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Arizona Oddities

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Dose of History
Home›Dose of History›The Bear Facts About Christopher Creek

The Bear Facts About Christopher Creek

By Sam Lowe
December 11, 2014
3333
2

bearCHRISTOPHER CREEK — In the early 1880s, Isadore Christopher located his ranch near a small creek in Gila County. One day in July 1882, he killed a bear, skinned it and hung the carcass in one of the two cabins he had erected. The next day, he left his ranch (and the bear) and went back into the surrounding forest. While he was away, a band of Apaches arrived on the scene and burned down both cabins.

Shortly afterwards, an Army troop came upon the still smoldering buildings. When they found the bear carcass, so the story goes, they mistakenly assumed it was Christopher so they held a solemn burial ceremony and interred the remains on site. The soldiers then informed area residents of the incident. The neighbors were understandably surprised, therefore, when Christopher returned, alive and well. The bear’s skeleton was dug up years later.

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2 comments

  1. AG 6 October, 2017 at 16:17 Reply

    Silly, lame story! The so-called legends white and delightsomes try and create for themselves. Pretty ignorant people if they couldn’t tell a bear’s remains from a human beings remains!

  2. AG 6 October, 2017 at 16:19 Reply

    It’s such a silly, lame story== the so-called legends the white, delightsome types try and create for themselves. Pretty ignorant people if they couldn’t tell a bear’s remains from a human being’s remains!

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