Mountain Men and Trappers

Why Were They So Important?
1. Fur Trappers
  1. They were the first white men to cross The Great Plains and The Rock Mountains, trapping beavers and hunting antelope and other animals for fur
  2. Some worked for companies that sold fur to fashion houses in the eastern states and in Europe
  3. Many of them were completely independent, calling themselves Mountain men
2. Mountain Men
  1. They spent their lives roaming the rockies and sierra Nevada, selling skins and furs to traders when they could
  2. They found routes through The Rockies and Sierra Nevada that had previously only been known to the Indians
Mountain Men And Indians, Friends Or Foes?
1. Mountain Men, like Indians were expert trackers, hunters and knew the uses of plants
2. Some of the Mountain Men and Indians worked together, but other fought
  1. Some Indian Nations, such as the Blackfoot were enemies, whilst others such as the Shoshone were friendlier
  2. Some Mountain Men married Indian women, Jim Bridger had 3 Indian wives
  3. Jim Beckwith even became Indian chief
  4. Jeremiah Johnson on the other hand killed every Indian he came across
  5. Although Mountain Men may have brought comfort to some Indians, in general the Indians gained little from them
    1. Along with the Mountain Men came guns, alcohol, smallpox and STDs, and this meant the beginning of the destruction to the Indians way of life
Mountain Men And The Government, Friends Or Foes?
1. Government explorers were in the Rockies and Sierra Nevada to map and chart, not to hunt
  1. So any help they could give each other was usually welcomed
    1. In 1842, John Charles Fremont and the US army began a survey of the Rocky Mountains. And Mountain Man Joseph Walker helped guide the expedition
  2. This didn't clash with the interests of Mountain Men
Jim Bridger
1. In 1822, Jim Bridger joined General Ashley's upper Missouri Expedition and explored the Yellowstone region. This gave him a taste for exploring and for the life of a Mountain Man.
2. In 1824 he became the first white man to see the Great Salt Lake, 6 years later, along with several other mountain men he bought the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.
3. In the early 1840s he moved on to buld a trading post, Fort Bridger, to provide supplies for Migrants on the Oregon Trail
4. Bridger led hundreds of wagon trains safely through the Rockies
5. In 1850 he was looking for a better way through, he discovered a pass that was later named after him and shortened the Oregon trail by 61 miles
  1. He also created the Bridger Trail which was an alternative route to Wyoming that avoided the dangerous Bozemen trail.
6. He worked as a guide and army scout during the first Powder River Expedition against the Sioux and Cheyenne who were blocking the Bozemen trail (Red Cloud's War) and was discharged from the army in 1865
7. Blind and suffering from arthritis and rheumatism, he died in Kansas in 1881
Buying, Selling and Gossiping
1. tions where their agents could buy fur and skins from the trapper and mountain Men
  1. These trading stations were called 'forts' because they could be defended against attacks from Indians
  2. News of rich land west of the Rocky Mountains was spread by Mountain Men and was then bought by traders

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Mountain Men and Trappers

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	Created by lisharding over 10 years ago