Book on Mountain Men/Frontier Life?

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Doc Rogers

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This is killing me b/c I know I just recently read somewhere (maybe on THR) about a book series of a frontier scout/mountain man that the first installment won or was nominated for the pulitzer prize. I belive that the first in the series was written in the 1960's but I am not sure. Cannot remember the author for the life of me or the name of the books. Would love to get the first one and read it. I think that they fall under "historical fiction" and I also think that the author was form Ohio or something (not sure why that just popped into my head :confused: .

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Stephen Ambrose wrote of the Lews and Clark Expetition. Would that be what you're talking about?

He also wrote about the Transcontinental Railroad, 'Band of Brothers', and a biography of Dwight Eisenhower.

Good stuff, but I haven't read the book about Ike yet.

salty.
 
You might google Terry C. Johnston. I've not heard of any nominations but he wrote several mountain man type books, the first of which has been out for several years. Another author, Dale Van Every, wrote THE SHINING MOUNTAINS, published in 1948. That may be another possibility.

Steve
 
I've read "Band of Brothers" and am currently reading "Citizen Soldiers" by Ambrose. Both great reads.

I just ordered "Crow Killer" and "Mountain Man", the books sited in Jeremiah Johnson.

Not familiar with the others and they do not seem quite right. Not sure.

I'll keep looking and eventually I'll remember the name of the author/books.

Thanks for the other suggestions, though. I'll have to add them to my reading list.
 
there was a book out a few years ago about Jim Bridger,
the only thing that I can remember was it was a plain looking book, and if I remember right it was kind of redish colored.
Fantastic read, I wish I could provide more info.
If anybody could help I would appreciate it.
 
I've read Eckert's books and he's one of my favorite authors. His research had to be exhaustive. Though he takes liberties to invent conversation between characters which are within quotes in the book, when the actual exact words aren't known, he had documentation that character A and character B had a conversation and the general subject of it. The characters in his books were real people and did what he has them doing. Some of their accomplishments, like Simon Kenton's in THE FRONTIERSMEN are pretty amazing.

Steve
 
Mountain Man Books

I have read Ambrose's Lewis and Clark Expedition and loved it from cover to cover. He took much of the material from the actual journals of Lewis. There are many entries regarding the care and feeding of their black powder rifles and of the game their hunters were taking with them. I highly recommend it. Also I just ordered a couple of books from Amazon. One was The Crow Killer which is about Liver Eatin Johnson and the other is"Jim Bridger, Mountain Man". There were many books that are available on Amazon as well. Another source you may consider is the Crazy Crow Trading Post online store. They also offer mountain man style titles. Tons of lit out there. The problem is sorting out those with historical reality from the fiction
 
While not true "mountain man" books, Eckert's "Easterns" are good reading, particularly if you are looking for pretty-close-to-real history. Eckert has done extensive research and his books are footnoted with additional info. The footnotes are worth taking the time to read. I personally liked The Frontiersmen the best, and his Wilderness Empire second. WE is set in upstate NY in the 1750's, '60's and tells of (Sir) William Johnson who became closely integrated with the Iroquois confederacy, and because of his close relations with the tribe was made Britain's agent to the tribes.

His other books relate the settlement of the Old Frontier, east of the Mississippi. Other titles are: The Conquerors -covers time of Pontiac's uprising; The Wilderness War - Iroquois in the 1770's; Gateway to Empire - Western Indiana, Illinois, southern Wisc through War of 1812; Twilight of Empire - Blackhawk War. Also worth a read: The Court Martial of Daniel Boone - about Boone's trail after his escape from captivity with the Shawnee; A Sorrow in Our Heart - life and death of Tecumseh; and That Dark and Bloody River - covers 700-1800 AD struggles between Indian tribes and later the Europeans and Americans for control of the Ohio River valley.

Some serious historians take exception to Eckert's claim to historical accuracy, but you will be hard-pressed to find a more painless, no make that enjoyable, way to get a good grasp of the early frontier history of the US!

A couple of worthwhile mountain man books: Trask by Don Berry -Oregon country; The Big Sky - A.B. Guthrie Rocky mtn men; For overall accounts of actual fur trade try Give Your Heart to the Hawks - Winfred Blevins -gives a very readable account of the lives of some of the prominent Rocky Mtn men; A Majority of Soundrels - Don Berry -a good account of the origin and development of the Rocky Mountain fur trade.
 
Turns out the books I was looking for were written by Allen Eckert. "The Frontiersman" is the first one. Supposed to be a 6 book series.

Anyone read these? Are they any good?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Get the books, they're good!
I've got the paperbacks.
It's been a few years since I've read them but the books made a lasting impression.
I forget the title, but start with the one about the French expedition travelling and claiming the Ohio River, and French & Indian War.
Sometimes wonder what my corner of Ohio looked like many years back and what life was like then.

Currently slowly going through the already mentioned Ambrose's L&C book.
Amazed at the pre-expedition planning & equiping and the effort made to get West. And then back.
 
Crow Killer

I just finished reading Crow Killer -- the Saga of Liver Eatin' Johnson.

Great book and an easy read. I picked it up at Dixie Gunworks on-line catalog.

Ambrose's book on Lewis and Clark is also first-rate.

Robert Utley wrote a book on the Mountain Men but I put it down after about 80 pages -- very boring and poorly written.
 
Your mountain man book

Hi Doc........
Did you ever find out the book and series you were looking for? I believe you were referring to one of my favorite authors, from Choteau, MT, A.B. Guthrie. He wrote The Big Sky, which is a tragic tail (aren't all mountain man tales tragic in one way or another?). It is a serious piece of lit that won the Pulitzer in 1953, I believe. Required reading for BP afficionados. Then there are the sequels. The second, The Way West, is about the Oregon Trail and a group of Missourians who took it, led by one of the personalities in Big Sky. Third comes Fair Land Fair Land, an okay story that falls off in literary value.

I've read this series twice, and have just started on the fourth book, These Thousand Hills. Guthrie did his homework on all these books and it shows. Nothing like cowboy lingo...I have seen it appear frquently right here on the BP site.

Guthrie died in 1991 at 91 years of age. Should have liked to meet him. Wish Id'a known about him when I was in MT in the '70s and '80s.

Good reading, friends..

Kwahe
 
Another well written one is Michner's Centennial. The first few chapter's, while not exactly based on actual characters, are good reading for anyone interested in the mountainman era.

Have to profess a certain prejudice, 'cause it's about where I grew up.
 
I have "Lewis and Clarks journal" on my computer. Its a long interesting read. Do you know about their air rifle? They showed it to the indiand about 20 times and the indians were amazed. Quite an article.
 
"Crow Killer" is a superb book on the Mountain Man culture, first hand accounts by some of the last mountain men to trap the Rockies. Whether the stories were real or embellishments is not clear. This is the book the movie "Jeremiah Johnson" was based on, the story of Liver Eating Johnson. Perhaps the first documented serial killer in North America.....over 300 Crow Indians to his credit. Amazing man, civil war veteran, mountain man, Indian fighter, and sherrif.

"Liver Eating Johnson"

johnson.gif
 
Doc Rogers said:
Turns out the books I was looking for were written by Allen Eckert. "The Frontiersman" is the first one. Supposed to be a 6 book series.

Anyone read these? Are they any good?
Click to expand...

Very good reading! You can get his books re-printed in paperback, or find hardback used books on amazon, abebooks or ebay.

You also may want to check out the "Foxfire" series.

http://www.amazon.com/Foxfire-5-Inc-Fund/dp/0385143087

Great resources for traditional "mountain" skills, such as dressing hogs, makeing black powder, rifles, blacksmithing, etc.
 
Liver Eating Johnson. Perhaps the first documented serial killer in North America
Click to expand...

I believe the Harpe's of the Natchez Trace were earlier, waylaying lone travelers, filling the abdominal cavities with rocks and sinking the bodies in the swamps.
 
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