The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major. Illustrated edition by A. B. Frost and Others. The Bears of Blue River describes the adventures of a young boy growing up in early nineteenth-century rural Indiana.

Little Balser lives with his parents, a younger brother, and a baby sister in a cozy log cabin on the bank of the Big Blue River. Although only thirteen or fourteen years old, he is quite familiar with the dangers and rigors of frontier life. As the story unfolds, the boy becomes lost in the forest, encounters the fierce one-eared bear, and is nearly caught by a bear as he dozes next to what he thinks is a bearskin. This is a book for children or adults who love nature and tales of early pioneer life.

Charles Major (1856–1913) was an American lawyer and novelist. Writing remained an interest of Major, and in 1898, he published his first novel, When Knighthood Was in Flower under the pseudonym Edwin Caskoden.