This is a list of explorers, trappers, guides, and other frontiersmen known as "Mountain Men". Mountain men are most associated with trapping for beaver from 1807 to the 1840s in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. Most moved on to other endeavors, but a few of them followed or adopted the mountain man life style into the 20th century.
List
Name | DOB–DOD | Years Active | Native Country | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Albert, John | 1806–1899 | 1834–1847 | United States | |
Ashley, William Henry | 1778–1838 | 1822–1828 | United States | |
Baker, Jim | 1818–1898 | 1839–1873 | United States | |
Barclay, Alex | 1810–1855 | 1838–1855 | Barclay was a British-born frontiersman of the American West. After working in St. Louis as a bookkeeper and clerk, he worked at Bent's Old Fort. He then ventured westward where he was a trapper, hunter, and trader. | |
Beckwourth, Jim | 1798–1866 | 1824–1866 | United States | |
Bent, Charles | 1799–1847 | 1828–1846 | United States | |
Bent, William | 1809–1869 | 1826–1869 | United States | |
Biggs,Thomas | 1812–1855 | 1835–1855 | United States | |
Beaver, Black | 1806–1880 | United States | ||
Bridger, Jim | 1804–1881 | 1822–1868 | United States | |
Bissonet dit Bijou, Joseph | 1778–1836 | 1812–1836 | France | |
Bissonette, Joseph | 1818–1894 | |||
Bonneville, Benjamin | 1796–1878 | 1832–1835 | France | Washington Irving wrote about him, making him famous in his lifetime. The Bonneville Salt Flats are named after him. |
Brown, John | 1817–1889 | 1841–1849 | United States | Fur trapper, trader, rancher, and merchant in and around Pueblo, Colorado. |
Brown, Kootenay | 1839–1916 | 1862–1910 | Ireland | |
Richard Campbell | 1824– | United States | Led first trapper party (from Taos) to sell beaver pelts in California, 1827 | |
Campbell, Robert | 1804–1879 | 1825–1835 | Ireland | |
Carson, Kit | 1809–1868 | 1825–1868 | United States | Carson became a frontier legend in his own lifetime through news articles and dime novels. |
Charbonneau, Jean | 1805–1866 | 1829–1866 | United States | |
Clyman, James | 1792–1880 | 1823–1848 | United States | |
Coulter, John | 1774–1813 | 1803–1810 | United States | During the winter of 1807–1808, he explored the area that is now Yellowstone and the Tetons. He is widely considered to be the first mountain man. |
Craig, Bill | 1807–1869 | United States | ||
Culbertson, Alexander | 1809–1879 | 1829–1858, 1868–1878 | ||
Drips, Andrew | 1789–1860 | |||
Drouillard, George | 1774–1810 | 1804–1810 | United States | |
Ebbert, George | 1810–1890 | 1823–1836 | United States | |
Estes, Joel | 1806–1875 | 1833–1875 | United States | Founder of Estes Park Colorado, a frontiersman, hunter, fur trader, explorer, gold prospector, and mountain man.
|
Ferris, Warren | 1810–1873 | United States | ||
Finlay, Jocko | 1768–1828 | 1806–1828 | Canada | |
Fallon, LeGros | d. 1848 | 1826–1848 | United States | Real name: William O. Fallon |
Fitzpatrick, Thomas "Broken Hand" | 1799–1854 | Ireland | ||
Fraeb, Henry | d. 1841 | 1829–1841 | ||
Fontenelle, Lucien | 1800–1840 | 1819–1840 | ||
Garcia, Andrew | 1853–1943 | United States | ||
Glass, Hugh | 1780–1833 | 1800–1833 | ||
Godin, Antoine | 1805–1836 | 1817–1836 | Canada | |
Goodyear, Miles | 1817–1849 | 1836–1847 | United States | |
Graham, Isaac | 1800–1863 | 1830–1840 | United States | |
Greenwood, Caleb | 1763–1850 | 1810–1834 | United States | |
Hamilton, Bill | 1822–1908 | |||
Harris, Moses | 1800–1849 | United States | He is also known as Black Harris, and to a lesser extent Black Squire and Major Harris. | |
Helm, Boone | 1828–1864 | 1850–1864 | United States | |
Henry, Andrew | 1775–1832 | 1809–1824 | United States | |
Jackson, David | 1788–1837 | 1822–1832 | United States | |
Janis, Antoine | 1822–1890 | 1836–1858 | ||
Kinman, Seth | 1815–1888 | 1849–1864 | United States | |
Kirker, James | 1793–1852 | 1822–1849 | Ireland | |
Leonard, Zenas | 1809–1857 | 1831–1857 | United States | |
Leroux, Antoine | 1803–1861 | 1822–1861 | United States | |
Johnson, Liver-Eating | 1824–1900 | United States | Real name: John Jeremiah Garrison Johnston | |
Lilly, Bill | 1856–1936 | United States | ||
Lisa, Manuel | 1772–1820 | 1789–1820 | ||
Lupton, Lancaster | 1807–1885 | 1835–1844 | United States | |
Medina, Mariano | 1812–1878 | United States | Born in Taos, New Mexico, Medina settled in the Big Thompson Valley in 1858, establishing Fort Namaqua and the Namaqua settlement, now within Loveland, Colorado. He operated a trading post, stage station, and toll bridge. | |
Meek, Joe | 1810–1875 | 1828–1850 | United States | |
Meek, Stephen | 1805–1889 | 1827–1889 | United States | |
Moore, Bear | 1850–1924 | Real name: James Moore | United States | |
Newell, Doc | 1807–1869 | 1829–1869 | ||
Nidever, George | 1802–1883 | 1830–1853 | United States | |
Ogden, Pete | 1794–1854 | 1809–1847 | Canada | |
Osborne Russell | 1814- 1884 | 1834-1843 | United States | Osborne Russell Russell, Osborne (1921). Journal of a Trapper: Nine Years in the Rocky Mountains (1834-1843). Boise, Idaho: Symes-York Company. p. 31. |
Pattie, James Ohio | 1804–1851? | 1824–1830 | United States | |
Perkins, “Moccasin Bill” | 1825–1904 | 1860–1904 | United States | William Henry Perkins (Not to be confused with Buffalo Bill. Not to be confused with Moccasin Bill, Cunning Serpent of Ojibwah") |
Provost, Etienne | 1785–1850 | 1822–1830 | Canada | |
Rose, Edward | 1780–1833 | 1807–1833 | United States | |
Russell, Osborne | 1814–1892 | 1834–1845 | United States | |
Paxton, George | 1821–1848 | United Kingdom | ||
Purcell, James | fl. 1802–? | United States | ||
Sage, Rufus | 1817–1893 | 1841–1844 | United States | |
Smith, Jedediah | 1799–1831 | 1822–1831 | United States | |
Smith, John Simpson | 1810–1871 | 1830–1871 | United States | Uncle John, Blackfoot Smith |
Smith, Pegleg | 1801–1866 | United States | ||
Straw, Nat | 1857–1941 | |||
Stump, Bear Killer, Daddy, Doc., Father | 1777–1860 | 1820–1860 | State of Deseret | Traded with Chief Wanship, Washakie mentioned on page 121-122 in Osbourne Russell's Journal, wintered on Antelope Island, raised Peaches, Summer ranged, trapped South Cache Valley, Helped LDS Pioneers, Murderer Mystery. |
Stevens, Montague | 1859–1953 | United Kingdom | ||
St. Vrain, Ceran | 1802–1870 | United States | ||
Sublette, Milton | 1801–1837 | 1823–1835 | United States | |
Sublette, Bill | 1799–1845 | 1823–1832 | United States | |
Tevanitagon, Pierre | ?–1828 | 1822–1828 | Canada | An Iroquois from Quebec |
Tobin, Tom | 1823–1904 | 1837–1878 | United States | |
Trask, Elbridge | 1815–1863 | 1835–1852 | United States | |
Turner, John | 1807 | 1847 | United States | Turner survived three Native American massacres, one in 1827 on the Colorado River with the Jedediah Smith expedition, one in 1828 with Smith on the Umpquah River, and one in 1835 on the Rogue River. He later used his survival skills to lead the second round of the Donner Party rescue effort. |
Vasquez, Lou | 1798–1868 | 1723–1858 | ||
Walker, Joe | 1798–1876 | 1832–1863 | United States | |
Weaver, Pauline | 1797–1867 | 1830–1867 | United States | His given name Powell was changed to the more-familiar to Spanish speakers Paulino, which in turn was changed to Pauline by English speakers |
Weber, John | 1779–1859 | 1822–1840 | Germany | |
Wetzel, Lewis | 1752–1808 | 1786–1791 | United States | |
Williams, Old Bill | 1787–1849 | 1812–1849 | United States | |
Wooten, Dick | 1816–1893 | United States | ||
Wyeth, Nathaniel | 1802–1856 | 1832–1837 | United States | |
Yount, Harry | 1839–1924 | 1866–1924 | United States |
References
- "Groundbreaker: Alexander Barclay". The World Journal. October 15, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
- ^ Mariano Medina, Colorado Mountain Man, by Zethyl Gates (Paperback 093347251X), web:PS–1X.
- Hafen, LeRoy R. "Joseph Bissonet dit Bijou". The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West. Vol. 9. Glendale, California: A. H. Clark Co., 1965.
- Utley, R. M. (1997). A life wild and perilous: Mountain men and the paths to the Pacific. New York: Henry Holt and Co.
- Zimmerman, Emily. "John Colter 1773?–1813". The Mountain Men: Pathfinders of the West 1810–1860. American Studies at the University of Virginia. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018. Retrieved May 8, 2007.
- Cassell, Colleen Estes (August 1999). The Golden Pioneer Biography of Joel Estes.
- Hafen, Leroy. Colorado and its People.
- Hafen, Leroy. The Mountain Men and The Fur Trade Of the Far West.
- Hafen, Leroy. Pikes Peak Gold Rush Guidebooks of 1859.
- Hiatt Family History (Sidney, IA, Carter printing Co., 1960)
- Cook, Marshall. "Joel Estes Colorado Territory Exploration 1833-1834" Colorado Early Days, a manuscript written in the early 1880s presented by his daughter, Mrs H.A. Clingenpeel], Johnstown Co., September 1932, p.132
- Wright, Dunham. A winter in Estes Park with Senator Tellor, The Trail, July 1920
- Estes Milton. "Memoirs of Estes Park" The Colorado Magazine, Vol XVI #4, July 1939 Estes
- Estes, Milton. A biographical paragraph, from Rocky mountain News, File no. 101-03, Historical Notes, (U.S. Dept. of Interior, News Service.
- Estes, Francis Marion. "First White Man in Estes Park" Rocky Mountain News, September 13, 1909.
- Busch, Mel. Estes Park's First Born Arrived in 6th Year of local settlement, Trail Gazette, Wednesday, February 22, 1984.
- ^ Salmon, Dutch. Mountain Men of the Gila Archived 2012-09-23 at the Wayback Machine. SouthernNewMexico.com. Retrieved 2012–09–25
- Nichols, Jeffery D., Fellow Trappers called Etienne Provost Man Of The Mountains. History Blazer, Aug 1995;Leroy R. Hafen, "Etienne Provost, Mountain Man and Utah Pioneer," Utah Historical Quarterly 36 (1968); Jack B. Tykal, Etienne Provost: Man of the Mountains (Liberty, Utah: Eagle's View Publishing Company, 1989)
- Haines, Aubrey L., ed. Osborne Russell's Journal of a Trapper. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1965. ISBN 0803251661
- Baker, James H.; LeRoy R. Hafen, eds. (1927). History of Colorado. Vol. 1. Denver, Colorado: Linderman Company. p. 299.
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ignored (help) - Davis, Carolyn O'Bagy. Mogollon Mountain Man Nat Straw: Grizzly Hunter and Trapper. Tucson: Sanpete Publications, 2003.
Further reading
- DeVoto, Bernard. Across the Wide Missouri. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1947. ISBN 0395924979
External links
- "Mountain Men and Life in the Rocky Mountain West". Malachite's Big Hole. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
- "Frontier Legends: Explorers, Trappers, & Traders". Legends of America. Retrieved 2013-10-01.