Customer Reviews

Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West: Eighteen Biographical Sketches

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Between 1965-73, famous Western historian LeRoy R. Hafen assembled almost 300 mini-biographies (most 20-30 pages long), written by various other historians, into a 10-volume collection published by the A.H. Clark Company, which had the same title as this one-volume selection taken from the larger collection. A handful of volumes have been issued by Bison Books over the last few of years in addition to this one, all based on the same selective principle. This being the first one of the batch, it contains what are probably the cream of the crop of the storied Mountain Men.

Eighteen biographies are here and include Kit Carson, Joseph Walker, Jim Bridger, Peter Ogden, and Jedediah Smith among the best known and most highly regarded men. The biographies are designed to contain as much information as the records and space will allow; they are not as complete as full-length biographies would be, but they are also substantially more detailed than even the best encyclopedias would offer. Hafen's editing is outstanding and authoritative. Also praiseworthy is the finely detailed index, which makes using the book as a reference tool most beneficial. Anyone interested in the fur trade period of the West who doesn't have access to the rare and expensive 10-volume work, will find this selection (as well as the other selected volumes put out by Bison) an excellent alternative. Highly recommended.

The two not so great reviews of this book clearly would rather read fiction and 1960's Pseudo-western History rather than Know the truth!! And truthfully how many "we caught beaver and fought indians" stories can you possibly tolerate and want? Don't you know that these Biographies contain EXTREMELY interesting information that was and is unwritten of even today? Each one of these Bio's has been the subject of dozens of individual books and expanded the History of the American Fur Trade farther than any would ever know. Don't you know that reading about Pierre Chouteau Jr.'s Life is nearly the equivalent of reading about George Washington's life? Yes, Pierre had that strong of an influence on creating our modern nation than the first President! Hafen was one of the very first and most tenacious writers to hold forth this fact and kindly share it with us!! Did Pierre Chouteau, Jr. ever shoot any Bison, Innocent Beavers, or innocent Native Americans from his white horse? NO. But he only was the chief supervisor and paymaster of every Fur trapper, freighter and Military Escort that did! If you want to read REAL History buy this book, and if you can afford the original set, Buy that too!! If you want Fur Trade fiction, stick to the celluloid of the 1960's!

I think this would be a good book for starters on Mountain Men...I like the way the biographies are "sketches"...Makes for quick reading...The footnotes have a lot of info if you want to explore further.....If you want more detailed info you could read A Life Wild and Perilous by Utley....This book had a lot of primary sources which is always nice...I also like the way it is sorta ordered chronologically

Well researched, but very different from what I was expecting. This book focuses on the business aspect of 18 men who made their living trapping. This book glosses over any of the adventure, craft and technique and goes into specifics of the business transactions between the leaders and teams of the expeditions and the financieers. Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Manuel Lisa, and other well known names are examined in these sketches of the mountain man's struggles for the elusive profits of the trapping business. I think if you're looking for an adventure book, pass this one by, but if you are a business major looking for some historical perspectives on the trapping and exploration ventures of the early and mid 1800s, then you might like this sometimes dry but factual account of the Mountain Men.

I really wanted to read a book about the adventures of these men, not a historical account of their business accounts; building locations, business partners, legal aspects, holdings, etc. I'm not sure who would read this book, since it's very chopped up due to the autor's attempt to be precise in his accounts of the fur busineess. Reads like a chemistry book.