Saga of the Sanpitch Volume 13, 1981 - Sanpete County

A BEAR STORY
Norma Smith Wanlass
125 East 2nd North
Manti, Utah 84642
Non-Professional Division, First Place Anecdote
Back before the Wasatch Plateau east of Sanpete Valley was designated as a National Forest (1095),
the early settlers of the area depended upon the mountains to graze their cattle and sheep during the summer
months. There was no private ownership recorded, but for the man who arrived first there was squatters'
sovereignty. On Lemon's Bench, near Swen's Springs, there was anxiety and worry when the cattle owners
found that a bear was killing their calves. No amount of guarding or stalking its trail revealed the culprit, and
finally the cattlemen sought help from pulpit and pub.
One tipsy imbiber of the juice listened thoughtfully while others offered their solution to the problem.
"I'll get yer bear," he boasted, "if you'll gimme $2.00 and the bear skin."
"How're you gonna do that when a perfeshenal tracker hasn't seen hide nor hair of the beast, be he
brown or black?" unbelievers questioned.
"As I see it, brown or black makes no difference. All bears like honey and I aim to take some a those
whiskey kegs over there and punch spikes slantwise from the outside to the inside around the keg. Then I'll
put honey in the kegs, and when the bear sticks his head in and tries to back out, the spikes'll stick in his
neck and he won't be able to get out."
"I sure wouldn't a thought of anythin' like that," one listener offered.
"It's so simple, it might work," another mused.
"Well, if you ketch that killer bear we'll give you $2.00 and throw the hide in, too," the cattleman
promised.
When his plans were completed, the social outcast informed his employer and they started up the
canyon on their quest. They set the kegs out and early the next morning they checked them, but to their
disappointment there was no bear with an oak head. He had stuck his paw inside the kegs repeatedly and
licked the honey off until it was gone.
There was just one consolation. The bear had been so busy all night long that he had forgotten to kill a
calf.
Source: A story told by a herder for the Cattlemen's Association, Robert Johnson, of Manti, Utah.
SARAH'S SONG BIRDS
Eardley Madsen
7550 Dunbarton Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Non-Professional Division, Second Place Anecdote
It seems a bit inaccurate to say that Sarah walked into the classroom. I rather think she 'flowed in,'
because each step brought the flesh forward in a harmonic curve that ended in diminishing ripples as she
arrived. Her 'no nonsense' policy was proclaimed by the sheer size of her arm, and words were quite
unnecessary to maintain discipline. On her arrival, the noise level dropped to a vanishing point. The sobriquet
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