They still had a hospital tent out there?
(DR) Yes. We had two or three (bears). There was one right here, set right off the end of this woodshed up here. Mr. Whitworths they just got into that and made a shambles of it.
(SR) After our little girl was born, I had the bassinet on the porch. After her bath and everything, I put her our there for her nap. I didn’t know it, but everybody talked about me and said, “She’s not going to have a baby next year when we come.” The bear would go by, you know. But we lived with the bear, and it was two years before we had her (the girl). And they never bothered anybody unless they smelled food. So there was no problem. They said when we came back, “Oh, you still have your little girl.” We thought you wouldn’t because you left it out with the bear….
(DR) There was another incident, several actually, but one that I remember in particular. It was early spring and the park was just opening up. The road to the rim was not open for driving. This young couple was on their honeymoon from Minnesota. The drove in, and they wanted so badly to get to the lake. We outfitted them with snowshoes so they could make it. But they had a convertible, and at time, myself and a couple of other guys asked them, “Do you have any food?” “Oh no,” (they said). We warned them that bears were around and they could be a problem if there was food around. “Oh no, we haven’t any food.” (They said). So they took off. It was just about lunch time. We all went to lunch, and when we got back the top (of the car) had been ripped to smithereens and they dug a hole through the upholstery of the back of the car. There wasn’t a thing that we could do about. The bear had gone on his way, and these young folks came down and wondered, “Who would do this to us?” And I said, “A bear.” They said, “Oh, that’s not possible.” I said, “I’m said, “I’m sorry,” and I showed him the blood on the side of the window. I said, “We asked you if you had any food.” And they said, “Oh, we didn’t have any food. We just had some candy bars and oranges.” That’s all it took. It was a typical spring day up here, cloudy and cool, and pretty miserable driving, and those kids were headed to Medford and had to drive there in an open car, without a top or anything. I often wondered what ever happened to them. But oh, they looked sick. To have that happen just ruined their car.
I stayed here until March of 1942, and then I transferred to the Arm Engineers and went to Camp White. I was at Camp White during the war. After that, I lost touch with them. The shuffled a lot of people around. I understand that there’s a Hartell and a Mr. Varnum living in Fort Klamath (11).
