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Description
In 1927, Mr. Salisbury [of Salisbury Ranch] formed a trip to Manchuria in search of a saber-tooth type tiger. Percy Meek, on the right, was in charge of training forty of his dogs to find the tigers. But they needed an animal that was close to the scent of a tiger. So, Percy found a mountain lion up a tree, took his metal pipe with a rope through it and looped it around the mountain lion and pulled it down. He had a cage to put it into. That way he could bring the dogs next to it for the scent smell. The lion had plenty of room to walk about the cage. One day during the training, the mountain lion got loose, and Percy again went up the tree and re-caught the lion. The ship sailed to Manchuria that fall (1927), but an early winter set in and the trip had to be scraped. The lion was released unharmed. Percy had a way with animals. I have never seen anyone like him with animals. All the animals loved him and would do anything for him. He was a remarkable man. He trained me and my horse. I would ride Tezshean down to the Trancas Arena after school and Percy would meet me there and train us. He was the best. Even if a member's horse got sick or injured, they would call him first before the vet. He just had a special way with animals and with people. The Mesa Ranch, formerly Salisbury Ranch, is today known as Leo Carrillo State Park. This ranch can be found at the end of Decker School Road. The entrance to the park is there. At that point there are two entrances. The main entrance is at the direct end beyond the gate. The other road begins to the right. If you follow this second road about 200 to 300 feet, you will come to a clearing on the right side of the road. This is where this photo was taken. You can go to this same spot if you follow the directions above. [Editor's note: Man in the center is Stuart M. Salisbury, the owner of the ranch and the sponsor of the hunt].
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