Grizzly adams bear name
- •
The True Story of Grizzly Adams
The icon indicates free access to the linked research on JSTOR.
If you know anything about Grizzly Adams, it’s most likely thanks to a movie and television series in the 1970s, both of which presented him as a rugged frontier woodsman with a deep connection with the wildlife of the American West. As historian Jon T. Coleman writes, Adams took on that persona only in the last decade of his life, after living to middle age in a very different environment.
John Adams was born in Medway, Massachusetts, in 1812, and he grew up in a family of farmers and shoemakers. After a brief stint capturing New England animals for circuses and traveling shows, he returned to shoemaking. But, as Coleman notes, in 1849, after a fire destroyed his business, Adams headed west amid the hordes of the California gold rush. He left behind a wife and two daughters, none of whom were ever mentioned in the promotional biographical materials he later helped create.
“The spectacle of a bearded patriarch commanding nature’s obedience hid the reality of an in
- •
John "Grizzly" Adams
American mountain man
"Grizzly Adams" redirects here. For other uses, see Grizzly Adams (disambiguation).
John "Grizzly" Adams | |
|---|---|
"Grizzly" Adams, with his grizzly bear, Benjamin Franklin, from the 1860 Hutchings' Illustrated California Magazine | |
| Born | John Adams (1812-10-22)October 22, 1812 Medway, Massachusetts, US |
| Died | October 25, 1860(1860-10-25) (aged 48) Neponset, Boston, formerly Suffolk County, Massachusetts, US |
| Other names | James Capen Adams |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1826−1860 |
| Known for | his love of grizzly bears and performing with the trained bears in the circus |
John Adams (also known asJames Capen Adams and Grizzly Adams) (October 22, 1812 – October 25, 1860)[a] was a famous California mountain man and trainer of grizzly bears and other wild animals he captured for menageries, zoological gardens and circuses.
Early years
[e- •
By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
MEDWAY – Many can recall the 1970s classic television series “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams.” Fans tuned in each week to see the innocent fugitive and bear whisperer, played by Dan Haggerty, help strangers navigate through the wilderness. Of course, some of those strangers had ulterior motives. Nevertheless, the story of the real Grizzly Adams did not begin as a man falsely accused of murder, on the run with no one but a trader named Mad Jack (Denver Pyle), Nakoma (Don Shanks), and a bear named Ben for friends.
Medway shoemaker
California’s legendary mountain man John Boyden Adams (or John Capen Adams) was born in Medway to Eleazar and Sybil Adams in 1812. In actuality, his first job was that of a shoemaker in Massachusetts and he only lived in the California mountains for less than five years. According to his biography, Adams did show an interest in and talent for managing a troupe of animals brought to the U.S. from Africa. Such boldness can come with a price. He found himself bedridden for months after a near-deadl
Copyright ©axisthaw.pages.dev 2025