Bear fat was used as a shortening
There are a lot of animal fat options in the market nowadays. Some have a more pleasant taste and smell than others, but we would never even think of using bear fat in our kitchens. Nevertheless, as you can probably guess, people in colonial times had a very different mindset.
But it is not like colonial people literally ate bear fat with a spoon. They actually had some good points for this ingredient. First, it seems like it worked wonders for frying food. Second, it was a more convenient option than pork fat as it did not go bad as quickly.