Related names => Trumbull

The Killing of the Three Bears

This is a line-by-line transcription of a letter from my great-grandmother Emma Elston to her daughter, my grandmother, Maybell Elston dated 1915. Sometime about 1980 I made a photocopy of the letter, the transcrption is from that copy. I do not know what became of the original. The incident probably occured at or near Ewen, in Ontogonon County in the Upper Peninsula (up der in da U.P. der, eh) of Michigan. The spelling is phonetic; punctuation non-existent. Note the use, in the antipenultimate line, of "some" with the meaning "much" or "very," a usage normally associated with Newfoundland; I have never been able to determine where my great-grandmother picked it up. –David Trumbull (2008) 


                       1915

now i will tell you just how
we got the bear my brother
gorge cam home from the lak
and went with me to my traps
and we was goen along and
i saw leavs [?] in the log and
sayed to gorge thar is a bear
and he thought i saw on run
and he was looken all ovr to
see the bear run and i took
hold of his arm and shook
him and told him it was rit
thar in that log then he stup
down and saw them then we
both sat down and look at
them then gorge brok a bush
to aros hir then she stuck
hir old yellow nose sloley
out of the log then we both

         [page 2]

shout at onc and i shout hir
threw the hart and gorge shout
hir threw the head she nevr
moved then gorge went to
the other end of the log and
shot 1 of the cubs then they othr
cub came out and i shout it
threw the skull and that 
finished the killen of the 3
bear then how to get them out
whar we could get the picturs
we didnot no but i sayed to 
gorge if you can cary the
big on i will cary the 2 cubs
out i sayed we can tak ther
intestins out then they will
be liter so did then when
we got started out it was
a slashen [?] and hard goen and

         [page 3]

we stoped to rest and i
sayed to gorge i though of
a pland we can make a sled
and he sayed yes you bet
that is what we will do so
we did mak on aftr we got
on the road then we loded
on the bear and caren salks [?]
and our guns and both took
holt of the wire and drew
then hom about 6 milds we
got hom just dark and we
thought we had don well but
we was offel tired and the
next morng mr Sexton cam
ovr and took our picturs
well i ges i must been som exsiteted
for the next morng i coldnot lift
them of the flor