California grizzly bear (Ursus arctos californicus) "Grizzly" Adams, American hunter. Figure from Hittell, T. H., "The adventures of James Capen Adams, mountaineer and grizzly bear hunter, of California", San Francisco : Towne & Bacon, 1860, opp. p. 186. He is shown with a bear named Benjamin Franklin. The copyright has long since expired on this illustration.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:James_Grizzly_Adams_-_Towne_%26_Bacon,_1860.jpg
The California grizzly (Ursus arctos californicus) is an extinct subspecies of the grizzly, the very large North American brown bear. "Grizzly" could have meant "grizzled" (that is, with golden and grey tips of the hair) or "fear-inspiring". Less than 75 years after the discovery of gold in 1848, almost every grizzly bear in California had been tracked down and killed.
