Holt Collier and the origin of the teddy bear

By By Mike Giles / outdoors writer
Sept. 20, 2002
Mississippi has a rich heritage when it comes to producing national and even worldwide figures. Elvis Presley is perhaps our most famous celebrity. There's another worldwide figure who gained his fame deep in the heart of the Mississippi Delta back in 1902. We are now celebrating the 100th anniversary of the "Great Delta Bear Hunt" attended by President Teddy Roosevelt, guide Holt Collier, and a few other privileged guides and hunters. The results of that hunt forever intertwined President Teddy Roosevelt and a black bear that was given the moniker, "Teddy Bear" by the American press.
Although I had heard some stories about how the teddy bear got its name, I never realized the extent to which the Mississippi Delta played a role in that name. In fact, while on my way to a Delta dove hunt last fall, I was astonished to learn that the hunt had taken place near Onward.
Another Mississippian, Minor Buchanan of the Jackson area, became interested in the origin of the Teddy Bear as well. It all started innocently enough. While on a trip with his family to the Memphis Zoo some time ago, they observed the animals as most families do. However, when they got to the bear exhibit, Buchanan's daughter wanted to see a teddy bear. After explaining to her that there was no such thing as a teddy bear, she burst out in tears and cried out, " If it is not real, then where did it come from?
That simple yet profound question from his young daughter led Buchanan on a research adventure that turned into much more than he bargained for. In fact, it sparked a near decade-long journey through archival collections throughout the country.
Holt Collier
Perhaps the most significant thing that resulted, besides Buchanan's learning of the origin of the teddy bear, was his discovery of the name Holt Collier. Collier, it turned out, was the Mississippian most responsible for what happened in those swamps so many years ago.
What started out to be a research assignment to learn of the origin of the teddy bear for his young daughter, turned into an astonishing book, "Holt Collier," about a larger than life black Mississippian and famous outdoorsman.
Buchanan begins his book with an interesting history and geography lesson of the Mississippi wilderness and many of the people who helped tame it, like the Green and Hinds families. General Thomas Hinds and his son Howell Hinds played a large part in the birth and formation of our great state. This background laid the groundwork for us to understand the situation at the time of the birth of Holt Collier in 1846.
According to various accounts, which are recorded in Buchanan's book, Collier was admired and respected by both whites and blacks alike in a time when such admiration was almost unheard of. That was a time when the Mississippi Delta was still a vast swampland full of all types of trees, thick vegetation and teaming with wildlife. Before the destruction of the swampland habitat for croplands, the black bear was the king of the Delta.
Collier earned a reputation of being one of the top bear hunters in his day. In fact he harvested over 3,000 bears in his lifetime. During his lifetime Collier fought on the side of the Confederacy and later became a Texas cowboy. Perhaps his most famous achievement was the guided hunts with President Theodore Roosevelt on two famous bear hunts, one in 1902 that resulted in the world famous Teddy Bear.
The great bear hunt
The hunt was publicized on a national scale by newspapers and was the talk of the country for quite some time. In fact Clifford Berryman, a 1944 Pulitzer Prize winner, ran a group of five cartoons on the front page of The Washington Post depicting the president's hunt. One of the cartoons showed a man holding a rope around a small bear with the President in the foreground with his back turned to the bear while holding his hand up and palm out. The cartoon was entitled "Drawing the line in Mississippi."
Although the bear wasn't a cub, it was portrayed as such in the cartoons and this contributed to the teddy bear legacy. In reality, Holt Collier had tangled with the 200 plus pound bear while trying to save his dogs from sure death. Collier actually lassoed the bear and tied it off to a tree. A short time later President Roosevelt arrived and declined to shoot an animal that didn't have a sporting chance. The rest as they say, is history.
As a busy outdoorsman and family provider, I don't have much time to read books. However, after having told Melvin Tingle of my encounter and subsequent harvest of a wild boar with a bowie knife, he introduced me to Minor Buchanan and I became intrigued with the legend of Holt Collier and the teddy bear. In a week's time I read the book and was amazed at some of the events that happened in Mississippi during Holt Collier's lifetime.
Holt Collier was truly a one of a kind, larger than life Mississippian who rose above his circumstances and enjoyed a celebrity in his lifetime that is enjoyed by few people. If you love Mississippi and the outdoors, this book is a must read. For more information on the book about Holt Collier contact the Centennial Press of Mississippi at (601) 957-9095 or by e-mail at www.holtcollier.com.