they are gone from ranch country almost everywhere, stories of them are still repeated.
Right in the heart of Old Mose's former range lay the Stirrup Ranch. This spread was then owned by Wharton H. Pigg who raised cattle and horses. Mr. Pigg was first aware that the giant bear's territory overlapped with his own one day in 1982 when he came upon the bear's trail. He reined his horse to a halt to gaze at the tracks in amazement.Along this trail had walked a bear with feet bigger than dish pans and on one of them a toe was missing.
Then other ranchers and hunters began to sight the monstrous grizzly elsewhere along the mountain range. All agreed that this must be a bear larger than they had ever seen, a frightening monster. This bear obviously deserved a name, and someone called him "Old Mose".
Indications are that Old Mose might have been young in those days. He lived on for enough years to cause more trouble than anyone really needed. He became a champion at robbing corrals. By the size of his foot and that missing toe ranchers were always able to tell when the giant grizzly had paid a visit.
As long as Old Mose lived, Mr. Pigg pursued him. He learned to understand the bear's habit. It seems likely that Old Mose also learned to understand the schemes dreamed up by Mr. Pigg. At any rate, over the years, they periodically tracked each other. Each, perhaps, was aware that a close confrontation would bring both into mortal danger.
As the years rolled by, the bear's transgression increased. He had a fondness for fresh meat. Nobody knows how many head a stock he killed during his lifetime. The records reveal that he killed at least three full-grown bulls.
Killing a steer, or even a horse, was no big thing for Old Mose. A single swat with one of those powerful front feet would send the creature into the hereafter.A slashing bite in the neck would guarantee the job.
These crimes were truly bad in ranching country. But old Mose soon earned an even more notorious reputation. The bear had been leading the good life in the vicinity of Black Mountain through the summer and into the fall of 1883. He was a loner, traveling wherever the urge took him. Sometimes he would turn up the sod, seeking tender roots of plants. Other times he would pause to harvest wild berries or snack on grubs. But a body that big needs considerable food, and whenever hunger grew strong enough,Old Mose turned his thoughts to food that came in large servings. Ranchers found the remains of several cows during those months.
Meanwhile the fame of Old Mose was spreading. There is a rule that guides the destinies of bounty hunters who pursue lawbreakers.The more famous the outlaw, the braver seems the man who shoots him. More and more men now dreamed of bringing Old Mose down. So three men set forth one autumn day to seek Old Mose in the high country. One of them was Jake Ratcliff. Jack fancied himself to be one big bear hunter.
For several days they hunted for sign of the giant grizzly. They watched for restless cattle. They studied the remains of carcasses. They watched for giant foot-prints.
Then, late one afternoon, they found exactly what they were seeking. Old Mose had taken his meal from the carcass of a steer, still warm where it had fallen.And around the kill were the unmistakable prints of the mammoth bear. Various trails led from the spot and the three men split up to see if one of them could rout the grizzly. One of them did.
The trail followed by Jake Ratcliff led to a bear-sized hole in the side of the hill. Outside the hole was a mound of fresh earth to tell Jake that a bear had been here shortly before.
Jake noticed that he was shaking slightly. A strange chill chased up his spine, and he made a conscious effort to control his nerves. Jake had heard no noise and as far as he knew the breeze had not carried scent of his presence to the bear's sensitive nose. Or perhaps the grizzly had slipped off through the woods unnoticed.This would have been a lucky break for Jack Ratcliff.
Instead, Jake, moving quietly, soon spotted the massive bear. Quickly, he raised his rifle to his shoulder, aimed and fired, and the bullet struck the huge body.But nothing happened. All the bullets Ratcliff fired failed to bring the monster to the earth.
From deep in the massive throat of the grizzly there came a horrible roar and then Old Mose turned upon the man. He charged down upon Ratcliff at full speed. Heavy brush will scarcely slow an enraged bear. Where he wanted to go, the underbrush parted. It was as if a tank were rumbling through. Before Ratcliff could get his feet in motion the bear was breathing in his face.
Old Mose reached for Ratrcliff and threw him into the air like a mouse tossed by a cat. Experienced outdoorsmen know that the best defense when attacked by a bear is to lie perfectly still, and hope the bear leaves. Ratcliff, still conscious, now lay motionless and silent. Old Mose began to move off.
Finally the mutilated hunter, thinking the bear had gone, lifted his head ti inspect the scene. This was all the clue Old Mose needed. Filled with pain from the bullets he carried, he had stood off to one side watching and waiting, and now leaped in once more on the man who hurt him.
When the other hunters arrived they found Ratcliff still breathing.But Oldose had finished his job. Jake Ratcliff died beforemorning.
Now Old Mose had really done it! He was guilty of the unforgivable. Word flashed across Colorado. The state had a killer grizzly on its hands. Every time the story was repeated the bear grew bigger,his exploits more daring.
But the giant grizzly had many active years ahead of him. Men tried every trick they could think of to succeed where Jake Ratcliff had failed.
If they set a trap, Old Mose would study it.If the trap had somehow been sprung, he would consume the bait before wandering on. But if the trap were still set, he would walk around it, leaving it untouched.
Mr. Pigg had another idea. He had observed that Old Mose sometimes went to the lake where he splashed and played in the cold water.Mr. Pigg waited until about time for the old bear to make his rounds of the mountain again.
When Old Mose arrived at the shore of the lake, there hidden in the shallow water, was a giant steel trap.The water masked out the man odor. Old Mose was not thinking of a trap as he splashed into the lake.He had no experience to tell him there was danger in the water.
Then he felt the trap spring. The monstrous bear leaped back, and with his lightning-fast reflexes almost escaped the trap completely. But the giant still jaws had clamped shut on two toes of his right foot.
At that moment the son of local rancher slipped down to the lake's edge and peered through the aspen.What he saw sent him flying back to find Mr.Pigg. "Old Mose is down there all right," he yelled as he came up to Mr. Pigg," right down there in the water caught in that trap sure as anything."
All men within hearing reached for their guns. The rumble of horses' hoofs sounded like a charger of cavalry. At last they had Old Mose, the killer grizzly, had him right where they wanted him. That's what they thought. By the time they reached the lake the massive bear had pulled free of the trap, leaving behind a part of this foot.
Old Mose went right,on killing livestock. Bears have to eat. If he found a fence between himself and a calf, he might tear down the fence. If he found a colt in a corral, his method was to knock the corral down.
Year after year, Mr. Pigg and other hunters went into the mountains to test their skill. Some say that after finishing off Jake Ratcliff Old Mose killed other men, maybe three or four them. If a human body was found anywhere within the old bear's range, Old Mose got the credit.
One of the newspapers of the day quoted and old-time rancher. "The stockmen of his country were in fear of their lives on account of this big bear. There were two or three men that had gone to the hills to look for him.They never returned and their bodies were never recovered."
Finally J. W. Anthony set out to find Old Mose. Mr. Anthony, who had killed many bears in his lifetime, had a pack of hounds that did his trailing. One April day in 1904, he and Mr.Pigg set off together to seek Old Mose. Anthony came upon the bear first. His dogs had surrounded the monster in an aspen grove.
Mr. Anthony's mind flashed back to other bears he had hunted. All were small when compared with the giant that now stood snarling and roaring before him.
Then the first bullet struck the bear. Old Mose wheeled about and rushed down upon the hapless Jake Ratcliff. When Old Mose was only three feet away, Mr. Anthony fired again. The shot hit the giant between the eyes. Old Mose suddenly fell and died.
All that Old Mose ever wanted was to go where he chose, eat what he liked, and not be hassled. But he belonged to a species for which three was no longer space in the West. And besides, he had a special problem; he was a monster.
Men arrived to drag the huge body back to Stirrup Ranch. They figured the bear weighed half a ton. The hide was mine feet four inches long and nine and a half feet wide.
One scientists,who later studied the brain of Old Mose, concluded that the size of his brain was not very big considering the bulk of his body. But for more than twenty years the giant bear had been a match for every man who pursued him.
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