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A Picture from History: Night of the Grizzlies

A warning many of us have seen before. (Photo: Helena Jacoba)
In this A Picture from History, we look at a terrifying night in the late 1960s that left two girls dead in Glacier National Park.
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    “Don’t feed the bears.” 

    You’ve likely heard and read this warning, especially if you do much camping. 

    But many don’t realize there was a specific incident that prompted those warnings.

    It was a night of claws and fangs…the night of the Grizzlies. 

    Table of Contents

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    August 12, 1967

    Michele Koons and a small group of friends decided to go camping at Trout Lake in Glacier National Park.

    Koons was a 19-year-old from San Diego, California, and worked in the park’s gift shop during the summer.

    Trout Lake in Glacier National Park
    Trout Lake (Photo: Colin dm)

    As the group headed out to the lake they passed hikers going the opposite direction who warned them about bears in the area. 

    But within Glacier National Park, there hadn’t ever been a bear attack. So, the campers continued on.

    Glacier National Park
    No wonder Glacier National Park is so popular among campers. (Photo: Benoit Brummer)

    Miles away Roy Ducat and Julie Hegelson camped near the Granite Park Chalet, a hotel within Glacier National.

    Similar to Koons and her friends, the couple received warnings from a passerby about the threat of bears. But decided to continue with their camping plans anyway.

    Granite Park Chalet
    Granite Park Chalet

    The Attack at Trout Lake

    Shortly after setting up camp at the lake, an emaciated grizzly bear approached Koons and her fellow campers.

    It stole some food but the group headed towards the shore to set up a campfire. They hoped the fire would keep the bear away.

    Grizzly bear investigates a tent
    A grizzly bear investigates a campsite. (Photo: Valerie)

    Initially, it seemed to work. But, the group fell asleep, and with the fire left untended, it died out.

    The grizzly returned.

    One camper was awakened to the feeling of a bear snout sniffing their scalp. That camper laid motionless and the bear moved on, stopping at Koons.

    Startled by the bear’s presence, Koons woke up screaming.

    Grizzly bear among yellow flowers
    Something so deadly shouldn’t be so cute. (Photo: JoeBreuer)

    Her screaming soon woke everybody else who darted in different directions. But Koons couldn’t follow because her sleeping bag zipper was stuck.

    Her friends watched in horror as the grizzly ripped her arm off then dragged her into the woods. 

    The campers spent the night in the trees until dawn arrived and then went looking for help.

    Bears fishing in a river
    Bears are serious when it comes to finding their next meal. (Photo: MargSkogland)

    The Attack at the Chalet

    Roy Ducat and Julie Hegelson fell asleep near the chalet but were woken by a bear rummaging nearby. Hegelson cautioned Ducat to not move. However, it doesn’t matter.

    The grizzly pounced on Ducat, tearing into the teenage boy with claws and teeth. Ducat laid as still as possible throughout the entire attack in an attempt to play dead

    bear with some fishers
    This bear clearly has no fear of people. (Photo: BarbaraJackson)

    And apparently, it worked for Ducat…but the bear then pounced on his girlfriend. 

    Ducat sprinted back to the chalet for help. And when rescuers arrived, they found Hegelson 400-feet away in the woods suffering from shock and severe blood loss. 

    Grizzly bear in a clearing
    Grizzly bear in a clearing (Photo: Zdeněk Macháček)

    Unfortunately, she died before the medivac arrived. 

    A New Hunt

    After they examined the attack site, Glacier National Park Ranger Bert Gildart and a fellow ranger stood outside their ranger station…when a grizzly approached them.

    Retreating to the station, the duo grabbed their rifles.

    charging bear
    A less than ideal sight the day after not one, but two bear attacks.

    They shot, and the grizzly dropped.

    Meanwhile, back at the chalet, Ranger Dave Shea spots another grizzly.

    He cocked his .300 H&H Magnum and 11 shots later, the grizzly was dead.

    Bert Gildart with bear after the night of the grizzlies
    Bert Gildart with the bear he shot after the “Night of the Grizzlies” (Photo: Bert Gildart)

    Don’t Feed the Bears

    Immediately following the attacks, people began questioning why the bears attacked.

    And it didn’t take long for the answer to appear.

    Regular trash “bear feeds” were used by rangers to attract tourists.

    The chalet fed food scraps to bears and the campgrounds were noted for being covered in human-created garbage. 

    Bear with trash can
    Bears frequently try to scavenge for snacks in trash cans. (Photo: npapaioannou)

    As a result, the grizzlies learned to associate humans with food.

    And this is why parks now insist campers store food, trash, toiletries, and other things to prevent attracting bears.

    Want to read more about the night of the grizzlies? I highly recommend checking out Jack Olsen’s book of the same title.

    This is a new style of article for Pew Pew Tactical, if you liked it — let us know in the comments! If you didn’t enjoy it…well phooey. To catch up on previous Pictures from History, click on over to our History Category.

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    7 Leave a Reply

    • Will

      The photo of Trout Lake is NOT the Trout Lake in Glacier, which is a backcountry lake, no roads or buildings on it. Lots of other inaccuracies in the story as well...Koons' friends couldn't "watch in horror" because it was dark and the bear dragged her off into the bushes before mauling her. And Ducat didn't "sprint" anywhere; with deep wounds to his legs, and shoulder, he limped uphill to a trail cabin where two other campers were sleeping. The Chalet was 400 yards away. In the following days, Ranger Shea was one of three rangers who shot a total of three adult bears at the Chalet, so it wasn't 11 shots from his lone rifle. If you're going to recount history, at least get the basic facts straight.

      April 27, 2023 4:30 pm
    • Johnathon E

      Great article but as noted in other comments don’t stray too far afield.

      October 25, 2021 4:04 am
    • T. Barton L.

      This was a terrific article. It's so important to get more than a standard Disney approach to the facts, dangers and wonders of wilderness camping. This was very well done.

      October 24, 2021 7:49 pm
    • jerry

      I like it, an interesting tidbit while learning something too! A little something different is not bad, AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT DRIFT LEFT OF CENTER AND FORGET YOUR TRUE MISSION.

      October 24, 2021 4:01 pm
    • JohnM

      I liked the article, but it's not what I look for from PPT. I regard PPT as my best tech source. I often share PPT tech info with friends, but I won't be sharing articles like this. I can get stories like this from lots of other outlets. Might I suggest you "stay in your swim lane", where you excel and have widespread respect.

      October 24, 2021 3:07 pm
      • Jacki Billings, Editor

        Hey John, thanks for the feedback. This has been a recurring series on PPT for the past few months, looking into moments in history. While we definitely are still dedicated to all things guns, sometimes we like to branch out and offer our readers more than just guns and gear. Regardless, there's still plenty of other things on the site for you to check out if this isn't your thing. Thanks so much for reading!

        October 25, 2021 6:57 am
    • John

      Person: "Hey, look at that sign - active bears in camp ground. But lets go camping anyway."

      Bear: "Yummmmmmm :) "

      October 23, 2021 8:00 am
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