Mountain Charlie and the Bear Attack

In 1854, Mountain Charlie McKiernan shot a mother Grizzly bear with cubs but didn’t kill her.  The bear was injured and angry and attacked Mountain Charlie, crushing his skull and gouging a hole in his head with its powerful claws.

Charlie’s friend, Mr. Taylor, hauled Charlie to his nearby cabin then went to San Jose for a doctor.  The doctor spent two days making a large enough plate out of Mexican pesos to patch the hole.  A year later they had to open the wound to remove a wad of hair that was causing an abscess.

It’s said that Susan Schulties, a nurse, helped Mountain Charlie mend in the same cabin that sits on the Mason-Taylor farm near the Summit and Old Santa Cruz Highway today.  Although Charlie’s face was horribly disfigured, he healed and lived on for many years to tell the tale.

From: http://www.mountaincharlie1850.org/pl_mc_bear_fight.html