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Mountin Man Giveaway

Didn't mean to ignore you fellas, I was up in the high country fishing. Awesome day today; nearly froze to death when a thunderstorm rolled through the canyon I was fishing--temperature dropped 20 degrees in 20 minutes. Got so cold my hands couldn't tie a proper blood knot. Fishing picked-up right after the storm though, caught several Brown trout. Saw antelope, deer, lots of birds, and a water snake. Sorry no pics--I left the camera in the truck--but that's no tall tale. :(

You guys have found some really interesting mountain men so far. Maybe it's time for a clue. The trapper I have in mind is from up North (near as anyone knows) and trapped in the Rockies. That's not saying a whole lot, but it's a start.

Persistence was a Mountain Man virtue--nobody crawls 200 miles after being mauled by a Griz without some 'grit'. I have a feeling that the persistent contestant will prevail here. Bonne chance!

 
I really need to read all of the posts before opening my mouth.
 
Well the least I can do is add one of my favorite songs to the mix.
[youtube]SnJL4ErQK8k[/youtube]
 
Hugh glass

Listed as one of the 4 toughest mountain men

In 1823, while a member of a trapping expedition led by Andrew Henry, Hugh Glass was mauled by a sow grizzly. His back and scalp were torn apart and one leg was broken. Because they were in Indian country, and because it seemed obvious that Glass could not live, Henry detailed John Fitzgerald and the 17-year-old Jim Bridger to stay with Glass until he died, bury him, and then catch up with the main party.

When Glass survived for 4 days, Fitzgerald and Bridger decided that there was no sense in waiting longer and left, after taking Glass’ rifle, tomahawk, and knife. Eventually, Glass grew strong enough to crawl, and be began his journey to Fort Kiowa, 200 miles and 6 weeks away. He set his own leg and let maggots eat the rotting flesh on his back. He lived on roots and berries, and on one occasion was able to drive a pair of wolves away from the carcass of a buffalo calf.

When he made it, he swore revenge on Fitzgerald and Bridger, but it was not to be: the former had joined the army, and he forgave the latter because of his youth. Glass was killed near the Yellowstone River by Arikara Indians in 1833.


If it helps, I am related to David Crocket. I have my mom's family history book called the Crocket family history.
 
Joseph Reddeford Walker

From http://www.josephrwalker.com/Introduction.htm:

Joseph Rutherford Walker, fur trapper, hunter, trail blazer, explorer, military guide, cattleman, miner, and sheriff. Capt. Joe Walker was one of the most interesting men that lived during the 1800s. Hubert Howe Bancroft was quoted as saying . . ."Captain Joe Walker was one of the bravest and most skilled of the mountain men; none was better acquainted than he with the geography or the native tribes of the Great Basin; and he was withal less boastful and pretentious than most of his class."

In 1830 Walker met Captain Benjamin Bonneville and was hired as the chief guide for the largest beaver hunting party to leave for the Rockies.

Who was this Zorro of the West?

Once a household name from San Francisco to New York for over 100 years leaving his name at Walkers Pass, Walker Lake Nevada, Walker Lake California, Walker River, Walker Valley, Walker Gulch, Walker Canyon, Walker Creek, Upper Walker Creek, Lower Walker Creek, Walker Trail, Walker Peak, Walker Mining District, Walker Arizona & Walker California, yet has magically escaped his true place in Western history.

How could this happen?

He was just too perfect. He never screwed up and he keep his men alive 99% of the time!
 
Up North you say? If your serious then you might be talking about the real mountain men from the Country North of the USA. I will now guess Simon Fraser. Working for the North West Company in the late 1700's and 1800's he trapped and explored much of the area that is now my native Province of B.C.

He established forts and trading posts in Fort Fraser and Fort George (my home city of Prince George).

His greatest legacy is the having one of the great rivers of the world named from him, the mighty Fraser river.
 
So I thought it would be a good idea to re-publish the list of guesses to date. It's becoming quite an impressive roll call, but one name is still missing....

Jedediah Smith
Jim Savage
John Colter
Jim Bridger
Kit Carson (x3)
John Grizzly Adams
Hugh Glass (x3)
Liver Eatin’ Johnson
Osborne Russell
Alfred Packer
John O’Keefe
Frederick Burnham
Thomas Fiztpatrick
Jim Beckworth (a.k.a. James Beckworth)
Old Bill Williams
John Fremont
John D. Albert
Donald Mackenzie
Etienne Provost
Thomas T Tobin
Nathaniel Wyeth
Zebulon Pike
“Uncle Dick” Wootton
Benjamin Vernon Lilly
William "Bill" Sublette (x2)
Manuel Lisa
John McDouall Stuart
Robert Newell
William Henry Ashley
George W. Sears
Warren A. Ferris
Toussaint Charbonneau
Davy Crockett
Jim Baker
Joseph “Joe” Meek
Daniel Boone
Zenas Leonard (x2)
Moses “Black” Harris
Daniel Potts
Thomas “Pegleg” Smith
Capt Joseph R. Walker
Simon Fraser
 
While we are on the North thing how about David Thompson and Alexander Mackenzie. Both of these gents worked for the North West Company. Mackenzie was one of the first explorers to find the North West passage (going from the Artic watershed by the Fraser and Blackwater rivers to the Pacific) and established trading posts through Northern B.C. such as Fort McCloud .

David Thompson hung out much of the time in the Columbia basin, drew up a map of the area that was used by Lewis and Clark and had the Thompson River named after him.
 
So far...
Jedediah Smith
Jim Savage
John Colter
Jim Bridger
Kit Carson (x2)
John Grizzly Adams
Hugh Glass (x2)
Liver Eatin’ Johnson
Osborne Russell
Alfred Packer
John O’Keefe
Frederick Burnham
Thomas Fiztpatrick
Jim Beckworth
Old Bill Williams
John Fremont
John D. Albert
Donald Mackenzie
Etienne Provost
Thomas T Tobin
Nathaniel Wyeth
Zebulon Pike
“Uncle Dick” Wootton
Benjamin Vernon Lilly
William "Bill" Sublett
Manuel Lisa
John McDouall Stuart
Robert Newell
William Henry Ashley
George W. Sears
Warren Angus Ferris
Toussaint Charbonneau
James P. Beckwourth
Jed Clampet
Davy Crockett
Jim Baker
Joseph Lafayette "Joe" Meek
Zenas Leonard
Benjamin Bonneville
Horace Kephart
Moses "Black" Harris
Daniel Potts
Thomas L. "Pegleg" Smith
Sublette
Hugh Glass
Joseph Reddeford Walker
Simon Frasier
Davis Thompson
Alexander MacKenzie


My next guess:
Andrew Henry

From Wikipedia
Major Andrew Henry (c. 1775 – 1832) was an American fur trader who, with William H. Ashley started the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1822. Born circa 1775 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
Henry went to Nashville, Tennessee, in his twenties but moved to Louisiana in 1800 (before the Louisiana Purchase) to the lead mines near present-day Potosi, Missouri, and in 1806 he bought a share of the mine.

In 1809 he joined with Manuel Lisa, Jean Pierre Chouteau and William Clark to found the Missouri Fur Company. He soon led an expedition to the Three Forks in the Montana mountains, where he built "Fort Henry". In 1811, Henry explored the Montana-Idaho wilderness and discovered Henry's Lake. During the same expedition he built a post near present-day Saint Anthony, Idaho.

After many difficulties, especially with the Blackfoot Indians, Henry returned to Saint Louis, Missouri in January, 1812. When the War of 1812 was declared Henry enrolled in the army, rising to the rank of major.

In 1818 Henry married Mary Flemming, daughter of one of the owners of the lead mine. Mary Flemming was of French birth and considerably younger than Henry; the marriage was a happy one for them both and produced four children. Henry returned to lead mining.

In 1822, he started the Rocky Mountain Fur Company with William H. Ashley. The new company tried to send three keelboats up the Missouri River. Henry led an expedition of 150 men, 60 horses and one keelboat to the mouth of the Yellowstone River and built a post that came to be known as Fort Henry. The next boat, under the command of Daniel Moore, sank, along with ten thousand dollars worth of provisions. Ashley equipped a third boat and was able to get through to Henry, and then returned to Saint Louis.

In 1824, after a profitable season and many harrowing adventures, Andrew Henry retired from Lisa's company and returned once more to lead mining. He died, intestate, January 10, 1832.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Henry_(fur_trader)"
 
While we are on the North thing how about David Thompson and Alexander Mackenzie. Both of these gents worked for the North West Company. Mackenzie was one of the first explorers to find the North West passage (going from the Artic watershed by the Fraser and Blackwater rivers to the Pacific) and established trading posts through Northern B.C. such as Fort McCloud .

David Thompson hung out much of the time in the Columbia basin, drew up a map of the area that was used by Lewis and Clark and had the Thompson River named after him.
Click to expand...

:eek: Hey now, only one guess per member per day! (But 'No' in any case. :))
 
BTW What a great way to learn about a unique aspect of our history.

I feel like an inner city borderline passing student in a at risk classroom in a school that some onorthodox principal is trying to turn around by walking around with a baseball bat and chaining up all the exits, that you've tricked into learning something.

You all right teach!
 
Looks like two people beat me to Glass,

oops, missed the one guess per day.
 
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John Simpson Smith, aka: Uncle John, Blackfoot Smith (1812-1871) - Trader and frontiersman, Smith ranged from the Yellowstone to the Gila River, and from the upper Missouri to the Rio Grande Rivers. He was born in Frankfort, Kentucky in 1810 and at the age of 18 joined a party of Santa Fe traders. By 1830, he was trapping in the Rocky Mountains and when he saved himself from Blackfoot Indians by using trickery, he earned the nickname Blackfoot Smith. Somewhere along the line he married a Cheyenne woman and in 1843 was at Fort Laramie, Wyoming and in 1846, at Bent's Fort, Colorado. Smith, who spoke four Indian dialects, as well as French and Spanish, served as an interpreter for the Fort Laramie treaty council in 1851. He served briefly as a guide for the army's Utah Expedition of 1857. He was a pioneer founder of Denver, Colorado and by 1862, was living at Fort Lyon, Colorado. In 1864, acting as an interpreter, he helped to persuade Black Kettle and his Cheyenne followers to camp at Sand Creek, Colorado. Before the Chivington Massacre occurred there on November 29th, Smith did everything in his power to prevent it and during the massacre, Smith's son, Jack was killed and John narrowly escaped death, himself. Afterwards, he again served as an interpreter at the Little Arkansas council and accompanied the Cheyennes to their new reservation in Indian Territory, where he lived until he died on June 29, 1871.
 
Rotte said:
Yeah, fascinating guy, but he's been guessed already too (see post #50). All these guys are pretty amazing. How'd you like to sit around a campfire one evening with the likes of Jim Baker?
Click to expand...

Pretty cool. I would really like to have met Davy Crocket, as I think I am related to him on my mom's side. ( I have a Crocket Family history book that goes back to David Crocket)
 
3rd guess:
David Edward Jackson (1790-1837) - Pioneer, explorer, trader and fur trapper Jackson was born in Randolph County, West Virginia in 1790 and spent his early life west of the Shenandoah Mountains. He participated in the Battle of new Orleans in the War of 1812. In the spring of 1822, he responded to an ad in the St. Louis Enquirer for a job with William Ashley's fur company. While in present-day South Dakota, Arikara warriors attacked the expedition on June 2, 1823. The U.S. Army retaliated in what is now known as Arikara War, the first military conflict between the United States and the western Native Americans. In 1826, he and two other fur trappers, Jedediah Smith and William Sublette, bought out Ashley's operations and Jackson then managed part of the business. In 1828-29, Jackson wintered among the Flathead Indians and explored the area around Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which is named for him.
 
This Is a Goodun Rotte, Lot's of Great reading In this Topic/Give-A-Way Mountain Men & Early Trapper History Is some Good Stuff ! I'm going with "Beaver Dick Leigh",

The mountains and valleys of northwest Wyoming became the center of attention for a number of government explorations, but it wasn't until the 1870s that the hunter-trapper made his reappearance in the Jackson Hole area. This new trapper was of a different breed than the earlier types. He operated on an individual basis without ties to well established trapping companies. This new trapper was seen as a man who rebelled against society and the steady advance of civilization, and moved into the more remote mountain sections of northwest Wyoming. These trappers played a significant role in the settlement of the Jackson Hole area. Many of the individuals who came to Jackson Hole in the late 1800s would eventually take up permanent residence and file homestead claims. In many cases, these trappers represented the earliest settlers in the valley and would later become prominent individuals in the socioeconomic development of the valley
Beaver Dick Leigh was perhaps the last of the original mountain men who trapped and hunted in the Jackson Hole area. He began his career trapping with the Hudson Bay Company, but later became a free trapper and guide for the hunting parties who came to the Rocky Mountains. Beaver Dick Leigh continued to work the Jackson Hole area through the 1860s and 1870s.
 
How about the modern mountain man Aron Ralston who severed his own arm to free himself and save his own life.


Damn - I forgot about the dates you posted.... not quite that old :) Feel free to ship me the knife anyway :)

I'll guess again tomorrow if there's still time.
 
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