This photo is in History of Boundary County, Idaho, Vol. 1. Caption reads: Bear killed by Herman Austin and Kellos Smith in 1913. l to r: Herman Austin, Tot Smith, Roy Smith on Tot’s lap, Kellos Smith, Hazel Smith.
There were many hunts for bear at Klockmann, Idaho and Flume Camp near the Continental Mine. This story of another hunt is also in the history book.
The Grizzly by Vonnie Smith
“On my birthday, Dad shot this old bear. Every night he’d come into the flume camp to steal the meat out of the meat house. He did that two or three nights. Mom kept telling Dad – ‘You’ve got to get that bear!’
At nine o’clock they’d shut the power down at the powerhouse and all the lights would go out and then we’d have to use kerosene lights until we went to bed. As soon as that outside light would go out, that darn bear would sneak in and get the meat. He did that a couple nights. Dad would go over to the bunkhouse and get playing cards and forget to come back. So this night, momma said, ‘You’ve got to get that bear.’ So they went and made a scaffold up above the meat house and he and Herb Buroker (that’s Harold Buroker’s brother) sat up on the scaffold and when he came in the night they shot him. It was the 27th of September. He was getting filled up for the winter. He was a great big grizzly. They skinned him out and salted the hide real good and sent it to Spokane and they sent word back that it was spoiled when it got there, but I’ll bet somebody gave them a good price for it. Oh, it had a head on it – an enormous big old thing.”