In his youth, my paternal grandfather, Harrison Ora Foltz, had a near encounter with a mountain lion.
Harrison Foltz, 11 years old, 1921.
Week 47: Thankful
During Harry’s boyhood years, he spent some time living on or near Indian Reservation land in Oregon. This was likely the Warm Springs Reservation near Bend, Oregon.
One day he was walking to the mailbox, which was a couple of miles down the road, there and back. He noticed on his way back to the house a puma was tracking him! As soon as he made it safely inside, he told his mom.
Myrtle (Mills) Foltz, 1918, Walla Walla, Washington.
Myrtle immediately retorted, “There’s no pumas here!” She clearly didn’t believe little Harry, but when she took a look out the door, lo and behold, there was a cougar!
Not one to take any chances, Myrtle was set on defending her family. She kept a loaded rifle behind the front door, as many probably did during the early 1900s in this remote area of Oregon. She took aim, shot, and killed the puma!
While I bet my grandfather was praying he wouldn’t wind up as prey, our family now has to be thankful that events didn’t play out differently, as we wouldn’t be here to tell the tale.
Quite a close call. And Myrtle must have been a really good shot!
Yeah, so intriguing! I know her husband was always on the road -- he was a teamster -- so I guess she had to know how to protect herself. It's sad to think of the demise of the mountain lion, but I guess it was out of necessity in this case for protection.