Historical Badass: The Man Who Would Be Bear

Troy Hurtubise’s eccentric adult life was guided by two significant but seemingly unrelated events. The first happened in August 1984, when he was nineteen years old. Hurtubise was panning for gold in the northern British Columbia mountains near an isolated tributary called Humidity Creek. Alone in a quiet meadow, bent over a gravel bar, he heard a snuffling noise and heavy footsteps approaching from behind. He rose, turned, and was face-to-snout with what would become his lifelong muse—an enormous grizzly bear. The bear quizzically examined the stunned teenager, frozen in place, water dripping from a forgotten gold pan held by a trembling hand. The grizzly paused, then gently head-butted him. Hurtubise tumbled backward to the riverbank and the bear, satisfied it had neutralized the threat, ambled off. Every detail of the beast was etched permanently into Hurtubise’s brain, including a white patch of fur on its chest that seemed to age the ursine assailant. For the rest of his life, Hurtubise called the bear “Old Man” when recounting the encounter.