Collection: FND002 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Peace Officer Memorial Program
Series:
Tribute
Folder:
DIG
Item:
00237
Title:
Nathan N. Bear
Date:
Creator:
Inscription/Marks:
Summary:
Officer Nathan Norman Bear was shot and killed on July 14, 1960 on Fort Berthold Indian Reservation while investigating suspicious persons/circumstances.
On July 14, 1960 at 2:30 a.m. a call was received at the police department in Mandaree, North Dakota by BIA Police Officer Alfred Bordeaux. The caller reported that there were two men at their home who were trying or did kidnap his mother and requested police as soon as possible. Officer Bordeaux notified the Captain of Police, Nathan Bear, and the two of them proceeded to the home of the caller, located 20 miles north of Mandaree. The caller failed to inform the officer that the alleged perpetrators had left the area. The officers responding believed that the reported kidnapping was in progress when the call was made.
When the officers arrived at the turn off, approximately a mile from the home, Captain Bear turned off the headlights and continued driving until they got to the gate approximately 1/4 mile from the home. The officers parked the car and continued to the home on foot. When they arrived at the back of the home they noticed that the interior lights in the home were on and the shades in the kitchen windows were up. The officers were able to see inside the home through the window. The officers saw people sitting at the kitchen table, but they were not able to determine if there were others in the house besides those seated at the kitchen table.
In Officer Bordeaux's report later, he said that he and Captain Bear assumed that the subjects of the reported kidnapping were still in the house and out of their view. While Officer Bordeaux remained at an outside corner of the home, Captain Bear ducked down and made his way to the outside of the kitchen window and took up a position there. Captain Bear was able to see some of the family members at the table. In an effort to let the family members know that the police were there without tipping anyone who was holding them hostage, Captain Bear peered in through the window. When he got the attention of one of the family members seated at the table, he waved his service revolver.
A 16-year-old youth, who was instructed to watch over the family while the father and older brother left the home to summon police, was armed with a.22 caliber pump action rifle as he was seated at the table with his mother and others. A younger youth at the table told the others that there was a man at the window waving a gun. The youth started crying and crawled under the table. When Captain Bear repeated his action the second time, the youth with the rifle fired four shots at the window and all those seated at the table got up from the table and ran into a bedroom.
Officer Bordeaux heard breaking glass and saw Captain Bear fall over backwards and lay motionless on the ground. Officer Bordeaux realized that Captain Bear had been shot, but decided not to go near him for fear of meeting the same fate. Officer Bordeaux made a decision to summon help and get medical aid. He ran back to the car and found that Captain Bear had taken the car keys. Officer Bordeaux ran to the main road where he met the other family members returning to the home after calling the police. They returned to the home and found that one bullet entered Captain Bear’s left temple. He was still alive, but unconscious. Captain Bear was given medical aid and then transported to a hospital in Minot, North Dakota, where he died at 4:15 p.m. that afternoon.
Red ID: FND_I_77292 Image ID: 509112 Image Notes: 10950 00002 00237
