1890: In May 1890, Jacob “Hans” Mandel,
a cook at a sawmill near Boulder Creek, and two friends had an encounter with a
bear while on a hunting trip in the Big
Basin
The men ran for a mile with the
grizzly gaining on their heels. They reached a tall climbable tree and took
refuge in it just as the grizzly caught up. Unable to reach the men, the
grizzly just remained at its base for several hours. Afraid to move, the men
stayed in the tree all night on their "uncomfortable perches." In the
morning they realized the bear had departed, so they climbed down the tree and
"made haste to reach Boulder ."
The experience was too much for
Hans who promptly resigned as cook to return to the safety of Santa Cruz . This was a great loss to the sawmill crew
as Hans was famed for his corn beef hash which was considered "a rare
delicacy." And the different ways in which he served mush and milk for
breakfast had given him a reputation which made him the "envy of the other
chefs in the neighborhood."
This story cannot be true. It's a tall tail. No one, and I mean no one can outrun a grizzly bear for even 50 yards much less a mile. Fact check that one. And then the writer quotes, "his eyes gleaming like two electric lights." Come on now. That kind of an image would never have been dreamed of in 1890. Edison had just invented the light bulb in 1879. In those days distribution of wire, etc. to power light bulbs was yet to come.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill.
ReplyDeleteThe article was published in the Santa Cruz Daily Sentinel on May 8, 1890, page 3, column 3. You can check out the article on newspapers.com, or microfilm at various locations, or if you provide me your email I can send you a pdf of the article.
Best regards
Lisa R.