The Black Bear That Ate Mr. Leach's Son

It was the evening of another warm summer day in New Hampshire. The year was 1785 and like nearly every other frontier family the Leach’s were still working hard to finish up their chores. Bradley Leach told his 8 year old son to take his horse up to the pasture and bring the cows back down for the evening. Jonathan was a smart boy and always did his chores and Bradley was not worried about this last task remaining on the pairs chore list.

Jonathan grabbed the reins of his trusted horse, Mr. Whipple, and started up the dirt road to the upper pasture. Mr. Whipple walked behind Jonathan and nipped at grass as he could reach it along the way. The light was just starting to fade and the boy yawned with satisfaction at the completion of the day.

The pair had traveled about 300 yards to the last pasture when a black blur streaked from the woodline. The three year old boar black bear had been watching the boy and his horse approach and had decided to attack. The bear was upon the pair so fast that the boy barely had time to glance up from the ground before the impact of the 225 pound predator. The bear clawed the boy in the face and the neck and then pinned him down by the shoulders. Jonathan let out the loudest and most urgent cry for help he could muster. Mr. Whipple reared up on his hind legs amidst all the confusion and turned in circles out of conundrum.

Mr. Leach was about 150 yards away in the next pasture and heard his son's distressed cries for help. He desperately sprinted the short distance to the fencerow which separated him from his son. He clumsily crossed the fence and started after the bear, now grasping his young son by the throat. The bear dragged the boy the short distance back into the woodline by the time Bradley caught up to them. Bradley lifted the wooden stake he was carrying with him over his head and lowered it over the back of the beast. The bear spun around and stood on his hind legs to face the man. The bear's paws swiped menacingly at the man, now desperate to recover his son. The sharp teeth and claws of the bear proved too much for the man and he was forced to retreat into the darkness, wrought with sadness and confusion.

Mr. Leach rounded up the neighbors and they agreed to wait until morning to pursue the man killer as pursuing it in the dark would be too dangerous. That night in the Leach home there was much crying and no sleep. As soon as the morning broke, the neighbors gathered in front of the Leach home and the men all started to walk up to the attack scene. They paused at the initial attack site and witnessed the young man's blood in the grass, as well as the drag trail leading off into the bushes. The bridle the young man was leading the horse with was lying in the duff as well as the young man's hat a little further on.

They methodically followed the drag marks into the forest until they found the boy's remains. His thigh was completely eaten and his neck and head were bitten severely. Suddenly, from behind a nearby log the bear rose up and menaced the men with popping jaws and ferocious claws ready to defend his kill. Almost in unison the recovery party fired their firearms as 3 shots rang out in rapid succession. The bear tumbled to the ground, not far from the body of the beloved boy whose life it had just ended. Jonathan's remains were gathered up and brought back to the family home. His family mourned his loss and they prayed as they laid him to rest on the family homestead. This is the oldest recorded bear attack in the historical annals of the state of New Hampshire.