Podcast Episode 68 - The Legend of Old Mose

Many stories of Old Mose’s exploits can be found in newspaper articles from the late 1860s to the first decade of the 1900s. And like all great legends, its hard to separate myth from reality.

Artist Ben Cooper’s rendering of Old Mose from a Public Service Company of Colorado advertisement in The Lafayette Leader edition from February 25, 1971.

From the August 22, 2020 edition of the Canon City Daily Record article Back in Time, The Legend of Old Mose. The accompanying caption reads. “Wharton Pigg, left, former owner of the Stirrup Ranch in northwestern Fremont County, and James Anthony, who delivered the fatal shot to ‘Old Mose,’ pose next to the bear’s carcass.”

References:

Author Unknown. (1904, May 3). “Old Mose” is No More: Was Killed Last Sunday by J. W. Anthony. The Florence Daily Tribune. 1

Author Unknown. (1904, May 5). “Old Mose” at Last. The Most Famous Grizzly Bear in the History of Southern Colorado Succumbs to the Rifle of J. W. Anthony. The Canon City Record. 1.

Author Unknown. (1904, May 14). Diagnosing Bruin’s Brain: “Old Mose” Was Very Cunning But Showed Little Indication of Being Intelligent. The Indicator. 4.

Author Unknown. (1907, January 9). Great “Old Mose”: Thrilling Story of the Career of the King of the Colorado Silver Tipped Bears. The Daily Sentinel. 4.

Sherman, J. D. (1919, June 14). A Close Call: Painting from Life by William R. Leigh. Pueblo Sunday Opinion. 7.

Author Unknown. (1942, July 2). Tales of the Old West: Scraps of History. The Steamboat Pilot. 2.

Public Service of Colorado. (1971, February 25). Old Mose. The Lafayette Observer. 3.

Rosso, M. (2015, March 1). Old Mose: A Larger-Than-Life Colorado Legend. Colorado Central Magazine. https://www.coloradocentralmagazine.com/old-mose-a-larger-than-life-colorado-legend/

Johnson, B. (2020, August 22). Back in Time: The Legend of Old Mose. Canon City Daily Record. https://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/2020/08/22/back-in-time-the-legend-of-old-mose/