An Uninvited Mill Hand
A black bear wanders into the city limits to inspect a lumber mill, leading to a frantic encounter with local residents.
A bear came down last Saturday from the woods to inspect the working of Wilson Bros.' mill, now running five-quarters time, right in the city limits. He was first discovered by L. J. Kolts' house, and the women and children who discovered him almost went into a conniption fit. N. C. Hoffman, who works in the mill, took several shots at Mr. Bear with a revolver, drew blood, and drove him back to the woods.
“The women and children who discovered him almost went into a conniption fit.”
Urban wildlife encounters are a timeless feature of Pacific Northwest life, but in 1891 Aberdeen, the 'city limits' were barely a perimeter carved into the dense old-growth forest. Today, as the wild retreats further, these encounters remind residents that the city was built directly atop the bear's corridor.
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