Description

Volume 5 – 2011

Full Color Paperback, 8-1/2 x 11, 168 pages

ISSN: 1937-0733

Copyright 2011 -Sublette County Historical Society

5th annual, open submission, peer review, scholarly publication from the Musuem of the Mountain Man.

Contents:

Tracking Jim Bridger: Finding the Trail of Old Gabe – It is time to take a new look at one of the most celebrated figures in the Rocky Mountain fur trade.

by Jerry Enzler

Was Fort Bonneville Simply Nonsense?

Did a Fort Bonneville exist on Wyoming’s Green River during the Rocky Mountain fur trade era? Warren Angus Ferris was the only Green River rendezvous participant to leave a physical description of a Fort Bonneville, or use the term Fort Nonsense. Contemporary fur trade journals, lack of physical evidence, and no verifiable artifacts suggest a bastioned Fort Bonneville did not exist.

by O. Ned Eddins

St. George and the Dragon Sideplate: An Art History for North American Trade Guns – A thorough examination of dragon imagery shows the serpentine design of trade gun sideplates is tied to western artistic traditions.

by Nathan E. Bender

‘A Life Wild and Perilous’: Death in the Far West among Trappers and Traders – Dime novels, early ‘historical’ biographies, Hollywood and individuals’ imaginations have often done a great disservice to the accurate reconstruction of the mountain men’s lifestyle by ignoring the risks involved in the occupation and the frequency of death. Research quickly reveals the often brutal conditions in which the mountain men truly worked. Yet it seems that the routine occurrence of death and mayhem in their daily lives is often lost among romantic tales, imagination and persistent myths.

by James Hannon, Jr.

Lock, Stock and Barrel: Arming the Far Western Mountaineers – When wielded by men who understood their limitations, muzzle-loading firearms made possible the exploration of the Far West.

by Doyle Reid

Myth and Mountain Men Analyzed: Heroes and Heroines – Whether Joe Meek or Luke Skywalker, Kit Carson or Sinbad, the hero adventurer is vital to our social-psychological essence.

by Ken Zontek, PhD

An 1824-1825 Columbia Fur Company Ledger – A recently discovered ledger adds new light to the business of CFC and some of the men employed in the fur trade of the upper Missouri River.

by Jim Hardee

For more information see Journal 2011“