If you're hoping to someday catch a glimpse of the imposing and powerful grizzly bear, you'll have to take a trek through the Northern Rockies, Canada, or Alaska. Having once roamed the entire continent of North America, the population of grizzlies in the lower 48 states has been nearly wiped out by aggressive hunting. First published in 1955, this classic work by one of America's beloved outdoor writers pays homage to the Pleistocene Era's most "pugnacious and extraordinary" survivor, the grizzly bear. As you read about the once scientifically classified Ursus horribilis, you'll learn about this powerful recluse's role in Native American rituals and myths, and relive the encounters early explorers and mountain men experienced with grizzlies. "Observing and studying grizzly bears," McCracken thoughtfully observed, "has proved to be far more gratifying than all the hunting I have done."