In 1980, Tag and John Rittel were hunting in the Montana wilderness. They happened upon a battered old rifle, and nearby was a large rock onto which a horrific story was carved. The story was dated 1881, and was apparently carved over a period of days by a Mountain Man named Joe Baker. In those days Mountain Men in particular were not typically very literate, so much of it was phonetically spelled. I am going to correct that here to make it easier to read. The rock, in part, read as follows:
"Joe Baker - Grizz killed me God help - I hurt bad - leg chewed and is rotting - bear may come back - my rifle is broke in two - my ribs are broken - oh holy God let me die."
The very last line of the rock reads: "I hear the damn grizz - she came back".
Today the rock is displayed at the Rittel family's Blacktail Ranch, near Wolf Creek, Montana.
