Chapter 1

Grizzly Adams

John Adams—Arnold, Calaveras County

When people think of John “Grizzly” Adams, they usually think of the television program, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, which aired on NBC from 1977 to 1978. Adams, who was portrayed by stuntman, animal trainer, and actor Dan Haggerty, goes about his mountain man business, accompanied by his tame grizzly bear, like a Gold Rush version of Saint Francis of Assisi. The handsome Haggerty depicted Grizzly as having a psychic connection with all of the animals in the forest. The reality was much different.

Born, raised, and buried in his home state of Massachusetts, Adams was a middle-aged cobbler who worked for his father. In 1849, knowing there was a demand for leather boots in the Wild West, Adams, with help from the family business, crated up a load of shoes and boots to ship to St. Louis, the last vestige of civilization before the wilderness. Unfortunately for the Adams family, the entire shipment was destroyed by fire while being warehoused in St. Louis.

Adams used the fire as an excuse to travel to Missouri to inspect his damaged commodities. He continued traveling west, abandoning his wife, children, and his father’s shoe company. Adams took the torturous southern route to California, through Mexico and the Sonora Desert, arriving in Stockton in 1849.

A poor businessman, Adams tried his hand at various enterprises, becoming a cattle rancher, tavern owner, and gold miner, and failed at all of them. He was taken to court numerous times, always coming out on the short end of the decision. At a time when land squatting was the norm, Adams got kicked off of the property on which he was squatting. One of his problems was that he would start a business and then leave it to a hired man to manage while he went on to a new enterprise.

The Last California Grizzly

The last known wild California grizzly bear was killed on October 15, 1926, in Tulare County by J.W.C. Rice. The bear rendered seventeen gallons of lard.

Adams found success live-trapping the grizzly bears that freely roamed the state. The grizzly bear is a fearsome creature that can weigh over a thousand pounds and stand seven feet tall on its hind legs. A grizzly’s claws are as long as human fingers and they can easily rip a man’s head off with one swipe of the beast’s massive paws. Even the California aboriginals stayed clear of the grizzly.

There was an incredible lack of entertainment during the early years of California, and bearbaiting was one of the biggest events available. Weary miners would come down to town to drink and watch the horrific spectacle of a captured grizzly being forced to fight a bull within an enclosed area. The result was an orgy of blood and gore.

To capture grizzlies, Adams would build a thick log trap and bait it with a calf. A bear would walk into the trap and a heavy gate would slam shut behind it. The beast would stew in the trap while Adams arranged for a buyer. When the sale was made, the trap would be loaded onto a cart and driven to town, where the bear would face its violent demise.

Adams could not win for losing in California, suffering defeat in court cases and losing property to slickers and bribed judges. Yet instead of returning home to his family like thousands of forty-niners ultimately did, he kept going farther into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, until he found himself so far away from people that his only neighbors were a tribe of natives. Adams got along with and respected the natives, and they liked him.

Adams trapped all kinds of wild animals for the live animal trade that boomed back on the eastern coast of America. People back East were thrilled to see the exotic sea lions, grizzly bears, and mountain lions of the West. He also sold pelts and meat. Soon, Adams had a menagerie of animals that he took into various mining towns and charged people to view.

In 1853, Adams’ brother, William, rode into Grizzly’s camp. William, a successful miner, was heading home to Massachusetts when he finally found his brother. He financed an expedition in which Grizzly would collect various live animals, and he arranged for the animals’ shipment back to the East Coast.

Grizzly Adams traveled as far as Montana to trap animals. With a couple of helpers, two of them native boys, he shot or captured any animal that interested him.

Adams developed a new and simpler method of capturing grizzlies. He would find a den in the springtime, cause a disturbance, and when the sow came out to see what the noise was, he would shoot her multiple times until she was dead. He would then capture the cubs and take them back to his camp, where he would tie them to a tree and beat them into submission.

Adams was always getting injured by sows that weren’t quite dead, and he would often have to finish them off with his Bowie knife. His method of cleaning his wounds was to pour ice-cold stream water on the injury. He claimed it was the best cure.

Pre-Grizzly

Before he portrayed Grizzly Adams in the popular 1970s television program, Dan Haggerty worked as a stuntman on the television show Tarzan and built the legendary American flag chopper for the 1960s counterculture film, Easy Rider.

On his Montana excursion, Adams captured two grizzly cubs that he kept as pets. Ben Franklin and his favorite, Lady Washington, eventually became tame enough to run alongside Adams’ wagon, carrying their own packs—but they were still wild enough to attack their owner. Adams was attacked by his bears so many times that his skull was cracked and his brain exposed.

In 1857, Adams brought his menagerie to San Francisco for an exhibition. It was very popular for a time, but by May 1859, Adams was sued for back rent. In January 1860, Adams secured space on the clipper ship Golden Fleece and sailed his zoo to New York City to meet with P. T. Barnum, the great showman.

Thick Skin

By the turn of the twentieth century, grizzly bears were rare in California; nevertheless they were still hunted. The bodies of these old bears often had generations of weaponry—arrowheads, spear points, musket balls, and rifled bullets—stuck in their hides and tough muscles.

Barnum saw a man who looked much older than his forty-seven years. Grizzly’s beard and hair were pure white, and his skin was that of a man who had lived outside for twelve years. Then there was the hole in his skull. Barnum offered him a deal for his animals and let him stay on for a short tour through the Eastern Seaboard.

Adams later went home to Massachusetts to his wife, whom he had not seen since 1848, and he died there a few months later.