This microhistory takes place on or May involve the Ancestral lands of the Miwok (Miwuk; Mi-Wuk; Me-Wuk) People, including the Northern Sierra Miwok (Me-Wuk), Central Sierra MiWok, and the Washoe Peoples of California.
(Jump to Article Transcriptions)
GB.1860.12 was an adult female Grizzly Bear, potentially of advanced age, killed on or about July 23, 1860 in Silver Valley in the Sierra Nevada Mountains east of San Andreas, in Calaveras County, California in the United States. GB.1860.12’s microhistory involves a family unit of multiple bears, with a known maternal relationship to GB.1860.12 shared between five cubs. GB.1860.12 and her cubs were hunted by multiple herdsmen under the employ of cattle rancher and logger William Dennis.
Offspring outcomes are known for GB.1860.12’s orphaned cubs: three (represented by catalogue numbers GB.1860.12A, GB.1860.12B, and GB.1860.12C) were captured using lassos, and two (represented by catalogue numbers T.GB.1860.12D and T.GB.1860.12E) escaped. GB.1860.12’s killing represents a microhistory which impacts one or more predator agency physically, and has so classed been classed as a Tier 1 event. As an encounter which describes an animal’s death, GB.1860.12 has been assigned a Unique Animal Number (UAN).
The microhistory of GB.1860.12 and her cubs was first published in the San Andreas Independent and can be followed through several additional California newspapers including the Daily Alta California, the Daily National Democrat, the San Joaquin Republican, and the Sacramento Daily Union.1
The Stockton Independent and the Nevada Journal offer additional context in describing this microhistory’s association with logging, ranching, and water management. Wm. Dennis & Co.‘s logging activities at Willow Creek Sawmill near San Andreas, including the mill’s associated supply chain of lumber to Jenny Lind, California, are much in dialogue with Dennis‘s 1859 acquisition of land in the vicinity of the Union Water Company‘s operations and 1860 acquisition of ranch land Grizzly Bear Valley. Context available through the Calaveras Heritage Council further situates this microhistory in proximity to the Silver Valley area in which it occurs, and places it in dialogue with microhistories involving local reservoirs and associated infrastructure.2
While GB.1860.12’s microhistory has a relationship with social groups of the American west including hunters, loggers, and cattle ranchers, the involvement of livestock animals in this microhistory is unknown. The relationship to human retaliation is likewise unknown for this microhistory, but further context may describe a relationship to the proximity of these bears to ranching operations.
The killing of GB.1860.12 may have been motivated by trade or sale, as may have been the pursuit or live capture of her cubs, but this microhistory’s clearest motivation is for the future display of a live trophy, GB.1860.12A, at the 1860 Stockton Agricultural Fair.3
This microhistory’s relationship to Summer suggests an association with the period of normal activity following the winter rest period and preceding the period of hyperphagia which typically begins in late summer or early autumn.4 These relationships with seasonality can be better understood in dialogue with the Sierra Nevada Forests ecoregion and its associated Temperate Conifer Forests biome in which it occurred. Local, relevant prey species are not referenced in this microhistory, and length and weight data are unknown for GB.1860.12. The geographic locus of this microhistory may suggest dialogue with the history of the California Grizzly, an extinct subtype of Grizzly or North American Brown Bear with critical relationships to nineteenth century settlement and extractivist practices.5
This microhistory has no known association to bloodsport, and neither human fatality nor injury is present.
CLICK TO EXPAND article transcriptionS
“Catching Young Grizzlies,” Daily Alta California, 6 August 1860,
“The herdsmen employed by Wm. Dennis to take care of his cattle in Silver Valley, some two weeks ago, killed a large grizzly and lassoed three of her cubs. They are about the size of a coyote. The animal had five cubs following her, two of which escaped. — San Andreas Independent.”
“Catching Young Grizzlies,” Daily National Democrat, 8 August 1860,
““The herdsmen employed by Wm. Dennis to take care of his cattle in Silver Valley, some two weeks ago, killed a large grizzly and lassoed three of her cubs. They are about the size of a coyote. The animal had five cubs following her, two of which escaped. — San Andreas Independent.”
“Items at the Fair,” San Joaquin Republican, 2 September 1860,
“Items at the Fair. As many Californians think they cannot get along very well without the companionship of a grizzly bear, it was of course not to be supposed that our Agricultural Society could come off without a contribution of the kind. A cub had been chained up in a corner of the Pavilion. This juvenile article of “Bruin” was contributed by Mr. William Dennis, of San Andreas. / Lippincott & Belding had a good display of their soda, saraperilla, Congress water, essences and bitters. They manufacture a superior article in this line / Mr. S. C. Tyler, exhibited some apples, which he exhibited at the State Fair of 1859. He does not know what name to call them, except “Everlasting Keepers,” as they are now in excellent condition. We think it was the same gentleman who exhibited very large onions. Sixteen hundred pounds were raised this year in a patch 16(1/2) feet by 49 (1/2) feet. / The display of apples was very find, the fruit being of great size. Mrs. Benson and Messrs. Scott, Hurey, Gardner and Garcelon & Allen, in the country and Messrs. Strout, Barnes and others in the city had apples there from fifteen to seventeen inches in circumference. / On the second day, Tuolumne seceded from the Fair, the turtle bearing the name of that respectable county upon his back, climbing out of the pond and walking off. His scarlet back will betray him. / There was a magnificent display of plums of all kinds. Mr. Wm. P. Miller had a good show in this respect. There were some small branches of plum trees, not two feet in length, which contained a half-peck of them. There was no card upon them. / An exhibition of silk cocoons attracted much attention. They were raised in San Jose, but the name of the owner was not attached. / Mr. J. M. White had a cluster of poke berries, a fruit unknown to emigrants from “down east.” He also had a cluster of very large pears.”
“Another Grizzly Killed,” Sacramento Daily Union, 11 September 1860,
“Another Grizzly Killed.—A few days ago the hands employed by William Dennis to herd his cattle in the mountains, at Silver Valley, set a gun for a grizzly, and were successful in wounding him. They followed his track by the blood for a few miles, overtook and dispatched him. It will be remembered that some six weeks ago we mentioned the killing of an old she-bear and the capture of three of her cubs in the same place by the same parties. It is a favorite haunt for Mr. Bruin. About a week since the men saw eight grizzlies in a band in open day, at the edge of the valley. One of the cubs captured was exhibited at the Stockton Agricultural Fair. It is an intelligent, but at the same time a most savage and untamable little creature. He will snap and growl at every one save his keeper, and sometimes even bite him.— San Andreas Independent..”
THIS MICROHISTORY IS IN DIALOGUE WITH the following ENTRIES ON PMN:
Notes:
- “Catching Young Grizzlies,” Daily Alta California, 6 August 1860, Volume 12, Number 217; “Catching Young Grizzlies,” Daily National Democrat, 8 August 1860, Volume 4, Number 142; “Items at the Fair,” San Joaquin Republican, 2 September 1860, Volume X, Number 209; “Another Grizzly Killed,” Sacramento Daily Union, 11 September 1860, Volume 19, Number 2951.
- “Boiler Exploded,” Stockton Independent, 10 January 1857, Volume 1, Number 16; “Heavy Loads,” Nevada Journal, 12 November 1858, Volume 9, Number 26; “Page 4 Advertisements Column 4,” Stockton Independent, 9 May 1857, Volume 1, Number 33. “SETTLEMENT OF THE EBBETTS PASS AREA,” Calaveras Heritage Council, 2025; Marvin, Judith, 2011, Guidebook for Ebbetts Pass as cited in “Bear Valley,” Calaveras Heritage Council, 2025; “Union / Utica Water Company,” Calaveras Heritage Council, 2025. Learn more about how to support the Calaveras Heritage Council on their website.
- Caroline Abbott, “‘Chained up in a corner of the pavillion:’ GB.1860.12A; GB.1860.12B; GB.1860.12C,” Predator Microhistory Network.
- For more details, see “5 Stages of Activity and Hibernation.” North American Bear Center.
- Alexis M. Mychajliw et al., “Coupled Social and Ecological Change Drove the Historical Extinction of the California Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos californicus),” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 291, no. 2014 (2024): 20230921.
Cite This Page
Chicago
Caroline Abbott. “”Killed a large grizzly:” GB.1860.12.” Predator Microhistory Network. [Accessed Month, Day, Year].
MHRA
Caroline Abbott, “”Killed a large grizzly:” GB.1860.12,” Predator Microhistory Network. Link. [Accessed Day Month Year]
MLA
Abbott, Caroline. “”Killed a large grizzly:” GB.1860.12.” Predator Microhistory Network, 25 October, 2025. Accessed Day Month Year.
APA
Abbott, C. 2025, October 25. “Killed a large grizzly:” GB.1860.12. Predator Microhistory Network.
Feature image: Alpine Lake in the Sierra Nevada, California, NARA – 524184. Timothy H. O’Sullivan, 1871. National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the National Archives Identifier (NAID) 524184. Series: Geographic Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, compiled 1871 – 1874 (National Archives Identifier: 524104. Accessed via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain. SUPPORT THE WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION HERE.
You must be logged in to post a comment.