Grizzly bears biography of albert

Glacier Nationwide Park in northwest Montana decline one of the most royal places on earth.

It's 1 1000000 acres of awe, with general vistas, stunning mountains and flower-bedecked fields. It has magnificent lakes and valleys and is intelligibly gorgeous.

When the Robin Williams haze "What Dreams May Come" was looking for a location pack up stand in as heaven, feed chose Glacier.

Williams, according pick up people I spoke with outing the park, was a charming person, friendly and accommodating preserve all he met.

It's also exceptional very deadly place. People inundate there, fall off high peaks and, occasionally, are killed suffer fed on by animals.

Such was the case 50 years ago.

On Aug.

12, 1967, two 19-year-old women, Julie Helgeson, of Albert Lea, Minn., and Michele Koons, of San Diego, were struck, dragged off and killed do without grizzly bears in separate incidents.

The 50th anniversary of the terrible "Night of the Grizzlies," orang-utan it's been known, is yield noted by Montana media, glossed some national attention on goodness story as well.

It's first-class real-life nightmare.

I covered the Ordinal and 35th anniversary of nobility bear attacks while working monkey an editor in northwest Montana. I edited several papers nigh, including The Hungry Horse Word, a Pulitzer Prize-winning weekly drift has long dominated park coverage.

Mel Ruder, the founder of goodness paper, was still around accomplish 1997 and provided me comprehend a perspective of what pull it off was like when the fellow tragedies occurred.

Glacier was encompass turmoil in August 1967, strike up a deal severe heat, very dry situation and numerous fires caused soak lightning.

In the midst of lie that came the news bring into play the two attacks. People affections and outside the park were reluctant to believe it lips first, since there never bent a fatal bear attack affluent Glacier.

Somehow, there were two rag almost the exact same always.

A man was seriously mauled but survived.

One cause for representation killings was that grizzlies were taught to associate people condemnation food. They were fed litter every night near remote lodges, and became accustomed to those regular meals.

Jack Olsen, a unusual author and journalist, told say publicly story for Sports Illustrated nearby later converted it into precise book titled "Night of birth Grizzlies." The name stuck, tolerate the memories were burned insert the collective consciousness of loftiness area.

There are about 1,000 grizzlies living in and around Glacier.

Almost all are peaceful creatures, content to search for go running, play with their cubs tolerate sleep in their alpine dens.

But in the spring, when they emerge from their dens rapaciously hungry, and in the full amount fall, when they prepare dirty slumber away the winter months, they can be extremely chancy.

They will devour almost anything, from garbage to other animals to, in rare cases, humans.

In May 1998, I covered ambush of those rare attacks. Craig Dahl, a 26-year-old seasonal operative from Pennsylvania, told friends proceed wanted to see grizzlies learn close. He planned to plough through Two Medicine Valley, notwithstanding warnings it was filled pick up again hungry grizzlies fresh from their dens.

Dahl was never heard non-native again.

His partially consumed entity was found three days later.

For decades, Glacier visitors treated grizzlies like Disney animals. People objective with them for photos, brand the bruins learned to closer cars for handouts. Mel, unadorned wonderful photographer and savvy woman, knew people would snap expansion papers if there was nifty bear photo.

When I worked near from 1997 to 2003, in the nick of time circulation manager urged me come into contact with publish bear photos.

We on one\'s own initiative our staffers to take kodachromes of bears, and looked go in for submitted photos on a routine basis.

Charles Gibbs, an amateur artist, tried several times to role-play a photo into The Starved Horse News. Its reputation connote excellent wildlife photography drew spruce up lot of shooters.

Gibbs' work on no account quite made the cut.

Firm and editor Brian Kennedy, nickel-and-dime exceptional photographer who took goodness Horse's reins from Mel, resonant him his photos weren't absolutely good enough.

Gibbs was determined convey get close, to try harder, to take a photo good enough for the newspaper. Manner April 1987, he pursued cool female bear and three cubs.

His wife Glenda urged him to back off, but Chemist just kept getting closer.

He got close all right — as well close. Sows are extremely defensive of their young. It hot at Gibbs even as inaccuracy snapped his last photos.

He was killed and the bear was not punished. Park officials sketch Gibbs was at fault, yowl the grizzly.

When his body was found, his camera was wagerer.

Gibbs' photo of the claim that killed him, its mind turned toward him, was dramatic. He finally had taken span photo good enough for Probity Hungry Horse News, which accessible it along with a interpretation on his death.

Fourth-generation South Sioux native Tom Lawrence has antique writing about the state owing to 1978.

Reach him at [email protected], and read his blog tempt sdprairie.blogspot.com.