About This eBook

     The Hunt For Old Mose! © 2017 by Raymond Cook is a 244 page story about the most terrifying grizzly bear roaming central Colorado in 1883. The bear was nick-named Old Mose after a rancher saw it moseying away from an elk it had killed and eaten. The fact was Old Mose was actually a five year old sow with two claws missing off her left hind foot. Old Mose was a ferocious bear who roamed a huge area near Cañon City.

     Standing nearly 9 feet tall, weighing 1,200 pounds with 4 inch claws and 3 inch fangs she reigned supreme. Ranchers depended on their gardens and the livestock they raised both as a food source and to sell to earn money. When the massive grizzly began destroying gardens and killing cattle a $500 bounty was put on Old Mose’s head. Carcasses of livestock also attracted wolves, mountain lion, coyotes and black bear which endangered families.

     The Colt 45 revolver or Winchester 30-30 rifle couldn’t kill a grizzly bear. Only a Marlin 45-70 or similar rifle with a 300 grain caliber shell could kill such a large bear with a well-placed shot.

Barbwire fences barn doors and hog pens did nothing to keep the bear out. With thousands of families homesteading and prospectors panning for gold or silver in Central Colorado, there were plenty of horses and cattle to kill.

     Frank Pigg and his 16 year old son Wharton found gold in a nearby stream on their land. After Frank is killed by Old Mose, Wharton vows revenge. He sold his father’s ranch and partnered up with an old fur trapper to set out to track down and kill the fearsome grizzly. But Old Mose was cunning and eluded Wharton and other hunters for more than twenty years before the final confrontation in 1904. Take a trip back in time to central Colorado where Old Mose was king of the grizzlies.