The Ultimate Survival Challenge

Ed Fowler

Ed Fowler

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Jul 21, 2001
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The book is a novel, but based on a real incident. This is the third that I have read about where man killed Grizzly with knife.
"Lord Grizzly" by Fredrick Manfred
University of Nebraska Press
ISBN, A52233I.6
It is a story about Hugh Glass and an ultimate experience of Survival.
 
Ed:

I haven’t read that one. But I enjoyed The Saga of Hugh Glass: Pirate, Pawnee, and Mountain Man, by John Myers Myers.

What an astonishing trip!
 
Raymond: I have come across it several times in refferences and novels. In your copy did he talk about how to gain advantage over the bear?
 
Ed Fowler said:
Raymond: I have come across it several times in refferences and novels. In your copy did he talk about how to gain advantage over the bear?
Click to expand...

Ed:

It’s been years since I read the thing. But he wasn’t alone. Several other mountain men were there, including a young Jim Bridger. If I recall correctly, Glass defended himself with his knife. But a couple of his buddies killed the bear with their rifles.

The larger group continued, leaving several guys on burial detail once Hugh’s time came. The burial party eventually abandoned the still living Hugh Glass because they thought an attack by the “Araki” Indians was imminent.

Mauled by a bear. No gun. No knife. No possibles bag. Three hundred miles from the nearest white outpost. Astonishing journey. Astonishing man.
 
I think it was called "Alone in the Wilderness" but I may be mistaken, was that movie based on this Hugh Glass?


RickJ
 
According to this book in 1823 General Ashley advertised for 100 men to ascend the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains. Hugh Glass was one of these men, signed on as a hunter for the expedition. Also on the expedition were two boys, Fitz Fitzpatrick and Jim Bridger.

Hugh Glass went hunting on his own, (against policy set by Ashley) found some ripe plums and started harvesting. He suddenly found himself face to face with a large Grizzly Sow with two cubs. The cubs were whining and hiding behind mom.

Hugh raised his rifle to kill her, she batted his rifle into the brush, he tried for his pistol, she swatted it away also. The fight was on, Hugh drew his skinning knife and saw immediately that while there was any distance between himself and the sow he was in trouble. He decided to close in and charged past her paws, hugged her with one hand and started sticking her in the belly with his knife. He struck many times, she chewed and bite him many times. She died from a heart thrust and fell on top of Hugh.

When he did not return to the Ashley party they went looking for him. He was so badly tore up they decided he would not live. Sewed him up and doctored him as much as they could. The party moved on, leaving the two boys, Fitz Fitzpatrick and Jim Bridger to stay with him until he died, bury him and rejoin the party.

Hostile Indians were in the vicinity, they got spooked, picked up his rifle, pistol, possible bag, knife and left him to join the Ashley party.

Hugh woke up, set his broken leg, or dislocated hip himself, made a travois so he could drag his leg with him and started crawling to the nearest fort. He was over 100 miles
away, but made it. This is quite a survival story, the content comes from many sources, but is considered very accurate.

This is probably one of the most dramatic and serious survival stories I have read.
 
That is absolutely incredible. Looks like I've got some new reading material to hunt down!
 
Ed:

It’s been over twenty years since I read Myer’s book. I’ve gotten fuzzy over the details. But according to Wikipedia:

Near the forks of the Grand River in present-day Perkins County, in August 1823, while scouting alone for game for the expedition's larder, Glass surprised a Grizzly mother bear with her two cubs. Before he could fire his rifle, the bear charged, picked him up, and threw him to the ground. Glass got up, grappled for his knife, and fought back, stabbing the animal repeatedly as the grizzly raked him time and again with her claws.
Glass managed to kill the bear with help from his trapping partners, Fitzgerald and Bridger, but was left badly mauled and unable to walk. When Glass lost consciousness, Henry became convinced the man would not survive his injuries.

That’s not so far from what I remember. Which is not to say its right. Just that I’m remembering one version of the story sort of accurately. I’d have to do more research to get a most probable report.
 
Manford (the author) did a lot of research, both in literature of the time, including visiting the area of the incident, sleeping out, tried the travois deal on his leg and read all he could then developed it into a novel. Ashley did not feel he could be transported without killing him and felt he was going to die anyway but figured someone should bury him so left the boys with him.

We will probably never be able to know the whole story, I have read several versions and this one is the best I have come up with.

There is another book titled Mountain "Man and Grizzly" by Fred R. Gowans. It is very rare and maybe a library somewhere has a copy. It is real good reading and recounts several folks who survived fights with a Grizzly.

In recounting one incident they found a dead grizzly with a man laying under it. His knife was stuck in the grizzlies heart. When he came to he claimed he had slugged the bear then had to go to his knife. While some of the folks there found the story improbable "it is hard to argue with him considering the observable facts". It was also stated that it took months for him to heal up, but went back to trapping.

A good friend did some very significant research on survival, his main conclusion was that the most significant aspect of survival was desire and believing you can do it. Some thought they were going to die and said so, then did with relatively minor injuries and situations most would not consider life threatening. Same thing in hospitals, if a patient believes he will not survive the surgery, his chances of recovery are less.

These are the reasons I brought this book up for discussion. The old children's book about the little switch engine who kept saying over and over again, "I think I can, I think I can" is one of the best for kids and us older folks are not excluded.
 
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