David Osborn Miraculously Survives Bear Attack

When David Osborn was about twenty years old while living near Green City on the west side of White River in Indiana, he went out early one morning and heard a hog squealing at some distance in the woods. With no weapons to defend himself, he ran to relieve the hog, only to discover that a bear was on it eating it. When David hollered, the bear left the hog and took after him. David ran about 60 yards and sprang up a small sapling to escape. The bear came close behind and hugged the tree, coming up to pull David down. It took hold of David's foot (his shoe slipping off), then his other knee, then the calf of his other leg, and lastly his thigh, leaving deep wounds on every place. David had nothing to defend himself with, and 'death with its terrors stared me in the face.' In this moment of mortal danger, David 'cried to the Lord to have mercy and spare my life, promising to serve him the remainder of my days.' Immediately upon this covenant, the bear left David and returned to the hog. David returned home quite lame, having lost his hat, shoes, and one leg of his breeches, and he 'was confined closely about six weeks but got entirely well.' He later wrote: 'I have ever looked upon that as a providential interposition.' This divine intervention preserved his life and allowed him to eventually become a faithful member of the Church and pioneer.