The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams is a 1972 novel by Charles E. Sellier Jr.. There is a 1974 film based on the novel, a two-season NBC television series, and a 1982 TV movie. The title character, played by Dan Haggerty, is loosely based on the actual trapper James "Grizzly" Adams.

Grizzly Adams (Haggerty) is a woodsman during the frontier era who flees into the mountains after he is wrongly accused of murder. While struggling to survive, Adams discovers an orphaned grizzly bear cub whom he takes in and calls Ben. The bear, despite his huge adult size, becomes Adams's closest companion. Adams proves to have an uncanny link to most of the indigenous wildlife of the region, who have no fear of him. In return, he resolves never to harm another animal whenever possible. In the television series, Adams had two human companions, an old trader named Mad Jack the Mountain Man (Denver Pyle, commonly featured with a mule named "Number Seven") and a native American named Nakoma (Don Shanks). Together, they helped various visitors while protecting the wildlife.

The series was concluded with a 1982 TV movie called The Capture of Grizzly Adams where a bounty hunter used Adams's daughter — not seen or mentioned since the 1974 film — to draw him back to civilization. In the end, Adams proved his innocence. NBC aired this 2 hour finale on February 21, 1982.