John Colter
John Colter was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Though party to one of the more famous expeditions in history, Colter is best remembered for explorations he made during the winter of 1807–1808, when he became the first known person of European descent to enter the region which later became Yellowstone National Park and to see the Teton Mountain Range. Colter spent months alone in the wilderness and is widely considered to be the first known mountain man.
Early life
John Colter was born in Stuarts Draft, Colony of Virginia in 1774, based on assumptions by his family. There is some debate as to which variation of the family name, Coalter, Coulter, or Colter, is correct, and the issue was further convoluted by William Clark utilizing all three spelling variations during his daily journals. It is unknown whether Colter was literate or knew how to write. Two signatures possessed by the Missouri State Historical Society assert that the proper spelling of the family name was "Colter" and that Colter was at least able to write his own name. Sometime around 1780, the Colter family moved west and settled near present-day Maysville, Kentucky. As a young man Colter may have served as a ranger under Simon Kenton.Lewis and Clark Expedition
John Colter, along with George Shannon and Patrick Gass, joined the expedition while Lewis was waiting for the completion of their vessels in Pittsburgh and nearby Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. The outdoor skills he had developed from this frontier lifestyle impressed Meriwether Lewis, and on October 15, 1803, Lewis offered Colter the rank of private and a pay of five dollars per month when he was recruited to join what became the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The expedition arrived at the Mississippi River in November and in December established its 1803-1804 winter camp at Wood River, north of St. Louis. While Lewis and Clark were away from camp making preparations, Colter and three other recruits disobeyed Lewis orders, leaving the camp to go to a whiskey shop. Upon his return, Lewis disciplined Colter and the others with ten days’ confinement to quarters. Soon thereafter, Colter was court-martialed after threatening to shoot sergeant John Ordway. After a review of the situation, Colter was reinstated after he offered an apology and promised to reform.Colter was considered to be one of the best hunters in the group and was routinely sent out alone to find the surrounding countryside for game meat. Colter was often trusted with responsibilities that went beyond hunting and woodsman activities. He was instrumental in helping the expedition find passes through the Rocky Mountains. In one instance, Colter was handpicked by Clark to deliver a message to Lewis, waylaid at a Shoshone camp, concerning the impracticability of following a route along the Salmon River. In another instance he was charged with retracing a route in the Bitterroot Mountains to recover lost horses and supplies, and not only returned with some of the recovered resources and horses but also retrieved deer to gift the hospitable Nez Perce tribes and strengthen sick corp members. Colter was noted by Lewis for his ability to barter with various tribes, an attribute which may have led to his later role with Manuel Lisa.
Colter never appeared on sick lists, suggesting very advantageous health. He was often one of the few hunters allowed to leave the camp during points of illness and recuperation, showing Lewis and Clark's confidence in him. Another major contribution Colter made to the Corps of Discovery was providing the expedition with the means to swiftly descend the Bitterroot Mountains, allowing access to the Snake River, Columbia River, and subsequently the Pacific Ocean. While hunting far ahead of the main party, Colter encountered three Tushepawe Flatheads. Through non-verbal peace symbols and communication, Colter was able to persuade the Flatheads to abandon their search for two Shoshones who had stolen 23 head of horses and accompany him to the expedition's camp. One of the young Flatheads agreed to act as the party's guide down the mountains and through Flathead country, a good advantage in challenging and unfamiliar terrain plagued by a scarcity of game. Once at the mouth of the Columbia River, Colter was among a small group selected to venture to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, as well as explore the seacoast north of the Columbia into present-day Washington state.
After traveling thousands of miles, in 1806 the expedition returned to the Mandan villages in present-day North Dakota. There, they encountered Forrest Hancock and Joseph Dickson, two frontiersmen who were headed into the upper Missouri River country in search of beaver furs. On August 13, 1806, Lewis and Clark permitted Colter to be honorably discharged almost two months early so that he could lead the two trappers back to the region they had explored. Upon his discharge, Colter had earned payment for 35 months and 26 days, totaling $179.67 1/3rd dollars. However, a discrepancy in the books provided Colter with payment for the two months he had skipped to accompany Hancock and Dickson trapping. This over-payment may have been justified by Colter's significant work ethic and personal praise by Thomas Jefferson himself. In 1807, Colter's settlement was retracted after Congress passed a mandate supplying all members of the Corps of Discovery with doubled wages and land grants of 320 acres. Lewis personally took responsibility for Colter's reparations, and following Lewis' death and Colter's subsequent return to St. Louis, a court decided Colter was owed an amount of $377.60.
Mountain man beginnings
Colter, Hancock, and Dixon ventured into the wilderness with 20 beaver traps, a two-year supply of ammunition, and numerous other small tools gifted to them by the expedition such as knives, rope, hatchets, and personal utensils. The route of the trapping party is not known. It is speculated that unfriendly Blackfeet in the region of the Lower Missouri and a lack of horses forced the company to seek their fortunes in the tributaries of the less-prosperous Yellowstone Valley, a region inhabited by the friendlier Crows. The dangers of the narrow and rapid Yellowstone River and the absence of game may explain the quick dissolution of the trapping party.After reaching a point where the Gallatin, Jefferson and Madison Rivers meet, known today as Three Forks, Montana, the trio managed to maintain their partnership for only about two months. There is much speculation as to where the party, at that point only consisting of Colter and Hancock following a falling out with Dixon, spent the winter of 1806–1807. However, Wyoming historian J.K. Rollinson asserts in a personal letter that he had met the stepson of one of Colter's companions, mostly likely Hancock's as Dixon is known to have left the region for Wisconsin in 1827. This stepson, Dave Fleming, accompanied his stepfather on a hunting trip to Clark's Fork Canyon as a boy and was informed that his stepfather had made camp in this exact spot while trapping with Colter many years earlier. Fleming reportedly remembered and passed on this detail as his stepfather asserted that during winter of 1806–1807, Colter had grown restless with taking shelter and ascended the canyon into the Sunlight Basin of modern-day Wyoming, which would make him the first known white man to have ever entered this region.
Colter headed back toward civilization in 1807 and was near the mouth of the Platte River when he encountered Manuel Lisa, a founder of the Missouri Fur Trading Company, who was leading a party that included several former members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, towards the Rocky Mountains. Among the band were George Drouillard, John Potts, and Peter Weiser. Colter once again decided to return to the wilderness, even though he was only a week from reaching St. Louis. At the confluence of the Yellowstone and Bighorn Rivers, Colter helped build Fort Raymond and was later sent by Lisa to search out the Crow Indian tribe to investigate the opportunities of establishing trade with them.
Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Jackson Hole
Colter left Fort Raymond in October 1807 and traveled over to establish trade with the Crow nation. Over the course of the winter, he explored the region that later became Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Colter reportedly visited at least one geyser basin, though it is now believed that he most likely was near present-day Cody, Wyoming, which at that time may have had some geothermal activity to the immediate west. Colter probably passed along portions of the shores of Jackson Lake after crossing the Continental Divide near Togwotee Pass or more likely, Union Pass in the northern Wind River Range. Colter then explored Jackson Hole below the Teton Range, later crossing Teton Pass into Pierre's Hole, known today as the Teton Basin in the state of Idaho. After heading north and then east, he is believed to have encountered Yellowstone Lake, another location in which he had seen geysers and other geothermal features. Colter then proceeded back to Fort Raymond, arriving in March or April 1808. Not only had Colter traveled hundreds of miles, much of the time unguided, he did so in the dead of winter, in a region in which nighttime temperatures in January are routinely.Colter arrived back at Fort Raymond, and few believed his reports of geysers, bubbling mudpots and steaming pools of water. His reports of these features were often ridiculed at first, and the region was somewhat jokingly referred to as "Colter's Hell". It is commonly believed that Colter's Hell referred to the region of the Stinking Water, now known as the Shoshone River, particularly the section running through Cody. The river's original title was thanks to presence of sulphur in the surrounding area. His detailed exploration of this region is the first by a white man of what later became the state of Wyoming.