Bear Attack Victim Marks 50th Anniversary of Mauling

By Keriann Lynch, 6-16-09

Fifty years after he survived one of the longest known bear attacks in history, Joseph Williams is visiting the Flathead to commemorate the near-fatal ordeal.

Williams will give a presentation on the attack this Friday, June 19 at Flathead Valley Community College. Free and open to the public, the lecture will take place at 7 p.m. in the Arts and Technology Building large community meeting room. He also plans on revisiting the park with the ranger who helped save his life.

Williams' is a pretty remarkable story. From an Associated Press story about his visit:

Joseph Williams was a 20-year-old Midwesterner hungry for adventure in 1959 when a hike through Glacier National Park turned into a vicious encounter with a grizzly bear.

Williams tangled with the bear for 45 minutes, getting mauled, fighting back and breaking free before the beast chased him down and attacked again. Then a young park ranger showed up and shot the bear dead.

Fifty years later, Williams and the ranger, Don Dayton, plan to visit the park together Thursday to commemorate the near-fatal ordeal.

“I've forgotten my own wedding anniversary enough times that no one would accuse me of getting caught up in anniversaries,” said Williams, 70, and a food broker in Missouri. “But this one is different.”

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