Once upon a time when summer had come to California, the family piled into two cars and headed for the land of chipmunks, tall pine trees, jagged peaks and…BEARS. As the cares came around the bend in the road in Glacier National Park, and the children in the back of the station wagon had said for the 30th time, “When do we eat?,” there was a super campground right ahead with picnic tables just waiting for hungry travelers. Just before the car came to a full stop, a yell went up from the backseat, “LOOK…A BEAR,” and “There’s another one, And a big Daddy one too.” No one moved, no one talked. The bears were right at home, climbing over picnic tables, sniffing at garbage cans, running right up trees and acting like they owned the place. Well, maybe they did!!!

Just as everyone was wondering if they should get out of the car, in drove Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa got out of the car as if all was as usual and said, “Thought you guys would have had lunch ready by now!” Then he picked out a nice round rock and threw it toward the nearest bear. The bear looked surprised and ambled off taking his two bear friends with him.

With lunch over and the tents set up of the night, it was nap time, but who slept with Grandpa and Dad trying to put the meat in the tree to be safe for the night so that the bears couldn’t reach it. They put the bacon and ham in a sack and then with a rope swung it between two fir trees. The idea was that the bear could climb the tree, but his arms were too short to reach the food…

With all this going on the bears had seen enough to decide to investigate the meat hanging operation. They circled the camp. Grandpa decided he had enough interference and it was time to get rid of the bears or we would have no fruit or vegetables left and certainly no meat. So he ran after the bears yelling and throwing rocks. One climbed a tree and from his cozy vantage point 30 feet high watched all that was going on. Another took off the through the forest and the third went a short distance and watched. All afternoon, Grandpa would not let the bear come down from the tree. Whenever he would start down, the yelling and rocks hitting the tree made him climb back up to his limb and safety.

Grandma, Joan and Diana were gathering wood and making a fire for supper and for the evening campfire. Grandpa went for a walk to see the lake and the bear took this to be the perfect time to descend from his high perch. He scurried down the back of the tree looking back often to see if Kathy and Tricia who were peeking our of their tent (they were supposed to be napping) would yell or throw something. The girls closed the tent flap all but a crack and watched the bear make a hasty retreat into the forest.

The evening campfire was a time to talk about future plans, like…What do we do if the bears come back at night? Grandpa’s idea was that a big noise or pounding of the trash cans would be best. After some songs and fun around the fire and toasted marshmallows (burned), everyone was ready for bed.

“I don’t feel well Mommie,” said Diana as she washed her feet. OH, OH, here it comes!! The rest of the girls had stomach upsets at the last camping spot, now it must be coming on Diana. Usually Joan and Diana slept in the car, but this nigh it was decided that Dad would sleep in the car and Diana should be in the tent with Mom in case she needed to run outside quickly. Diana was nearest to the tent exit, in fact, her head was right under the tent opening with was not closed tight.

The campfire glow was visible through the tent flap, then moonlight made the campground a playground of awesome shadows and fleeting forms on the pine needle floor and the stars of the Milky Way grew dim in the light. As Everyone fell asleep one thought remained in their minds, … BEARS … BEARS…

The moon had gone down and the morning stars were out when a grunt awakened Mom and she raised her head inside the tent to almost collide with a bear who had his head inside the tent and RIGHT OVER THE HEAD OF DIANA!!! The bear wondered what was going on outside and took his head out to look…All was quiet. Inside the tent Diana, Kathy and Tricia slept on and Mom readied for action. (The bears are not the only ones that protect their children) Through her mind flashed the conversation around the campfire … noise … scare the bears!!! Trash cans!!!

The silence lasted only a minute, then the bear could stand it no longer, he had to look inside that tent again … In went his head!!! … Out came his head and right behind him was a pajama clad yelling maniac of a Momma picking up shovels and throwing them at trash cans … screaming in such a high voice that Dad in the car thought some strange whitless wild beast was loose. With a hefty swing, Mom hit the last trash can and threw the shovel at the bear. It landed just behind his hind legs. He didn’t even look to see what happened, in fact he did not stop running until he got to the top of the highest mountain, then shaking his head he thought, “I never could understand those humans!!!”

This story has been shared for years and years around the campfire with the family. Memories can last a lifetime and impact generations as our children are still hearing this story and loving it two generations later. These stories are true stories from the 50s and 60s, written by my Great-Grandma.