The Panther of Willapa
A bold mountain lion terrorizes a logging site until a local man takes action.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The other day Mr. Allison, who lives near Mike Moran's place, and a neighbor were getting out wood. Mr. Allison was hauling, and his neighbor was in the woods. Mr. Allison had gone about a half-mile with one load when a large panther came out of the brush beside the road, passed under the wagon beneath the wheels, and showed other evidences of a desire to become better acquainted. Mr. Allison, not liking his looks, drove on a few rods, stopped the team, and stepped off the load onto a high log, shouting to his companion to come quick. The neighbor made his appearance with his dog; the dog attacked the panther, which, with one blow of his paw, killed the dog and proceeded to 'chew' him up. The neighbor had mounted the log with Mr. Allison and poured hot lead into the panther from a navy revolver, causing the beast to retreat into the brush. The men went to Mike Moran's, who took his dogs and guns to track, tree, and kill the vicious beast. The panther measured seven feet and was extremely fat.
“The panther, not liking these delicate attentions, at once withdrew into the brush.”
Encounters with cougars remain a visceral reality in the Pacific Northwest as expanding human development continues to push into traditional feline territory. While the 'navy revolver' and the neighborhood posse have been replaced by wildlife management protocols, the anxiety of a predator 'becoming better acquainted' is a familiar, lingering fear for rural residents.
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