Hellacious California! by Gary Noy

Author:Gary Noy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heyday

While observers might debate whether members of the slogging fraternity were “animals,” there were several options for those wishing to indulge their preference for actual animal fighting.

Animal baiting—contests pitting one animal against another—is extensively documented in Old California, and the most prevalent incidents in midcentury were the death matches between bulls and bears, usually now-extinct California grizzlies. Wagering on the outcome of a fight was customary, and the bloody affairs were well attended, with some Gold Country mining camps constructing arenas to accommodate the spectators. Gold Rush diaries, journals, and letters are crammed with gory accounts of the battles, and the clashes not only captivated the eyewitnesses but also piqued the curiosity of those far away from the goldfields. One example was an article printed on August 15, 1854, in the Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania] Daily Post, based thousands of miles away from the event itself. Perhaps more unusual than that, however, was the detail that the bull emerged victorious in the fray; usually the more powerful grizzlies won easily.

A great bull and bear fight occurred . . . in California. A fearful scene occurred. The bull was wild, and the bear, a grizzly of large size, was caught a few weeks previously. The instant the animals beheld each other they made a spring, the bear raising himself to strike, and the bull lowering his head for a plunge. The contest was tremendous, and in about twenty minutes the bull with one ear bitten off, his nose torn and neck severely mangled, laid his ferocious adversary completely dead in the centre of the arena. The owner of the bull offers to let him fight any bear not exceeding him in weight that can be produced, for a wager of any sum between $1000 and $5000 [the equivalent of $31,000 to $155,000 today].

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