King of the Grizzlies Page #2

---

and the cattleman

who would be his enemy.

Colonel Pearson was

a retired Army officer.

Once Moki had served as

the colonel's aide and scout...

now as his friend and foreman.

Hi-yo! Hyah!

COWBOY.' Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!

Hi-yo!

Let's fan out!

Charlie, Tom, take that side!

Right!

- Pecos!

- Yeah!

Comb the draw!

Got ya. Come on.

Do you want

to stay with me, sir?

Yeah, right.

NARRATOR.'

She sensed danger to her cubs.

It woul d be better to take

her family far away from here.

Mom hadn't gone more than

a few feet when she realized...

of her following.

She couldn't see him

or hear him...

so she set out to find him.

Actually, Wahb had traveled

about a quarter of a mile...

and right now

was working his way...

toward something of a problem.

It took a hollow log

to bring it into focus.

NARRATOR.'

Wahb figured to extend...

the paw of friendship...

but the calf just couldn't see

a bear cub as a companion.

NARRATOR.' The little heifer

was hollerin'for help...

and she got it.

There, in the thicket!

Come on!

Look like we got 'em all.

COLONEL.'

Hmm. My first grizzly.

Too bad she cost me

a prime bull.

Yeah. Too bad.

Too bad about the bull

or the bear?

Too bad about the cubs.

Little grizzlies

grow big, Moki.

You've got a new totem now,

remember.

Cattle.

Yes, sir.

You'll want to save the hide,

I guess.

NARRATOR.' Against

the colonel's rifle...

Wahb had only the good luck

of a near miss.

NARRATOR.'

Wahb didn't waste any time.

More than anything else,

he wanted to get wrung out...

and right back

into the family fold...

wherever that was.

NARRATOR.' All through the early

morning hours the next day...

the roundup was still

in progress along the river...

but now the last few

head of cattle...

had been hazed out

of the willow breaks...

and headed for the ranch.

NARRATOR.' Throughout

the rest of the morning...

Moki continued

to comb the bench lands...

in case any hideout cattle

had been overlooked.

At this little waterhole,

he got off on another track.

NARRATOR.' The way Moki saw it,

he had two choices...

he coul d let the cub get down

and go about his business...

or he could shoot him.

But then, Moki figured

there was a third way...

and he decided to take it.

NARRATOR.'

It was a peculiar thing...

for a cattleman

to do for a grizzly...

even a little one...

but it wasn't so strange

for an Indian...

who happened to be a member

of the Bear Clan.

MOKI.' Come on, boy.

Let's not make this a problem.

Back up!

MOKI.' Back up!

Unh!

Easy!

Come on. Come on.

Unh!

Easy!

Come here! Come here, boy.

Whoa! Whoa!

Easy, boy! Come on!

Come back here!

Whoa, boy!

Easy now. Easy now.

Give me back my coat!

There you go.

All right, now.

Boy, you're...

makin' this tough.

Easy now. Easy.

There you go.

This won't hurt, boy.

This won't hurt you.

See? Come on.

Aw, be quiet.

NARRATOR.'

When Moki threw a rope...

instead of a bullet

at the grizzly cub...

he had an idea

that some day...

he might have

to face the consequences...

but right now he wasn't

thinking about the future.

In fact, he was making

a long journey into the past.

It was a journey...

his grandfather

woul d have approved.

For now, he'd decided there

was onl y one fitting place...

to turn the cub loose.

That had to be the exact spot

where Moki the Indian boy...

had passed through the ritual

of the Bear Clan...

to become a man.

Moki could still remember...

the voice of his grandfather

telling the legend...

of how the Clan of the Grizzl y

came to be.

NARRATOR.'

"In the sunrise of time...

"Kichemunito,

the great spirit...

"made the sky and the earth

and the waters.

"Then he made the grizzly

and the Cree. "

"There was war

between the two tribes...

"and the grizzly fell as

brown leaves in the forest. "

"The grizzly

was mighty in battle...

"but he coul d not stand against

the weapons of the Cree. "

"Kichemunito saw and was angry.

"He would not let

the Great Bear...

"vanish from the earth. "

"With a sweep of his hand...

"he piled up

the high lone mountains...

"and gave them to the grizzly

to be his hunting ground.

"He took from the Cree

the bravest warriors...

"and bound them together

in a clan. "

"In the waters

of the Takakawa...

"he washed the blood

from their hand...

"and placed a mark upon them.

"Then Kichemunito spoke. "

NARRATOR.' "Hear me,

warriors of the Cree.

"Now I have made you

brother to the bear.

"Go from this place.

"Meet your brother in peace.

"From this time...

"for as long as the waters

of the Takakawa fall. "

Take it easy now.

We're here.

This is it.

Now you stay up here,

where you belong!

Come back to my country,

and we're both in big trouble.

Go in peace, my little brother.

And you can thank

my grandfather.

NARRATOR.' It was in

this high, wide wilderness...

that being on his own

and all alone...

became a way of life for Wahb.

The first several days...

he had carried on the search

for his mother...

but nature has wisely

given young animals...

a short memory

about such things...

and so, as the days passed...

the problem

of finding his family...

graduall y gave way to

a full-time search for food.

Not that food was scarce.

It was the height

of the summer berry season.

The problem was Wahb's

incredible growth rate...

three to five pounds a day.

Fortunately, most of

the local berry eaters...

like the raccoon...

were more than willing to let

any grizzly, any size...

be first in line

at nature's pantry.

NARRATOR.'

Just one glimpse of Wahb...

was enough to give the fox

a case of the jitters.

And even a tough,

little pine marten...

yiel ded the right of way.

But there were all kinds

of critters around here...

and right now,

Wahb was about to meet...

the queen cat

of this timber tangle.

The mother cougar

had only one cub...

untouchable, unapproachable.

Well, Wahb didn't care

much for kittens, anyway.

He'd make a wide detour.

The cougar would

give him some help.

NARRATOR.' She had to admit,

that big lout...

had the best left hook

she'd ever seen.

NARRATOR.' Well, it was plain

that this royal kitten...

was due for a change

in summer residence.

If the rowdy element

was moving in...

the cougar was moving out.

The mother cat could have

saved herself the trouble...

because a certain

wayfaring bear cub...

had wasted no time

in hitting the trail again.

After such an easy victory...

Wahb's growing confidence

kept pace with his weight.

Then, just when Wahb

hit 150 pounds...

his confidence

got set back to zero.

NARRATOR.' Eating

was not a spectator sport...

the way Wahb saw it.

NARRATOR.' Turned out

that Blackie's sweet tooth...

was already pacified.

It was a temporary filling,

though.

Wahb took only enough time...

to make sure it was all clear

in the clearing.

NARRATOR.' Now, Blackie could've

gone right up after Wahb...

but he decided

the point had been made.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes