For generations at that point, the bear had been a shorthand for all the danger that people were encountering on the frontier, and the federal government was actually systematically exterminating bears and lots of other predators too, like coyotes and wolves.
Per generazioni fino ad allora, l'orso era stato sinonimo  di tutti i pericoli a cui le persone andavano incontro  alla frontiera del Far West, e il governo federale in realtà li sterminava sistematicmente assieme ad altri predatori, come i coyote e i lupi.