The links below are to articles on the Mountain Man and Plains Indian Fur Trade website. These are comprehensive articles with pictures and references, please be patient while they load. There is an overview of the various articles below the links bar. Several of the articles are not directly related to the Mountain Man and Plains Indian Fur Trade, but are of interest to me as background information for my next historical novel, Winds of Change. 

These articles, Anasazi Indians and Mesa Verde, Paleo-Indians, Fremont Indians and Indian Rock Art, and the Devastation of Forest Fires, are not related to the Mountain Man Plains Indian Fur Trade, but should be of interest to anyone that wants to understand and preserve our heritage.

                                            Beaver House - Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The four major "things" brought to Native Americans by the early European explorers, colonists, and the Mountain Man fur traders were diseases, alcohol, trade guns, and Spanish Colonial horses. Of the four, diseases and alcohol had the most devastating effects on the Native American Indians.

The smallpox outbreak of 1780 -1782 killed a great many Plains Indians, and the one in 1837 was as bad or worse. Some people believe that the smallpox virus was deliberately spread among the Indian Nations. Except for one case, there is no direct evidence to support this assumption. Another charge is that the government deliberately withheld vaccination from Native Americans. With the safety of using an attenuated smallpox virus vaccine being questioned at the present time, this seems like a ridiculous charge. Based on the medical standards of the time and the effectiveness of the non-attenuated cowpox virus vaccine, it may well have been as deadly as the smallpox virus to a population with no immunities to European diseases.

Misinformation and, in at least one case, outright lies are being carried out by "some" Indian activists and bigoted college professors. With over 350,000 hits a week on this website, the top entry or exit page is usually the Indian smallpox page. The vast majority of keywords typed into Google to find the article involve smallpox blankets. The whole issue of Indians being given smallpox blankets in 1837 by the army was fabricated in an article of lies by a University of Colorado professor, Ward Churchill. The only place a fanatic bigoted activist like Ward Churchill should be allowed to teach is as an inmate to death row prisoners, at least there it would limit the damage his lying does to our educational system. The link to an abstract of a paper written by Dr. Thomas Brown at Lamar University on the fabrication and lies of Ward Churchill is on the Indian smallpox page.

A great many Indians were killed simply because they were Indians, but history is what it was, both the good and the bad, and should be taught that way. Ideally, with equal time spent on the bad as well as the good. History should not be taught based on some long-haired, nut-case's political agenda, or political correctness.

Starting in 1790, the federal government tried to regulate the Mountain Man fur trade and the use of alcohol through a series of Trade and Intercourse Acts. With limited government ability to enforce these federal acts, the use of whiskey by the Mountain Man turned a great many proud, self-reliant Native Americans into drunken beggars that were willing to trade anything they had to the Mountain Man for more of the white-man liquor.                                  

The Northwest trade guns used during the Mountain Man Plains Indian Fur Trade Era were inaccurate and based on today's standards of poor quality; few Plains Indians could repair even minor problems associated with them. Before the introduction of the breechloader, the value of Northwest trade guns to the Mountain Man and Plains Indians for hunting and warfare has been blown all out of proportion.

Brought here in 1519 by Spanish Conquistadors, Spanish Barb horses had the biggest impact on the American Indian Cultures. Horses were the one thing brought to this continent by early Spanish explorers and Europeans that American Indians could reproduce and trade to the fur traders and the Mountain Man. Spanish Barb horses spread out of the Southwest across the Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Plains, and into Canada through an Indian to Indian horse trading network (horse distribution map).

Glass Trade Beads were used as a medium of exchange between Europeans, the Mountain Man and Native Americans. The Spanish explorers carried glass beads for trade with the native inhabitants...Columbus 1492 (West Indies), Cortéz 1519 (Mexico), Narváez 1527 and De Soto 1539 (Florida).  In 1741, the Russians reached the coast of Alaska and from there down the western coast of North America. A North West Company trader, Alexander Mackenzie, crossed Canada to the Pacific Ocean in 1793. All of these explorers, as well as the Mountain Man, David Thompson, and Lewis and Clark carried glass beads for presents, and as a medium of exchange, in dealing with the Native American Indians.

The first Americans to ascend the Missouri River were fur traders and the Mountain Man seeking to trade for furs with the Plains Indians; the Mountain Man was prohibited by the Trade and Intercourse Acts from trapping on Indian lands. During the late seventeen hundreds, the Plains Indians were exchanging beaver pelts and horses to the Hudson’s Bay and North West fur traders for European goods on the Kootanae Plains and at the Missouri River trade fairs. The Missouri River trade fairs were held at the villages of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Indians. Exchanged at the trade fairs were garden products (beans, squash, corn, etc.) raised at the Missouri River villages, horses, furs, and hides from the Plains Indians, and whiskey, guns, iron goods, trade beads, and a few beaver traps from the Northeast traders.

Fur Trade Facts is short tidbits of information on the United States and Canadian fur trade conducted by the Mountain Man, the Missouri River traders and the Astorians. Many of these "facts" point out distortion in the history of the Mountain Man Indian fur trade.

The article on the Astorians and the discovery of the Oregon Trail is divided into five parts: John Jacob Astor, Tonquin, Fort Astoria, Wilson Price Hunt, and Robert Stuart. Robert Stuart's crossing of the Continental Divide at South Pass on what would become the Oregon Trail had a profound affect on the geographical outline of the United States, millions of buffalo, and the Plains Indians....Forty-six years after the first settlers traveled over the Oregon Trail, the last buffalo hunt was held in the Judith Valley (Ewers), and the vast majority of Plains Indians were on reservations. 

David Thompson ranks as the premier surveyor of North America. Two Canadians, David Thompson and Alexander Mackenzie, are also the leading explorers of North America. From 1792 to 1812, David Thompson mapped most of the country west of Hudson Bay and Lake Superior, across the Rocky Mountains to the source of the Columbia River, and the length of the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Alexander Mackenzie made the first overland expeditions to the Pacific and Arctic oceans.

The Rendezvous article is a large comprehensive article on the history of the Mountain Man and the North American Fur Trade. North of present day Mexico, the area that would become the United States and Canada was explored, wars were fought, and Indian Cultures destroyed in the pursuit of the Mountain Man Indian Fur Trade. During the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Era, the Mountain Man not only explored the West from the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to the Oregon Country, Mountain Men led missionaries and settlers over the Oregon Trail to get them there. For ease of navigation, the article is divided into ten parts:
Explorers of the Fur Trade                               Oregon Country 
River System and Territorial Expansion       Rocky Mountain Fur Trade History           Trade and Intercourse Acts                              The Mountain Man 
Statistical Review of the Mountain Man       Mountain Man Rendezvous Sites
Battle of Pierre's Hole                                       Fur Trade Goods


                                Grand Teton - Geographical Center of the Fur Trade

The Oregon Mormon Trail article is historical facts, tidbits of information, and some gross misrepresentations connected with the Oregon and Mormon pioneers, the American and Canadian fur trade, and the Astorians. America's western expansion cannot be separated from the Mountain Man Indian fur trade. The Mountain Man not only discovered, or was told about by Native Americans, the western routes; the Mountain Man served as the guides to lead the pioneers West.

The Lewis and Clark article presents interesting information on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Native Americans, and Sacajawea. Did you know that Native Americans domesticated over three-fifths of modern day agriculture, or that Sacajawea (Sakakawea, Sacagawea) died in 1812, or that "Captain" William Clark was actually a Second Lieutenant,  or that Captain Meriwether Lewis committed suicide?

The article on Historical Landmarks, Monuments, and Markers is associated with the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails, the Mountain Man Fur Trade, and South Pass. A brief discussion of the Sublette Cutoff, and pictures of the Lander Cutoff are included. There are a great deal of pictures associated with landmarks of the Oregon-Mormon trail.

For a heart-rendering story of the Martin Handcart Company tragedy, read the firsthand account of Sarah Crossley Sessions. The tragedy that struck the Willey and Martin Handcart Companies was the worst disaster in the history of western overland travel. Only a massive rescue effort prevented it from being worse. It should be noted that the Cherokee Trail of Tears and the Navajo and Apache Long Walk were much worse in terms of the number of people that died.

Prehistoric Indians migrated to the Americas about 13,500 years ago. Three of the earliest groups, Clovis, Folsom, and Plainview  are referred to as Paleo-Indians. The classification of these Prehistoric Indians is based on finding stone points associated with mastodon kill sites. The major portion of these hunter-gatherers came by way of the Bering Strait land bridge, but there is also growing evidence that some Native Americans came by boats at an earlier date.

Great pictographs comes from the Barrier Canyon Indians of the Archaic Period. The Barrier Canyon Indians left some of the finest rock art in the United States. Located in Canyonlands National Park, Barrier Canyon has been renamed Horseshoe Canyon.

The Anasazi Indians, (Ancient Ones, Ancient Enemies, Ancestral Puebloans), settled in the Four Corners area of the Southwestern United States during the late Archaic Period. The Anasazi Indians, as well as, the Mogollon and Hohokam Indians were building large Pueblos and irrigating cornfields several hundred years before the first European explorers "discovered" North America. Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde were population centers for the Anasazi, or Ancestral Puebloans, several centuries before the first colonists reached the North American Continent.

The Fremont Indians were diverse groups of Native American Indians that inhabited the western Colorado Plateau and the eastern Great Basin of Utah from 400 A.D. to 1350 A.D.  Vast numbers of Fremont Indian pictograph and petroglyph rock art panels are scattered throughout Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. The Three King's panel of the Fremont Indians near Vernal, Utah is regarded as the finest Indian petroglyph panel in the world. The Waldo Wilcox Ranch along Range Creek in the Book Cliff mountains of Utah was recently opened to archeological study. The undisturbed Fremont villages on the Wilcox Ranch will contribute a great deal to the understanding of the Fremont Indian Culture. The Anasazi Indian Culture left the great houses and kivas; the Fremont Indian Culture left the finest petroglyphs in the world. The finest pictographs are the "Great Mural" paintings in Baja, Mexico.

The forest fire article is on the devastating forest fires that result from the influence of environmentalists and the mismanagement of our National Parks and Forests. Although not directly related to the Mountain Man Indian Fur Trade, forest fires should be a concern to all of us that do not want to see our National Parks and National Forests destroyed by forest fires. Part of the article is based on firsthand observations from start to finish of the Mule Fire of 2002. The Mule Fire was on North Horse Creek in Sublette County, Wyoming. The fire was not far from Fort Bonneville and the six Mountain Man rendezvous that were held on Horse Creek during the Mountain Man rendezvous period from 1825 to 1840.

The next two pictures is what we should see in our National Parks, not the black burned areas still visible fourteen years after the Yellowstone forest fires of 1988.

                                        Beaver Dam - Grand Teton National Park

                                              Mount Moran from Oxbow Bend

Unless otherwise noted, Ned Eddins took the photographs on the Mountain Man Plains Indian website. In some cases, the pictures have been digitally enhanced to portray the western Wyoming mountains, especially the Tetons in Jackson Hole, before the arrival of West Coast smog. This picture was taken a few miles from my house on New Years day 2006.

                                                 Upper Dam - Swift Creek Canyon

New Years day was one of the clearest days that we have had in a long time. The vast majority of the time, the mountain valleys of Wyoming are filled with smog from northern California and the Pacific Northwest (our prevailing winds). Even on what appears a clear day, there is always a gray haze on the horizon. If you scoff at this, look in the beaver dam picture at how much clearer the Mount Moran reflection is than the actual image. Or better yet, if you live in the West, walk outside and look west any evening, or the background haze in an recent outdoor move scene, or at the PBS documentary on the Lewis and Clark Expedition...Captain Lewis recorded in his journal how clear the air was as they approached the Rocky Mountains...not anymore.

On average over eighteen thousand visitors look at the Mountain Man Plains Indian Fur Trade site each week. The site averages over four hundred thousand hits per week from all over the world. Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

As I come across new and interesting items, they will be added, and if anyone has something they would like to add, or disagree with, click on the Mountain Man logo below. After your comments, type in your email address. Your email address will be used only if I need to contact you to clarify some point. 

A visitor recently pointed out a major error in the site. The reader pointed out that the Mountain Man Plains Indian website was on the fur trade, but nowhere had I listed the type and value of the Mountain Man goods traded....dumb, dumb on my part. The reader did not leave an email address so I could not email my personally thanks.

Since this is not a politically correct site, I would like to clarify a point on our present educational system. I received the following comment in an email.

Mr. Eddins, I hear that you don't like teachers, and think that they aren't as smart or as good as they used to be.

You heard wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth. Next to my parents, the man that had the greatest affect on my life was Dr. Bill McNulty, Head of the Plant Physiology Department at the University of Utah. Teachers are the cornerstone of a free society, and thankfully, there are a great many outstanding teachers in our educational system. What I and many teachers object to is the fabrications of bigoted liberal activists disguised as "teachers". No college professor should be able to publish an article of lies, or plagiarize a painting like Ward Churchill did and remain a teacher, and his defenders are no better than he is.

I have often been asked why I write the Mountain Man Plains Indian articles, and in addition for me to learn more about a subject, here is why:

I was on the internet today, looking for some information on the Indians of the Southwest. I did not expect such beautiful photos and the information that went with it, was very helpful. My eight year old daughter has a Diorama to complete for a school project on Friday, and I have no doubts about her grade for this project. I would like to thank you for the wonderful eye opening experience this was for me to share with her as well as part of her ancestry. Thanks again.

Yes you did choose a bad name for your site, but I like it a lot. It got me an A+ and two guys asked me out. Thank you very much.
From your friend: A+

Comments like these make it worthwhile.

The articles on the Mountain Man and Plains Indian Fur Trade site were written by O. N. (Ned) Eddins of Afton, Wyoming. Permission is given for material from the Mountain Man Plains Indian Fur Trade site to be used for school research papers.

There are frequent request to link to other internet sites, but I have refrained from linking to them because the sites were not about the Mountain Man fur trade. However, Oregon State University Press has just republished Don Berry's book, A Majority of Scoundrels. A Majority of Scoundrels is an excellent book on the business relationship between the fur trade suppliers and the mountain man associated with the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade.

Do you need an easy personalized gift? My first historical novel  Mountains of Stone will be signed with your message, and along with a picture CD, mailed directly to anyone you designate. You are not required to pre-pay or send credit card information when ordering  Mountains of Stone. After receiving the book, please pay the enclosed invoice. A sad commentary on our present-day values is that there is little trust in people anymore. This is too bad. Being old fashioned, I trust people, and the overwhelming majority of people buying Mountains of Stone bear out my faith in people.

The few people that do not pay for the book end up on my "Dead Beat List'. For someone with any integrity at all, it should be embarrassing to have your name on a "Dead Beat List" that can be seen by colleagues, friends, students, clients, neighbors, and people from around the world. The Dead Beat names also show up on reference,  financial information, and credit reports. As an example, copy and paste this into Google - Sidney McLaughlin  credit report - or paste - Sidney McLaughlin deadbeat.

Click on the rattlesnake for details on the List of Dead Beats

Sidney McLaughlin, Virginia Perches, Kris Giedosh, Brett D Pfingston, Gail Belt, Shelly Lemonte, Shawn Seigler, Gerald Gallimore, William May, Don McCall, Brian Karcher. Gary Blauser,  Sandra Bowden, Feigue Cieplinski, PhD., Nikki Davenport, Jim Georgeson, Randy Adam.

Click on book cover for details.

Mountains of Stone contains an abridged account of the important aspects of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, as well as, some of the major Hudson's Bay and North West Company explorers. The extensive bibliography for Mountains of Stone served as background information on the articles for this website. 

For the sequel to Mountains of Stone, I am researching the northern Plains Indians and the mountain men associated with the Rocky Mountain fur trade. The time frame for my next historical novel, Winds of Change, will be 1810 to 1840.

                                                     Winds of Change (Gayle Eddins)

Mountain Men of special interest are: Manuel Lisa, Jedediah Smith, Joseph Walker, Thomas Fitzpatrick, William Sublette, David Thompson, and the Astorians, Wilson Price Hunt, and Robert Stuart. Areas of primary interest for my next historical novel are Jackson Hole, the Green River Valley, and the Wyoming Range and the Caribou mountains of Idaho that surround Star Valley and Afton, Wyoming. 

There have been many requests for copies of pictures from the Mountain Man Plains Indian website, and I have put the best pictures, and others from Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, and Star Valley, Wyoming, on a CD. The pictures make beautiful screensavers, or can be used as a slide show in Windows XP. When ordering Mountains of Stone, request the CD and I will send it free with the book.

                                    
                                                   Mountains of Stone Picture CD

To email a comment, a question, or a suggestion click on The Mountain Man.

                                   
                                                          The Mountain Man

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Contributions:                                           
Lou Roberts found the buffalo head on the North Fork of Horse Creek, Daniel, Sublette County, Wyoming.

The Native American Indian points and knives are from a private collection of West Texas Projectile Points. 

This site is maintained by:

O. N. Eddins
P.O. 305
Afton, WY.
83110

    Last Updated:
  April 10, 2008