A little over fifty years ago, we lived up the North Thompson river, north of Kamloops, BC. We got to know a neighbour who lived nearby. He was an old rancher, trapper, and cowboy who had been riding the Kamloops area since the 1920's. He was a great storyteller and had many experiences to draw from. One time, he told me about the time he had put his rope on a grizzly bear. He said he did it just because the opportunity presented itself and he figured he could rope anything. He said the hard part was trying to get his rope back. Apparently, he accomplished this by wrapping around a tree and getting the rope after the bear had choked itself down. It recovered once the rope was off and the roper was back on his horse and well away.
Well, this was a heck of a story and as always, well told, but I wasn't sure I believed it. Several years later, I was gunsmithing in Kamloops when an old cowboy came in and was watching me work, as many guys seemed to like to do. As I worked, we spoke of various things. At one point, he asked me where I lived; I told him. He then asked if I knew and old guy up there and mentioned our friend's name. I said that I knew him well. He then told me they had ridden together during the Depression years. He said, "I'll never forget the time he roped a damn grizzly!"
He then recounted the story, much the same as I had heard it but from the point of view of a witness. This was only one of the stories I had considered to be questionable; hearing this confirmation made me see a lot of the other stories in a whole new light. Keep in mind, this occurred back when that part of the country really was the wild west and entertainment often included some pretty risky behaviour.
