Wild Dog Creek Tale Stirs Many Memories

From The Lexington Leader, Wednesday (date not available)
By Nevyle Shackelford, Leader Correspondent

Beattyville, Ky. - In response to a recent feature about Wild Dog Creek comes a delightful and informative letter from Mrs. Lois B. Dougherty of Berea. Mrs. Dougherty's great-grandfather, David Robinson, and Julius Spivey were the first settlers on this creek on the border of Lee and Owsley counties. They lived about a half mile apart and were the only families on the stream from the "head to the mouth."

Mrs. Dougherty said her grandfather, James Osborne Robinson, who grew up to be a soldier in the Civil War, was a baby when her great-grandfather David moved in on Wild Dog from Buncombe, NC., in a covered wagon. Her own father, Charles Robinson, was born on the creek and spent his early life in the vicinity.

In her letter, she said she had never heard of the strange creature mentioned in the feature, the account of which was related to the writer by the old-time resident of the creek, Rob Lynch. But she had heard many others, particularly stories of "Hunter's Oak" some half dozen miles away.

Hunter's Oak was a rendezvous for early settlers on their fall hunt for bear, wild hog, and deer on the waters of Rosses Creek, Sinking Branch, and the Old Orchard territory which was first scouted by Daniel Boone. This famous tree of local pioneer history stood until recent years when, scarred by forest fires, lightning and all but dead from the ravages of insects and disease, it was bulldozed away to make room for a new road in this wild, scenic territory.

It may be of interest to Mrs. Dougherty and others to know, however, thanks to the State Department of Fish and Wildlife, deer still wander on Sinking Branch, Rosses Creek, and around Old Orchard. And no later than last November deer hunters camped at Hunter's Oak much as her ancestors and their friends did well over a century ago.

Bear Tale

As a sort of a follow-up to the Wild Dog feature, old-timer Craig Lynch who is familiar with the colorful history of this limpid wilderness stream now largely rescued by the U.S. Forestry Service from threats of pollution, tells the story of the last bear to be killed on its waters.

The Wild Dog territory was logged off about 60 years ago and shortly before that time, an old residenter - maybe some of Mrs. Dougherty's kinfolks - with a small caliber hog rifle, was out squirrel hunting. Hearing a scratching noise in the bushes, the hunter investigated the sound and discovered a bear standing erect sharpening its claws on the bark of a pine.

Because the rifle was designed only for killing small game, the hunter hesitated about trying to bag the bear, fearing the small ball might only wound and not kill the bruin which can be extremely dangerous under such circumstances.

But weighing the possibilities, the hunter decided to take a chance and as the bear raised its paw to rake off another piece of bark, he drilled it clean just behind its fore leg.

It was a lethal shot. The bear groaned, "Oh Lord," and fell dead.

"Now I don't know whether that was the truth or not," Craig said, "but that's what I've always been told."

Then he added: "If it is the truth, you know it ain't right to shoot bears."

Thanks

Our thanks go out to Mrs. Dougherty, Craig Lynch, and others who have furnished the information for these tales of Wild Dog and other places. And it is not us alone who are appreciative of these historical accounts of local life and times of days gone by. We have found that many children, particularly high school students, are eager to hear such stories. However minor these tales may be in the vast sweep of world history, they seem important to the children, possibly because they bring history closer home and are interesting footnotes to the history books. The trouble with these minor tales, especially first-hand accounts, is that they are becoming fewer all the time.

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