Foundations of Social Studies
Your notes should look like this . . .
Mountain Men and Trappers
The Spanish
U.S. Government
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For each group you are looking for:
1. Important people
2. Reason they came/explored
3. Good or bad outcomes (what happened because they
came)
 Mountain men were trappers who trapped for themselves,
and traded with the Indians.
 MAIN PURPOSE: looking for beaver and other furs
 Employees of American, British, or Mexican fur companies.
 Around 3,000 men, women, and children went west to trap.
 They dress like Native Americans(shirts and pants made of
leather).
 Around their neck they wore a “possibles sack”-it held a mold
to make bullets, a knife, a flint, a tin cup, and other useful items.
 Trappers lived and ate off of the land.
Cache: a hiding place in the
ground used for provisions or
treasures used by mountain
men.
RENDEZVOUS!
 Usually happened in July
 Mountain Men brought their furs
 The Indians also came
 Managed by large fur companies
 The fur companies bought the furs and brought supplies for the mountain men to
purchase
 Was a time of celebration, dancing, and singing
 Trappers received about 10 dollars for a pelt which is equivalent to 100 dollars
today
 But the traders charged high prices for their supplies
 Many times the Indians were friendly and even served as guides along the
rivers and trails
 The Indians sometimes let the trappers winter in their lodges
 However Indians did not like trappers on their land disturbing their way of
life
 They often stole horses and furs
 Historians used to look at the mountain men in positive terms seen as
“winning the west”
 Today historians look at it differently, talking about the costs to American
Indians
Write down their name and whatever is underlined
 Worked for Hudson Bay company
 Cache Valley and Ogden regions
 His journal is the earliest written
account of northern Utah
 Described the land as swarming
with black crickets, air filled with
seagulls, and he called Ogden a
hole because it was surrounded by
mountains
 Ogden and the Ogden river are
named after him
 Worked for the Ashley - Henry fur
company
 Came to Utah at 20 years old
 Great story teller
 Trapped in Cache Valley along the
Bear River
 When he came to the Great Salt Lake
he thought he discovered the Pacific
Ocean
 After his trapping days he stayed in
the west and started a trading post in
Wyoming known as Fort Bridger
 Worked for the Ashely-Henry fur
company
 When he first came to the west he took
a rifle and a bible
 He was attacked by a grizzly bear and
lost an ear
 First man to travel across the length
and width of Utah. Discovered no rivers
flowed out of the Great Salt Lake to the
Pacific Ocean
 Very prejudice against the American
Indian, which is ironic because after he
left Utah he was killed by a Comanche
Tribe.
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James Beckwourth
Worked for the Ashely-Henry fur
company
Born a slave in Virginia
He was also an explorer, miner, army
scout, and business man
Adopted by the Crow Indian tribe
Married a Crow woman
Wrote a book about his life
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Etienne Provost
Trapper from New Mexico
He believed he was the first to see the
Great Salt Lake
He guided many expeditions into the
valleys
Established Indian trading posts along
the shores of the Great Salt Lake and
Utah Lake
Attacked by an Indian tribe in Utah:
first recorded conflict between the
white man and Indians in the territory
Provo and the Provo River are named
after him
 By the early 1840’s the trapping business was over because fashion had changed
 Mountain men had hunted so many beavers that only a few remained
 These men became guides for pioneers, map makers, some ran posts and stores,
and others went on to become explorers for the government
 The contact between these men and the Indians changed the Indian life style
forever, including hunting strategy, the introduction of guns, metal objects, and
clothing styles
 In order for the Indians to get what they wanted from the white man they started
killing more animals, so the supply of animals began to run low
 Opened up Utah for other European immigrants
 Video Clip: Trailblazers and Scouts- Chapter 3 (SM)
Why did Mountain Men/Trappers come???
Who were some important people???
What were the outcomes???