Books by Category » Mountain Men

Adventures on the Columbia River: Six Years on the Western Side of the Rocky Mountains By Ross Cox Ross Cox was a fur trader for the Pacific Fur Company. In 1811, he sailed from New York, around the Horn, to Hawaii, and on to the Columbia River in Oregon, exploring inland to Montana along the Clark Fork and Flathead Rivers. For six years he lived on the frontier -- and beyond -- in a violent world of white and red men, bears and wolves, frostbite and starvation. He wasn't a hero, but he was a survivor, and a sharp observer who wrote one of the best first-hand accounts of the fur trapper's life. Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-234-7 Pages: 296 $17.95

First to the Parklands: Original Narratives from the History of Western Exploration By Jeffrey Eling This is a collection of 19th century journals, diaries, articles, memoirs, and reports of the first explorations of what would become our national parks. There are 50 first-person accounts in all, each with an historical introduction that sets the time and place. These explorers describe the wonders that became the parks at the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Wind River Range, the Redwoods, Big Bend, Glacier, Organ Pipe, Mount Rainier, the Grand Canyon, Kings Canyon, Bryce, Zion, and many others. (Second Edition) Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-247-9 Pages: 448 $26.95

Journal of a Trapper: In the Rocky Mountains Between 1834 and 1843 By Osborne Russell In 1830, 16-year-old Osborne Russell left his Maine farm and ran away to sea. He didn't like it. He ended up joining an expedition headed to Oregon by way of the Rocky Mountains. Along the way he acquired the skills necessary for survival in the mountains. He also learned the Snake language, hunted buffalo, and trapped beaver, looked for new trails west, and kept a journal that forms the basis of this vigorously authentic book. The descriptions are so accurate that contemporary readers are using the book to retrace Russell's footsteps! Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-052-2 Pages: 168 $16.95

Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard: Five Years as a Mountain Man in the Rocky Mountains By Zenas Leonard Zenas Leonard was a true mountain man. He lived in the Rockies for five years, cut off from civilization, surrounded by hostile Indian tribes and vicious grizzly bears, providing for himself with his guns and traps. He was also on Walker's expedition of 1833-34. His adventures provide a remarkable insight into the American fur trade, giving the perspective of a trapper and adventurer. He also describes battles between the Crows and Blackfeet, and tells the stories of some of his important contemporaries. Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-074-3 Pages: 148 $14.95

The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie of Kentucky: The True Wild West of New Mexico and California By James Ohio Pattie Pattie was a young fur trapper from Kentucky, vainly seeking his fortune in the American southwest. His narrative describes his sometimes outrageous exploits in New Mexico, along the Gila River, and in California from 1824 to 1830. He traps beaver, fights Indians, digs for gold, and saves thousands of Mexicans during a smallpox epidemic. This is a sweeping and generally accurate saga of the southwest and California of the time -- certainly it has some of the best descriptions of Indian attacks, desert crossings, and international politics in the Old West of any journal we have. A classic, and rightfully so. Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-082-4 Pages: 224 $19.95

Uncle Dick Wootton: The Pioneer Frontiersman of the Rocky Mountain Region By Richens Wootton Uncle Dick Wootton's tale spans a broad chunk of the 19th century American frontier. Originally a mountain man, Uncle Dick ran the gamut of wild west professions: he was a scout, hunter, trapper, trader, freighter, and rancher. He narrowly escaped death on numerous occasions and he was an avid Southern sympathizer during the Civil War. Full of humor, Uncle Dick's memoirs include a description of "Hobnobbing with Brigham Young" and spooky tales of headless senoritas. Truly an encyclopedia of life on the southwestern frontier. Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-104-9 Pages: 212 $19.95