The Pennsylvania Lion - Or Panther
"When I was a boy, in the sixties, I can remember when old Jim David, the surveyor, with his long staff, would stalk into Lock Haven with a burlap bag full of panther kittens over his shoulder. His coming was always the delight and wonderment of the small boys. I understood that he secured the young panthers in the Beech Creek region of Clinton County".— A. S. Mackey, 1919.
On the last week of January 1871, two panthers were shot on the "Big Run" in Clinton County. Shot by James Davis and George Hastings, one panther measured 8 feet, and one was 8.5 feet.
Panthers were mentioned in Clinton County in 1831 -"Farrandsville is, or was, a busy manufacturing village nestled among the mountains at the mouth of Lick run, on the left bank of the Susquehanna, seven miles above Lock Haven. It had its origin in the speculative fever of 1830-'36, and is but one of many similar monuments in Pennsylvania of the misdirected enterprise of those times. It was started in the winter of 1831-32, by Mr. Wm. P. Farrand, a gentleman from Philadelphia of high scientific attainments, acting as agent for a company of heavy capitalists in Boston. At that time the spot was only accessible by a horse-path at low water. Mr. F. broke a path into the mountains through snow three feet in depth, returning every night nearly three miles to a cabin for his food and lodging. On one occasion he was shut in by ice, and provisions were sent to him; he passed many nights in the hills in snow and rain without shelter, and was more than once roused by the screams of a panther. The object of Mr. F. was to discover and open the bituminous coal beds at this point, with a view to the extensive shipment of the article to the lower markets ; and to carry on the various manufactures of iron, lumber, appropriate to the location. The iron ore and limestone, however, had to be transported from points in the lower valley of the Susquehanna. A little steamboat was constructed for towing the coal up and down the river, and for some time she went puffing along the valley. Mr. F., however, having other engagements near Williamsport, left the establishment, and other agents were from time to time employed." - Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania, by Sherman Day, Philadelphia, 1843, Pages 234-239
"Dr. Wistar had an agent to look after his interests in Sugar Valley, but occasionally visited the region himself. As there were no railroads at that time he usually made the journey in his own conveyance accompanied by his colored servant. Just previous to one of his visits, Henry Garner, who has been mentioned as having settled on the mountain, was startled one day by hearing his pigs squeal. On going to the door he saw a hone panther trying to bet one out of the pen through a hole in the fence. On be- discovered the panther skulked under some laurel bushes near by. Garner followed with his gun in hand and shot the beast just as it was about to springy upon hint. It was found to measure more than eleven feet from tip to tip; it was the lamest animal of the kind ever seen in that part of the country. Upon reach- neighborhood the Dr. soon learned that an unusually large panther had been killed by Mr. Garner, and immediately proceeded to the house of the settler to ascertain the particulars of the capture. As he approached the dwelling he saw lying in the yard the grinning head of the panther in an advanced stake of decomposition, but being prompted by an extreme devotion to the cause of science, he desired to procure it for dissection regardless of its condition. Accordingly he ordered his servant to place the head in his carriage that he might take it to Philadelphia. This the negro did, but said to himself, "bad smell! bad smell!" - HISTORICAL VIEW OF CLINTON COUNTY
Nelson kept a game book and documented hundreds of panthers, wolves, elk, thousands of deer, bears, wildcats, and other animals that he killed during his long career in the Pennsylvania big game fields. Nelson also said to have killed the last known wolverine in Pennsylvania." - Henry W. Shoemaker (1917). The Panther and the Wolf. Altoona Tribune Publishing Company. pp. 84–.
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The Panther & The Wolf By Henry W. Shoemaker
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