The Soquel Bear

October 23, 1978, Santa Cruz Sentinel,
Courtesy Newspapers.com

1978: Valerie Norkoli remembers a bear in the late 1970s:
"It was in the Soquel Hills less then a 1/4 mile from my house. It mauled our neighbors little wiener dog. It was relocated. I was about 10 and was able to view it after they tranquilizer it."¹




1. Accessed July 25, 2017:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bouldercreekneighbors/permalink/861769267309753/?comment_id=863073617179318&reply_comment_id=863180330501980&notif_t=group_comment_reply&notif_id=1500997510487744

Gatling Gun versus a Bear!

Boulder Blast, October 19, 1895

1899:  In December 1899, butcher William (Billy) H. Dool of Boulder Creek sent a 300 pound black bear to the Popular Meat Market in Santa Cruz. The bear had been shot by Henry L. Middleton in the Big Basin.

Henry Middleton had acquired a Gatling gun and wanting to “experiment” with it took it to a place near his lumber mill in the Big Basin. The gun, a machine gun that consists of multiple barrels revolving around a central axis and is capable of being fired at a rapid rate, had been “captured” from the Filipinos.

The Gatling Gun,
for Service Ashore & Afloat,
William B. Franklin, 1874

(The Philippine-American War ran from Feb 1899 to Jul 1902. Middleton had just been awarded a contract by the US government to supply troops at Manila with 3000 tons of hay.)

He fired the gun and then saw a large bear approaching. Middleton had long wanted to kill a bear and saw this as his opportunity.

The bear came running toward the gun, Middleton fired.

"Bruin saw he had no business with the Mayor of Boulder Creek, and decided that the Big Basin was too small to hold both. As the bear turned to run another shot was fired with fatal effect."

Middleton, with the assistance of several men, brought the bear to Dool's Meat Market in Boulder Creek.

Recent Black Bear Sightings

1999: In August, County sheriff’s deputy Larry Roland saw a bear running across Lompico Road. “It ran down from the hillside on the left right in front of me and down into the creek,” Roland said.

Also in 1999, near Felton Nancy McFarlane reported a glimpse of what she thought could be a bear. A follow-up search by field scout Rich Coats discovered bear scat near Graham Hill Road. Click here for examples of black bear scat.

2001: A bear was hit and killed by a car on Skyline Boulevard near the Crystal Springs Watershed in June. Vicki Sliwa saw the bear lying in the road. “It was a Sunday afternoon, driving south on Skyline, and then suddenly, there it was, a bear lying in a heap on the gravel shoulder,” Sliwa said. “Traffic was light, but everybody was slowing down to look at it.”

By the time CalTrans and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) arrived, the bear was gone. A DFG spokesman said that it was likely a passing driver illegally picked up the animal.

2008: Two sightings of black bears in the Santa Cruz Mountains were reported; one at Rancho San Antonio in the Los Altos Hills, and the other along Skyline Boulevard near Sanborn-Skyline County Park and Castle Rock State Park. 

The bear at Rancho San Antonio was spotted by a senior couple who saw the bear cross Rogue Valley Trail about a third of a mile east of the park’s pond. The other, along Skyline, was reported by two hikers.

Black Bears in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Occasionally, black bears were encountered in the Santa Cruz Mountains, perhaps in part as a result of the declining grizzly population.

1890: An Italian who worked as a "swamper" trimming felled trees into logs for a sawmill at the summit had a lively encounter with a black bear. Macaroni, as he was called, as his real name was too difficult to pronounce, borrowed a gun and “went up the canyon to shoot something.”

He disturbed a black bear that was taking a nap. After shooting at the bear, but only slightly injuring it, he found he had to run for his life. Realizing he would lose a straight race, he dodged round a large redwood, the bear dodged too. So began a race around the tree that by accounts lasted several hours.

Santa Cruz Sentinel: "At last, he remembered he had a gun in his hand and managed to load it, made a desperate spurt to catch up with the bear, and shot it in the back."

Two of the boys who went back with Macaroni to bring the dead bear in, declared that the Italian and bruin had worn a well-beaten track around the redwood. The bear weighed a little over 200 pounds. 

1899:  In December 1899, butcher W. H. Dool of Boulder Creek sent a 300 pound black bear to the Popular Meat Market in Santa Cruz. The bear had been shot by Henry Middleton in the Big Basin.

Middleton had “captured” a Gatling gun “from the Filipinos” and wanting to “experiment” with it took it to a place near his mill. He fired a single shot and saw a bear approaching. Middleton had long wanted to kill a bear and saw this as his opportunity. So, as the bear came running towards him, he fired a shot which entered the bear's head.

Santa Cruz Evening Sentinel: "Bruin saw he had no business with the Mayor of Boulder Creek, and decided that the Big Basin was too small to hold both. As the bear turned to run another shot was fired with fatal effect."

The Saratoga Bear

1979: In July, first one then two bears, possibly a mother and cub, were spotted several times in the Red Hill Road area of Saratoga. They enjoyed the honey from some hives belonging to Joseph Koscis on Peach Hill Road.

One, a youngster estimated between 150 and 200 lb from his paw print imprints in the ground, was chased up a tree by four dogs. When the dogs were called off the bear disappeared into the woods.

Department of Fish and Game wardens baited live traps and the bear(s) enjoyed the offerings but somehow escaped. Another two traps were set with honey, plums, tuna, cat food, strawberry jam, and goose food. This time one of the bears, estimated between 300 and 400 lb, was captured and transported to the Santa Lucia Mountains in Los Padres National Forest. Since the bear was “a little upset” Warden Dennis Baldwin said he’d wait a while before matching its paw print to ones taken on the Koscis property.

Santa Cruz Sentinel, July 29, 1979: "Although the bear is believed to be a “local” – one from the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains – the animal will be lifted, still inside the cage, onto a truck, and transported southward [to] a remote area of the Los Padres National Forest for release there."

Courtesy the Saratoga Historical Foundation Collection

In August, the Saratoga City council unanimously adopted a resolution proclaiming the fourth Saturday of each July as “Saratoga Bear Day.”

The second bear was spotted in January the following year again in the Peach Hill Road neighborhood. 

But this time the wardens did not trap the bear because "it is not causing any harm or damage."

A Bear on a Lark

He wanted to see the sights, but was not allowed.

It has often been mistakenly said that only grizzlies, not black bears, lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains. But as the grizzly population declined, black bears became more prevalent.

In September 1885, bear tracks were noticed on the lands of Davis and Cowell. It was thought that there were three bears; the size of one print was said to measure 13 by 6-1/4 inches. 

Big Tree Station, The J. Paul Getty Museum
Open Content Program

Hunters came down from San Francisco with a variety of weapons, from a bowie knife to a small Gatling gun. They spent several days scouting the area and camping with the Bangos at Big Trees, now Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. 

The San Francisco Call reported: "A party of hunters returned from the Santa Cruz mountains Thursday, arriving by the narrow gauge route, at the foot of Market street. They had been on a hunt for "big game," and that they had met with glowing success was evident from the spoils of the chase which they bought with them."

They had brought with them, on the train from Felton, three black bears. Two they had killed, but one, a feisty young one, was brought back alive.  

The young bear, who had entertained the group at the camp for several days and had become "very tame," was muzzled and was held "a not unwilling" captive by means of a long chain. He was reportedly not homesick for his mountain home and "displayed a playful disposition."

As the hunters saw to their baggage they secured the bear's chain to a pole. Bruin, however, managed to escape his pole and first decided to explore the railroad depot ticket window, much to the surprise of the ticket-master who was "astonished when he saw a long snout backed by a hairy head and shoulders, inserted in his window." As the bear made a "playful" punch with is paw towards him, as if he wanted to "shake hands," the ticket-master quickly shut the window with a bang. 

Disgruntled the bear then decided to investigate the Market Street cable car system where he encountered a huge Newfoundland dog. The dog, barking and growling, ran up to the bear who with a smack of his paw sent the poor dog rolling down the wharf. 

His hunters, who intended to keep bruin for a pet, soon caught up with him, and once again he became their captive. This made poor bruin very grumpy, a characteristic he continued to display throughout his visit to the wharf.

Perhaps the Redwood group of trees known as the "Bear's Den" on the Redwood Loop Trail at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, the site of Camp Bango, was named for this unlucky black bear.