Tales of the Mountain Men: Seventeen Stories of Survival, Exploration, and Frontier Spirit

Many people believe that "The Old West" died out when lawlessness was stamped out by the likes of Wyatt Earp. But if you stop and think about it, Earp wore a suit and tie and was able to travel by train just like the folks back east. Also, he did NOT fast draw a revolver (nor did anyone else) and he was no more capable of living off the land than any citizen of Chicago. No, "The Old West" died out when the "Iron Horse" brought in hordes of farmers, merchants and craftsmen. But before that final wave of immigration took place, the frontiersman knew perfect freedom. He was one of the few immigrants that lived in harmony with his surroundings. (when he wasn't being burned alive or scalped alive or mauled by a grizzly)But the most common problem was arthritis related maladies brought on by exposure to cold water while trapping. Most men lasted about six years one way or another. The "Free Trappers" paid for what they got. Their stories make you realize that freedom isn't free. You gotta pay with blood or sweat. That is a natural law.

A great read as a mountain man and a fur trapper this book is a great read after a day on the trap line to comeback to my line cabin and have some supper and a warm fire going in the wood stove its a great time to relax and refect on the day and reading this book takes me back to our for fathers of mountain men and they have the same struggles as we do today

What a great read. Would highly recommend it

My husband enjoyed the book and gave it to his cousin also to read.

The verdict is not in yet for this book because I am still reading it. But I do feel that the author spent too much time (about a 1/4) of the book documenting the day-to-day events as recorded in the dairies of Lewis and Clark. They were great explorers and they played a significant role in westward exploration, but they did not live the life as a mountain man as we know today through recorded history. Now, there are hundreds of books written on Lewis and Clark and their contributions to history, but in a book that should be solely dedicated to the preservation of the mountain man, an author should focus on that. So far, there have been some very good and interesting stories of survival, but I don't know if they will continue. If I have to judge this book right now, then I must say that it is not as good as the book titled, "Give Your Heart to the Hawks" which is another book on the mountain man.

Mountain Men are a common item when one lives in Alaska. This one believed their life was rugged but worth it. Real men compared to some young ones today!

Burton Harris did ,I think, the best one could do in telling the life of John Colter giving the little know or documented infomation about his life after theLewis and Clark expedition. Great book for history lovers and mountain men followers.

This is a nice collection of stories about some of the more famous mountain men.

Having only recently bought this book I am already deeply into it. Yes, some chapters are harder to read than others because they are written in the same style as they were told and therefore some sentences need reading a couple of times to get the full meaning, but the majority are in 'modern' prose. Whichever style, they provide a real flavour of the times and put plenty of flesh on the bones of the mountain men and their exploits. The frontier wasn't all just about the cowboys and this book helps redress that balance somewhat.

Great stories that keep you enthralled and I found it difficult topout it down.

Christmas gift for my dad, he loves books on Alaska, Canada and Nth US old history. Strongly recommended for those with a similar interest.

Good seller and good product

I gave it a four star rating because the stories are really great, however some of them are really hard to read and follow. Some stories' dialogues are written in the original mountain man slang, which is a good idea in theory, but the spelling ruins everything. Expect to read things like '' Y'arr gon skeet down heeyah hos , sure as a tell yous boy. '' More often than not, you're going to read it two or three times and still not be sure about what was said !! Some stories use it scarcely throughout the story but some of them use it a lot and often, which totally ruins the experience. I skipped two stories midway through because it was too chaotic. If you are a very good reader and/or familiar with written slang & argo, you should still get that book. The book incorporates lots of classic mountain man littérature, reads from the past and features the best parts of those. Let me warn you again though, the spelling can be really, really irritating. My rating would be more like 3 1/2 because of this.