was established in 1860 and in 1899 the Bronx Zoo was opened. Flag of California Charles C. Nahl, using Adams' grizzlies as models, made drawings, etchings and paintings of grizzly bears in various scenes. His sketches (including the one at the top of this article) were used to illustrate Hittel's book about Adams. Nahl's 1855 painting of a California grizzly portrayed Adams' bear Samson, which the mountain man had brought to San Jose and San Francisco to display that year; this image ended up being the source for the California Bear Flag, for which the official design specifications were put into law in 1953. The legislation also established the grizzly as California's state land animal. Observations of grizzlies Although not educated as a naturalist in a college or university, Adams learned the habits and facts of grizzly life first-hand through his observations while hunting and trapping them. Because of this, he came to know more about the California grizzly bear than anyone else. The information that Adams narrated to Hittell was published in the book The Adventures of James Capen Adams. His lore has been indispensable to naturalists including Storer and Wright, as well as to historians. Media presentations Adams was a famed United States outdoorsman, animal collector/trainer and an owner/performer in his own menagerie and later a partner of P. T. Barnum's shows. A biography was published about Adams the year he died. He was the central character in Charles E. Sellier's 1972 novel The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. As a character in film and television, Adams has been played by: John Huston in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) Dan Haggerty in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1974, 1977–1978, 1982) Gene Edwards in The Legend of Grizzly Adams (1990) Tom Tayback in Grizzly Adams and the Legend of Dark Mountain (1999) Jeff Watson in P.T. Barnum (1999) Note Citations References Adams, Andrew, N. A Genealogical History of Henry Adams, of Braintree, Mass., and his Descendants: also John Adams of Cambridge, Mass., 1632-1897. : Rutland, VT : Tuttle Co., 1898. Andronik, Catherine M. Prince of Humbugs, A Life of P. T. Barnum, New York : Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994. Barnum, Phineas Taylor, Struggles and Triumphs; or The Life of P. T. Barnum, Written by Himself, Vol. II, New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1927 Bearflagmuseum.org, retrieved May 2011. Brewer, William H., Up