Fur, fur, fabulous fur!

“The mountain man is one of the most recognizable symbols of the young American West. He represents the dream that people can seek out their destiny through hard work, a little luck, and an abundance of natural resources. We nostalgically look to him to find what many of us seek in our increasingly frenzied world: scenic beauty, individualism, adventure, and freedom. One hundred and fifty years after the heyday of the rendezvous, the landscape of the American West still holds glimpse of the enterprising soul of the mountain man.”[1]

This is the introduction from a book I have picked up for this project and I could not bring myself to try to put it into my own words. The author, Doug Erickson, Head of Special Collections in the Aubrey R. Watzek Library at the Lewis & Clark College put it eloquently. When thinking of the mountain man we feel all these things and more. He is an icon that stands out as we look back at history; he is not the brave soldier or the rich railroad man that perhaps comes to mind as an icon of American history, but he is an icon that appeals to us all as the any man who can make it. As an icon, he stands to give us hope that we can better our lives even if we have to get a little dirty and kill a few bears to get it done.

Furs have been important to humans as far back into history as the term “man” can be used. They have been used to clothe us, keep us warm, and to show status. Furs have been dyed, cut, stitched, and softened into warm wearable symbols of wealth. Kings in England and Scotland ordained that furs were only to be worn by the rich and powerful men and women of the church and courts and that those of lesser stations wore clothes that illustrated their place in the world. To show the world their new status, the newly rich would invest heavily in furs to announce their coming into the higher echelons of society. As time wore on, more and more people demanded furs and while the social bar for wearing them lowered the luxury of the furs did not. Populations of fur wearing people exploded while the populations of fur-bearing animals were dropping drastically. When word came that furs were found aplenty in the New World, the spark of the mountain man was born.[2]

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[1] Fred Gowans, Rocky Mountain Rendezvous (n.p.: Gibbs Smith, 2005), pg. 11.

[2] Eric Dolin, Fur, Fortune and Empire (n.p.: W.W. Norton and Company, 2011), pg. 6-8

Figure 1 Beaver Photo Credit: http://animal.discovery.com/mammals/beaver/

Figure 2 Natalie Clifford by artist Alice Pike Barney. Photo credit: http://www.modeknit.com/2009/06/work-rest-work-play.html

An American History: Mountain Men

              

Living in the mountainous west of Wyoming it is hard to look out any window and not see the vast wildness that, while now more tame, surrounds us. Some places, some valleys, some mountains that appear untouched it is easy to imagine a mountain man checking his traps while he makes his living off the land. In fact, in September, even today it is hard to forget that such men existed as there are reenactments and recreations of the time, traditions and ideals that set the stage for these adventurers abound through my little corner of the world. The mountain man took his life in his hands, he set himself to live by his wits and often to die trying to make the fortunes a few were able to assemble. While not all were successful, this vocation, this rough and ready life style is one that is still dreamed of often.

            I do want to take a moment and thank the readers for taking the time to bear with me as I work through this blogging process. I have done one before, but not on this platform. I chose to do this project on the mountain man because the idea of truly living for yourself off the land is something I find fascinating and there were so many interesting characters in this part of history. Also, admittedly, the Mountain Man Rendezvous was held recently and I love going to see the tools, reenactments, and costumes that people come out with at such events.

            I am still in the process of reading and working through all of my texts to put this together. I will be talking about who the average mountain man was, how he lived and died, the tools he used and his overall fate. I have quite a few books, a few internet sites, some personal experience, and an interview with a mountain man re-enactor and I plan on making a trip to the Mountain Man Museum in Pinedale, WY. I will be fleshing out the paper and adding pictures, hopefully some of my own from the museum and the area.