The Legendary Mountain Men of the Old West: John Colter, Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, and Hugh Glass

During the early 1800s, the westward expansion of the United States was propelled by American explorers and fur trappers. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 significantly increased the nation's territory, while the Lewis and Clark expedition drew considerable interest. The quest for beaver pelts motivated many trappers to head westward. John Colter, who was born in 1775, participated in the Corps of Discovery in 1803 and later pursued beaver in Montana, becoming the first non-Native to witness “Colter’s Hell” in Wyoming. After escaping a Blackfeet war party in 1808, he returned to Missouri and passed away in 1813. Kit Carson, who left Kentucky at 17, guided John Fremont’s 1842 expedition and served in the Civil War. Jim Bridger, born on March 17, 1804, found the Great Salt Lake in 1824, while Hugh Glass, born around 1783, was killed by the Arikara in 1833.