Utah

Grizzlies were eradicated from Utah over 70 years ago. The last known grizzly, was killed by a sheepherder, Frank Clark, on August 22, 1923. This bear was killed and is buried about 15 miles east of Logan (Barrie Gilbert, pers. comm.). The skull of this grizzly now rests in the Utah State University's Merrill Library (Special Collections). In some accounts, this grizzly was called "Old Ephraim".

Murray reports that an Idaho grizzly named Old Ephraim was killed the same year (Murray 1992, page 236). Apparently Old Ephraim was a common term for a grizzly bear and was used by several authors including Theodore Roosevelt (1885). The original use was attributed to P.T. Barnum [Clark (1952) as cited in Brown (1985)].

Museum specimens were also collected in southern Utah in the Pine Valley Mountains near St. George, and a grizzly was reported killed by prospectors in 1885 in the Abajo Mountains near Monticello. All other records are from farther north in the state (Brown 1985)

Currently there is only one roadless area left in Utah, in the Uinta Mountains. It may be large enough to maintain a population of grizzly bears if a serious restoration effort could re-connect this area with additonal habitat to the north and eventually provide enough habitat for grizzly bears. A possible corridor extends down though eastern Idaho, through the Caribou and Wasatch-Cache National Forests and on to the Uinta Mountains.

Brown, David E. 1985. The Grizzly in The Southwest. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman, Oklahoma. 274 pages.

Clark, F. 1952. The killing of Old Ephraim. Utah Fish and Game bulletin 9(8):4-5.

Murray, John A. 1992. The Great Bear - Contemporary Writings on the Grizzly. Alaska Northwest Books. Seattle Washington. 245 pages.

Roosevelt, T. 1885. Hunting trips of a ranchman, sketches of the northern cattle plains. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London.

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