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John "Grizzly" Adams

John Boyden Adams (also known as James Capen Adams and Grizzly Adams) (October 22, 1812 – October 25, 1860)[a] was a famous California mountain man and trainer of grizzly bears and other wild animals he captured for menageries, zoological gardens and circuses.

John Boyden "Grizzly" Adams
"Grizzly" Adams, with his grizzly bear, Benjamin Franklin, from the 1860 Hutchings' Illustrated California Magazine
Born
John Adams

October 22, 1812
DiedOctober 25, 1860(1860-10-25) (aged 48)
Other namesJames Capen Adams
Occupations
  • cobbler
  • zoological collector
  • merchant
  • miner
  • rancher
  • farmer
  • frontiersman
  • fur trader
  • hunter
  • trapper
  • animal trainer
  • circus performer
Known forhis love of grizzly bears and performing with the trained bears in the circus

Early years Edit

Grizzly Adams was born John Boyden Adams to Eleazar Adams and Sybil Capen on October 22, 1812.[10] His parents were of English ancestry.[11] Born and raised in Medway, Massachusetts,[12] a suburb of Boston, he received little to no education. Adams began as an apprentice in the footwear manufacturing industry at age fourteen.[13] At age twenty-one, he left that occupation, seeking to satisfy his true love - the outdoors and nature. He signed on with a company of showmen as a zoological collector. John hunted and captured live wild animals in the wildest parts of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, where he honed his woodsman, survival, and marksmanship skills. However, Adams told Hittell, his hunting and trapping career ended abruptly when he received severe back and spine injuries from a Bengal tiger he was attempting to train for his employers.[14][15] Not wanting to become a burden on his family, after a year of recuperating he returned to his cobbler's bench in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1836, John married Cylena Drury and they had three children: Arabella, Arathusa, and Seymour.[16]

California and Western States, 1849–1860 Edit

In 1849 with the California Gold Rush in progress, John invested his life savings of over $6,000 (~$157,827 in 2021) to buy a large supply of footwear, and had it shipped to St. Louis, Missouri. He intended to sell his goods at great profit to the thousands of forty-niners passing through St. Louis. Through no fault of his own, he lost the entire investment in the St. Louis wharf fire. Shortly thereafter, John's father committed suicide;[17] - it is possible that he had invested heavily in John's plans. At this point, John felt he had nothing to lose. He had a touch of gold fever and a yearning for adventure. He knew even if he failed to recoup his lost investment in the mines, he could at least support himself by hunting and trapping in the untapped wilds of California. He left his family and relatives behind in Massachusetts and joined the 49ers on their way to California. On his journey via the Santa Fe and Gila trails, he twice survived near fatal illnesses and arrived at the gold fields of California late in 1849.[18]

Adams tried his luck at mining, hunting game to sell to the miners, trading, and finally, ranching and farming. At times he was rich and then, just as quickly, broke. Late in 1852, having lost his ranch outside of Stockton, California, to creditors, he took the few items he could salvage and headed into the Sierra Nevada mountains to get away from it all. With the help of the local Miwok Indians, Adams built a cabin and stable and spent the winter alone in the Sierra.[19] John was an expert hunter and his New England training in shoemaking and leather craft gave him the necessary skills to fashion buckskin clothing and moccasins (the clothing he adopted as normal attire for the remainder of his life). He also made his own harness, pack saddles, snowshoes and other items he needed.[20]

Adams traveled great distances from his California base camp on foot, on horse or mule, or in an ox-drawn wagon. In 1853, he made a hunting and trapping expedition some 1,200 miles (1930 km) from his base camp in California to eastern Washington Territory (what is now western Montana).[21] While there, he caught a yearling female grizzly that he named Lady Washington.[22][23] Even though she was already a year old and very wild, he managed to tame her and taught her to follow him without restraint.[24] Later, he trained her to carry a pack and then to pull a loaded sled. She even cuddled up near John to keep him warm in freezing conditions. Eventually, Lady Washington allowed John to ride on her back.

In 1854, Adams retrieved a pair of two-week-old male grizzly cubs from the den of their mother near Yosemite Valley.[25][26] He named one of them Benjamin Franklin. Ben saved John's life a year later in 1855, when a mother grizzly attacked Adams.[27][28][29] John and Ben both bore the scars of that attack the rest of their lives.[30] The head injury John received in the attack led to his demise five years later. In the summer of 1854, John traveled to the Rocky Mountains to hunt and collect more live animals.[31][32][33] He and his hunting companions sold meat, hides and some live animals to the emigrants along the Emigrant Trails near where the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail split away from each other (southwestern Wyoming). They also sold and traded at Fort Bridger, Wyoming and Fort Supply. During this expedition, Lady Washington had a rapacious encounter with a Rocky Mountain grizzly.[34] The mating resulted in a male cub that was born the next year when she was with Adams in Corral Hollow on the eastern side of the California coastal mountains. Adams christened her cub General Fremont, in honor of John C. Fremont.[35]

In the winter of 1854, Grizzly Adams captured a huge California grizzly in the largest cage trap Adams had ever constructed.[36] John named him Samson.[28][37] When the bear was later weighed on a hay scale, it tipped the beam at 1,500 pounds (one of the largest grizzly bears ever captured alive).[38]

During 1855, Adams and his companions hunted and trapped game in the California Coast Range mountains, journeyed to the Kern River mines, then proceeded southward to the Tehachapi Mountains and Tejon Pass. Returning from the Tejon Pass area, Adams followed the Old Spanish Route via San Miguel and San Jose.[39] Due to interest of the curious people the group met, John set up impromptu shows of his bears and other animals he had collected on his summer excursion. These shows, a precursor to his circus career, were conducted in San Miguel, Santa Clara, San Jose, the redwoods and finally San Francisco.[40]

In 1856, John retrieved all of his animals from Howard's Ranch near Stockton, California, where he had left them to be cared for while he was absent. He then opened the Mountaineer Museum in a basement on Clay Street in San Francisco.[41] Due to notices T. H. Hittell printed in the San Francisco daily Evening Bulletin, Adams' show drew many more patrons. Soon thereafter, Adams was able to move his menagerie and museum, now called the Pacific Museum, to a better location. The new building could accommodate larger audiences and house more animals and displays. By 1858, he was referred to as the "Barnum of the Pacific", in a San Francisco newspaper.[42] In January, 1858, tragedy struck when noble Ben, John's favorite grizzly, died of an illness for which no remedy could be found. Adams was devastated at the loss, but continued to show his animals daily. He also continually added more animals and other attractions to his museum. In 1859, due to such overextensions, he lost his museum building to creditors. However, he was able to save most of his menagerie, which he relocated temporarily to another building.[43]

Grizzly Adams' health was deteriorating and he knew his life would soon end. Since he had been away from his wife in Massachusetts for over ten years, he wanted to earn enough before he died to leave her a comfortable sum. He made arrangements to relocate his menagerie and collections to New York, in hopes of joining P. T. Barnum as a part of his show.[44][45] On January 7, 1860, Adams and his menagerie departed from San Francisco on the clipper ship Golden Fleece on their way to New York City via Cape Horn, a 3+12-month voyage.[46]

In New York City, Grizzly Adams, still representing himself as James Capen Adams, joined with Barnum to perform his California Menagerie in a canvas tent for six weeks. His health continued to decline and after a doctor told him he had better settle his affairs, Adams decided he would sell his menagerie to Barnum. However, disregarding his doctor's prognosis, he managed to persuade Barnum to agree to let him perform his animals for another ten weeks for a $500 bonus. Adams' willpower held out for the full contract, though at the end he could hardly walk onto the stage. From the proceeds of the sale of the menagerie and the bonus, he had accomplished his goal of providing a comfortable sum for his wife.[47]

Death Edit

Adams suffered head and neck trauma during a grizzly attack in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California in 1855. His scalp was dislodged, and he was left with a silver dollar-sized impression in his skull, just above his forehead. Adams had made pets of several grizzlies, and often wrestled with them while training them and in exhibitions. During one such bout, his most delinquent grizzly, General Fremont (named for John C. Fremont), struck Adams in the head and reopened the wound. It was subsequently reinjured several times, eventually leaving Adams' brain tissue exposed.

The damage was further exacerbated while Adams was on tour with a circus in New England during the summer of 1860, when a monkey he was attempting to train purportedly bit into the wound.[48] After more than four months performing with his California Menagerie, complications from the injury led to Adams' inability to continue with the show. After completing his contract with P. T. Barnum, he retired to Neponset, Massachusetts, where he died of illness (possibly meningitis) just five days after arriving at the home of his wife and daughter (October 25). Upon hearing of Adams' death, Barnum was deeply grieved.

Adams was interred at the Bay Path Cemetery in Charlton, Massachusetts. It is believed P.T. Barnum commissioned the creation of his tombstone. Also buried there nearby are his mother, father, a sister, his wife, his son and one of his two daughters.

Association with Theodore H. Hittell and Charles C. Nahl Edit

During Grizzly Adams' exhibition of his grizzly bears and other trained animals in San Francisco, he was working with Hittell from July, 1857 until December 1859. Hittell listened to Adams narrate his adventures almost daily for an hour or so and took careful notes, cross-questioning Adams to assure he had it straight. Adams knew, and was apparently flattered by the fact Mr. Hittell intended to write a book based upon Adams' talks.[49] Also, during this time, the artist Charles C. Nahl took an interest in Adams' grizzlies and, working with Hittell, prepared illustrations (one of which is at the head of this article) that would be used in Hittell's forthcoming book. One of his paintings eventually became the model for the grizzly bear on California's State Flag.[50][51] In 1860, after Adams had relocated to New York, Theodore H. Hittell published his book, The Adventures of James Capen Adams, Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California, in San Francisco,[52] and then later that year, in Boston.

Association with circus people Edit

In 1833, John Adams hired on as a wild animal collector with a group of showmen. Several menageries were active in the New England area at this time, probably the largest was the June, Titus Company's National Menagerie also known as, Grand National Menagerie.[53][54] Boston, Massachusetts was the venue for many such menageries while Adams was living there, so he had the opportunity to meet and interact with the proprietors and performers. There were also circuses and menageries on the Pacific Coast when John reached California, one of which was the Joseph A. Rowe Olympic Circus that performed in San Francisco and Sacramento, California, at the time he arrived.[55][56] On two occasions, Adams told Hittell he had contact with an acquaintance from New England. This person most likely was in some way connected to the circus/menagerie business. Adams told Hittell that the man was his brother, "William", although Adams didn't have a brother by that name.[57] According to Earle Williams,[58] the property that Adams ranched near Stockton, California, in 1852 was the same land that was later acquired by Henry C. Lee[59] and John R. Marshall,[60][61] proprietors of the Lee and Marshall Circus.[62] Lee hired a man by the name of David Howard to run the ranch which was about eight miles (13 km) southeast of Stockton, on Mariposa road. Grizzly Adams often left his stock and captured animals at "Howard's Ranch" to be cared for by Howard and Lee's circus people.[63] Lee's circus used the ranch to keep their circus stock, wagons and other items in the circus' winter off-season. According to Williams[64] when Grizzly Adams established his Mountaineer Museum in San Francisco, in 1856, the menagerie was a part of Lee's Circus, as a side show. Adams and a couple of his bears appeared with Rowe's Pioneer Circus in November.[65] In 1857, Adams had a partner named Sheppard.[66] In 1859, T. W. Tanner was a partner with Adams (this may have been the man who owned a half-interest in Adams' Pacific Museum, prior to Adams leaving for New York in January, 1860). When Adams arrived in New York City in April 1860, he discovered while talking with P.T. Barnum, that Barnum had bought the one-half interest of Adams' California Menagerie, (possibly from Tanner). On April 30, 1860, Adams and Barnum opened the California Menagerie in a canvas tent on the corner of Broadway and Fourth Street in New York City[67][68][69] The show ran for six weeks. Adams health was failing, and he sold the remaining interest in the menagerie to Barnum. Adams then went on a summer tour of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire as part of Nixon & Company's Circus.[70] He continued to perform with his bears and other trained animals until late October, 1860.

Ties to the Adams family of New England Edit

John Adams was a member of the Adams family of New England that included many important men and women who contributed to the founding and early history of the United States. His great-great-great-great-grandfather, Henry Adams (1583–1646), emigrated with his family from England to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1632, and thus established the famous Adams family in America.[71] Henry's descendants include the patriot Samuel Adams and two presidents, John Adams and President Adams' son, John Quincy Adams. Grizzly was born in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, and was surrounded by relatives and cousins. During Grizzly Adams' childhood, President John Adams lived within a short buggy ride of him in Quincy, Massachusetts.[72][73] The subject of this article, John Adams, was the third child and first son born to Eleazer Adams (1776–1849) and Sybil (Capen) Adams (1785–1844).[74] He had seven siblings, Susan B., Almy, Charles, James Capen, Zilpha, Francis and Albert. John married Cylena Drury in 1836. They had three children: Arabella, Arathusa Elizabeth, and Seymour. His son, Seymour, never married, so there were no male descendants of Grizzly Adams bearing the Adams surname. John's younger brother, James Capen Adams, (the alias used by "Grizzly" Adams), married and fathered seven children. Curiously, when Grizzly Adams toured in Connecticut with the circus during the summer of 1860, his brother (the real) James Capen Adams and his family were living in Norfolk, Connecticut, at the time.[75]

Legacy Edit

In his few years of hunting, John "Grizzly" Adams accomplished astonishing feats. Richard Dillon considers him to be "the greatest California mountain man of them all",[76] and McCracken labels him the "Fabulous Mr. 'Grizzly' Adams."[77] Modern hunters with high-powered precision weapons rarely get up close and personal with their game the way Adams did. He never hesitated to resort to hand-to-paw or knife-to-claw combat when necessary, and he captured more grizzlies alive in those few years than any other man has.[78] In addition, he captured a wide variety of other wild animals, totaling in the hundreds, for menageries and zoos. Although Grizzly Adams did kill a number of bears, including grizzlies, he did so for food or their furs and hides. He was not a conservationist as the term is used in modern times. He did, however, genuinely love the outdoors, wildlife and unspoiled nature; he hated waste.[79] The Western Hall of Fame celebrated Adams' achievements in 1911 with the "Heroes of California" honor.

Zoological Gardens Edit

His Mountaineer Menagerie was the largest collection of live and mounted animal specimens on the West Coast. This collection became the Pacific Museum in San Francisco, where he and his animals entertained and educated people from far and wide. He was referred to as "the Barnum of the Pacific" in an article published in a San Francisco newspaper.[80] His exhibitions also inspired others to campaign for the establishment of zoos, partially resultant of which were the establishment of Woodward's Gardens and, later, the famous Fleishhacker Zoo in San Francisco. On the East Coast, the Zoological Gardens in New York's Central Park was established in 1860 and in 1899 the Bronx Zoo was opened.[81]

Flag of California Edit

Charles C. Nahl, using Adams' grizzlies as models, made drawings, etchings and paintings of grizzly bears in various scenes. His sketches (including the one at the top of this article) were used to illustrate Hittel's book about Adams.[82][83] Nahl's 1855 painting of a California grizzly portrayed Adams' bear Samson, which the mountain man had brought to San Jose and San Francisco to display that year; this image ended up being the source for the California Bear Flag, for which the official design specifications were put into law in 1953.[84][85] The legislation also established the grizzly as California's state land animal.

Observations of grizzlies Edit

Although not educated as a naturalist in a college or university, Adams learned the habits and facts of grizzly life first-hand through his observations while hunting and trapping them. Because of this, he came to know more about the California grizzly bear than anyone else.[86] The information that Adams narrated to Hittell was published in the book The Adventures of James Capen Adams.[87][88] His lore has been indispensable to naturalists including Storer[89] and Wright,[90] as well as to historians.[91]

Media presentations Edit

Adams was a famed United States outdoorsman, animal collector/trainer and an owner/performer in his own menagerie and later a partner of P. T. Barnum's shows. A biography was published about Adams the year he died.[92] He was the central character in Charles E. Sellier's 1972 novel The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. As a character in film and television, Adams has been played by:

Note Edit

  1. ^ When Theodore H. Hittell[1] met Adams in 1856 at Adams' Mountaineer Museum in San Francisco, California, Adams first represented himself as William Adams,[2] then a short time later told Hittell (also incorrectly) his name was James Capen Adams, an alias he maintained until 1860. He also told Hittell he was born on October 20, 1807, in Maine.[3][4] The 1970s movie and TV series used the same "James Capen Adams" name incorrectly conveyed by Hittell. The real John Adams did not have a middle name. His mother's maiden surname was "Capen". He did, however, actually have a younger brother named James Capen Adams.[5][6][7][8] Information on his Massachusetts death record (Vol. 139, p. 225) also indicates that his name was John and gives an estimated birth year of 1813, based on age at death (48 years). His tombstone lists his first name as John and his date of death as October 25, 1860, age 48 years.[9]

Citations Edit

  1. ^ Hittell 1860
  2. ^ Daily Alta
  3. ^ Hittell 1860, p. 1
  4. ^ Dillon, pp. 9-12
  5. ^ Hayden, pp. 155-156
  6. ^ Adams, p 569
  7. ^ Dillon, pp. 9-12
  8. ^ McClung, pp. 11 and 192
  9. ^ John "Grizzly" Adams at Find a Grave
  10. ^ Dillon, Richard H. "Adams, Grizzly". American National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.2001658. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  11. ^ Adams, pp. 568-9
  12. ^ Hayden, ibid.
  13. ^ Adams
  14. ^ Hittell 1911, pp. 1-3
  15. ^ Dillon, p. 24
  16. ^ Adams, p. 661
  17. ^ Dillon, p. 9
  18. ^ Dillon, p. 25
  19. ^ Hittell 1911, p. 7
  20. ^ Schaefer, p. 3
  21. ^ Storer, p. 218
  22. ^ Haynes, pp. 91–106
  23. ^ Dillon, P. 37
  24. ^ Hittell 1911, pp. 186-7
  25. ^ Hittell 1911, pp.191-205
  26. ^ Dillon, pp 96-101
  27. ^ Storer, p. 220
  28. ^ a b Hittell 1911, pp. 305.
  29. ^ Dillon, p. 151
  30. ^ Hittell 1911, p. 306
  31. ^ Storer, p. 294
  32. ^ Shenk
  33. ^ Hittell 1911, pp. 266-268
  34. ^ Hittell 1911, p 279
  35. ^ Hittell 1911, p. 304
  36. ^ Storer, pp 177-179
  37. ^ Dillon, p.p 139-144
  38. ^ Wright, p. 46
  39. ^ Hittell 1911, p. 363
  40. ^ Dillon, p. 197
  41. ^ Dillon, p. 197
  42. ^ Evening Bulletin, January 18, 1858
  43. ^ Dillon, p. 210
  44. ^ Andronik, p. 47
  45. ^ Wallace, p. 245
  46. ^ Dillon, p. 210
  47. ^ Barnum, pp. 510–513
  48. ^ Hutching's
  49. ^ Hittell 1911, Introduction, pp. ix-xiii
  50. ^ Storer, pp. 276-7
  51. ^ "Bear Flag Museum" (PDF). BearFlagMuseum.Org.
  52. ^ Hittell 1860
  53. ^ . CircusHistory.Org. Archived from the original on 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  54. ^ . CircusHistory.Org. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  55. ^ . CircusHistory.Org. Archived from the original on 2012-02-04. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  56. ^ "Gold Rush Circus". E-adventure.net.
  57. ^ Adams, pp. 568-9
  58. ^ Williams, p. 80
  59. ^ . CircusHistory.Org. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  60. ^ CircusHistory.Org. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  61. ^ San Joaquin County Clerk, Stockton, California|1852, Deed Book A, Vol. 4 pp. 62-63
  62. ^ "Lee and Marshall Circus, 1852-1856". CircusinAmerica.Org.
  63. ^ Williams, p. 80
  64. ^ Williams, p. 79
  65. ^ Dillon, p 205
  66. ^ "Shepard and Adams Circus or Adams' California Menagerie". CircusinAmerica.Org.
  67. ^ Barnum, p. 502, et.sec.
  68. ^ Andronik, p. 47
  69. ^ Wallace, pp. 244-7
  70. ^ "Nixon & Co.'s Circus". CircusinAmerica.Org.
  71. ^ Adams
  72. ^ McClung P. 187, Note 2.
  73. ^ McCullough Chapter 12
  74. ^ Adams, pp. 568-9
  75. ^ United States Federal Census, 1860: Place: Norfolk, Litchfield, Connecticut; page: 30, Family 249, lines 25-31
  76. ^ Dillon, p. 9
  77. ^ McCracken, Chap. XIV
  78. ^ Schaefer, p. 22
  79. ^ McClung, p. viii
  80. ^ Evening Bulletin, January 18, 1858
  81. ^ Dillon, p. 17
  82. ^ Hittell 1860
  83. ^ Hittell 1911
  84. ^ Storer, pp. 276-7
  85. ^ "Bear Flag Museum" (PDF). BearFlagMuseum.Org.
  86. ^ Storer, p. 122
  87. ^ Hittell 1860
  88. ^ Hittell 1911
  89. ^ Storer
  90. ^ Wright
  91. ^ Chapin, p. 13
  92. ^ Hittell 1860

References Edit

  • Adams, Andrew, N. A Genealogical History of Henry Adams, of Braintree, Mass., and his Descendants: also John Adams of Cambridge, Mass., 1632-1897. : Rutland, VT : Tuttle Co., 1898.
  • Andronik, Catherine M. Prince of Humbugs, A Life of P. T. Barnum, New York : Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994.
  • Barnum, Phineas Taylor, Struggles and Triumphs; or The Life of P. T. Barnum, Written by Himself, Vol. II, New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1927
  • Bearflagmuseum.org, retrieved May 2011.
  • Brewer, William H., Up and Down California in 1860-1864, Berkeley : Univ. of Calif. Press, Ltd., 1966.
  • Chapin, Ray, The Grizzly Bear in The Land of The Ohlone Indians, Cupertino, California : California History Center of DeAnza College, 1971.
  • Circushistory.org, retrieved June 21, 2011.
  • Circusinamerica.org, retrieved June 21, 2011.
  • Daily Alta Newspaper, Advertisement in, San Francisco : Vol. 9, Number 6, January 7, 1857.
  • Dillon, Richard The Legend of Grizzly Adams: California's Greatest Mountain Man, New York : Coward-McCann, 1966.
  • E-adventure.net, retrieved June 21, 2011.
  • Evening Bulletin, Newspaper, San Francisco.
  • Hayden, Rev. Charles Albert, Edited and revised by Tuttle, Jessie Hale The Capen Family, Descendants of Bernard Capen of Dorchester, Mass. : Minneapolis : Augsburg Publ. Co., 1929.
  • Haynes, Bessie D and Edgar, eds., The Grizzly Bear, Portraits from Life, :Norman, Oklahoma : Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1966.
  • Hittell, Theodore H. The Adventures of James Capen Adams, Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter, of California, San Francisco : Towne & Bacon, 1860.
  • Hittell, Theodore Henry (1911). The Adventures of James Capen Adams, Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California. New York: Charles Scribner's sons. ISBN 978-0-598-28641-3.
  • Hutching's California Magazine, No. 52, Vol. V, No. 4, San Francisco : Hutchings and Rosenfield, October 1860.
  • Legendsofamerica.com, retrieved June 21, 2011.
  • McClung, Robert M. The True Adventures of Grizzly Adams, A Biography, New York : Wilson Morrow and Co., Inc., 1985.
  • McCracken, Harold, The Beast that Walks Like Man : Lanham, Maryland : Roberts Rhinehart, 2003.
  • McCullough, David John Adams, New York : Simon and Schuster, 2001.
  • Schaefer, Jack, Heroes Without Glory, Some Goodmen of the Old West, : Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 1965.
  • Shenk, Dean, Yosemite Nature Notes, Yosemite National Park : Vol. 45, No.2, April 1976.
  • Storer, Tracy I., and Tevis, Lloyd P, California Grizzly, Berkeley : University of California Books, 1996.
  • The San Francisco Sunday Call, Newspaper, San Francisco, February 12, 1911.
  • Wallace, Irving The Fabulous Showman; The Life and Times of P. T. Barnum, New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1959.
  • Williams, Earle E., Carrell of Corral Hollow, : Fremont, CA : Mines Roads Books, 2004.
  • Wright, William H., The Grizzly Bear, the Narrative of a Hunter-Naturalist, : New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909.

john, grizzly, adams, grizzly, adams, redirects, here, other, uses, grizzly, adams, disambiguation, john, boyden, adams, also, known, james, capen, adams, grizzly, adams, october, 1812, october, 1860, famous, california, mountain, trainer, grizzly, bears, othe. Grizzly Adams redirects here For other uses see Grizzly Adams disambiguation John Boyden Adams also known as James Capen Adams and Grizzly Adams October 22 1812 October 25 1860 a was a famous California mountain man and trainer of grizzly bears and other wild animals he captured for menageries zoological gardens and circuses John Boyden Grizzly Adams Grizzly Adams with his grizzly bear Benjamin Franklin from the 1860 Hutchings Illustrated California MagazineBornJohn AdamsOctober 22 1812Medway Massachusetts USDiedOctober 25 1860 1860 10 25 aged 48 Neponset Boston formerly Suffolk County Massachusetts USOther namesJames Capen AdamsOccupationscobblerzoological collectormerchantminerrancherfarmerfrontiersmanfur traderhuntertrapperanimal trainercircus performerKnown forhis love of grizzly bears and performing with the trained bears in the circus Contents 1 Early years 2 California and Western States 1849 1860 3 Death 4 Association with Theodore H Hittell and Charles C Nahl 5 Association with circus people 6 Ties to the Adams family of New England 7 Legacy 7 1 Zoological Gardens 7 2 Flag of California 7 3 Observations of grizzlies 8 Media presentations 9 Note 10 Citations 11 ReferencesEarly years EditGrizzly Adams was born John Boyden Adams to Eleazar Adams and Sybil Capen on October 22 1812 10 His parents were of English ancestry 11 Born and raised in Medway Massachusetts 12 a suburb of Boston he received little to no education Adams began as an apprentice in the footwear manufacturing industry at age fourteen 13 At age twenty one he left that occupation seeking to satisfy his true love the outdoors and nature He signed on with a company of showmen as a zoological collector John hunted and captured live wild animals in the wildest parts of Maine Vermont and New Hampshire where he honed his woodsman survival and marksmanship skills However Adams told Hittell his hunting and trapping career ended abruptly when he received severe back and spine injuries from a Bengal tiger he was attempting to train for his employers 14 15 Not wanting to become a burden on his family after a year of recuperating he returned to his cobbler s bench in Boston Massachusetts In 1836 John married Cylena Drury and they had three children Arabella Arathusa and Seymour 16 California and Western States 1849 1860 EditIn 1849 with the California Gold Rush in progress John invested his life savings of over 6 000 157 827 in 2021 to buy a large supply of footwear and had it shipped to St Louis Missouri He intended to sell his goods at great profit to the thousands of forty niners passing through St Louis Through no fault of his own he lost the entire investment in the St Louis wharf fire Shortly thereafter John s father committed suicide 17 it is possible that he had invested heavily in John s plans At this point John felt he had nothing to lose He had a touch of gold fever and a yearning for adventure He knew even if he failed to recoup his lost investment in the mines he could at least support himself by hunting and trapping in the untapped wilds of California He left his family and relatives behind in Massachusetts and joined the 49ers on their way to California On his journey via the Santa Fe and Gila trails he twice survived near fatal illnesses and arrived at the gold fields of California late in 1849 18 Adams tried his luck at mining hunting game to sell to the miners trading and finally ranching and farming At times he was rich and then just as quickly broke Late in 1852 having lost his ranch outside of Stockton California to creditors he took the few items he could salvage and headed into the Sierra Nevada mountains to get away from it all With the help of the local Miwok Indians Adams built a cabin and stable and spent the winter alone in the Sierra 19 John was an expert hunter and his New England training in shoemaking and leather craft gave him the necessary skills to fashion buckskin clothing and moccasins the clothing he adopted as normal attire for the remainder of his life He also made his own harness pack saddles snowshoes and other items he needed 20 Adams traveled great distances from his California base camp on foot on horse or mule or in an ox drawn wagon In 1853 he made a hunting and trapping expedition some 1 200 miles 1930 km from his base camp in California to eastern Washington Territory what is now western Montana 21 While there he caught a yearling female grizzly that he named Lady Washington 22 23 Even though she was already a year old and very wild he managed to tame her and taught her to follow him without restraint 24 Later he trained her to carry a pack and then to pull a loaded sled She even cuddled up near John to keep him warm in freezing conditions Eventually Lady Washington allowed John to ride on her back In 1854 Adams retrieved a pair of two week old male grizzly cubs from the den of their mother near Yosemite Valley 25 26 He named one of them Benjamin Franklin Ben saved John s life a year later in 1855 when a mother grizzly attacked Adams 27 28 29 John and Ben both bore the scars of that attack the rest of their lives 30 The head injury John received in the attack led to his demise five years later In the summer of 1854 John traveled to the Rocky Mountains to hunt and collect more live animals 31 32 33 He and his hunting companions sold meat hides and some live animals to the emigrants along the Emigrant Trails near where the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail split away from each other southwestern Wyoming They also sold and traded at Fort Bridger Wyoming and Fort Supply During this expedition Lady Washington had a rapacious encounter with a Rocky Mountain grizzly 34 The mating resulted in a male cub that was born the next year when she was with Adams in Corral Hollow on the eastern side of the California coastal mountains Adams christened her cub General Fremont in honor of John C Fremont 35 In the winter of 1854 Grizzly Adams captured a huge California grizzly in the largest cage trap Adams had ever constructed 36 John named him Samson 28 37 When the bear was later weighed on a hay scale it tipped the beam at 1 500 pounds one of the largest grizzly bears ever captured alive 38 During 1855 Adams and his companions hunted and trapped game in the California Coast Range mountains journeyed to the Kern River mines then proceeded southward to the Tehachapi Mountains and Tejon Pass Returning from the Tejon Pass area Adams followed the Old Spanish Route via San Miguel and San Jose 39 Due to interest of the curious people the group met John set up impromptu shows of his bears and other animals he had collected on his summer excursion These shows a precursor to his circus career were conducted in San Miguel Santa Clara San Jose the redwoods and finally San Francisco 40 In 1856 John retrieved all of his animals from Howard s Ranch near Stockton California where he had left them to be cared for while he was absent He then opened the Mountaineer Museum in a basement on Clay Street in San Francisco 41 Due to notices T H Hittell printed in the San Francisco daily Evening Bulletin Adams show drew many more patrons Soon thereafter Adams was able to move his menagerie and museum now called the Pacific Museum to a better location The new building could accommodate larger audiences and house more animals and displays By 1858 he was referred to as the Barnum of the Pacific in a San Francisco newspaper 42 In January 1858 tragedy struck when noble Ben John s favorite grizzly died of an illness for which no remedy could be found Adams was devastated at the loss but continued to show his animals daily He also continually added more animals and other attractions to his museum In 1859 due to such overextensions he lost his museum building to creditors However he was able to save most of his menagerie which he relocated temporarily to another building 43 Grizzly Adams health was deteriorating and he knew his life would soon end Since he had been away from his wife in Massachusetts for over ten years he wanted to earn enough before he died to leave her a comfortable sum He made arrangements to relocate his menagerie and collections to New York in hopes of joining P T Barnum as a part of his show 44 45 On January 7 1860 Adams and his menagerie departed from San Francisco on the clipper ship Golden Fleece on their way to New York City via Cape Horn a 3 1 2 month voyage 46 In New York City Grizzly Adams still representing himself as James Capen Adams joined with Barnum to perform his California Menagerie in a canvas tent for six weeks His health continued to decline and after a doctor told him he had better settle his affairs Adams decided he would sell his menagerie to Barnum However disregarding his doctor s prognosis he managed to persuade Barnum to agree to let him perform his animals for another ten weeks for a 500 bonus Adams willpower held out for the full contract though at the end he could hardly walk onto the stage From the proceeds of the sale of the menagerie and the bonus he had accomplished his goal of providing a comfortable sum for his wife 47 Death EditAdams suffered head and neck trauma during a grizzly attack in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California in 1855 His scalp was dislodged and he was left with a silver dollar sized impression in his skull just above his forehead Adams had made pets of several grizzlies and often wrestled with them while training them and in exhibitions During one such bout his most delinquent grizzly General Fremont named for John C Fremont struck Adams in the head and reopened the wound It was subsequently reinjured several times eventually leaving Adams brain tissue exposed The damage was further exacerbated while Adams was on tour with a circus in New England during the summer of 1860 when a monkey he was attempting to train purportedly bit into the wound 48 After more than four months performing with his California Menagerie complications from the injury led to Adams inability to continue with the show After completing his contract with P T Barnum he retired to Neponset Massachusetts where he died of illness possibly meningitis just five days after arriving at the home of his wife and daughter October 25 Upon hearing of Adams death Barnum was deeply grieved Adams was interred at the Bay Path Cemetery in Charlton Massachusetts It is believed P T Barnum commissioned the creation of his tombstone Also buried there nearby are his mother father a sister his wife his son and one of his two daughters Association with Theodore H Hittell and Charles C Nahl EditDuring Grizzly Adams exhibition of his grizzly bears and other trained animals in San Francisco he was working with Hittell from July 1857 until December 1859 Hittell listened to Adams narrate his adventures almost daily for an hour or so and took careful notes cross questioning Adams to assure he had it straight Adams knew and was apparently flattered by the fact Mr Hittell intended to write a book based upon Adams talks 49 Also during this time the artist Charles C Nahl took an interest in Adams grizzlies and working with Hittell prepared illustrations one of which is at the head of this article that would be used in Hittell s forthcoming book One of his paintings eventually became the model for the grizzly bear on California s State Flag 50 51 In 1860 after Adams had relocated to New York Theodore H Hittell published his book The Adventures of James Capen Adams Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California in San Francisco 52 and then later that year in Boston Association with circus people EditIn 1833 John Adams hired on as a wild animal collector with a group of showmen Several menageries were active in the New England area at this time probably the largest was the June Titus Company s National Menagerie also known as Grand National Menagerie 53 54 Boston Massachusetts was the venue for many such menageries while Adams was living there so he had the opportunity to meet and interact with the proprietors and performers There were also circuses and menageries on the Pacific Coast when John reached California one of which was the Joseph A Rowe Olympic Circus that performed in San Francisco and Sacramento California at the time he arrived 55 56 On two occasions Adams told Hittell he had contact with an acquaintance from New England This person most likely was in some way connected to the circus menagerie business Adams told Hittell that the man was his brother William although Adams didn t have a brother by that name 57 According to Earle Williams 58 the property that Adams ranched near Stockton California in 1852 was the same land that was later acquired by Henry C Lee 59 and John R Marshall 60 61 proprietors of the Lee and Marshall Circus 62 Lee hired a man by the name of David Howard to run the ranch which was about eight miles 13 km southeast of Stockton on Mariposa road Grizzly Adams often left his stock and captured animals at Howard s Ranch to be cared for by Howard and Lee s circus people 63 Lee s circus used the ranch to keep their circus stock wagons and other items in the circus winter off season According to Williams 64 when Grizzly Adams established his Mountaineer Museum in San Francisco in 1856 the menagerie was a part of Lee s Circus as a side show Adams and a couple of his bears appeared with Rowe s Pioneer Circus in November 65 In 1857 Adams had a partner named Sheppard 66 In 1859 T W Tanner was a partner with Adams this may have been the man who owned a half interest in Adams Pacific Museum prior to Adams leaving for New York in January 1860 When Adams arrived in New York City in April 1860 he discovered while talking with P T Barnum that Barnum had bought the one half interest of Adams California Menagerie possibly from Tanner On April 30 1860 Adams and Barnum opened the California Menagerie in a canvas tent on the corner of Broadway and Fourth Street in New York City 67 68 69 The show ran for six weeks Adams health was failing and he sold the remaining interest in the menagerie to Barnum Adams then went on a summer tour of Massachusetts Connecticut and New Hampshire as part of Nixon amp Company s Circus 70 He continued to perform with his bears and other trained animals until late October 1860 Ties to the Adams family of New England EditJohn Adams was a member of the Adams family of New England that included many important men and women who contributed to the founding and early history of the United States His great great great great grandfather Henry Adams 1583 1646 emigrated with his family from England to Boston Massachusetts in 1632 and thus established the famous Adams family in America 71 Henry s descendants include the patriot Samuel Adams and two presidents John Adams and President Adams son John Quincy Adams Grizzly was born in a suburb of Boston Massachusetts and was surrounded by relatives and cousins During Grizzly Adams childhood President John Adams lived within a short buggy ride of him in Quincy Massachusetts 72 73 The subject of this article John Adams was the third child and first son born to Eleazer Adams 1776 1849 and Sybil Capen Adams 1785 1844 74 He had seven siblings Susan B Almy Charles James Capen Zilpha Francis and Albert John married Cylena Drury in 1836 They had three children Arabella Arathusa Elizabeth and Seymour His son Seymour never married so there were no male descendants of Grizzly Adams bearing the Adams surname John s younger brother James Capen Adams the alias used by Grizzly Adams married and fathered seven children Curiously when Grizzly Adams toured in Connecticut with the circus during the summer of 1860 his brother the real James Capen Adams and his family were living in Norfolk Connecticut at the time 75 Legacy EditIn his few years of hunting John Grizzly Adams accomplished astonishing feats Richard Dillon considers him to be the greatest California mountain man of them all 76 and McCracken labels him the Fabulous Mr Grizzly Adams 77 Modern hunters with high powered precision weapons rarely get up close and personal with their game the way Adams did He never hesitated to resort to hand to paw or knife to claw combat when necessary and he captured more grizzlies alive in those few years than any other man has 78 In addition he captured a wide variety of other wild animals totaling in the hundreds for menageries and zoos Although Grizzly Adams did kill a number of bears including grizzlies he did so for food or their furs and hides He was not a conservationist as the term is used in modern times He did however genuinely love the outdoors wildlife and unspoiled nature he hated waste 79 The Western Hall of Fame celebrated Adams achievements in 1911 with the Heroes of California honor Zoological Gardens Edit His Mountaineer Menagerie was the largest collection of live and mounted animal specimens on the West Coast This collection became the Pacific Museum in San Francisco where he and his animals entertained and educated people from far and wide He was referred to as the Barnum of the Pacific in an article published in a San Francisco newspaper 80 His exhibitions also inspired others to campaign for the establishment of zoos partially resultant of which were the establishment of Woodward s Gardens and later the famous Fleishhacker Zoo in San Francisco On the East Coast the Zoological Gardens in New York s Central Park was established in 1860 and in 1899 the Bronx Zoo was opened 81 Flag of California Edit Charles C Nahl using Adams grizzlies as models made drawings etchings and paintings of grizzly bears in various scenes His sketches including the one at the top of this article were used to illustrate Hittel s book about Adams 82 83 Nahl s 1855 painting of a California grizzly portrayed Adams bear Samson which the mountain man had brought to San Jose and San Francisco to display that year this image ended up being the source for the California Bear Flag for which the official design specifications were put into law in 1953 84 85 The legislation also established the grizzly as California s state land animal Observations of grizzlies Edit Although not educated as a naturalist in a college or university Adams learned the habits and facts of grizzly life first hand through his observations while hunting and trapping them Because of this he came to know more about the California grizzly bear than anyone else 86 The information that Adams narrated to Hittell was published in the book The Adventures of James Capen Adams 87 88 His lore has been indispensable to naturalists including Storer 89 and Wright 90 as well as to historians 91 Media presentations EditAdams was a famed United States outdoorsman animal collector trainer and an owner performer in his own menagerie and later a partner of P T Barnum s shows A biography was published about Adams the year he died 92 He was the central character in Charles E Sellier s 1972 novel The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams As a character in film and television Adams has been played by John Huston in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean 1972 Dan Haggerty in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams 1974 1977 1978 1982 Gene Edwards in The Legend of Grizzly Adams 1990 Tom Tayback in Grizzly Adams and the Legend of Dark Mountain 1999 Jeff Watson in P T Barnum 1999 Note Edit When Theodore H Hittell 1 met Adams in 1856 at Adams Mountaineer Museum in San Francisco California Adams first represented himself as William Adams 2 then a short time later told Hittell also incorrectly his name was James Capen Adams an alias he maintained until 1860 He also told Hittell he was born on October 20 1807 in Maine 3 4 The 1970s movie and TV series used the same James Capen Adams name incorrectly conveyed by Hittell The real John Adams did not have a middle name His mother s maiden surname was Capen He did however actually have a younger brother named James Capen Adams 5 6 7 8 Information on his Massachusetts death record Vol 139 p 225 also indicates that his name was John and gives an estimated birth year of 1813 based on age at death 48 years His tombstone lists his first name as John and his date of death as October 25 1860 age 48 years 9 Citations Edit Hittell 1860 Daily Alta Hittell 1860 p 1 Dillon pp 9 12 Hayden pp 155 156 Adams p 569 Dillon pp 9 12 McClung pp 11 and 192 John Grizzly Adams at Find a Grave Dillon Richard H Adams Grizzly American National Biography Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 anb 9780198606697 article 2001658 Retrieved August 22 2022 Adams pp 568 9 Hayden ibid Adams Hittell 1911 pp 1 3 Dillon p 24 Adams p 661 Dillon p 9 Dillon p 25 Hittell 1911 p 7 Schaefer p 3 Storer p 218 Haynes pp 91 106 Dillon P 37 Hittell 1911 pp 186 7 Hittell 1911 pp 191 205 Dillon pp 96 101 Storer p 220 a b Hittell 1911 pp 305 Dillon p 151 Hittell 1911 p 306 Storer p 294 Shenk Hittell 1911 pp 266 268 Hittell 1911 p 279 Hittell 1911 p 304 Storer pp 177 179 Dillon p p 139 144 Wright p 46 Hittell 1911 p 363 Dillon p 197 Dillon p 197 Evening Bulletin January 18 1858 Dillon p 210 Andronik p 47 Wallace p 245 Dillon p 210 Barnum pp 510 513 Hutching s Hittell 1911 Introduction pp ix xiii Storer pp 276 7 Bear Flag Museum PDF BearFlagMuseum Org Hittell 1860 American Circus Anthology Part Two General History A History of the Traveling Menagerie CircusHistory Org Archived from the original on 2010 12 14 Retrieved 2012 02 10 American Circus Anthology Part Two General History CircusHistory Org Archived from the original on 2013 11 01 Retrieved 2012 02 10 Olympians of the Sawdust Circle Ro Ry CircusHistory Org Archived from the original on 2012 02 04 Retrieved 2012 02 10 Gold Rush Circus E adventure net Adams pp 568 9 Williams p 80 Lee Henry Charles CircusHistory Org Archived from the original on 2012 02 05 Retrieved 2012 02 10 Marshall John R CircusHistory Org Archived from the original on 2016 04 03 Retrieved 2012 02 10 San Joaquin County Clerk Stockton California 1852 Deed Book A Vol 4 pp 62 63 Lee and Marshall Circus 1852 1856 CircusinAmerica Org Williams p 80 Williams p 79 Dillon p 205 Shepard and Adams Circus or Adams California Menagerie CircusinAmerica Org Barnum p 502 et sec Andronik p 47 Wallace pp 244 7 Nixon amp Co s Circus CircusinAmerica Org Adams McClung P 187 Note 2 McCullough Chapter 12 Adams pp 568 9 United States Federal Census 1860 Place Norfolk Litchfield Connecticut page 30 Family 249 lines 25 31 Dillon p 9 McCracken Chap XIV Schaefer p 22 McClung p viii Evening Bulletin January 18 1858 Dillon p 17 Hittell 1860 Hittell 1911 Storer pp 276 7 Bear Flag Museum PDF BearFlagMuseum Org Storer p 122 Hittell 1860 Hittell 1911 Storer Wright Chapin p 13 Hittell 1860References EditAdams Andrew N A Genealogical History of Henry Adams of Braintree Mass and his Descendants also John Adams of Cambridge Mass 1632 1897 Rutland VT Tuttle Co 1898 Andronik Catherine M Prince of Humbugs A Life of P T Barnum New York Maxwell Macmillan International 1994 Barnum Phineas Taylor Struggles and Triumphs or The Life of P T Barnum Written by Himself Vol II New York Alfred A Knopf 1927 Bearflagmuseum org retrieved May 2011 Brewer William H Up and Down California in 1860 1864 Berkeley Univ of Calif Press Ltd 1966 Chapin Ray The Grizzly Bear in The Land of The Ohlone Indians Cupertino California California History Center of DeAnza College 1971 Circushistory org retrieved June 21 2011 Circusinamerica org retrieved June 21 2011 Daily Alta Newspaper Advertisement in San Francisco Vol 9 Number 6 January 7 1857 Dillon Richard The Legend of Grizzly Adams California s Greatest Mountain Man New York Coward McCann 1966 E adventure net retrieved June 21 2011 Evening Bulletin Newspaper San Francisco Hayden Rev Charles Albert Edited and revised by Tuttle Jessie Hale The Capen Family Descendants of Bernard Capen of Dorchester Mass Minneapolis Augsburg Publ Co 1929 Haynes Bessie D and Edgar eds The Grizzly Bear Portraits from Life Norman Oklahoma Univ of Oklahoma Press 1966 Hittell Theodore H The Adventures of James Capen Adams Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California San Francisco Towne amp Bacon 1860 Hittell Theodore Henry 1911 The Adventures of James Capen Adams Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California New York Charles Scribner s sons ISBN 978 0 598 28641 3 Hutching s California Magazine No 52 Vol V No 4 San Francisco Hutchings and Rosenfield October 1860 Legendsofamerica com retrieved June 21 2011 McClung Robert M The True Adventures of Grizzly Adams A Biography New York Wilson Morrow and Co Inc 1985 McCracken Harold The Beast that Walks Like Man Lanham Maryland Roberts Rhinehart 2003 McCullough David John Adams New York Simon and Schuster 2001 Schaefer Jack Heroes Without Glory Some Goodmen of the Old West Boston Houghton Mifflin Co 1965 Shenk Dean Yosemite Nature Notes Yosemite National Park Vol 45 No 2 April 1976 Storer Tracy I and Tevis Lloyd P California Grizzly Berkeley University of California Books 1996 The San Francisco Sunday Call Newspaper San Francisco February 12 1911 Wallace Irving The Fabulous Showman The Life and Times of P T Barnum New York Alfred A Knopf 1959 Williams Earle E Carrell of Corral Hollow Fremont CA Mines Roads Books 2004 Wright William H The Grizzly Bear the Narrative of a Hunter Naturalist New York Charles Scribner s Sons 1909 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John 22Grizzly 22 Adams amp oldid 1180368921, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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