Andy Stump came to California from West Virginia and worked at the Bodega sawmill in Sonoma County. The trouble started in 1852 when one of his coworkers, a friend named Jersey Roy, mysteriously disappeared – along with a belt full of gold dust...
2/5
Stump suspected another worker, Tony West, of murdering Roy for his gold. Stump confronted West and pursued him into the redwood forest, across valleys, through creeks, and down canyons. After a long chase, Stump and West fell into the den of a very angry grizzly bear...
3/5
The grizzly was California's most formidable animal. Seven feet tall, a thousand pounds, kitchen-knife claws and a vice-clamp jaw, this was ursus horribilis – the terrible bear. The tumbling Stump fell right on its back, grabbed two fistfuls of fur, and was on for the ride...
4/5