The Real Grizzly Adams

How a bear saved his life.

Grizzly Adams was renowned for his hunting skills—including taking down bears. But he owed his life to one. In 1854, he rescued a pair of grizzly cubs. He named one Benjamin Franklin. The next year, a mother grizzly attacked Adams, tearing his scalp and inflicting other wounds. His bear Franklin then attacked the attacker, biting her at the haunches and taking her attention away from the man. Adams then climbed a tree; he later retrieved his rifle and killed the mother bear. It took several months for Adams and Ben Franklin to recover from the incident.