Buck Conner1
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Boy Scouts (BSA) and Girl Scouts (GSA) gathered as one group. (page 2)
THE ERA OF THE MOUNTAIN MAN (cont. from page 1)
Before the 1820s and the birth of the mountain man, the fur trade of the Rocky Mountains existed as an exchange of goods between Indian and white man, pelts for manufactured articles. However, when several major fur companies entered into the field, the business of the fur trade grew into a complex organization. “Engages,” or trappers supplied and salaried by a fur company, worked for the companies headquartered in St. Louis, the fur trading capital of the United States. These men were employed at salaries of two to four hundred dollars a year. The “skin trappers” were those outfitted by a company on credit, who paid their debts at the end of each season by promising their pelts to a designated fur company. With the introduction of Ashley’s rendezvous, the “mountain man” came into being. This man was known as the “free trapper” and owed allegiance to no single company. By 1830, there were several hundred “free trappers” in the Rocky Mountain region.
The mountain men knew the back country by heart and developed close relationships with the Indian tribes of the mountains, often adopting their customs and becoming more Indian than white in appearance. Much of this transformation may be attributed to necessity rather than desire. For example, as their clothing from the states began to deteriorate with the wear and tear of mountain life, they made convenient use of Indian clothes.
The mountain men came from a variety of backgrounds. Some were literate while others were not, some were escaped criminals who were forced to the mountains to escape punishment of their crimes, many possessed tremendous pride in their work and loved the freedom of the untrodden terrain—the mountains, the skies, the plains and the forests. The men were generally young, averaging between twenty and thirty years old. Most never concerned themselves with the prospect of saving money. Zenas Leonard, who passed three years with the trappers, said: “Scarcely one man in ten of those employed in this country ever thinks of saving a single dollar of his earnings, but all spend it as fast as they can find an object to spend it for. They care not what may come to pass tomorrow, but think only of enjoying the present moment.”
The trapper’s language was a strange combination of English, French, and Spanish, with barely a hint of grammatical accuracy and literary correctness. Their humor was of a dry wit, conversations sparsely lined with subtle touches of humor. Rarely were loud echoes of laughter heard from the mountains, this was simply not their way of life.
Life in the mountains was valued for its freedom from legal restraints, but not to be confused with lawlessness. Life, liberty, and the rights of property were greatly respected. Trust was an essential component of life. No written agreements were ever needed for the “Golden Rule” prevailed.
The era of the mountain man lasted only a few years, from 1822 till 1840. By that time, the trapper had nearly eliminated the supply of beaver in the mountains and the European fashions had turned away from the beaver towards other items such as silk and coonskin caps. The fur trade had died and with it died the mountain man.
The end of the fur trade brought about new dilemmas for the mountain men, who were forced by necessity to seek out new professions. Many became guides for the emigrant trains, protecting them from the hazards of the trail and leading them to their new homes in the Pacific Northwest. Some of the mountain men became scouts for the army, while others became hunters for trading posts. A few, such as Joe Meek, appointed as U.S. Marshal, came to hold positions of authority. Still others served as officers to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where their intimate knowledge and a genuine concern for the tribes added much to a service that was not noted for its compassion. Finally, some trappers refused to live any other life than that of the mountains, many of them crossing completely over to the Indian culture.
They were the true trailblazers who had set the stage for the establishment of the Oregon Trail. They had uncovered mountain passes and essential waterways. They knew the routes for safe passage to the West and were instrumental in the settlement of Oregon and California. In an unsophisticated yet successful process, the mountain men accomplished the initial phase of Western exploration.
THE TRAPPER’S DAILY LIFE
At the close of the yearly rendezvous, the mountain men would return to the mountains to trap beaver. Till the next summer, they would live on fresh meat and sleep under the stars. The mountain men worked through the fall season till the first snowfall, generally in November. At that point, they made preparations for a winter camp, often constructing a log shelter or a tipi to ease the harsh cold and wind of the winter months. As soon as the ice broke, around late March or early April, the spring trapping season began. This season, which lasted till the advent of summer, was considered the best time to trap beaver as the quality of the pelt was at its prime.
The men set off in groups of a dozen or so for protection but separated into smaller groups of two or three for actual trapping. A trapper’s equipment was carried generally upon a horse or mule. Each man kept six or seven traps in a trapsack. Other equipment included: saddle and bridle, (saddle blanket), rifle, powder horn, bullet pouch, hunting knife, flint and striker, castor bottle filled with castoreum, hatchet, and a possibles sack containing pipe, tobacco, sewing kit, extra moccasins, and other small necessities. Many carried coffee, sugar and whiskey, but these luxuries were used up quickly. The trappers rode Indian ponies and lead a pack horse or mule, sometimes accompanied by an Indian wife on another horse. Osborne Russell described the accouterments of the trapper in detail:
His personal dress was a flannel or cotton shirt, animal skin, such as deer or antelope, served for an outer shirt. A pair of leather breeches and smoked buffalo skin leggings covered his lower body. Moccasins made of dressed deer, elk or buffalo skins were worn on his feet. A winter coat made of buffalo or otter skin covered his body in winter.
The men traveled along the main river valleys and trapped the many tributaries. When all the surrounding streams had been exhausted of beaver, the men would move to a new location and the pattern was repeated. Throughout the year, the men would meet at certain times and places to report on their progress, collect and cache the furs, and “count heads.”
In setting the traps, the mountain men first selected a likely site, such as the spillway of a dam or a path made by beavers leaving or entering the stream. The trapper entered the stream some distance away from where the trap was to be set, in order to avoid leaving a human scent. The trap was placed near the bank only a few inches underwater and then anchored by a chain attached to a stick driven into the bottom of the stream or pond some six feet from the shore. A small tree limb was then stuck into the mud in such a position as to hang directly over the trap.
From his castor bottle the trapper would take some castoreum, to be used as bait to attract the beaver, and smear this over the tree limb. The foot of the beaver would get caught in the jaws of the trap and, unless it chewed off its own leg, the beaver would drown from the heavy weight of the trap. After the setting of the trap was in order, the trapper waded a good distance from the area before exiting the stream.
Joe Meek described the details of the trapping procedure:
He has an ordinary trap weighing five pound, attached to a chain five feet long, with a swivel and ring at the end, which plays round what is called the float, a dry stick of wood, about six feet long. The trapper wades out into the stream, which is shallow, and cuts with his knife a bed for the trap, five or six inches underwater. He then takes the float out the whole length of the chain in the direction of the center of the stream, and drives it into the mud, so fast that the beaver cannot draw it out; at the same time tying the other end by a thong to the bank. A small stick or twig, dipped in musk or castor, serves as bait, and is placed so as to hang directly above the trap, which is now set. The trapper then throws water plentifully over the adjacent bank to conceal any foot prints or scent by which the beaver would be alarmed, and going to some distance wades out of the stream.
The traps were generally set at dusk and raised at dawn. The beavers would be skinned immediately, along with the perineal glands which yield the castoreum. The pelts were carried back to camp where the camp keepers, often Indian wives, would perform the task of processing the pelt. First the flesh side of the skin was scraped clean, and then the skin was stretched on circular hoops to dry in the sun for a day. The pelts were then folded, fur inward, and compacted into bundles of sixty to eighty skins in preparation for transportation.
The trappers cached furs, merchandise and surplus equipment by burying it in the ground. As such, the cache became the base of the trapper’s operation. It was generally made on a rise where the soil was dry. A deep pit was dug, lined with sticks and leaves and the materials carefully deposited. The pit was filled with soil and the ground surface restored to its natural condition so as not to reveal the supplies to the Indians. The cache would be raised while en route to the summer rendezvous.
During the winter season, the trappers went into “hibernation.” This was a period of rest, amusement, and acquaintanceship for the mountain men. As the streams were frozen, no beavers were trapped during the winter unless the fall hunt had not been good or food was scarce. Many uneducated men spent the winter months “getting educated” around the campfire, where they learned to read and write.
Around the campfire, men told tall tales which were often both amusing and unbelievable. Joe Meek came upon a forest in the mountains where everything had turned to stone and before him stood hundreds of “putrefied trees in which flocks of putrefied birds sang putrefied songs.” In another tale, a man crawled half a mile pursuing an elk. When he shot at the elk the animal continued eating, paying no attention to the shot. The man fired several shots, each without reaction or success. In disbelief, the man advanced toward the elk where he bumped into a mountain wall of pure crystal. At the base of this wall lay his flattened bullets! Another story tells of a place in the mountains where a loud voice echoed from a cliff so far away that it took eight hours for the sound to travel back.
Jim Beckwourth who became famous for his stories of heroism and romance, with his imagination often surpassing his veracity.
One of Beckwourth’s stories took place after his mountain years when Beckwourth had settled in California to have his memoirs written by an anonymous writer. His mountain buddies collected funds and sent a man to California to purchase the book. The bookseller, not having a volume of Beckwourth’s book in stock, sold the illiterate mountain man a copy of the Bible. When he returned, the only literate man in the group began to read Beckwourth’s book aloud, chancing upon the story beginning at the fifteenth chapter of Judges which tells how Samson destroyed the crops of the Philistines by sending into their corn fields three hundred foxes with firebrands tied to their tails. At this point, At this point, a member from the audience interrupted the reading, saying that “he know that for one of Jim Beckwourth’s lies anywhere!”
The trappers learned from the Indians where to find suitable winter sites; sites with plenty of grass, water, and wild game. The mountain men built log cabins or tipis and friendly Indians were welcomed into camp. Their Indian wives could mend and make clothes and cook much better than the mountain men. If game was abundant, the men lived well, supplementing their diets with pemmican stew, dried berries, hominy pudding and other delicacies cooked by the Indian women. During desperate winters, the mountain men were forced to eat boiled moccasins, sleeping robes or the skins of their pelts.
Late in March, it was time to abandon camp and begin traveling. The ice was beginning to thaw and the beavers were starting to emerge from their lodges to feed on the plants of spring. The spring hunt continued until the advent of summer, when the quality of the pelt began to deteriorate and the mobility of the beaver made trapping difficult. At this point, the trappers would collect their caches and head to the annual rendezvous.
THE RENDEZVOUS SYSTEM 1825-1840
The rendezvous was one of the most interesting developments of the fur trade in the Rocky Mountains. It arose from the necessity of carrying the trade into regions remote from navigable rivers, where boats could not carry the annual merchandise nor bring back caravans from the States, and rendezvous were appointed for each year at points convenient for the trappers and Indians to meet the traders. These meetings were great events and form one of the most picturesque features of early frontier life in the Far West.
Father DeSmet wrote: Life, Letter and Travels of Father DeSmet, p. 216
During the summer of 1825 a unique idea was introduced to the American fur trade. Beaver trappers had prearranged a meeting place with their employer in the Rocky Mountains to sell their beaver pelts. More than any other state, Wyoming has been identified as rendezvous country and the home of the mountain man because most of the rendezvous were held in Wyoming. Eleven rendezvous were held in Wyoming during the period of 1825 to 1840. The sites were chosen deliberately for the grass and water supply and the availability of wood for fuel and game for food and sport. The most suitable site proved to be the vicinity of Horse Creek and Green River, near present Daniel, Wyoming. The rendezvous of 1833, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1839, and 1840 were all held at this location.
The rendezvous was William Ashley’s great innovation to the fur trade. The original system had depended on Indians to do the trapping, and white traders operating out of forts, or posts trading for furs. But Ashley saw that his fur men could produce more pelts by themselves. Furthermore, the rendezvous avoided the cost associated with a trading post and the necessity of keeping a garrison on the payroll. At the first rendezvous Ashley collected 9,700 pounds of beaver pelts worth $48,000 in Saint Louis.
Whether by intention or instinct, Ashley had hit upon a method that succeeded as long as the beaver pelts lasted in abundance. The rendezvous was held for sixteen years and only played out when the beavers had been hunted almost to extinction in the mountains and fashion changed to silk hats.
In order to keep contact with his far-flung fur brigades, and possibly to be sure they would not be tempted into trading with any itinerant rivals, Ashley told his men that in July 1825 he would meet them at Henry's Fork on the Green River with a caravan-load of goods from St. Louis. There he would pay them off for their previous years’ work, pick up their furs and reoutfit them for the 1825-1826 season. At the same time, since no trapping was done in midsummer, they could relax and lounge around the river for a few weeks. Ashley also let it be known that if Indians, white freelance trappers, and employees of other fur companies cared to sell their furs at Henry’s Fork, pick up supplies and join in the fun and games, they would be more than welcome. Thus it was that the rendezvous—soon to be the best known social and business institution of the American mountain men—came into existence.
The trapper would come to the rendezvous bringing pelts to trade with the fur company that would arrive with supply trains from Missouri. The trains would be loaded with supplies for the trappers—traps, blankets, knives, guns, gunpowder, lead, coffee, sugar, flour, and whiskey—all over priced due to the scarcity of competitive sellers. After the first rendezvous each major fur company had a supply train at the rendezvous site, creating intense rivalries as the companies competed for the furs of the free trapper.
The rendezvous took place each summer, usually late June or early July, and lasted for several weeks. The mountain men reached the rendezvous after a year of solitary labor in the wilderness. The trading only accounted for one to two days, with the remaining days the mountain men devoted to entertaining themselves with any activity that would satisfy their fun-starved appetites. The raw alcohol that was passed around served to release inhibitions. There were horse races and foot races, wrestling and fighting, gambling, duels, and romance with Indian women. At the end of the three or four weeks, the event closed.
Alfred Jacob Miller
“THE ARTIST TO THE MOUNTAIN MAN”
Alfred Jacob Miller displayed artistic talent at a very early age. It is believed that in his youth, Miller studied under Thomas Sully before traveling to Europe to strengthen his skills as a painter. Miller returned to his hometown of Baltimore in the mid-1830s. Growing restless, the artist moved to New Orleans and soon developed the ambition to become the first artist to penetrate the heart of the Rockies. Miller’s exploits are recorded in many accounts. In 1837 Miller and William Drummond Stewart, a very influential Scottish nobleman, traveled to the Green River Valley for the 13th annual rendezvous. The artist traveled over the Oregon Trail and crossed over South Pass and the Continental Divide, recording such landmarks as Independence Rock and Devil’s Gate. However, it was not the factual which fascinated this talented artist; rather, he was caught by the romance of the West which he portrayed vividly in his landscapes and human studies.
Miller is recognized as the first white artist to record the life of the mountain man, whose life was already quickly disappearing. Bernard DeVoto, one of the first to appreciate the contribution of this artist, pointed out: “It is a pack saddle or a stirrup, a bag of possibles, the curve of an Indian cradle or pommel or arrow case. . . small authentic matter recorded for our use, whose very commonplaceness makes them valuable.” His drawings and journal of the rendezvous provide the best record to date of the annual festival. Although Miller spent only one season in the West, his record of the fur trade and of the Indian way of life is more complete than even that of well-known and prolific artist George Catlin. Miller continually focused on the trapper of the West, the colorful and exotic actor set against the grand backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. His art “epitomizes that of the romantic who saw the West through rosy filters and idealized its features to create picturesque scenes.”
JOURNAL OF ALFRED JACOB MILLER
Miller made some sketches of different scenes at the 1837 rendezvous. Accompanying those sketches were a number of journal entries which follow:
“Encampment”
The sketch represents an encampment of Shoshonee Indians, near Green River, Oregon. On the elevated ground, or bluff, are a group of Indians in painted robes. On the plain below they are preparing jerked meat, this is performed by cutting it up into thin slices and laying it on frame work, composed of crotched sticks supporting poles; — under these a suppressed fire is built, so as to smoke and dry it at the same time.
Before we started from St. Louis we became acquainted with Capt. Sublette, who was then a substantial merchant in that city. He had been one of the pioneers to the “Far West” and almost the first thing he did was to hand us a piece of this prepared meat so as to give us a foretaste of mountain life. He told us that every season he caused a bale of meat to be brought down to him which lasted 6 or 8 months.
The Indians and Trappers, after having prepared it properly, fold it in smoked buckskin and stow it away either for Winter consumption, or as a provision in making journeys where game is scarce.
“The Trapper’s Bride”
The prices varying in accordance with circumstances. He (the trapper) is seated with his friend, to the left of the sketch, his hand extended to his promised wife, supported by her father and accompanied by a chief, who holds the calumet, an article indispensable in all grand ceremonies. The price of acquisition, in this case, was $600 paid for in the legal tender of this region: Vis: Guns, $100 each, Blankets $40 each, Red Flannel $20 pr. year, Alcohol $64 pr Gal., Tobacco, Beads &c. at corresponding rates.
A Free Trapper (white or half-breed), being ton or upper circle, is a most desirable match, but it is conceded that he is a ruined man after such an investment, the lady running into unheard of extravagances. She wants a dress, horse, gorgeous saddle, trappings, and the deuce knows what beside. For this the poor devil trapper sells himself, body and soul, to the Fur Company for a number of years. He traps beaver, hunts the Buffalo and bear, Elk &c. The furs and robes of which the Company credit to his account.
The “Devil’s Gate”
The traveler on his way to the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains encounters this singular scene, about 5 miles beyond Independence Rock, where the Sweet Water has forced its way through a granite ridge. Col. Fremont, who seems to have measured it, thus described it.—-
The length of the passage is about 300 yards, and the width 35 yards. The walls of rock are vertical, and about 400feet in height; and the stream in the gate is almost entirely choked up by masses which have fallen from above. In the wall on the right bank is a dike of trap rock, cutting through a fine grey granite; near the point of this ridge crop out some Strata of the valley formation, consisting of a greyish sandstone and fine grey conglomerate and marl.”
The sketch however will convey a better idea of the scene than any written description can possibly accomplish.
“Indian Hospitality”
The sketch represents the interior of a Lodge and the Snake Indian entertaining a free Trapper at a feast. The latter is engaged in recounting some adventure to his host, partly by his limited knowledge of the Indian Language, and by signs.
To the right is seated an Indian woman who watches his every movement with intense interest;—she has no doubt often heard of the extravagant generosity of these reckless fellows, and worships him accordingly.
We had often opportunities of attending these feasts—but an invitation to one in the valley of Green River posed us,—it was to a “Dog Feast.” Now in course of time we had made some efforts to get rid of foolish prejudices, of one kind or other,— but how about the Dog meat? “Oh we can manage that.” He then called a Trapper, who in consideration of our promising to give him a paper of vermillion* would arrange the matter;—on the day appointed, the vermillion was forthcoming. We sat by the trapper at the feast who ate our share, seemed to enjoy it too;—and the etiquette appeared satisfactory to our hosts, in every respect. * 1 ounce.
“Moonlight—Camp Scene”
An old trapper is up on his feet spinning a yarn wherein he is giving an account of an adventure of Markhead’s with a grizzly bear. According to his account, Markhead was afraid of nothing on or under this earth, and “was bound to shine in the biggest sort of a crowd.” The story, stripped of the trapper’s ornamentation, was to this effect.—That Markhead for a wager determined to go into some wild cherry bushes where the bear was known to be, and dispatch him simply with a tomahawk. In this affair, the “B’ar” was too much for him. In approaching him through the bushes, he was not aware that Bruin was so near, and in a moment the powerful brute had his paw on our hero’s head, tearing away the entire scalp. Most wonderful of all in the course of time, the trapper entirely recovered, and when we reached the Rendezvous in Oregon, we saw him well and hearty; his head having little or no hair on it and presented a very singular appearance. During the recital there was a running commentary from the Trappers. — “Wagh” “he was some”—“had old grit in him” —“could take the frissle off a darned panther’s tail.”&c.
“Trapping Beaver”
In hunting the Beaver two or more trappers are usually in company. On reaching a creek or stream, their first attention is given to “sign.” If they discover a tree prostrate, it is carefully examined to ascertain if it is the work of Beaver, and if thrown for the purpose of damming the stream. Foot prints of the animal on the mud or sand are carefully searched for, and if fresh, they then prepare to set their traps. One of these is baited with “medicine”—hidden under water, and attached to a pole driven firmly on or near the bank. A “float-stick” is made fast to the trap, so that if the Beaver should carry it away, the stick remains on the surface of the water and points out its position.
With all the caution the poor trappers take, they cannot always escape the Lynx eyes of the Indians. The dreadful war whoop, with bullets and arrows about their ears, are the first intimations of danger; They are destroyed in this way from time to time, until by a mere chance their bones are found bleaching on the borders of some stream where they have hunted.
“Prairie on Fire”
Towards the Fall the grass, which has attained the height of 3 or 4 feet, becomes parched and dry.
It is then very inflammable and either by accident or design takes fire. The manner of its approach is insidious enough; at first a slight haze is seen near the horizon, but the experienced eye of the Trapper or Indian immediately detects the nature of the visitor, and all hands in the camp are immediately busy in setting fire to the long grass about them;—not suffering it to make much headway, but beating it down with cloths & blankets. In this manner large spaces are cleared, horses, mules, and tents are secured in the burnt areas, which are enlarged as time permits, and escape from certain death is thus averted through a very simple process.
The fire sweeps round with the speed of a race horse, licking up everything that it touches with its fiery tongue,—leaving nothing in its train but a blackened heath.
THE ERA OF THE MOUNTAIN MAN (cont. from page 1)
Before the 1820s and the birth of the mountain man, the fur trade of the Rocky Mountains existed as an exchange of goods between Indian and white man, pelts for manufactured articles. However, when several major fur companies entered into the field, the business of the fur trade grew into a complex organization. “Engages,” or trappers supplied and salaried by a fur company, worked for the companies headquartered in St. Louis, the fur trading capital of the United States. These men were employed at salaries of two to four hundred dollars a year. The “skin trappers” were those outfitted by a company on credit, who paid their debts at the end of each season by promising their pelts to a designated fur company. With the introduction of Ashley’s rendezvous, the “mountain man” came into being. This man was known as the “free trapper” and owed allegiance to no single company. By 1830, there were several hundred “free trappers” in the Rocky Mountain region.
The mountain men knew the back country by heart and developed close relationships with the Indian tribes of the mountains, often adopting their customs and becoming more Indian than white in appearance. Much of this transformation may be attributed to necessity rather than desire. For example, as their clothing from the states began to deteriorate with the wear and tear of mountain life, they made convenient use of Indian clothes.
The mountain men came from a variety of backgrounds. Some were literate while others were not, some were escaped criminals who were forced to the mountains to escape punishment of their crimes, many possessed tremendous pride in their work and loved the freedom of the untrodden terrain—the mountains, the skies, the plains and the forests. The men were generally young, averaging between twenty and thirty years old. Most never concerned themselves with the prospect of saving money. Zenas Leonard, who passed three years with the trappers, said: “Scarcely one man in ten of those employed in this country ever thinks of saving a single dollar of his earnings, but all spend it as fast as they can find an object to spend it for. They care not what may come to pass tomorrow, but think only of enjoying the present moment.”
The trapper’s language was a strange combination of English, French, and Spanish, with barely a hint of grammatical accuracy and literary correctness. Their humor was of a dry wit, conversations sparsely lined with subtle touches of humor. Rarely were loud echoes of laughter heard from the mountains, this was simply not their way of life.
Life in the mountains was valued for its freedom from legal restraints, but not to be confused with lawlessness. Life, liberty, and the rights of property were greatly respected. Trust was an essential component of life. No written agreements were ever needed for the “Golden Rule” prevailed.
The era of the mountain man lasted only a few years, from 1822 till 1840. By that time, the trapper had nearly eliminated the supply of beaver in the mountains and the European fashions had turned away from the beaver towards other items such as silk and coonskin caps. The fur trade had died and with it died the mountain man.
The end of the fur trade brought about new dilemmas for the mountain men, who were forced by necessity to seek out new professions. Many became guides for the emigrant trains, protecting them from the hazards of the trail and leading them to their new homes in the Pacific Northwest. Some of the mountain men became scouts for the army, while others became hunters for trading posts. A few, such as Joe Meek, appointed as U.S. Marshal, came to hold positions of authority. Still others served as officers to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where their intimate knowledge and a genuine concern for the tribes added much to a service that was not noted for its compassion. Finally, some trappers refused to live any other life than that of the mountains, many of them crossing completely over to the Indian culture.
They were the true trailblazers who had set the stage for the establishment of the Oregon Trail. They had uncovered mountain passes and essential waterways. They knew the routes for safe passage to the West and were instrumental in the settlement of Oregon and California. In an unsophisticated yet successful process, the mountain men accomplished the initial phase of Western exploration.
THE TRAPPER’S DAILY LIFE
At the close of the yearly rendezvous, the mountain men would return to the mountains to trap beaver. Till the next summer, they would live on fresh meat and sleep under the stars. The mountain men worked through the fall season till the first snowfall, generally in November. At that point, they made preparations for a winter camp, often constructing a log shelter or a tipi to ease the harsh cold and wind of the winter months. As soon as the ice broke, around late March or early April, the spring trapping season began. This season, which lasted till the advent of summer, was considered the best time to trap beaver as the quality of the pelt was at its prime.
The men set off in groups of a dozen or so for protection but separated into smaller groups of two or three for actual trapping. A trapper’s equipment was carried generally upon a horse or mule. Each man kept six or seven traps in a trapsack. Other equipment included: saddle and bridle, (saddle blanket), rifle, powder horn, bullet pouch, hunting knife, flint and striker, castor bottle filled with castoreum, hatchet, and a possibles sack containing pipe, tobacco, sewing kit, extra moccasins, and other small necessities. Many carried coffee, sugar and whiskey, but these luxuries were used up quickly. The trappers rode Indian ponies and lead a pack horse or mule, sometimes accompanied by an Indian wife on another horse. Osborne Russell described the accouterments of the trapper in detail:
His personal dress was a flannel or cotton shirt, animal skin, such as deer or antelope, served for an outer shirt. A pair of leather breeches and smoked buffalo skin leggings covered his lower body. Moccasins made of dressed deer, elk or buffalo skins were worn on his feet. A winter coat made of buffalo or otter skin covered his body in winter.
The men traveled along the main river valleys and trapped the many tributaries. When all the surrounding streams had been exhausted of beaver, the men would move to a new location and the pattern was repeated. Throughout the year, the men would meet at certain times and places to report on their progress, collect and cache the furs, and “count heads.”
In setting the traps, the mountain men first selected a likely site, such as the spillway of a dam or a path made by beavers leaving or entering the stream. The trapper entered the stream some distance away from where the trap was to be set, in order to avoid leaving a human scent. The trap was placed near the bank only a few inches underwater and then anchored by a chain attached to a stick driven into the bottom of the stream or pond some six feet from the shore. A small tree limb was then stuck into the mud in such a position as to hang directly over the trap.
From his castor bottle the trapper would take some castoreum, to be used as bait to attract the beaver, and smear this over the tree limb. The foot of the beaver would get caught in the jaws of the trap and, unless it chewed off its own leg, the beaver would drown from the heavy weight of the trap. After the setting of the trap was in order, the trapper waded a good distance from the area before exiting the stream.
Joe Meek described the details of the trapping procedure:
He has an ordinary trap weighing five pound, attached to a chain five feet long, with a swivel and ring at the end, which plays round what is called the float, a dry stick of wood, about six feet long. The trapper wades out into the stream, which is shallow, and cuts with his knife a bed for the trap, five or six inches underwater. He then takes the float out the whole length of the chain in the direction of the center of the stream, and drives it into the mud, so fast that the beaver cannot draw it out; at the same time tying the other end by a thong to the bank. A small stick or twig, dipped in musk or castor, serves as bait, and is placed so as to hang directly above the trap, which is now set. The trapper then throws water plentifully over the adjacent bank to conceal any foot prints or scent by which the beaver would be alarmed, and going to some distance wades out of the stream.
The traps were generally set at dusk and raised at dawn. The beavers would be skinned immediately, along with the perineal glands which yield the castoreum. The pelts were carried back to camp where the camp keepers, often Indian wives, would perform the task of processing the pelt. First the flesh side of the skin was scraped clean, and then the skin was stretched on circular hoops to dry in the sun for a day. The pelts were then folded, fur inward, and compacted into bundles of sixty to eighty skins in preparation for transportation.
The trappers cached furs, merchandise and surplus equipment by burying it in the ground. As such, the cache became the base of the trapper’s operation. It was generally made on a rise where the soil was dry. A deep pit was dug, lined with sticks and leaves and the materials carefully deposited. The pit was filled with soil and the ground surface restored to its natural condition so as not to reveal the supplies to the Indians. The cache would be raised while en route to the summer rendezvous.
During the winter season, the trappers went into “hibernation.” This was a period of rest, amusement, and acquaintanceship for the mountain men. As the streams were frozen, no beavers were trapped during the winter unless the fall hunt had not been good or food was scarce. Many uneducated men spent the winter months “getting educated” around the campfire, where they learned to read and write.
Around the campfire, men told tall tales which were often both amusing and unbelievable. Joe Meek came upon a forest in the mountains where everything had turned to stone and before him stood hundreds of “putrefied trees in which flocks of putrefied birds sang putrefied songs.” In another tale, a man crawled half a mile pursuing an elk. When he shot at the elk the animal continued eating, paying no attention to the shot. The man fired several shots, each without reaction or success. In disbelief, the man advanced toward the elk where he bumped into a mountain wall of pure crystal. At the base of this wall lay his flattened bullets! Another story tells of a place in the mountains where a loud voice echoed from a cliff so far away that it took eight hours for the sound to travel back.
Jim Beckwourth who became famous for his stories of heroism and romance, with his imagination often surpassing his veracity.
One of Beckwourth’s stories took place after his mountain years when Beckwourth had settled in California to have his memoirs written by an anonymous writer. His mountain buddies collected funds and sent a man to California to purchase the book. The bookseller, not having a volume of Beckwourth’s book in stock, sold the illiterate mountain man a copy of the Bible. When he returned, the only literate man in the group began to read Beckwourth’s book aloud, chancing upon the story beginning at the fifteenth chapter of Judges which tells how Samson destroyed the crops of the Philistines by sending into their corn fields three hundred foxes with firebrands tied to their tails. At this point, At this point, a member from the audience interrupted the reading, saying that “he know that for one of Jim Beckwourth’s lies anywhere!”
The trappers learned from the Indians where to find suitable winter sites; sites with plenty of grass, water, and wild game. The mountain men built log cabins or tipis and friendly Indians were welcomed into camp. Their Indian wives could mend and make clothes and cook much better than the mountain men. If game was abundant, the men lived well, supplementing their diets with pemmican stew, dried berries, hominy pudding and other delicacies cooked by the Indian women. During desperate winters, the mountain men were forced to eat boiled moccasins, sleeping robes or the skins of their pelts.
Late in March, it was time to abandon camp and begin traveling. The ice was beginning to thaw and the beavers were starting to emerge from their lodges to feed on the plants of spring. The spring hunt continued until the advent of summer, when the quality of the pelt began to deteriorate and the mobility of the beaver made trapping difficult. At this point, the trappers would collect their caches and head to the annual rendezvous.
THE RENDEZVOUS SYSTEM 1825-1840
The rendezvous was one of the most interesting developments of the fur trade in the Rocky Mountains. It arose from the necessity of carrying the trade into regions remote from navigable rivers, where boats could not carry the annual merchandise nor bring back caravans from the States, and rendezvous were appointed for each year at points convenient for the trappers and Indians to meet the traders. These meetings were great events and form one of the most picturesque features of early frontier life in the Far West.
Father DeSmet wrote: Life, Letter and Travels of Father DeSmet, p. 216
During the summer of 1825 a unique idea was introduced to the American fur trade. Beaver trappers had prearranged a meeting place with their employer in the Rocky Mountains to sell their beaver pelts. More than any other state, Wyoming has been identified as rendezvous country and the home of the mountain man because most of the rendezvous were held in Wyoming. Eleven rendezvous were held in Wyoming during the period of 1825 to 1840. The sites were chosen deliberately for the grass and water supply and the availability of wood for fuel and game for food and sport. The most suitable site proved to be the vicinity of Horse Creek and Green River, near present Daniel, Wyoming. The rendezvous of 1833, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1839, and 1840 were all held at this location.
The rendezvous was William Ashley’s great innovation to the fur trade. The original system had depended on Indians to do the trapping, and white traders operating out of forts, or posts trading for furs. But Ashley saw that his fur men could produce more pelts by themselves. Furthermore, the rendezvous avoided the cost associated with a trading post and the necessity of keeping a garrison on the payroll. At the first rendezvous Ashley collected 9,700 pounds of beaver pelts worth $48,000 in Saint Louis.
Whether by intention or instinct, Ashley had hit upon a method that succeeded as long as the beaver pelts lasted in abundance. The rendezvous was held for sixteen years and only played out when the beavers had been hunted almost to extinction in the mountains and fashion changed to silk hats.
In order to keep contact with his far-flung fur brigades, and possibly to be sure they would not be tempted into trading with any itinerant rivals, Ashley told his men that in July 1825 he would meet them at Henry's Fork on the Green River with a caravan-load of goods from St. Louis. There he would pay them off for their previous years’ work, pick up their furs and reoutfit them for the 1825-1826 season. At the same time, since no trapping was done in midsummer, they could relax and lounge around the river for a few weeks. Ashley also let it be known that if Indians, white freelance trappers, and employees of other fur companies cared to sell their furs at Henry’s Fork, pick up supplies and join in the fun and games, they would be more than welcome. Thus it was that the rendezvous—soon to be the best known social and business institution of the American mountain men—came into existence.
The trapper would come to the rendezvous bringing pelts to trade with the fur company that would arrive with supply trains from Missouri. The trains would be loaded with supplies for the trappers—traps, blankets, knives, guns, gunpowder, lead, coffee, sugar, flour, and whiskey—all over priced due to the scarcity of competitive sellers. After the first rendezvous each major fur company had a supply train at the rendezvous site, creating intense rivalries as the companies competed for the furs of the free trapper.
The rendezvous took place each summer, usually late June or early July, and lasted for several weeks. The mountain men reached the rendezvous after a year of solitary labor in the wilderness. The trading only accounted for one to two days, with the remaining days the mountain men devoted to entertaining themselves with any activity that would satisfy their fun-starved appetites. The raw alcohol that was passed around served to release inhibitions. There were horse races and foot races, wrestling and fighting, gambling, duels, and romance with Indian women. At the end of the three or four weeks, the event closed.
Alfred Jacob Miller
“THE ARTIST TO THE MOUNTAIN MAN”
Alfred Jacob Miller displayed artistic talent at a very early age. It is believed that in his youth, Miller studied under Thomas Sully before traveling to Europe to strengthen his skills as a painter. Miller returned to his hometown of Baltimore in the mid-1830s. Growing restless, the artist moved to New Orleans and soon developed the ambition to become the first artist to penetrate the heart of the Rockies. Miller’s exploits are recorded in many accounts. In 1837 Miller and William Drummond Stewart, a very influential Scottish nobleman, traveled to the Green River Valley for the 13th annual rendezvous. The artist traveled over the Oregon Trail and crossed over South Pass and the Continental Divide, recording such landmarks as Independence Rock and Devil’s Gate. However, it was not the factual which fascinated this talented artist; rather, he was caught by the romance of the West which he portrayed vividly in his landscapes and human studies.
Miller is recognized as the first white artist to record the life of the mountain man, whose life was already quickly disappearing. Bernard DeVoto, one of the first to appreciate the contribution of this artist, pointed out: “It is a pack saddle or a stirrup, a bag of possibles, the curve of an Indian cradle or pommel or arrow case. . . small authentic matter recorded for our use, whose very commonplaceness makes them valuable.” His drawings and journal of the rendezvous provide the best record to date of the annual festival. Although Miller spent only one season in the West, his record of the fur trade and of the Indian way of life is more complete than even that of well-known and prolific artist George Catlin. Miller continually focused on the trapper of the West, the colorful and exotic actor set against the grand backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. His art “epitomizes that of the romantic who saw the West through rosy filters and idealized its features to create picturesque scenes.”
JOURNAL OF ALFRED JACOB MILLER
Miller made some sketches of different scenes at the 1837 rendezvous. Accompanying those sketches were a number of journal entries which follow:
“Encampment”
The sketch represents an encampment of Shoshonee Indians, near Green River, Oregon. On the elevated ground, or bluff, are a group of Indians in painted robes. On the plain below they are preparing jerked meat, this is performed by cutting it up into thin slices and laying it on frame work, composed of crotched sticks supporting poles; — under these a suppressed fire is built, so as to smoke and dry it at the same time.
Before we started from St. Louis we became acquainted with Capt. Sublette, who was then a substantial merchant in that city. He had been one of the pioneers to the “Far West” and almost the first thing he did was to hand us a piece of this prepared meat so as to give us a foretaste of mountain life. He told us that every season he caused a bale of meat to be brought down to him which lasted 6 or 8 months.
The Indians and Trappers, after having prepared it properly, fold it in smoked buckskin and stow it away either for Winter consumption, or as a provision in making journeys where game is scarce.
“The Trapper’s Bride”
The prices varying in accordance with circumstances. He (the trapper) is seated with his friend, to the left of the sketch, his hand extended to his promised wife, supported by her father and accompanied by a chief, who holds the calumet, an article indispensable in all grand ceremonies. The price of acquisition, in this case, was $600 paid for in the legal tender of this region: Vis: Guns, $100 each, Blankets $40 each, Red Flannel $20 pr. year, Alcohol $64 pr Gal., Tobacco, Beads &c. at corresponding rates.
A Free Trapper (white or half-breed), being ton or upper circle, is a most desirable match, but it is conceded that he is a ruined man after such an investment, the lady running into unheard of extravagances. She wants a dress, horse, gorgeous saddle, trappings, and the deuce knows what beside. For this the poor devil trapper sells himself, body and soul, to the Fur Company for a number of years. He traps beaver, hunts the Buffalo and bear, Elk &c. The furs and robes of which the Company credit to his account.
The “Devil’s Gate”
The traveler on his way to the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains encounters this singular scene, about 5 miles beyond Independence Rock, where the Sweet Water has forced its way through a granite ridge. Col. Fremont, who seems to have measured it, thus described it.—-
The length of the passage is about 300 yards, and the width 35 yards. The walls of rock are vertical, and about 400feet in height; and the stream in the gate is almost entirely choked up by masses which have fallen from above. In the wall on the right bank is a dike of trap rock, cutting through a fine grey granite; near the point of this ridge crop out some Strata of the valley formation, consisting of a greyish sandstone and fine grey conglomerate and marl.”
The sketch however will convey a better idea of the scene than any written description can possibly accomplish.
“Indian Hospitality”
The sketch represents the interior of a Lodge and the Snake Indian entertaining a free Trapper at a feast. The latter is engaged in recounting some adventure to his host, partly by his limited knowledge of the Indian Language, and by signs.
To the right is seated an Indian woman who watches his every movement with intense interest;—she has no doubt often heard of the extravagant generosity of these reckless fellows, and worships him accordingly.
We had often opportunities of attending these feasts—but an invitation to one in the valley of Green River posed us,—it was to a “Dog Feast.” Now in course of time we had made some efforts to get rid of foolish prejudices, of one kind or other,— but how about the Dog meat? “Oh we can manage that.” He then called a Trapper, who in consideration of our promising to give him a paper of vermillion* would arrange the matter;—on the day appointed, the vermillion was forthcoming. We sat by the trapper at the feast who ate our share, seemed to enjoy it too;—and the etiquette appeared satisfactory to our hosts, in every respect. * 1 ounce.
“Moonlight—Camp Scene”
An old trapper is up on his feet spinning a yarn wherein he is giving an account of an adventure of Markhead’s with a grizzly bear. According to his account, Markhead was afraid of nothing on or under this earth, and “was bound to shine in the biggest sort of a crowd.” The story, stripped of the trapper’s ornamentation, was to this effect.—That Markhead for a wager determined to go into some wild cherry bushes where the bear was known to be, and dispatch him simply with a tomahawk. In this affair, the “B’ar” was too much for him. In approaching him through the bushes, he was not aware that Bruin was so near, and in a moment the powerful brute had his paw on our hero’s head, tearing away the entire scalp. Most wonderful of all in the course of time, the trapper entirely recovered, and when we reached the Rendezvous in Oregon, we saw him well and hearty; his head having little or no hair on it and presented a very singular appearance. During the recital there was a running commentary from the Trappers. — “Wagh” “he was some”—“had old grit in him” —“could take the frissle off a darned panther’s tail.”&c.
“Trapping Beaver”
In hunting the Beaver two or more trappers are usually in company. On reaching a creek or stream, their first attention is given to “sign.” If they discover a tree prostrate, it is carefully examined to ascertain if it is the work of Beaver, and if thrown for the purpose of damming the stream. Foot prints of the animal on the mud or sand are carefully searched for, and if fresh, they then prepare to set their traps. One of these is baited with “medicine”—hidden under water, and attached to a pole driven firmly on or near the bank. A “float-stick” is made fast to the trap, so that if the Beaver should carry it away, the stick remains on the surface of the water and points out its position.
With all the caution the poor trappers take, they cannot always escape the Lynx eyes of the Indians. The dreadful war whoop, with bullets and arrows about their ears, are the first intimations of danger; They are destroyed in this way from time to time, until by a mere chance their bones are found bleaching on the borders of some stream where they have hunted.
“Prairie on Fire”
Towards the Fall the grass, which has attained the height of 3 or 4 feet, becomes parched and dry.
It is then very inflammable and either by accident or design takes fire. The manner of its approach is insidious enough; at first a slight haze is seen near the horizon, but the experienced eye of the Trapper or Indian immediately detects the nature of the visitor, and all hands in the camp are immediately busy in setting fire to the long grass about them;—not suffering it to make much headway, but beating it down with cloths & blankets. In this manner large spaces are cleared, horses, mules, and tents are secured in the burnt areas, which are enlarged as time permits, and escape from certain death is thus averted through a very simple process.
The fire sweeps round with the speed of a race horse, licking up everything that it touches with its fiery tongue,—leaving nothing in its train but a blackened heath.
(cont. page 3)
