Mississippi Bear Hunter Holt Collier

Author Mark Neaves guides readers on an incredible tale through the life of one of America's greatest adventurers. Born into slavery in the Mississippi Delta in 1847, Holt Collier was taught to hunt at an early age, killing his first bear at age 10, the first of 3,000 bears he killed during his lifetime, more than Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone combined. The number sounds impossible, until considered in the context of a life that reads like the stuff of fiction. When war erupted in the South, he remained loyal to the Confederacy, a teenager off to war. By the turn of the century, he'd become such a legendary hunter he was tapped to lead Teddy Roosevelt on a hunt that gave birth to the "Teddy Bear." As a former slave, Confederate soldier, and professional hunting guide, Holt goes down as an American legend.

Describes how black guide Holt Collier's plea for Teddy Roosevelt to spare the life of a bear led to the creation of the teddy bear.

The years from 1820 to 1920 saw the sport of bear hunting at its greatest flowering. Much of the country was still wild enough to support large numbers of both black and grizzly bears, who in turn supported a remarkable assortment of bear hunters. Some, like David Crockett and Theodore Roosevelt, became internationally famous. Others, like Wilburn Waters and Holt Collier, are almost completely forgotten, though their exploits were just as extraordinary. "The Bear Hunter's Century "brings to life the hard, thrilling lives, of these men. Not just a book of adventures, this a fascinating social history told with wit and style, a penetrating examination of the often inaccurate lore of bear hunting, and a celebration of the amazing skills developed by the best bear hunters.

Over a century ago readers of sporting journals in America and Europe relished the tales of Mississippi Delta bear hunter Robert Eager Bobo. Yet, in the years since, this most famous bear hunter of the late 1800s has been all but forgotten - until now. The Bear Hunter brings to the modern reader, not only the true chronicles of Bobo's bear hunting, but a fascinating and thoroughly entertaining picture of pioneer life in the nineteenth century wilderness of the lower Mississippi Valley sure to delight hunters, outdoors lovers, nature enthusiasts, southern history buffs, folklore fans, and anyone who just enjoys a good book. Come now with Bobo and a variety of captivating characters - including the notorious outlaw Jesse James - on their quests for black bear in an environment that now exists only on the pages of history: the wild, trackless, Mississippi Delta canebrake. Gallop at a breakneck pace through sloughs and swamps, where a horse's stumble over a cypress knee could mean sudden disaster; thrill to the savage chorus of the hounds as they pursue their game; charge into the cane to knife the bear before it can decimate the pack; taste the fear when the tables turn and hunter becomes the hunted; relax by the campfire on a frosty November evening and listen to the tales of wolf and panther and gun and knife; laugh, too, at comical stories of old time Delta backwoods ways; and, perhaps, shed a tear, as the inevitable tragedies of life visit your newfound friends. Let us not delay! The hunters are gathered; the horses are champing at their bits; the dogs are spoiling for a fight; Bobo is sounding his horn. It is time to ride.

The years from 1820 to 1920 saw the sport of bear hunting at its greatest flowering. Much of the country was still wild enough to support large numbers of both black and grizzly bears, who in turn supported a remarkable assortment of bear hunters. Some, like David Crockett and Theodore Roosevelt, became internationally famous. Others, like Wilburn Waters and Holt Collier, are almost completely forgotten, though their exploits were just as extraordinary. "The Bear Hunter's Century" brings to life the hard, thrilling lives of these men.--Jacket flap

From a plantation ledger, an abandoned graveyard, a fragile manuscript, and old newspapers, author Mary Helen Griffin Halloran has raised the bones of her ancestors and made them come alive in this memoir that traces the history of five generations of her Mississippi family. In A Mississippi Family, Halloran has painted a backdrop to the life the family lived. The story begins with the life and times of three men: Jonas Griffin (17621815), his son Francis Griffin (1800-1865), and his son Judge John Bettis Griffin (18261903). It ends with portraits of two remarkable women, Judge Johns daughters, Mary Lane Griffin (18581942) and Helen Knight Griffin (18641949). The stories of these five people, whose fates and values shaped the lives of their children, capture the early history of the Mississippi Delta, Warren and Washington Counties, and the town of Greenville. Telling tales of river journeys and life on southern plantations, Hallorans meticulous research has provided a record of her fascinating family saga at a crucial period in the history of the county, state, and nation.

Mississippians have long found the need for an arsenal of interesting, lethal, and imaginative weapons. Native Americans, frontier outlaws, antebellum duelists, authorities and protestors in the civil rights struggle, and present-day hunters have used weapons to survive, to advance causes, or to levy societal control. In Weapons of Mississippi, Kevin Dougherty examines the roles weapons have played in twelve phases of state history. Dougherty not only offers technical background for these devices, but he also presents a new way of understanding the state's history-through the context and development of its weapons. Chapters in the book bring the story of Mississippi's weapons up to date with a discussion of the modern naval shipbuilders on the Coast and interviews with hunters keen to pass on family traditions. As Mississippi progressed from a sparsely populated wilderness to a structured modern society, management of weaponry became one of the main requirements for establishing centralized law and order. Indians, outlaws, runaway slaves, secessionists, and night riders have all posed challenges to the often better-armed authorities. Today, weapons unite Mississippians in the popular pastime of hunting deer, turkey, dove, rabbit, and even bear. In the state's social and cultural character, a shared lore and knowledge of hunting crosses age, racial, and economic lines. Weapons, once used for mere survival, have transformed into instruments masterfully crafted for those harvesting the state's abundant game.