Product Description

The Bears of Blue River describes the adventures of a young boy growing up in early nineteenth-century rural Indiana. This is a book for children or adults who love nature and tales of early pioneer life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #769453 in Books
• Published on: 1984-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

I've Walked Where Balsar Walked
The book "The Bears of Blue River" was a very interesting book for me to read. The content of the book was very simple and quite easy to follow. Children of all ages, along with adults, will find this book hard to put down after they start to read it. This story takes place in Shelby County. One of the main reasons I chose to read this book was because I live in Shelby County.
My grandmother read this book to me when I was in pre-school. I have always remembered about how Balsar, the main character in the book, loved his gun and the outdoors. In this book it talks about how there is a "blowout hole" where the Conns Creek and the Flatrock River flow together. We (Hinkles, my family) actually own property that is on the banks next to the blowout hole. So this was very interesting for me. I too have also explored the many little caves and such that are on the Flatrock River.
I believe this is a wonderful book that boys and girls, even men and women, will be able to enjoy very much. The book has absolutely amazing descriptions of various places in Shelby County. I have found these descriptions to be very accurate, as I have hiked, camped, fished, or hunted on the exact same land the author, Charles Major, described so very well.

A family keepsake
In 2001 my father age 82 mentioned this book as the only one he remembered his father reading to him as a young boy. I'm his son at age 59 and decided to get a library copy for us to read again. Dad doesn't read much anymore but he devoured the book which brought good memories back. I liked it as well because it gave me a family "connection" over 3 generations, and the book is also easy to read and good reading to boot. Our ancestors settled in Indiana in the 1830's and they lived next to the Flatrock River(in the book)Had to buy a copy for family keepsake

The Amazing Story of The Bears of Blue River
The Bears of Blue River was written by Charles Major a native of Indiana. The story takes place in the early nineteenth century in rural Indiana. Indiana was just a baby state during the time of the story.
The characters of this story are very significant. Balser Brent and his wife moved their family including three children, Little Balser, a younger brother Jim and a one year old sister, to Indiana. The family moved from North Carolina. When they moved to Indiana the family purchased 80 acres of land. The land was located on the east bank of the Big Blue River.
Little Balser is the main character of the book. He was a very brave young man. He was brave because he always had encounters with bears and wildlife. One day Little Balsers mother told him to go fishing and take his fathers gun incase he ran into some bears. As he was on his way back home with the fish he had caught, he ran into a bear. It was standing in front of Balser. Balser fed the bear one of the fish and then Balser shot the bear with his father's gun.
Little Balser had a big dream to own his own gun someday. Balser helped a young couple to escape to be married. The couple wanted to repay Balser, but they didn't know how. So they asked Balser if there was something they could bring him. Balser told them he really wanted his own gun. A few weeks later the couple brought Balser back his very own gun from Indianapolis.
There are many other exciting adventures with Balser. One significant part is when Balser and his father found two cubs in a cave close to Conns Creek. They had killed the momma and papa bears, so Balser took the cubs home to raise. Balser named the cubs Tom and Jerry. This is significant because the statue on the north end of the circle in Shelbyville, Indiana is Balser holding up the two cubs. Every summer Shelbyville holds a celebration "The Bears of Blue River." The celebration consists of a parade and entertainment to remember Shelbyville, Indiana and how it once was in the past