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Night of the Grizzlies
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221 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
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September 25, 2025
The 'night of the grizzlies' was August 13, 1967. The place was Glacier National Park, Montana USA. It is definitely a true horror story, expertly told by Jack Olsen. The cries for help are indelibly engraved in my brain. I'll never forget their last words.
The park, covering 1600 square miles (2574 km), had recorded no grizzly-caused human fatalities since it was established in 1910. The tragic deaths caused the Park to re-think how the tourists, and Park employees, could better co-exist with the original inhabitants ... the grizzlies. John Waller, Glacier’s bear biologist, said “It was a watershed moment for bear management, not just in Glacier but the whole National Park Service. It fundamentally changed how we view our relationship with bears.”
I highly recommend this book, especially if you are fascinated by grizzlies.
5 Stars = It made a significant impact on my heart, and/or mind. It moved me. I won't forget it.
The park, covering 1600 square miles (2574 km), had recorded no grizzly-caused human fatalities since it was established in 1910. The tragic deaths caused the Park to re-think how the tourists, and Park employees, could better co-exist with the original inhabitants ... the grizzlies. John Waller, Glacier’s bear biologist, said “It was a watershed moment for bear management, not just in Glacier but the whole National Park Service. It fundamentally changed how we view our relationship with bears.”
I highly recommend this book, especially if you are fascinated by grizzlies.
5 Stars = It made a significant impact on my heart, and/or mind. It moved me. I won't forget it.
January 22, 2013
I run in to grizzly bears from time to time while hiking in Glacier National Park, 30 minutes from my home. Though they normally just turn tail and run away from me, I thought this would be a good book to help me better understand these lumbering creatures that share the trail with me.
I'd just read McMilion's book "Mark of the Grizzly" and found it to be loaded with the science of the grizzly bear, its habitat, what to do and not do if you encounter a grizzly in certain situations (e.g. while feeding on carrion, with young, when it is cornered, etc.). This advice was indispensable. Being an animal behaviorist by trade McMilion clearly knows his stuff and wrote from a very objective standpoint.
While I found this book to be engaging and sometimes educational I also felt that the stories were written for a completely different audience; those who want to be entertained. We've all seen those movie clips of salivating grizzlies, thirsting after human flesh, where no tent within 100 miles will go unscathed. That's how this book felt in some regards. And while this creates good entertainment, it's simply not based in reality. I, along with thousands of other tent campers in Glacier National Park (and other grizzly-infested territory) safely cohabit with grizzly bears every year with no harm greater than a crick in our neck from an uncomfortable thermarest ground pad.
So if you're looking for adventure and thrills, grab this book. If you're looking to truly understand the grizzly bear, grab McMilion's Mark of the Grizzly.
I'd just read McMilion's book "Mark of the Grizzly" and found it to be loaded with the science of the grizzly bear, its habitat, what to do and not do if you encounter a grizzly in certain situations (e.g. while feeding on carrion, with young, when it is cornered, etc.). This advice was indispensable. Being an animal behaviorist by trade McMilion clearly knows his stuff and wrote from a very objective standpoint.
While I found this book to be engaging and sometimes educational I also felt that the stories were written for a completely different audience; those who want to be entertained. We've all seen those movie clips of salivating grizzlies, thirsting after human flesh, where no tent within 100 miles will go unscathed. That's how this book felt in some regards. And while this creates good entertainment, it's simply not based in reality. I, along with thousands of other tent campers in Glacier National Park (and other grizzly-infested territory) safely cohabit with grizzly bears every year with no harm greater than a crick in our neck from an uncomfortable thermarest ground pad.
So if you're looking for adventure and thrills, grab this book. If you're looking to truly understand the grizzly bear, grab McMilion's Mark of the Grizzly.
June 19, 2015
Obviously Olsen is quite taken with Glacier National Park and the first section of the book is devoted to a close examination of the flora and fauna of that region before he delves into the habits of Ursa Horribilis, otherwise known as the Grizzly Bear. They are huge creatures, standing erect sometimes close to eight feet tall and despite their size can run faster than you’ll ever hope to. Their habitat has been under pressure for decades: “ ...the destruction of the forests in which he could hide, the plowing of the plains on which he grazed, the stringing of thousands of miles of barbed wire, and the pervading, unpleasant stink of man, who only smells good to himself and his fellow man, and not always then. The grizzly of the plains, as was his custom, backed into the final square miles of American wilderness, avoiding a fight. He is holed up there today, his numbers reduced to less than 1,000, perhaps as few as 500, his range restricted more or less to a few states: Montana, Wyoming....”
Grizzlies had been living in Glacier National Park for decades and their relationship with humans had been a comfortable one, each leaving the other alone. In 1967, however, an emaciated bear was seen foraging in garbage cans around Kelly’s Campground. The permanent residents noticed his strange behavior and warned the rangers that this bear was not acting normally, standing his ground when yelled at instead of running away.
The Park Service was torn, clearly it had a rogue grizzly on its hands, yet the ethic was to leave the wildlife as intact as possible. The visitors didn’t take numerous warnings seriously and the end result, a combination of negligence and procrastination coupled with some rule violations and insouciance resulted in two deaths and a mauling.
Several years ago, my wife and I went horseback riding in Glacier National Park. We had been told there had never been an attack on a person while on horseback. Just the following week, a group of riders ran into a large grizzly on the same trail we had been riding. When one of the children fell off his horse and attracted the interest of the bear,one of the guides reflexively charged the bear on “Tonk” a huge horse (part Percheron and 18 hands high -- I owned a large Arab that was 16 hands and he was big) that must have terrified the bear for he took off. The horse and wrangler made it on Letterman (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011....) The Letterman show can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHAlY...
Olsen writes well and I must say the scenes describing the human/grizzly interactions are the stuff of nightmares.
Grizzlies had been living in Glacier National Park for decades and their relationship with humans had been a comfortable one, each leaving the other alone. In 1967, however, an emaciated bear was seen foraging in garbage cans around Kelly’s Campground. The permanent residents noticed his strange behavior and warned the rangers that this bear was not acting normally, standing his ground when yelled at instead of running away.
The Park Service was torn, clearly it had a rogue grizzly on its hands, yet the ethic was to leave the wildlife as intact as possible. The visitors didn’t take numerous warnings seriously and the end result, a combination of negligence and procrastination coupled with some rule violations and insouciance resulted in two deaths and a mauling.
Several years ago, my wife and I went horseback riding in Glacier National Park. We had been told there had never been an attack on a person while on horseback. Just the following week, a group of riders ran into a large grizzly on the same trail we had been riding. When one of the children fell off his horse and attracted the interest of the bear,one of the guides reflexively charged the bear on “Tonk” a huge horse (part Percheron and 18 hands high -- I owned a large Arab that was 16 hands and he was big) that must have terrified the bear for he took off. The horse and wrangler made it on Letterman (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011....) The Letterman show can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHAlY...
Olsen writes well and I must say the scenes describing the human/grizzly interactions are the stuff of nightmares.
February 16, 2022
Made the mistake of reading this one summer while exploring Waterton Glacier International Peace Park, the location of these bear attacks. Waterton Glacier straddles the Alberta/Montana border, but the events in this book were in Glacier National Park, in the spectacular scenery of the continental divide bisecting the Rocky Mountains of Montana.
I appreciated the descriptions of the landscape, the insights into the natural history and details of the flora and fauna that were all new to me. (What's a marmot?)
However, reading about bears hauling hikers out of their tents in the night made sleeping almost impossible. Too much reality can be disturbing.
I appreciated the descriptions of the landscape, the insights into the natural history and details of the flora and fauna that were all new to me. (What's a marmot?)
However, reading about bears hauling hikers out of their tents in the night made sleeping almost impossible. Too much reality can be disturbing.
January 22, 2018
As I've mentioned before, I am perversely interested in stories of grizzly bear attacks. This is a true account of two deaths in Glacier National Park, Montana in 1968, written by the popular mystery/thriller writer Jack Olsen. It is a readable and intriguing report.
February 5, 2015
Up until the early 1970s, Americans viewed their immense wilderness much the same way they had zoos: national parks were places to go animal watching. Montana’s Glacier National Park in 1967 was no different. In fact, Glacier rangers understood perhaps more than anyone that park goers dropped huge sums of money each summer for a chance to see a real-life grizzly up close and personal. Despite the official ban on bear baiting, like good entrepreneurs park officials overlooked, if not encouraged, employees to lure bears with garbage. Visitors became spellbound by the nightly displays of huge grizzlies rummaging through half-eaten donuts, bacon grease, chicken bones. Such an unnatural, disrespectful attitude toward wildlife was bound to reach a catastrophic apex.
Written 45 years ago, Jack Olsen’s “Night of the Grizzlies” details the separate, fatal mauling of two young girls on the same sticky summer night back in 1967. Originally written as a journalist piece, Olsen realized the story required far more attention. A fascinating, straightforward 200-page book unfolded that has captivated readers for nearly 50 years. The book builds from scenic descriptions of Glacier National Park to the individuals and animals living, visiting and working in the park that are central to the story. Each individual has a backstory and reason for being at the park. Each provides more clarity into what might have gone wrong that led to the two women’s deaths. The two grizzlies themselves become central characters. One is an old, gangly, deformed boar with signs of brain damage and despite the number of complaints about its harassing of campers and fishermen, park officials largely allow the bear to roam freely to scavenge from unkempt campsites and fish guts left along the lakes. The other is a sow concerned with rearing her young. She knows the easiest way to feed her two offspring—the bear baiting areas around the popular lodges. There’s little information about the backdrop of the times other than quick mentions of the central characters' backgrounds. A park ranger is a Vietnam veteran, many of the kids who work summer internships at park souvenir shops participated in a few protest marches before discovering the park’s grandeur. The novel focuses on the activities inside the park as if the rest of the world is a mere frame. This gives the reader a sense of timelessness and perhaps explains partly why Olsen’s book has endured for nearly five decades.
There’s no hardcore or sentimental environmentalism in this book. Written in 1968, pre-PC era, some readers might cringe from the constant reference of one figure as “the Indian.” The book today is as important as when first published. The two catastrophic events that took place on the same night symbolize more than a rare occurrence: Americans required a long and hard look at how we viewed our expansive wilderness. Beyond park mismanagement, a culture of disrespect and ignorance permeated. It’s almost embarrassing reading the attitude many people had toward nature. America’s immense wilderness had become a circus sideshow. Fortunately, in large part due to books like Olsen's “Night of the Grizzlies,” that attitude has changed, although improvement is needed, especially from the wildlife management angle which now views wildlife as so venerable they've gone from mistreating wildlife to worshiping it. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in bears, wildlife management, Glacier National Park, or if you like a gripping tale that smolders until you can bearly stand it.
Written 45 years ago, Jack Olsen’s “Night of the Grizzlies” details the separate, fatal mauling of two young girls on the same sticky summer night back in 1967. Originally written as a journalist piece, Olsen realized the story required far more attention. A fascinating, straightforward 200-page book unfolded that has captivated readers for nearly 50 years. The book builds from scenic descriptions of Glacier National Park to the individuals and animals living, visiting and working in the park that are central to the story. Each individual has a backstory and reason for being at the park. Each provides more clarity into what might have gone wrong that led to the two women’s deaths. The two grizzlies themselves become central characters. One is an old, gangly, deformed boar with signs of brain damage and despite the number of complaints about its harassing of campers and fishermen, park officials largely allow the bear to roam freely to scavenge from unkempt campsites and fish guts left along the lakes. The other is a sow concerned with rearing her young. She knows the easiest way to feed her two offspring—the bear baiting areas around the popular lodges. There’s little information about the backdrop of the times other than quick mentions of the central characters' backgrounds. A park ranger is a Vietnam veteran, many of the kids who work summer internships at park souvenir shops participated in a few protest marches before discovering the park’s grandeur. The novel focuses on the activities inside the park as if the rest of the world is a mere frame. This gives the reader a sense of timelessness and perhaps explains partly why Olsen’s book has endured for nearly five decades.
There’s no hardcore or sentimental environmentalism in this book. Written in 1968, pre-PC era, some readers might cringe from the constant reference of one figure as “the Indian.” The book today is as important as when first published. The two catastrophic events that took place on the same night symbolize more than a rare occurrence: Americans required a long and hard look at how we viewed our expansive wilderness. Beyond park mismanagement, a culture of disrespect and ignorance permeated. It’s almost embarrassing reading the attitude many people had toward nature. America’s immense wilderness had become a circus sideshow. Fortunately, in large part due to books like Olsen's “Night of the Grizzlies,” that attitude has changed, although improvement is needed, especially from the wildlife management angle which now views wildlife as so venerable they've gone from mistreating wildlife to worshiping it. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in bears, wildlife management, Glacier National Park, or if you like a gripping tale that smolders until you can bearly stand it.
February 21, 2010
Overall, a very good story, and very sad because it's true. Despite the terribly written preface, the story was written well and built suspense, despite some archaic writing that sounded more like the '50s than '69 (e.g., chauvinistic descriptions of women and embarrassments like, "For a year Gildart and his wife had lived on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in northern Montana, where they eked out a living and learned the Indian ways...."). Right. "learned the Indian ways" in a year. And it's "Rocky Boy's." But anyway, back to the point. I also wish the chronicler had included follow-ups regarding the victims' families and the other members of the camping parties. I'm grateful that his final predictions about the demise of the grizzly in the U.S. have proved false. A terrible part of the National Park Service's history, handled pretty well by the author.
February 20, 2024
After decades of more or less peaceful coexistence between man and bear in Glacier National Park, two young women were killed in separate incidents on the same night. In this book, Olsen examines how this came to be, and how it should have been averted long before.
This is the classic book about the 1967 bear attacks in Glacier National Park, which details the buildup to the attacks as well as the night that they happened in great detail. Olsen does a good job of bringing alive the flora and fauna of the park, as well as the rangers and visitors. A sense of dread builds throughout the book as we come closer and closer to the brink of disaster, leaving the reader on edge until the very end.
This is the classic book about the 1967 bear attacks in Glacier National Park, which details the buildup to the attacks as well as the night that they happened in great detail. Olsen does a good job of bringing alive the flora and fauna of the park, as well as the rangers and visitors. A sense of dread builds throughout the book as we come closer and closer to the brink of disaster, leaving the reader on edge until the very end.
March 25, 2025
Probably closer to 3.8/5. Thought the first third took a while to get going. The final 2/3's had me engaged the whole time. An easy listen since I've been reading a lot of heavy stuff recently.
March 10, 2019
Jeepers! This book was terrifyingly good. I purchased the paperback at the Many Glacier Hotel’s shop when my family and I stayed there in June of 2016. As if I wasn’t paranoid enough hiking in Glacier National Park, I had to further torture myself by reading this book. It’s a relatively short story and I devoured it (pun not intended) quickly. It’s an incredible telling of events that scared the heck out of me. I will never forget what happened on the night of the grizzlies. I highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates hiking, mountain vacations or these magnificent animals. They have my utmost respect; I hope I never come face to face with one.
September 2, 2014
I have always respected the grizzly, now more.
April 11, 2020
Allow this review to take you back to simpler times, when it seemed like the biggest problem facing America would be a sudden and terrifying upswing in grizzly bear attacks...
Actually, that kind of cuteness does a disservice to the book, which is a pretty straightforward and compelling account of a tragedy that would have been completely preventable--at least in its particulars. Step by step, Olsen lays out the factors and incidents that led to the night of August 13, 1967, when two separate grizzly bears brutally and fatally mauled two separate female campers at two separate locations in Glacier National Park. For months, the Park Service had been systematically ignoring reports about erratic and unusually aggressive grizzly behavior--grizzly bears hardly ever attacked people, and they hadn't killed anyone in decades, so why worry about one that was persistently chasing people up trees and destroying campsites it would have ordinarily avoided? At one point, a park ranger nonchalantly observes that yep, that bear's been chasing people all summer, and an irate guy asks what they're going to do when the bear catches someone, which garners this response: "Well, I don't know... he hasn't caught anybody yet."
They were also ignoring--and arguably tacitly encouraging--the feeding of the bears at a particular park chalet. Although the park's official position was ABSOLUTELY DON'T FEED THE BEARS, it was a well-known fact everywhere within the park that bears came out to feast on the garbage at the chalet; it was a big attraction for the park guests, who expected and got what they wanted. Meanwhile, in a ruthless set of logical connections, the bears got used to expecting food at a particular place and they overcame their instinctive fear of humans; elsewhere, a hot summer and park overcrowding forced bears to have to rely on feeding grounds closer and closer to the humans they hated, and the bears grew irritable, resentful, and desensitized to their old fears. Something was bound to happen, Olsen says, because, very simply, humans have started to take up an amount of space that is inconsistent with the level of wilderness grizzlies need. But the situation was exacerbated to horrifying levels by the fatally stupid choices made by the people in charge--who, of course, weren't the ones who had to pay the price for any of it.
Olsen has good pacing, building up an almost unbearable sense of dread, and in the early chapters, he has an obvious love of nature that gets full display as he details the park exhaustively but entertainingly. His writing is workmanlike, but his explanations are clear and precise, and he's a compelling storyteller--a great choice for both explaining the colossal fuck-ups that led to the tragedy and making it all riveting to read about.
For those who'd like to know about animal harm in addition to the human deaths that form the reason for the book,
Actually, that kind of cuteness does a disservice to the book, which is a pretty straightforward and compelling account of a tragedy that would have been completely preventable--at least in its particulars. Step by step, Olsen lays out the factors and incidents that led to the night of August 13, 1967, when two separate grizzly bears brutally and fatally mauled two separate female campers at two separate locations in Glacier National Park. For months, the Park Service had been systematically ignoring reports about erratic and unusually aggressive grizzly behavior--grizzly bears hardly ever attacked people, and they hadn't killed anyone in decades, so why worry about one that was persistently chasing people up trees and destroying campsites it would have ordinarily avoided? At one point, a park ranger nonchalantly observes that yep, that bear's been chasing people all summer, and an irate guy asks what they're going to do when the bear catches someone, which garners this response: "Well, I don't know... he hasn't caught anybody yet."
They were also ignoring--and arguably tacitly encouraging--the feeding of the bears at a particular park chalet. Although the park's official position was ABSOLUTELY DON'T FEED THE BEARS, it was a well-known fact everywhere within the park that bears came out to feast on the garbage at the chalet; it was a big attraction for the park guests, who expected and got what they wanted. Meanwhile, in a ruthless set of logical connections, the bears got used to expecting food at a particular place and they overcame their instinctive fear of humans; elsewhere, a hot summer and park overcrowding forced bears to have to rely on feeding grounds closer and closer to the humans they hated, and the bears grew irritable, resentful, and desensitized to their old fears. Something was bound to happen, Olsen says, because, very simply, humans have started to take up an amount of space that is inconsistent with the level of wilderness grizzlies need. But the situation was exacerbated to horrifying levels by the fatally stupid choices made by the people in charge--who, of course, weren't the ones who had to pay the price for any of it.
Olsen has good pacing, building up an almost unbearable sense of dread, and in the early chapters, he has an obvious love of nature that gets full display as he details the park exhaustively but entertainingly. His writing is workmanlike, but his explanations are clear and precise, and he's a compelling storyteller--a great choice for both explaining the colossal fuck-ups that led to the tragedy and making it all riveting to read about.
For those who'd like to know about animal harm in addition to the human deaths that form the reason for the book,
November 20, 2017
Can't put it down kind of read if you like to hike and like Glacier National Park. Read it in one day.
August 17, 2025
I haven't read a book this quickly in a long time. Tragic and really makes me appreciate modern bear safety practices. The accounts were synthesized and retold so well, and I was terrified and devastated as I read.
Won't be able to keep this one out of my mind next time I'm backpacking.
Won't be able to keep this one out of my mind next time I'm backpacking.
January 19, 2021
An exciting and interesting read about a true incident at Glacier National Park in 1967.
November 2, 2022
Just in case I was thinking about camping the answer is now definitely no.
May 2, 2025
This book was wild! The climax lead up had me on the edge of my seat. the last words of the victims gave me chills!! Exceptional writing in really showing mans relationship with the native wildlife and how human error and naive thinking can lead to tragedy for both man and grizzlies to the area!
January 23, 2022
I've read a few of Jack Olsen's books and they have all been fantastic. My aunt recommended this one to me after I read Give a boy a gun. I'm always a little leary of books recommended to me because they rarely live up to the hype, but Jack Olson knocked it out of the park with this one. Couldn't ask for a more gripping story about man and beast clashing in the great American wilderness. The book events take place in 1967 and it's hard to believe that some of the things people did, and the way they interacted with the bears were real but, times and thinking were different back then I guess. It's sad to read about the way people treat the national park and the blatant disregard for the rules. This tragedy was a hundred percent preventable and the Forrest service should have taken the proper steps to ensure the safety of the park visitors. I would highly recommend this book. A Short quick read but very enjoyable.
February 5, 2019
Night of Terror
This was an excellent account of the terrible night two girls died from bear attacks. A thrilling, page turner, the author gives some park history, information on the locales and introduces you to the major players. Extensive research shows, and the coverage pulls no punches about the lackadaisical response of the NPS at the time when warned about the rogue bear three months in advance. I read this book using immersion reading, while listening to the audiobook. A must read for outdoor lovers, since it shows the evolution of the NPS regarding people feeding bears and how the current policy is strictly enforced.
This was an excellent account of the terrible night two girls died from bear attacks. A thrilling, page turner, the author gives some park history, information on the locales and introduces you to the major players. Extensive research shows, and the coverage pulls no punches about the lackadaisical response of the NPS at the time when warned about the rogue bear three months in advance. I read this book using immersion reading, while listening to the audiobook. A must read for outdoor lovers, since it shows the evolution of the NPS regarding people feeding bears and how the current policy is strictly enforced.
January 23, 2015
My old friend Joe gave this to me to read, and by chance I started it when we were traveling out West. That was a crazy choice, because the story told in this book is real, it is riveting, and it will scare the hell out of you, especially if you are anywhere near bear country. I should find a copy and read it again (2011) as I originally read this in approx 1991.
October 29, 2017
I have always liked Jack Olsen's books, and have read many of them. This is one of them I somehow missed. (Sadly, Mr. Olsen died of a heart attack in 2002 at age 77). This particular book is centered around Glacier National Park and two fatal grizzly bear attacks which took place in August of 1967. There have been more since then. One of the biggest reasons why these attacks started happening is twofold: one - the National Park Service was dumping garbage into gullies and other areas, not far from where some of the camping sites are located, and two - the park has become so popular with tourists that millions of people visit the park every year. The grizzly bear, Ursus arctos horribilis (the 'grizzly' part of its name is from the silver-gray tipped fur in certain light), is an extreme predator, and its only known natural antagonist is the human being. Grizzly bears have a wide range of area that they inhabit, and therefore do not take well to being confined to small areas, which is exactly what has happened at Glacier National Park and other areas. At one time, the grizzly bear inhabited a very large part of western North America, including the area which is now southern California. (I believe the last one in that area was killed by a human in 1924). Glacier National Park had been in existence for decades and there had never been a bear attack (that anyone knew of, although there were disappearances of people which were never explained) until 1967, when the disposal of garbage became a huge problem, and huge numbers of people visited the park. There were also wildfires going on, and the park service personnel were stretched thin. People would actually gather at a cabin or other site to watch the bears feast on the garbage, and they did this on a daily basis. No one should ever forget that these are wild animals; they are not 'cute' teddy bears, and they are resistant to domestication. They are one of the apex predators of the animal kingdom, and everyone needs to remember that. On the night of August 23, 1967, two female campers, separated by quite a distance, were killed by grizzly bears. The NPSs response? They told the rangers to go to the area and kill every grizzly bear they saw. Personally, I think that is not only a non-solution, but it shows a distinct lack of respect for the planet and its creatures. The rangers did kill three or four adult bears (one of them had human hair in its stomach); two cubs were left to fend for themselves, although one of them had his jaw shot off, and the next year, a ranger had to destroy him. One of the bears was a mother with two cubs and as everyone knows, getting between or even around a mother bear and/or her cubs is equivalent to a death wish. Since that terrible night in 1967, many grizzly bears have been relocated to areas like parts of Canada and Alaska. The bear is considered to be 'threatened' per the Endangered Species Act, and I fear that if current political attitudes continue, they may well become extinct. This book is a very sobering view of what may happen when human beings don't use the brains they were born with, and don't educate themselves and others about all life on our planet.
December 17, 2021
Jack Olsen was a leading crime fiction and non-fiction writer in his time. His name alone was enough to garner interest in a story some may not care about otherwise, and back in 1969, when he wrote 'Night of the Grizzlies' it drew national attention on the incident that had occurred back in the summer of 1967.
I bring that up, to say - thankfully, thankfully - this book didn't sway people enough to have them head out into the woods to try and kill each and every bear. Bears themselves are already dealing with over-hunting issues, as well as population crowding as humans continue to push into and build on their lands.
While this book hasn't aged well, especially when you consider how poorly the reports were taken into consideration by the authorities and Rangers, but also with how humans acted around the bears. Sure, it was a different time, but it's frustrating to read an account regarding people heading into the wilderness so poorly prepared.
What I liked: The book follows the escalation over the summer as bears become humanized and programmed to come to the same place each day, so that they can scavenge on garbage being thrown into the forest from a Chalet. The humans crowd around and watch the spectacle and not surprisingly, one night, two women are brutally attacked while they camp.
I did enjoy the re-telling of the night in question. While things leading up to the events were dumbfounding and completely neglectful that these bears were first groomed to come eat for the tourists, Olsen does a great job of keeping things fairly even and stable, limiting anything that reads like embellishment or over-dramatization.
What I didn't like: Taking into the book's year of publication is key with this release. There is a lot of 'extra' stuff at the beginning and throughout. Long descriptions of the mountains and weather and each character has a detailed background which only appears to be necessary for a few of them. As an example - it's pertinent to know someone has outdoor medical training. It's not if someone grew up somewhere else, went to school and never went hiking. It would've been easy enough to say - this character, though, had no previous wilderness experience.
As well, on the factual side - this book wouldn't exist if it wasn't for so much incompetence and mishandling leading up to the events. And those aspects, are so incredibly frustrating to read and to know they directly caused loss of life.
Why you should buy this: If you like outdoor/wilderness non-fiction reads, this book is solid and definitely goes through the how's and why's of these events happening through the pen of a masterful writer. It may not be a read you'll want to check out if you're a seasoned outdoors lover, as you'll become hugely frustrated.
For those looking for a gripping back-woods story, this one will do the trick.
I bring that up, to say - thankfully, thankfully - this book didn't sway people enough to have them head out into the woods to try and kill each and every bear. Bears themselves are already dealing with over-hunting issues, as well as population crowding as humans continue to push into and build on their lands.
While this book hasn't aged well, especially when you consider how poorly the reports were taken into consideration by the authorities and Rangers, but also with how humans acted around the bears. Sure, it was a different time, but it's frustrating to read an account regarding people heading into the wilderness so poorly prepared.
What I liked: The book follows the escalation over the summer as bears become humanized and programmed to come to the same place each day, so that they can scavenge on garbage being thrown into the forest from a Chalet. The humans crowd around and watch the spectacle and not surprisingly, one night, two women are brutally attacked while they camp.
I did enjoy the re-telling of the night in question. While things leading up to the events were dumbfounding and completely neglectful that these bears were first groomed to come eat for the tourists, Olsen does a great job of keeping things fairly even and stable, limiting anything that reads like embellishment or over-dramatization.
What I didn't like: Taking into the book's year of publication is key with this release. There is a lot of 'extra' stuff at the beginning and throughout. Long descriptions of the mountains and weather and each character has a detailed background which only appears to be necessary for a few of them. As an example - it's pertinent to know someone has outdoor medical training. It's not if someone grew up somewhere else, went to school and never went hiking. It would've been easy enough to say - this character, though, had no previous wilderness experience.
As well, on the factual side - this book wouldn't exist if it wasn't for so much incompetence and mishandling leading up to the events. And those aspects, are so incredibly frustrating to read and to know they directly caused loss of life.
Why you should buy this: If you like outdoor/wilderness non-fiction reads, this book is solid and definitely goes through the how's and why's of these events happening through the pen of a masterful writer. It may not be a read you'll want to check out if you're a seasoned outdoors lover, as you'll become hugely frustrated.
For those looking for a gripping back-woods story, this one will do the trick.
March 9, 2019
That was an excellent book! It's more of a description of our park service and the American mind than a book about a bear attack. The actual attack was a very small part of the book. I knew that going in and was not disappointed.
I read this book for two reasons:
1. This was one of the first adult books I read as a child (I was probably around 9 or 10 when I read it) and I wanted to see if I remembered any of it at all. I didn't. The knowledge of having read it stayed with me though.
2. I was genuinely curious about why those two attacks happened. Brown and black bears are generally human averse and attacks are not common, even now when humans are nearly as common as ants and taking over every bit of the earth. The book did a grand job explaining it. It neither laid all of the responsibility on humans, nor did it blame the attack on bear aggression. It explained how and why it happened in the words of the people who investigated it and those who experienced the events surrounding the two attacks.
Most of the book explains the events leading to the attacks. The event itself is quite short. Both attacks took minutes and this is reflected in the book. The aftermath is short because it isn't over. It still isn't over. We're still feeling the aftermath today.
Thankfully, one of his predictions turned out very wrong. Humans protected the Grizzly Bear and allowed the population to grow. Ditto with the bison population, which is important to the brown bear. We learned from our mistakes. Well, most of them. We're still crowding out wild animals with our vast human population.
I read this book for two reasons:
1. This was one of the first adult books I read as a child (I was probably around 9 or 10 when I read it) and I wanted to see if I remembered any of it at all. I didn't. The knowledge of having read it stayed with me though.
2. I was genuinely curious about why those two attacks happened. Brown and black bears are generally human averse and attacks are not common, even now when humans are nearly as common as ants and taking over every bit of the earth. The book did a grand job explaining it. It neither laid all of the responsibility on humans, nor did it blame the attack on bear aggression. It explained how and why it happened in the words of the people who investigated it and those who experienced the events surrounding the two attacks.
Most of the book explains the events leading to the attacks. The event itself is quite short. Both attacks took minutes and this is reflected in the book. The aftermath is short because it isn't over. It still isn't over. We're still feeling the aftermath today.
Thankfully, one of his predictions turned out very wrong. Humans protected the Grizzly Bear and allowed the population to grow. Ditto with the bison population, which is important to the brown bear. We learned from our mistakes. Well, most of them. We're still crowding out wild animals with our vast human population.
January 24, 2021
This book reads like the compilation of magazine articles that it originated from and seems to have three distinct parts. The author took a different angle than I would expect for this story and ultimately I think the approach focused too much on the background and not enough on the victims.
Conversely, the author was trying to prevent the wholesale slaughter of grizzlies by an angry 1960s mob—a mob whose evidence-based approach had children unbuckled on bench seats of steel death traps while their parents chain-smoked unfiltered Lucky Strikes to aid digestion. Since extermination did not happen, perhaps this book played a part in the preservation of grizzlies in the lower 48. While it may have aided the flow, focusing on the victims vice the bears would have incited the mob and had the opposite of the intended effect
Bad policies + lack of common sense = sub-optimal outcomes. Night of the Grizzlies was a textbook example of a sub-optimal outcome.
Conversely, the author was trying to prevent the wholesale slaughter of grizzlies by an angry 1960s mob—a mob whose evidence-based approach had children unbuckled on bench seats of steel death traps while their parents chain-smoked unfiltered Lucky Strikes to aid digestion. Since extermination did not happen, perhaps this book played a part in the preservation of grizzlies in the lower 48. While it may have aided the flow, focusing on the victims vice the bears would have incited the mob and had the opposite of the intended effect
Bad policies + lack of common sense = sub-optimal outcomes. Night of the Grizzlies was a textbook example of a sub-optimal outcome.
January 25, 2025
"It is pure coincidence indeed that two grizzlies chose a few hours of a single night to take two victims who had much in common, but it is no coincidence at all that the year in which this happened was 1967, and the place Glacier Park."
an absolutely tragic story but essential read to understand the stark contrast in the attitude of NPS toward wildlife management today vs the past century. it was not the first time i've heard this story, but this book gives a detailed exposition of the pressure cooker conditions leading up to the night of august 13th, making the attacks on the two girls all the more devastating.
an absolutely tragic story but essential read to understand the stark contrast in the attitude of NPS toward wildlife management today vs the past century. it was not the first time i've heard this story, but this book gives a detailed exposition of the pressure cooker conditions leading up to the night of august 13th, making the attacks on the two girls all the more devastating.
October 14, 2017
An incredible telling of the night at Glacier Park in August 1967 when two campers were killed by two separate bears, miles apart. It helps that I know these areas pretty intimately, so the story hits closer to home for me. I'm almost equally horrified by the mismanagement of trash by the NPS 50 years ago -- things we take for granted now (pack in, pack out; not setting up camp in areas known to be heavily traveled by bears; ignoring, for a whole summer, repeated bear attacks on camps) seemed to be alien concepts back in this time. Olsen's book is fast-paced, thorough, and gripping, and though the story is incredibly sad, it also makes me feel a great longing to return to GNP.
December 25, 2021
Not exactly a piece of beautiful prose, but a compelling recounting of the circumstances that led to two grizzly attacks on the same night in Glacier in 1967–the first two grizzly attacks to ever result in death. The park system has come a long way and it’s encouraging to see that the situation in the parks and for bears is better today than the complete wipeout predicted by the author following these attacks. Let’s hear it for proper respect of wildlife, LNT principles, and bear spray!
September 28, 2022
Excellent account of the night two girls were killed by grizzlies. I found it to be a compelling read. Some people felt that it was the grizzlies fault that people died. Whereas, others knew that it was people who caused the grizzlies to behave the way they did by leaving food in the gullies. The first part of the book was interesting to read as it gave lots of background to read leading up to the people being killed in Glacier National Park back in 1967.
August 18, 2025
It’s a chilling tale of people being careless and interfering with nature until something goes terribly wrong and then it’s nature’s fault. Humans are good at forging new roads and leaving devastation behind.
March 25, 2021
This story will stick with me for some time. Well worth a read. However this story is not for the faint of heart.
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