Copyright 2019 by Gary L. Pullman
In Wild Bill, his biography of Wild Bill Hickok, Tom Clavin relates an anecdote about Hickok's alleged encounter
with a cinnamon bear.
Wild Bill Hickok
According
to Clavin, the story probably happened, although “a few researchers
have disputed that the encounter” between Hickok and the bear “ever
took place” (38).
It
seems that the gunfighter was working as a teamster when “he found
a bear blocking the road,” whereupon he climbed off his wagon “and
shot her in the head.” The gunshot didn't do anything but anger the
mother bear, causing her to attack, "crushing Hickok against her”
(38).
He
responded by shooting her in the paw, after which the bear locked
onto his left arm and began to bite; Hickok jerked his Bowie knife from his belt and slashed "the bear's
throat” (38).
Somehow, Hickok managed to drive his “freight wagon
to the next town,” despite his extraordinary pain, and the local sawbones treated his patient “for broken bones in” Hickok's “chest, shoulder, and arm” (38).
Clavin mentions a film that features a bear attack: The
Revenant, starring
Leonardo DiCaprio (37). (Another movie, set in Canada, that features a horrific bear attack is Backcountry.)
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