Mountain Men, as early-nineteenth-century fur trappers were called, first came west to the Rocky Mountains, drawn by their search for the pelts of beavers, which they lured to traps by castor bait. Virgin streams producing the prize catches rewarded trailblazing and transformed trappers into explorers of the Far West. French traders, the most experienced nonnative fur gatherers, mingled with Americans, American Indians, and Spaniards at Saint Louis in the first decades of the nineteenth century and made this the great western emporium of the fur trade. Trapping parties and trading company caravans laden with supplies and goods for the mountain trade left from Saint Louis. After a season or two of trapping, the adventurer boasted the sobriquet of "mountain man."
Trappers cultivated trade relationships with the local Indian groups, who controlled the areas and had the power to evict unwanted visitors. The interactions between traders and American Indians changed both groups. Trapper life held an irresistible appeal to a variety of men—to the restless and daring it offered adventure; to the homeless, a home; to the lawless, an asylum. Fur traders of European extraction often married American Indian women. Their children served as a bridge among the various groups, routinely working as translators and intermediaries. The mixed cultural strains produced a polyglot jargon, spiced with metaphor and known to some as "mountain talk." Mountain men adopted some aspects of their Indian trading partners' manner of life, including their approaches to food, shelter, morals, and even some aspects of religion. At the same time the local Indian communities became increasingly accustomed to goods that they could not easily produce for themselves, such as copper kettles, metal spear points, and guns. Jim Bridger, Christopher ("Kit") Carson, Thomas Fitzpatrick, and Bill Williams were famous examples of the fraternity of "mountain men." There were three classes: the hired trapper, paid annual wages by a fur company; the skin trapper, who dealt with one company only; and the free trapper, who trapped and disposed of his furs when and where he pleased.
The summer rendezvous at Green River, Wyoming, or at some other appointed mountain valley became the most interesting and typical institution of fur-trading days. Trappers and Indians gathered there. Fur companies from Missouri brought out their supplies and goods, and barter flourished. With drinking, gambling, racing, and contests of skill, the mountain man had a holiday. His regular meat diet was now augmented with limited supplies of flour, coffee, and similar luxuries from the "states." In a few days of prodigal living, he frequently spent his year's earnings.
With the introduction of the silk hat and the consequent decline in beaver-skin prices—from six or eight dollars apiece to two dollars or less—the the mountain men gradually forsook their traps. Buffalo robes replaced beaver pelts, and the trading post supplanted the rendezvous. With the coming of emigrant homeseekers, government exploring, and military expeditions, the trapper-trader became scout and guide to lead newcomers over the paths he knew. Advancing European-American settlements eliminated the mountain man's economic niche.
Bibliography
Barbour, Barton H. Fort Union and the Upper Missouri Fur Trade. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001.
Ekbreg, Carl J. French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Illinois. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998.
Foley, William E., and C. David Rice. The First Chouteaus, River Barons of Early St. Louis. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983.
Nestor, William R. From Mountain Man to Millionaire: The "Bold and Dashing Life" of Robert Campbell. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999.
Sleeper-Smith, Susan. Indian Women and French Men: Rethinking Cultural Encounter in the Western Great Lakes. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2001.
