USA > Maine > Knox County > Union > A history of the town of Union, in the county of Lincoln, Maine : to the middle of the nineteenth century, with a family register of the settlers before the year 1800, and of their descendants > Part 33
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fight them, not by kicking, but by striking at them with their feet. Sometimes they would become so intent that the hunter could get near enough to shoot them. If, however, a moose was started from the yard by dogs, he commonly made but few plunges into the deep and hard snow, before he turned upon them. As he was annoyed, on the one side or the other, he kept changing his position in order to meet the attacks, and thus trod down the snow and made a small yard around him. The dogs continued to vex him, and, by their incessant and violent barking, brought up the gunners. If, when the men approached, the moose made another effort to escape, the dogs, set on and encouraged by their masters, attacked him the more furiously. They seized him by the nose,1 bit his legs, gnawed the hair from his flanks and ribs, and har- rassed him till the hunters approached and despatched him with balls. But, when there was only a little snow, the moose, with the dogs on the full leap after him, would distance his pursuers and escape, or draw them into a race, which sometimes continued a hun- dred miles or more.
When moose were routed, their course was almost invariably toward the South, and calculations were made accordingly to intercept them. The old hunters said that they took this direction, because the farther they went, the softer became the snow and crust. The settlers in Union, and the towns below, con- sidered the circumstance fortunate; for, if the course had been toward the North, the pursuit of them would have drawn them from their homes. In the winter of 1785-6, several moose were started in the vicinity of Quantabacook. One or more was killed; and one fled to the Robbins Neck, where he yarded,
1 William Thompson spoke particularly of three dogs. One would seize a moose by the ribs, and take out a mouthful of hair at every bite. Another small dog would seize him by the nose, and, curling up his legs, hold on so firmly that the moose would swing him from side to side. A third large dog " would fly up close to him " on the crust, and " bark and roar terribly, " without venturing to touch him. They scemed to have a common understanding how cach should annoy him
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near the sloping maple, till the spring opened. Then - he was again started, and ran to Friendship, where he was killed.
When the hunters killed a moose, they skinned it, and split the carcass into halves or sides. A small tree was then bent down, and the ends of the limbs lopped off. The sides were hung upon the stubs of the limbs, and then the tree was allowed to spring back to its natural position. Thus the meat was pro- tected from wild animals. A little bird called the whetsaw, because its notes resembled the filing of a saw, would light upon it and pick it; but it did no harm worth noticing. To keep off the crows, which were troublesome, long white splinters were stuck into the meat before it was suspended. Having thus dis- posed of a moose, and left the offal on the snow, or used it to bait traps for sable or other game, the men proceeded to hunt again.
When the time drew near for returning home, mea- sures were devised for carrying the meat. Hunters always took advantage of the ponds and rivers. When there was a thaw, they went forward on snow-shoes, and trod down the snow in the paths and carrying- places. When the paths were frozen by the cold weather which succeeded, they sometimes transported their meat on packhorses. Commonly, however, they drew it on their light hand-sleds, - one side of moose- beef being considered load enough for-one man to drag. The hunters at the Medomac,1 having arrived at the end of their carrying-place, followed down Sun- nybec Pond and St. George's River, and discharged their loads on Seven-tree Pond. Sixteen carcasses have been brought on to this pond at one time. Some were eaten by the inhabitants, and others hauled off by teams to Warren and the lower towns. Some- times more moose were killed than were wanted, or could be given away. There was one winter in which one of the Robbins family, it is said, owned shares in
1 The Waldonians had a place farther west, and hunted by them- . selves.
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forty-seven moose and seventeen bears. The meat was an important article of food. The large bones were removed; and the flesh, put loosely together in tubs or barrels, was dried and smoked. When broiled and buttered like beef-steaks, the meat was considered much better than when boiled. The bones were roasted and broken; and the marrow, which was taken out, was salted, and eaten by the white people as a substitute for butter.
In summer, moose frequented meadows and swamps in the daytime, and ponds and coves in the night. A young one was caught-some say in Round Pond, others by being driven into a river in Warren -by Archibald Anderson, and tamed. He was owned in Warren. In the daytime, he would lie about the house in the shade; and, at night, go to feed on lily- leaves and aquatic plants in the brooks and bogs, from which he would return early in the morning.
Within three or four years after Philip Robbins moved here, as he was coming from Warren in his float with his dog and gun, he saw a moose enter the pond on the east side, to cross over. It was summer. The moose's horns were short, and appeared as if covered with velvet. With his foot, Robbins kept his dog down on the bottom of the boat till he was near enough to fire. As soon as he fired, the dog sprang so furiously out of the boat as almost to upset it, and seized the moose by the nose. The dog of Richard Cummings came to his aid, and got upon the moose's head. Before he could reach the shore, the dogs drowned him. The few inhabitants soon got together, and took from the carcass thirty pounds of tallow.
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CHAPTER XLVIII.
ZOOLOGICAL HISTORY. (Continued.)
Bears. - Bear Traps. - Setting Guns. - Bears caught by David Rob- bins and Jessa Robbins. - Baited and killed by Ezekiel Hagar. - Love Rum. - Taken to Boston and shot. - Encounters on Seven- tree Pond : on Hart's Hill : on Hills Point : on Simmons's Hill : on the Robbins Neck. - Adam Martin. - Jason Ware and his Dog Sambo. - Fate of Sambo. - Mrs. Hart and the Bear Trap.
BEARS.
BEARS were numerous, and troublesome to the early settlers. They broke into their corn-fields, and des- troyed their corn. They carried off sheep and hogs, much against the wishes and intentions of the owners. Bruin's hide, too, was good for caps, mittens, mocca- sons, and even great-coats. When killed in the fall or
spring,1 he was very fat. If the spare-rib was cut through in the manner of pork, it was necessary to slice off three-quarters of the thickness, because it was so fat it could not be eaten. The flesh, not altogether unlike pork in taste, was a rich morsel to persons pinched with hunger. Consequently, Bruin and the early settlers were always at war. Sometimes he was caught in large steel-traps, baited with mutton; at other times in log-traps so constructed, that, when he seized the bait, the stick to which it was tied released a heavy log that fell on his back and crushed him.
The practice of setting guns in corn-fields to kill bears was very common and dangerous. People were frequently wounded or killed by their accidental dis-
1 Old hunters have said, that, on retiring in the fall to hibernate, bears are taught by instinct to eat balsam or something else, which entirely obstructs the alimentary canal. When spring opens, the same instinct teaches them what to take to remove the obstruction. It is said they are about as fat when they come from their dens as when they enter them.
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charge, though there does not appear to have been any fatal case in Union. A long line was fastened at one end. It was then extended between two rows of corn ; and, in order that its weight might not cause the dis- charging of the gun, it was supported at short distances by crotched sticks stuck in the ground. Near the unfastened end of the line were driven down two short stakes, split at the top. Into these splits, and pointing so as to range with the line, and at a proper elevation to take effect, was crowded a loaded gun, which was covered with a long piece of bark to con- ceal it, and to protect it from dew and rain. Very near the lock was another stake. The unfastened end of the line was then tied to one end of a short stick, the other end of which was placed behind the stake and before the trigger. The gun was cocked and
primed, and left for the night. Bruin, intent on getting corn and regardless of the line, pressed against it. As the line was always left a little slack, on ac- count of its liability to be shrunk by the weather, the bear generally brought his trunk in range with the gun before it was discharged. Then, as the charge com- monly consisted of two balls and a slug, the conse- quences were not trifling. A man who saw two bears, which were killed in this way, says that one of them was shot with two balls through the lungs, and the other through the neck.
The number killed was large. Almost every manl who settled in town before the year 1800 had some- thing to do with them. Jessa Robbins, about a week after he had killed a moose on Gillmor's Meadow, was , going toward the spot, and, perceiving something there, he made a noise. The animal raised its head till its ears appeared just above the tall grass. Robbins fired, and "shot a bear through the lights." He went up to him, and " affectionately" took hold of his paw; but Bruin resented the treatment, and it was necessary to give him another shot. The same man caught seven bears in five weeks, eighty or a hundred rods south of his house, in one log-trap baited with the entrails
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BEARS.
of fish. David Robbins caught five more in the same five weeks, within a few rods of the same spot. At a much later date, Ezekiel Hagar, from Concord, Mass., after living in the west part of the town about twenty- five years, said that he had killed forty. Some he caught in a large steel trap; others he shot in corn- fields; and, with the assistance of a faithful dog, he took others in dens. He would set in different places small sap-troughs, into which he would pour New England rum, of which the bears were as fond as topers. To make the rum more palatable, he would even sweeten it. Two small cubs were taken by him and sold to Rufus Gillmor, who kept them till the fol- lowing autumn. They were commonly confined in a pen. When occasionally let out, they would climb the willows east of his house. Once, when N. Rob- bins, Esq., being highway-surveyor, was carrying a- keg of rum to the men at work, they came down from the trees, hugged the keg, and licked it; and he was obliged to call for help to take them off and shut them up. A traveller took them to Boston. A shooting- match was made; they were taken to Dorchester Heights; a fee was exacted for each shot; they were placed at a great distance ; - and there they were killed.
Jessa Robbins says, that, on a Sunday morning, John Butler, then a young man, living at the Mill Farm, called to him across the pond to bring him some fire, as he had none, and no gunpowder to enable him to get any. After he had gone over, and had begun to assist Butler in kindling it, an object was discovered swimming from Hills Point towards the other shore. Taking an axe, they hastened to the boat, threw into it a few stones, and plied the paddles. At first it was thought it might be a loon; but, as they approached it, they discovered it to be a bear swimming towards Philip Robbins's cow-pasture, which was on the south side of the river, where it enters the pond. Hogs were in the pasture; and a gentle, steady breeze, blowing from that quarter, had probably been snuffed by the
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ZOOLOGICAL HISTORY.
bear, and led him to make a movement for a dinner of pork. Jessa Robbins and John Butler shouted, and thus aroused Philip Robbins's family. The bear was alarmed, and put forth all his strength to reach the land. Robbins and Butler redoubled their exertions, and it became a race between them and Bruin. The bear, however, was intercepted about five or six rods from the shore. Robbins sprang to the bow of the boat, and, with the axe raised, was about to strike him ; but he was dissuaded from it by Butler, who was afraid, if the blow should not be fatal, that Bruin would attack the boat, and their lives be endangered. Bruin was terribly enraged. He growled, and ground his teeth; but, finding he could not be permitted to land, he turned towards the island. He crossed it from the north end to the south, and again entered the water to swim to the shore. Here he was intercepted by Philip Robbins's boat, and obliged to return to the island. No alternative now remained for him but to climb one of the seven trees. He went to the foot of a large dead pine; and, after deliberately seating him- self, and looking towards the top, he made a leap up the tree. He hugged it, holding on to the sides with his paws and claws, and climbed ; using sometimes his legs, at other times taking hold of the limbs with his teeth, till he went up nearly to the top. After seven or eight discharges of a gun, the bear fell dead at the bottom of the tree.1
John Butler was a fleet runner, and often said that he could outrun any bear. An opportunity occurred to put him to the test. He treed three cubs on a tall pine which stood on the hill-side back of Hart's house. The barking of his dog, and his hallooing " A bear! a bear!" were heard by Jessa Robbins and others on the other side of the pond. They, with their dogs,
1 Mrs. Mero says the occurrence was within three, or at most four, years after her father moved into Stirlington; and that he, being at Warren the day before, did not come home till that morning. When he heard the firing, he hurried as fast as possible, expecting the enemy had come. She also differs as to some of the details.
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BEARS.
hastened to the spot. The cubs were very high. The balls, which were too small for the bores of the guns, did not seem to produce any effect. After firing several times, Robbins proceeded to climb the tree. As he was going up, he found that one of the young bears had been seriously wounded. On climbing nearer, the three ran out on one limb. He went out on the limb next below, till he came to a bend in the upper limb, which then struck off in a different direc- tion from the one on which he was standing. Being thus prevented from getting any nearer, he took a large jackknife, and, resting his chest against the upper limb, reached his hand as far as he could, to cut it off. The limb being borne down by the weight of the cubs, he had cut but partly through it, when it suddenly cracked and broke. As the bears jumped, the stub part of it sprang back against Robbins, and "knocked the breath out of his body." One of the bears was killed by clubs, as soon as it reached the ground. Another was treed, about half a mile off, by the dogs, and shot. The third one, which had been seriously wounded, fell into the top of a leaning tree, and, what was very un- common, ran head foremost to the ground. He started off over the hill, and Butler after him. "Each did his best." For a few minutes, they went as fast as their legs would carry them. But, as neither of the dogs happened to follow with Butler, the young bear escaped. Butler's companions laughed at him and teased him a good deal, because he had so often bragged that he could outrun any bear; and yet, when it came to the test, he had been beaten in the race by a lame or wounded young cub. Jessa Robbins says, in justice to Butler, however, it ought to be added, that on level ground he was probably as fleet as Bruin; and, if he had not been obliged to climb a hill in the race, he would have been the victor.
John Butler's dog treed a bear very near the pond, on land now owned by Lyman Alden. Butler heard the barking, and hastened to the tree. Philip Robbins and his son Jessa Robbins, on the other side of the
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ZOOLOGICAL HISTORY.
pond, heard Butler halloo as was usual, " A bear! a bear! bring a gun." Accordingly, they took their guns and dog, and put off in their boat to go to his aid. The dog, knowing what was at stake, stood at the bow of the boat, and, the moment it was near enough, jumped on shore, and thus shoved the boat back. On- coming to the shore again, Jessa Robbins jumped, and the boat was again pushed back. Philip Robbins called to his son, and told him not to fire till he came. The son hastened to find Butler. Shortly, on looking round, he saw his father raising his gun and seeking a good opportunity to aim and fire. Jessa Robbins, being six or eight rods nearer, raised his gun and shot Bruin through the vitals. The bear fell dead to the ground. Although he was killed, the father was a little vexed that he should have been so adroitly deprived of the satisfaction of doing it. "Jess! Jess !" he exclaimed, " did I not tell you not to fire till I came ?" " Oh, yes !" coolly replied the son ; " but, father, I was afraid you would not hit him."
Not long after the town was incorporated, there was a field of corn on Simmons's hill. The bears made such havoc that it was feared they would destroy it all. Guns were borrowed in all parts of the town, and set round the field. Among them was a long kings-arm, owned by Samuel Hills, which was loaded for the occasion with two iron slugs, one about an inch and a half, and the other about three inches, in length. In the evening, the people, listening atten- tively, as was usual when guns were set, heard a heavy discharge. On going to the field, it was found that it was from Hills's piece, and that the bear was gone. The next movement was to get dogs and follow him. Jason Robbins had taken part in setting the guns ; and immediately, though it was before midnight, he went to Mero's and Josiah Robbins's for assistance. . Richard Cummings and Nathaniel Robbins turned out; and from the place where John P. Robbins now lives, they " struck west" into the woods, intending to keep the dogs with them and be quiet till morning.
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BEARS.
They had gone but a short distance when the dogs " set up a terrible yelling." They had found the bear ; and it was a huge one. Neither of the men had a gun ; for all the guns in town were around the cornfield. Accordingly, with their jackknives they cut cudgels ; and remained, and kept their dogs, near the bear. When daylight came, Jason Robbins, who could go to the guns without hazard, took one from the field and despatched him. Both slugs were in his body. He could not travel well, though he would fight the dogs furiously. When shot, he was in a gulley. It was necessary to drag him out, so as to manage him to advantage. All present took hold of him. The dogs inserted their teeth into Bruin's hide, pulled with great strength and with as much zeal as their masters. He was then carried on poles to the cleared land, and " dressed."
When Capt. George West, about the year 1795, lived on the hill afterward owned by Capt. Bachelor, his cattle frequently swam the river to browse and feed on the Robbins Neck. One evening, just before dark, all except a very fat beef-cow came home in a great fright. It seems that a bear had killed the cow on the brink of the river, exactly opposite to West's house, and the other creatures had escaped. It was obvious that the bear was then on the Neck. The alarm was given, and the Philistines prepared to come down upon him. Men assembled the next morning; and several of them stationed themselves at short distances from each other on the west side of the river, to intercept him where he would be likely to cross it. A party was sent on to the Neck to stir him up. Samuel Martin, maintaining that the bear would go as far as he could on the land before' he " took to the water," stationed himself near the outlet of Bowker Brook. After a time, he saw Bruin on the Neck across the river. The distance was immense for a shot to take effect; but, thinking it his last chance, he fired. The bear, however, "made off," and crossed the river within a rod or two of Capt. Tobey, who, being more of a sailor than a hunter, did not think to fire at
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- him. Thus Bruin got safe into the meadow, where several persons were making hay. All started after him upon the run; " Old Uncle Sam Hills," then a comparatively young man, chasing him with a rake. Bruin, however, escaped. The party came back to West's tavern "to get something to drink," provoked with Martin for firing, and with Tobey for not firing ; and "poking fun" at them both. Martin, however, insisted that when he fired he saw the bear plunge forward. Many words passed, and many jokes were cracked at the expense of Martin and Tobey, till it was finally agreed to go to the spot where the bear was when Martin fired. It appeared that Martin was correct in his statement. One of the bear's large teeth, which the ball had knocked out, was picked up, and his course to the river was tracked by the blood. Some days afterward, Bruin was scented by his carcass, and found dead in the vicinity of Muddy Pond; the ball having passed through the mouth, and cut off the tongue.
At a later period, Adam Martin, of German origin, who lived in Union, near Waldoborough line, was in the woods at work with an axe early in the spring. Hearing the bellowing of a creature, he ran and found a bear killing it. The bear saw him, and stopped. Martin and Bruin stood, and looked at each other ferociously. But, as neither succeeded in looking the other. out of countenance, Martin struck his axe upon a hollow log to intimidate his enemy. Bruin resented it; and, in a state of great exasperation, hastened toward him. Martin ran; but, finding the bear gain on him, he sprang up into a tree so small that the bear could not climb it. When Bruin put his paws up against it, he could almost touch him. .. There Martin had to cling, with his legs drawn up to keep out of his reach. The bear went round the tree and snuffed. He was evidently very hungry. Twice he went away and returned. Martin became almost ex- hausted; and when, at the third departure, the bear went a little further, and the view was intercepted,
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SAMBO.
Martin let go his hold, dropped to the ground, and ran. The same night, he set a trap and caught him. Martin said he was never frightened before.1
Jason Ware had a small white dog, named Sambo, who entered into the spirit of his profession with even more zeal than his master, and who acquired great reputation among the people and hunters in this section of the country for his skill and success. In one sea- son, Sambo assisted in killing thirteen bears. There was no dog in town quite equal to Sambo. He would follow any person carrying a gun. If he was wanted, it was only necessary for him to hear his name, and he would go, however far it might be. He has been known to obey a call, and run from his kennel to the Old Burying Ground hill, whether his master went or not.
His method of pursuit was to keep near Bruin's heels, and bite him. The bear, not pleased with such strong attachments on the part of Sambo, would tum- ble over backwards, or turn about to attack him. As he was large and clumsy, Sambo was always able to retreat a few steps, and then he would stand in secu- rity and watch the bear's motions. " As soon as the bear picked himself up, and began to go ahead again," Sambo renewed his attacks. The bear would again turn, and Sambo again retreat. Though Sambo seemed to take much satisfaction in this mode of travelling, his bearship evidently was not well pleased. He could not get along so fast as he desired. And, more than this, he was frequently delayed by Sam- bo's remarkable attention, till the gunners came near
1 " I have heard this story told in one of our grog-shops, by one of our ancient fathers, in native eloquence equal to that of Logan. This patriarch [David Robbins] was a large man, and had been a great bear-hunter. He wore a black overcoat and bearskin socks ; his hair and complexion peculiarly favoring the occasion. After speaking his prologue, this orator walked round the floor in a bear's gait, as he supposed the bear went round the tree; and then, in imitation of the bear, he turned up his eyes and nose, and, after exhibiting a ghastly grin and making a frightful growl, he snuffed like the bear to smell the German." - MS. Letter.
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enough to shoot him; or was so overcome by it that he would be obliged to take leave of Sambo and climb a tree.
Elisha Partridge was paddling his boat up the river above Round Pond one evening, and, by the bright moonlight, saw an old bear munching acorns on the point of land on the east side. He whistled for Sam- bo, whose kennel was not far distant. Sambo sprang out, ran furiously down to the river, and at the first bound went half-way across the channel. He was immediately at the bear's heels, drove him up the river, and treed him on a pine which stood on the Robbins Neck, not far from the barn now owned by Hugh S. Gordon. He was watched till morning, when he was found to be very large, and to have climbed only about twenty feet from the ground. He was fired at. The ball struck him in the breast, but too low to wound the heart. Bruin then went up the tree about sixty feet. He was fired at and wounded several times. Finally, a ball was shot through his heart. He fell dead to the ground, breaking and clear- ing every limb in his way.
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