Child's Narrow Escape from a Pet Bear
Published October 12, 2026 at 6:34 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
When the author was about eight years old, he lived near an uncle who kept a large bear tied by a chain to a post. While the author was walking one day, he took a shortcut across the ring where the bear lived, not realizing the danger. He accidentally entered the bear's reach, but before the animal could attack, the author somehow escaped unharmed, attributing the protection to the Lord.
In Their Own Words
“When I was a child about eight years of age my parents moved from the place where I was born to where an aunt of mine lived. My parents' husband had a bear which he kept tied by a chain to a post, save that he was not quite so wild as those which have run in our fastnesses. There were but two persons who ever ventured within reach of Mr. Bruin for fear he might wish to eat them. One day I happened to enter the ring and before he could make his appearance the bear had made a jump to one side of his enclosure not far from the post to which he was tied. I was then within his reach, and he was looking at me with his eyes fixed upon me, and I was looking at him. I did not know that I was in danger, but I felt a strange sensation, and I stood still. Now you will wonder how I escaped this monster. No one knew of the experience but myself. It was the Lord who preserved me. He knew that I was a child, and did not realize the danger, and therefore, had he caught me, he would have destroyed me; but He was there to protect me.”
— Attributed to the author in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 59, No. 45
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 11 November 1897 (Vol. 59, No. 45). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1897-11-11_59_45 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, 11 November 1897, Vol. 59, No. 45, p. 718 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1897-11-11_59_45
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