Exhibit item:
JAMES WALKER
Vaquero
Oil on canvas, c. 1885

Quotation:
ESTOLANO FELIPE LARIOS
Vida Y Adventuras de Mi Padre, Dn. Manuel Larios, Vecino de San Juan Bautista : Mss., 1878
Translation by José de la Torre, 2002

"One day while they were on the way home from Llano de la Panocha to a certain place called Azufrada's Hill, where the day before they had killed seven cows, they met a group of bears so numerous they couldn't count them.

The bears had just eaten seven dead cows. Don Manuel and his brother moved aside and let their majesties pass through without any disturbance. Once Don Manuel and his brother got to the piedmont, they found the seven cows and right there, having a feast, the King of the Bears, a real monster, a bear so big and so heavy he could barely walk.

Don Justo immediately roped the bear, but the bear pulled the rope so strongly that he pulled down Don Justo and his horse. Seeing this, Don Manuel approached the scene and roped the bear; in this way he managed to pick up his brother's rope, which was on the ground because the bear had freed himself.

Don Manuel took the rope back to Don Justo and told him they had better leave the bear alone since they couldn't do anything with just the ropes, plus the bear was just too big and strong for the two men alone."