This is a list of explorers, trappers, guides, and other frontiersmen of the North American frontier, known as "Mountain Men", from 1807 to 1849.
List
Name | DOB-DOD | Years Active | Native Country | Comments | |
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Albert, John | 1806–1899 | 1834–1847 | ![]() |
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Ashley, Bill | 1778–1838 | 1822–1828 | ![]() |
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Baker, Jim | 1818–1898 | 1839–1873 | ![]() |
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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.[1] | ||
Beckwourth, Jim | 1798–1866 | 1824–1866 | ![]() |
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Bent, Charles | 1799–1847 | 1828–1846 | ![]() |
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Bent, Bill | 1809–1869 | 1826–1869 | ![]() |
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Biggs,Thomas | 1812–1855 | 1835–1855 | ![]() |
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Boone, Daniel | 1734–1820 | 1750–1820 | ![]() |
His mountain man exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. | |
Beaver, Black | 1806–1880 | ![]() |
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Bridger, Jim | 1804–1881 | 1822–1868 | ![]() |
[2] | |
Bissonet dit Bijou, Joseph | 1778–1836 | 1812–1836 | ![]() |
[3] | |
Bissonette, Joseph | 1818–1894 | ||||
Bonneville, Benjamin | 1796–1878 | 1832–1835 | ![]() |
Washington Irving wrote about him, making him famous in his lifetime. The Bonneville Salt Flats are named after him. | |
Brown, Kootenay | 1839–1916 | 1862–1910 | ![]() |
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Richard Campbell | 1824- | ![]() |
Led first trapper party (from Taos) to sell beaver pelts in California, 1827[4] | ||
Campbell, Robert | 1804–1879 | 1825–1835 | ![]() |
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Carson, Kit | 1809–1868 | 1825–1868 | ![]() |
Carson became a frontier legend in his own lifetime through news articles and dime novels. | |
Charbonneau, Jean | 1805–1866 | 1829–1866 | ![]() |
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Clyman, James | 1792–1880 | 1823–1848 | ![]() |
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Coulter, John | 1774–1813 | 1803–1810 | ![]() |
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.[5] | |
Craig, Bill | 1807–1869 | ![]() |
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Crockett, Davy | 1786-1836 | ![]() |
American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". | ||
Culbertson, Alexander | 1809–1879 | 1829–1858, 1868-1878 | |||
Drips, Andrew | 1789–1860 | ||||
Drouillard, George | 1774–1810 | 1804–1810 | ![]() |
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Ebbert, George | 1810–1890 | 1823–1836 | ![]() |
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Estes, Joel | 1806-1875 | 1833-1875 | ![]() |
Founder of Estes Park Colorado, a frontiersman, hunter, fur trader, explorer, gold prospector, and mountain man.[6] | |
Ferris, Warren | 1810–1873 | ![]() |
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Finlay, Jocko | 1768–1828 | 1806–1828 | ![]() |
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Fallon, LeGros | d. 1848 | 1826–1848 | ![]() |
Real name: William O. Fallon | |
Fitzpatrick, Thomas "Broken Hand" | 1799–1854 | ![]() |
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Fraeb, Henry | d. 1841 | 1829–1841 | |||
Fontenelle, Lucien | 1800–1840 | 1819–1840 | |||
Garcia, Andrew | ![]() |
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Glass, Hugh | 1780–1833 | 1800–1833 | |||
Godin, Antoine | 1805–1836 | 1817–1836 | ![]() |
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Goodyear, Miles | 1817–1849 | 1836–1847 | ![]() |
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Graham, Isaac | 1800–1863 | 1830–1840 | ![]() |
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Greenwood, Caleb | 1763–1850 | 1810–1834 | ![]() |
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Hamilton, Bill | 1822–1908 | ||||
Harris, Moses | 1800–1849 | ![]() |
He is also known as Black Harris, and to a lesser extent Black Squire and Major Harris. | ||
Helm, Boone | 1828–1864 | 1850–1864 | ![]() |
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Henry, Andy | 1775–1832 | 1809–1824 | ![]() |
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Jackson, David | 1788-1837 | 1822-1832 | ![]() |
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Janis, Antoine | 1822–1890 | 1836–1858 | |||
Kinman, Seth | 1815–1888 | 1849–1864 | ![]() |
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Kirker, James | 1793–1852 | 1822–1849 | ![]() |
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Leonard, Zenas | 1809–1857 | 1831–1857 | ![]() |
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Leroux, Antoine | 1803-1861 | 1822-1861 | ![]() |
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Johnson, Liver-Eating | 1824–1900 | ![]() |
Real name: John Jeremiah Garrison Johnston | ||
Lilly, Bill | 1856–1936 | ![]() |
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Lisa, Manuel | 1772–1820 | 1789–1820 | |||
Lupton, Lancaster | 1807–1885 | 1835–1844 | ![]() |
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Medina, Mariano | 1812–1878 | ![]() |
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.[2] | ||
Meek, Joe | 1810–1875 | 1828–1850 | ![]() |
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Meek, Stephen | 1805–1889 | 1827–1889 | ![]() |
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Moore, Bear | 1850–1924 | Real name: James Moore | ![]() |
[7] | |
Newell, Doc | 1807–1869 | 1829–1869 | |||
Nidever, George | 1802–1883 | 1830–1853 | ![]() |
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Ogden, Pete | 1794–1854 | 1809–1847 | ![]() |
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Pattie, James Ohio | 1804–1851? | 1824–1830 | ![]() |
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Perkins, “Moccasin Bill” | 1825–1904 | 1860–1904 | ![]() |
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 | ![]() |
[8] | |
Rose, Edward | 1780-1833 | 1807-1833 | ![]() |
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Russell, Osborne | 1814–1892 | 1834–1845 | ![]() |
[9] | |
Paxton, George | 1821–1848 | ![]() |
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Sage, Rufus | 1817–1893 | 1841–1844 | ![]() |
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Smith, Jedediah | 1799–1831 | 1822–1831 | ![]() |
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Smith, Blackfoot | 1810–18?? | Real name: John Smith | |||
Smith, Pegleg | 1801–1866 | ![]() |
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Straw, Nat | 1857–1941 | [10] | |||
Stevens, Montague | 1859–1953 | ![]() |
[7] | ||
St. Vrain, Ceran | 1802–1870 | ![]() |
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Sublette, Milton | 1801–1837 | 1823–1835 | ![]() |
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Sublette, Bill | 1799–1845 | 1823–1832 | ![]() |
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Tevanitagon, Pierre | ?–1828 | 1822–1828 | ![]() |
An Iroquois from Quebec | |
Tobin, Tom | 1823–1904 | 1837–1878 | ![]() |
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Trask, Elbridge | 1815–1863 | 1835–1852 | ![]() |
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Turner, John | 1807 | 1847 | ![]() |
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 | [2] | ||
Walker, Joe | 1798–1876 | 1832–1863 | ![]() |
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Weaver, Pauline | 1797–1867 | 1830–1867 | ![]() |
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 | ![]() |
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Wetzel, Lewis | 1752-1808 | 1786-1791 | ![]() |
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Williams, Old Bill | 1787–1849 | 1812–1849 | ![]() |
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Wooten, Dick | 1816–1893 | ![]() |
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Wyeth, Nathaniel | 1802–1856 | 1832–1837 | ![]() |
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Yount, Harry | 1839–1924 | 1866–1924 | ![]() |
References
- ^ "Groundbreaker: Alexander Barclay". The World Journal. October 15, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ Books Colleen Estes Cassell, The Golden Pioneer Biography of Joel Estes, August 1999 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, Marshalll Colorado Early Days, a manuscript written in the early 1880s presented by his daughter, Mrs H.A. Clingenpeel, Johnstown Co.,September 1932, p.132. Magazine, Newspaper Articles and Pamphlets 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. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arapahoe,_Jefferson_County,_Colorado
- ^ a b 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
- ^ Davis, Carolyn O'Bagy. Mogollon Mountain Man Nat Straw: Grizzly Hunter and Trapper. Tucson: Sanpete Publications, 2003.
Joel Estes Colorado Territory Exploration 1833-1834 http://estescamping.com/joelcolorado.htm
MEMOIRS OF ESTES PARK Mountain life as penciled by One of Joel's sons, Milton Estes
http://www.estescamping.com/joel.htm
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.