A collection of 24 humorous mountain man tall stories narrated in a loose sort of verse in the voice of a tough, experienced, early-19th Century Rocky Mountain Fur Trapper. These stories are mainly addressed to greenhorns newly come to the mountains, but they are also intended to mystify and amuse veteran companions starved for entertainment. A few of the tales are a re-telling of the whoppers of Jim Bridger and Black Harris, such as Bitter Crick and The Peetrified Mountain. Most are original outrageous lies of Henry's own, related in the mountaineer tradition. All of the stories contain glimpses of the difficult, dangerous life of that rowdy breed of men who challenged America's uncharted wilderness and who survived and triumphed because of their courage, fortitude and unquenchable laughter in the face of hardship and peril. Come along and sprawl beside a beaver camp cookfire and hear how it was-and wasn't-in the Rocky Mountain fur trade.
A collection of 24 humorous mountain man tall stories narrated in a loose sort of verse in the voice of a tough, experienced, early-19th Century Rocky Mountain Fur Trapper. These stories are mainly addressed to greenhorns newly come to the mountains, but they are also intended to mystify and amuse veteran companions starved for entertainment. A few of the tales are a re-telling of the whoppers of Jim Bridger and Black Harris, such as Bitter Crick and The Peetrified Mountain. Most are original outrageous lies of Henry's own, related in the mountaineer tradition. All of the stories contain glimpses of the difficult, dangerous life of that rowdy breed of men who challenged America's uncharted wilderness and who survived and triumphed because of their courage, fortitude and unquenchable laughter in the face of hardship and peril. Come along and sprawl beside a beaver camp cookfire and hear how it was-and wasn't-in the Rocky Mountain fur trade.