Alexander Harvey (1808-1854) - He was one of the boldest men and most reckless desperadoes known to the fur trade. Despite his fierce temper and known cruelty, he worked in the fur industry for years. See full article HERE.

John L. Hatcher (1812?-1897) - Frontiersman and Army Scout, Hatcher was born in Botetourt County, Virginia in about 1812. When he grew up, he headed west and was in St. Louis, Missouri about 1835. He then headed out with the Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain party to present-day Colorado, where he worked at Bent's Fort for several years. He lived for a time with the Kiowa Indians and when Lieutenant J.W. Abert, explored the Texas Panhandle, he acted as a guide. During the Mexican-American War, he became an Army scout, which he continued until after the hostilities were over. Later, he was driving sheep from Missouri to California in 1858. He settled in the Sonoma Valley the following year. In 1867, he moved to Oregon, where he spent the rest of his life. He died on his farm in Linn County, Oregon in 1897.

Andrew Henry (1775-1832) - Born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania in 1775, Andrew Henry became a fur trader and in 1809 joined with Manuel Lisa, Jean Pierre Choteau and William Clark to found the Missouri Fur Company. He led an expedition to the Three Forks in Montana where he built a trading post in 1810. The following year he explored the Montana-Idaho wilderness and discovered Lake Henry and built another trading post near present-day Saint Anthony, Idaho. After difficulties with the Blackfoot Indians, Henry returned to St. Louis in January, 1812 and soon joined the War of 1812, rising the rank of Major. In 1822, he started the Rocky Mountain Fur Company with William H. Ashley and led an expedition of 150 men to the mouth of the Yellowstone River and built a post that came to be known as Fort Henry in Montana. In 1824, Henry retired to Missouri and died on January 10, 1832.

Valentine Johnson “Rube” Herring (1812-1883) - Born in Illinois in 1812, he received a fair education as a child and when he grew up, he went to St. Louis, Missouri. In 1831, he was hired by John Gantt for a trapping expedition in the Rocky Mountains. Two years later, he was working with William Sublette on the upper Missouri River. He then returned to St. Louis, where he was hired by Nathaniel Wyeth to guide him to Fort Hall, Idaho. He eventually became a free trapper. In 1841-42, he was in charge of Fort Lancaster, in eastern Colorado. Spending considerable time at Taos, New Mexico, he got into a gunfight with a man named Henry Beer over a Mexican woman. In 1849 he went to California, where he settled in San Bernardino County. He became superintendent of schools in 1853, served as justice of the peace, county assessor and other offices, including sheriff in 1859. He died in 1883.

Trappers and hunters in the Old West

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