What is the history of the grizzly bear in the North Cascades?
The historical record clearly shows that grizzly bears have long been present in the North Cascades. The earliest evidence is found in religious ceremonies and folklore of several Cascade Mountain Native American tribes. Between 1827 and 1859 Hudson’s Bay Company trapping records show 3,788 grizzly hides shipped from North Cascades area trading posts. Some of the grizzly bears killed in the North Cascades have been preserved in various museums across the U.S. The hide and skull of a grizzly bear killed during the survey of the U.S./Canada border in 1859 was sent to the U.S. National Museum in Washington, D.C. The skull is still in the museum collection. Another grizzly bear taken from the Chelan area in 1913 was used by C. Hart Merriam in 1916 as the type specimen for his taxonomic description of Pacific Northwest grizzly bears. In 1952, a grizzly bear was killed just east of the Okanogan River, near Molson; this specimen is in the Conner Museum at Washington State University. From the
