Complete List to Explorers, Trappers, Traders, and Mountain Men of the American West

Explorers, Trappers, Traders & Mountain Men

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Christopher "Kit" Carson (1809-1868) - A daring and brave explorer, mountain man, trapper, scout, soldier, and buffalo hunter, Carson was born in Kentucky on December 24, 1809 but spent his childhood in Boone's Lick, Missouri. He was apprenticed to a saddle-maker when he turned fourteen, but was hired on as a hostler for a party on its way to Santa Fe in 1826. During the next half century, Carson would earn a reputation as a skilled trapper, adventurer, Indian agent, and soldier. Utilizing Taos, New Mexico as his primary base camp, he led several expeditions that often took him as far West as California, as well as deep into the Rocky Mountains. He led John Fremont to California and Oregon and also the forces of U.S. General Stephen Kearney to California. He later served in the Civil War, became a rancher, an Indian Agent, and fought in several Indian Wars. Carson resigned from the army in November, 1867 and settled at Boggsville, Colorado, where he died on May 23, 1868. More ...

Kit Carson, photo courtesy Library of Congress.

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William Clark William Clark (1770-1838) - Born on August 1, 1770 in Caroline County, Virginia, Clark moved with his family to Lousville, Kentucky in 1785. After receiving a quality education and becoming a geographical expert, he joined the militia in 1789. In 1796 he left the army and in 1803, Captain Meriwether Lewis invited him to share the leadership in the Corps of Discovery. For the next three years, they and their men explored the vast uncharted area newly acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, with Clark acting as mapmaker and artist. After Clark's successful return from the Pacific coast three years later, President Jefferson awarded him 1,600 acres and made him brigadier general of militia for the Louisiana Territory as well as superintendent of Indian affairs. From 1813 to 1832, Clark served as governor of the Missouri Territory. Clark died of natural causes in St. Louis on September 1, 1838. More ...

John Colter (1775-1813) - Pioneer, frontiersman, explorer, and army scout, Colter was born near Staunton, Virginia in 1775. In 1804 he was picked to join the Lewis and Clark expedition and made the entire journey westward with them. On the return trip he requested permission to leave the expedition and then lead Joseph Dickson and Forrest Hancock back up the Missouri River to trap beaver along the Yellowstone River. However, the three soon had a falling out and Colter continued alone around what is now known as Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and is credited with the being the discoverer of the Yellowstone area. In 1807, he joined a venture led by Manuel Lisa on the Big Horn River, and in 1809, he and former expedition member John Potts accompanied the Andrew Henry outfit, and were assigned to trap in Blackfeet country. It was during this period that Colter and Pitt were attacked by Blackfeet warriors. After killing Pitt, they mysteriously set Colter "free," but he soon learned he was to be the game of a "human hunt." Outrunning all but one, he killed the Indian before making his way, some eleven days later, to Fort Raymond. Afterwards, Colter left the mountains for good, returning to Missouri, getting married, and settling in New Haven. No one would believe his stories of geysers and boiling mud until William Clark substantiated his tales. He died of jaundice in 1813. More ...

David "Davy" Crockett (1786-1836) - A frontiersman, explorer and pioneer, David de Crocketagne was born on August 17, 1786, near Limestone, Kentucky, Crockett fought in the Creek Indian War under Andrew Jackson, before taking up the life of a politician. He represented Tennessee in the state legislature and then as a representative in the U.S. Congress. However, when he lost the re-election in 1835, he said "you may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas." He joined the Texas Revolution in the fall of 1835 and in February, 1846, he arrived at the Alamo with his group of Tennessee Mounted Volunteers. Fighting against Santa Anna during the siege of the Alamo, he lost his life on March 6, 1836, along with 189 defenders.

John Charles Fremont (1813-1890) - Explorer, Surveyor, Military Man and Politician, Freemont was born on January 21, 1813 in Savannah, Georgia. When his father died when John was just five years old, the family moved to Charleston, South Carolina where he attended college before being expelled for irregular attendance. However, he'd done well in math and got a teaching job on a warship. His career as an explorer began when he left the Navy to be a second lieutenant in the United States Topographical Corps, which later became the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1838 and 1839 he took part in Jean Nicollet's expedition to the plains between the upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Becoming an expert in geology and topography, he headed his own expedition into to survey the Des Moines River in 1841. He continued to lead three three major expeditions to the to the West in 1842, 1843-44, and 1845-47 into the Pacific Northwest and the Sierra Nevadas. Landing in California with his wife, Fremont led much of the revolt in Alta that led to the state to its admission in the Union. When gold was found on the land that he had purchased in the Sierra foothills, he became a millionaire. He then moved to politics, serving as one of California's first senators. During the Civil War Fremont commanded the Western Department of the Union Army, but his rash political actions forced President Abraham Lincoln to remove him. Afterwards, he lost his fortune through bad investments with railroads and moved to Arizona, where he was made territorial governor from 1878 to 1883. In 1887 Fremont returned to California. He died on July 13, 1890, in New York City.

John W. Gunnison (1812-1853) - Born in New Hampshire in 1812, Gunnison became a Second Lieutenant of topographical engineers after graduating from the United States Military Academy. After serving in the Florida War of 1837-1839, he spent the next ten years surveying the lakes and harbors of the great northwestern United States. While working in the Salt Lake City region he befriended the Mormons and acted as a negotiator in several uprisings between them and the local Native Americans. Winning him the admiration of his peers and giving Gunnison confidence in his abilities to deal with the Indians, it would later prove to be the death of him. In 1853 he was charged with finding and surveying a railway route from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean. After moving along the Kansas-Nebraska border, his journey took him over the Rocky Mountains, and into the Gunnison River Valley. Working with a guide from Taos, New Mexico , the pair, along with the rest of Gunnison's party, came into conflict with Ute warriors on several occasions, but Gunnison was able to appease them and move on, further boosting his confidence in dealing with the natives. However, as he and his party moved into Utah, locals warned them of recent trouble with the Paiutes. Overconfident in his abilities to negotiate with the Indians, he divided his crew into two groups before going around Lake Sevier. It was a fatal mistake. The next morning, October 26, 1853, a band of Paiutes, seeking revenge for the killing of their chief, ambushed and killed Gunnison and all but four of the eleven members in his group. Gunnison's route through the fabled Black Canyon of Gunnison was never used for a transcontinental railroad; however, the information he gathered throughout his career would later provide extremely useful in the development of the west.

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