Grizzly Adams, the Old Yankee Bear Tamer, became a legend in his own time through his exploits in San Francisco's Gold Rush days, his capture and taming of grizzly bears and other wild animals in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and his association with the circus man, P.T. Barnum. But what do we know of the family he left behind in Massachusetts? His wife, Cylena, and their three young children carried on without him for ten long years, Grizzly returning to them only when he knew he was dying. The author, a distant cousin of John "Grizzly" Adams, was prompted by curiosity to discover what she could about these long-lost relatives, and to share her findings in this book.

This collection of true stories about grizzly and black bears in the greater southwest from the 1820s to present day demonstrates changing attitudes toward bears and the preservation of the animals and their habitats