Alaska-Bound

"Bear slaps Dartmouth graduate Gold-toothed bulldog seen by Dartmouth graduates Dartmouth graduates speak to only living pallbearer of Calamity Jane." And the ALUMNI MAGAZINE was the cause of it all.

After reading a recent article about the wonders of Alaska and the Alcan Highway, three young Dartmouth men were spurred on to seek adventure in the great north country. Dave Weld '46, of West Hartford, Conn., John Steele '46, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and W. B. "Ezz" Hale '44, of Rochester, N. Y., purchased a trailer for the occasion and left from Rochester.

It was travelling through Wyoming that they saw the bulldog with a gold tooth. In Deadwood, South Dakota, they spoke with a grizzled gentleman who claimed the title of the only living pallbearer of Calamity Jane, "rootin', tootin', stagecoach-drivin' woman fireeater of the 19th century West." But it was in Yellowstone National Park that "Ezz" achieved a distinction claimed by very few tourists—he was slapped by a bear. The bear had decided on that afternoon to lean against the boys' car, and when Ezz attempted to persuade him to lean elsewhere, the creature slapped his face.