Ernest Thompson Seton's book, "Monarch, the Big Bear of Tallac." Published in 1919, it tells the story of a tiny Grizzly cub who grew to be the Monarch of the Plains -- and the Prisoner of humanity's arrogance. "Kind memory calls the picture up before me now, clear, living clear: I see them as they sat, the one small and slight, the other tall and brawny, leader and led, rough men of the hills. They told me this tale--in broken bits they gave it, a sentence at a time. ... They told of the ri ...

"The life of a wild animal always has a tragic end," as Ernest Thompson Seton said. This is the story of Metitsi Wahb, born a playful cub, orphaned young by the murder of his mother, his brothers and sister, raising himself surrounded by enemies, and growing to the fiercest creature anywhere in his vast range -- though showing himself a gentleman in the Yellowstone National Park. And finally, he is laid low by a smaller, more cunning enemy, and defeated in the end by age and injury. "The lif ...