True Bear Stories

Ash falls like snow over Mount Shasta, and elk, deer, rabbits and even snakes flee toward the river. The men hear only thunder—until the animals’ silent panic tells them what is coming.

In these late-nineteenth-century stories, Joaquin Miller recalls the wild country he knew and the animals he met there. In “A Bear on Fire,” he is guiding two English artists across the brush-choked slopes when a forest blaze drives a whole wilderness toward the water—and leaves the travelers trapped among the fleeing creatures. The mule seems to understand the danger better than the horses, while the men can only watch as the river carries embers and animals past them. Miller tells the tale with a guide’s sharp eye and a wry affection for the creatures people underestimate. When the fire reaches their shelter, what will the bear do?

With centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world.

Who are we? We're Cairn Press. Our background is in design, publishing, typography, and technology. These skills fuel our mission to create the highest quality Public Domain eBooks available online, at an affordable price. We give them the treatment they deserve; our proprietary process restores books for a better overall user experience in design, readability, and e-reader compatibility.