Not the Last Grizzly in the Santa Cruz Mountains

1885: In June 1885, a grizzly entered the yard of Sanford Blodgett on Ben Lomond Mountain, now Bonny Doon, and stole a hog. His son Orrin prepared to give the bear a "warm reception" should he return, which he did a few days later.

As the bear was clearing off the dirt with which he had buried the hog, Orrin, with a wagon bolt in his gun pulled the trigger and the bolt struck the bear in the eye killing him instantly. The 600 pound grizzly was brought to Chase's market in Santa Cruz and hung on exhibition prior to being cut up. Steaks from the bear were enjoyed by members of the Santa Cruz Sentinel staff.

Years later, in 1931, Orrin related the story in a letter to Walter Welch. He recalled selling the meat for ten cents per pound

California Fish and Game: "I didn't save any part of the bear, for which I have since been sorry, as it proved to be the last grizzly killed in this section."

Unfortunately, this sentence has been misinterpreted and most authoritative works refer to this bear as the last grizzly in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Orrin used the word section, as in a measure of land, where a section is one of the 36 numbered subdivisions, each one square mile, or 640 acres, of a township.

For more information on the Public Land Survey System CLICK HERE.