Let's talk about state flags, shall we?

[Brother Buzz]

42. For many years the urban myth was the bear was the real Grizzly Adams' biggest grizzly, 'Samson',

borrowed from a woodcut made by Charles Nahl for a relevantly unknown early biography of Adams - The Adventures of James Capen Adams: Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California by Theodore H. Hittell (1860)



The confusion continues today:

During Grizzly Adams' exhibition of his grizzly bears and other trained animals in San Francisco, he was working with Hittell from July, 1857 until December 1859. Hittell listened to Adams narrate his adventures almost daily for an hour or so and took careful notes, cross-questioning Adams to assure he had it straight. Adams knew, and was apparently flattered by the fact Mr. Hittell intended to write a book based upon Adams' talks.Also, during this time, the artist Charles C. Nahl took an interest in Adams' grizzlies and, working with Hittell, prepared illustrations (one of which is at the head of this article) that would be used in Hittell's forthcoming book. One of his paintings eventually became the model for the grizzly bear on California's state flag. In 1860, after Adams had relocated to New York, Theodore H. Hittell published his book, The Adventures of James Capen Adams, Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California, in San Francisco, and then later that year, in Boston.

You decide