OK, this made me laugh

I'd completely forgotten this little detail. It came up in a Google image search based on a comment Jon just made. Seems Grizzly Adams had a sidekick.

Ben the Bear. Friendly grizzly bear starring on the adventure THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GRIZZLY ADAMS/NBC/1977-78. Ben (short for Benjamin Franklin) was the companion of mountain man James Capen "Grizzly" Adams (Dan Haggerty) who originally escaped to the safety of the wilderness after being falsely accused of a crime. Grizzly Adams had originally rescued Ben from the ledge of a rocky slope when the bear was a cub. Adams raised the cub and soon they became life-long friends and shared many adventures together.