Hugh Glass
Encyclopedia
Hugh Glass was an American
fur trapper and frontiersman noted for his exploits in the American West during the first third of the 19th century.
Little is known about Glass's early life. He was probably born in Pennsylvania
. Stories about Glass assert that he was a sailor, a reluctant pirate with Jean Lafitte
, and an honorary Pawnee. Best documented, however, are his actions as an explorer of the watershed of the Upper Missouri River
in present day South Dakota
and Montana
, Glass was famed most of all for his legendary cross-country trek after being mauled by a grizzly bear
. A 1971 movie entitled Man in the Wilderness
, starring Richard Harris and John Huston
, was loosely based on this story.
.
Besides Glass, others who joined the enterprise included notables such as Jim Beckwourth, Thomas Fitzpatrick (trapper)
, David Jackson
, John Fitzgerald, William Sublette
, Jim Bridger
, and Jedediah Smith
.
Early in the trek, Glass established himself as a hard-working fur trapper. He was apparently wounded on this trip in a battle with Arikaras, and later traveled with a party of 13 men to relieve traders at Fort Henry at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. The expedition, led by Andrew Henry
, planned to proceed from the Missouri, up the valley of the Grand River
in present-day South Dakota
, then across to the valley of the Yellowstone
.
, in August 1823, while scouting alone for game for the expedition's larder, Glass surprised a grizzly bear
mother with her two cubs. Before he could fire his rifle, the bear charged, picked him up, and threw him to the ground. Glass got up, grappled for his knife, and fought back, stabbing the animal repeatedly as the grizzly raked him time and again with her claws.
Glass managed to kill the bear with help from his trapping partners, Fitzgerald and Bridger, but was left badly mauled and unconscious. Henry became convinced the man would not survive his injuries.
Henry asked for two volunteers to stay with Glass until he died, and then bury him. Bridger
(then 17 years old) and Fitzgerald stepped forward, and as the rest of the party moved on, began digging his grave. Later claiming that they were interrupted in the task by an attack by "Arikaree" Indians, the pair grabbed Glass's rifle, knife, and other equipment, and took flight.
Bridger and Fitzgerald incorrectly reported to Henry that Glass had died.
on the Missouri.
In one of the more remarkable treks known to history, Glass set his own leg, wrapped himself in the bear hide his companions had placed over him as a shroud, and began crawling. To prevent gangrene
, Glass laid his wounded back on a rotting log and let the maggots eat the dead flesh.
Deciding that following the Grand River would be too dangerous because of hostile Native Americans
, Glass crawled overland south toward the Cheyenne River
. It took him six weeks to reach it.
Glass survived mostly on wild berries and roots. On one occasion he was able to drive two wolves from a downed bison calf, and feast on the meat. Reaching the Cheyenne, he fashioned a crude raft and floated down the river, navigating using the prominent Thunder Butte
landmark. Aided by friendly natives who sewed a bear hide to his back to cover the exposed wounds, Glass eventually reached the safety of Fort Kiowa.
After a long recuperation, Glass set out to track down and avenge himself against Bridger and Fitzgerald. When he found Bridger, on the Yellowstone near the mouth of the Bighorn River
, Glass spared him, purportedly because of Bridger's youth. When he found Fitzgerald, and discovered that Fitzgerald had joined the United States Army
, Glass purportedly restrained himself because the consequence of killing a U.S. soldier was death. However, he did recover his lost rifle.
, then across and down the Platte to the bluffs. The party set off in a bullboat
. Near the junction with the Laramie River
, they discovered some 38 Indian lodges, with several Indians on the shore. The Indians appeared to be friendly, and the trappers initially believed them to be Pawnees. After going ashore and dining with the Indians, Glass discovered that the Indians actually belonged to the Arikara
nation, who, after several past encounters, were anything but friendly with the whites. The party quickly got in the bull boat and paddled for the far shore. The Indians promptly swam in after them and both reached the shore around the same time. Two men, Marsh and Dutton, escaped and reunited later, but the other two, More and Chapman, were quickly overtaken and slaughtered. Glass was lucky enough to find a group of rocks to hide behind, and was not discovered by the Arikaras. Glass also found his knife and flint in his shot pouch after the ordeal. He fell in with a party of Sioux
and travelled with them back to Fort Kiowa.
Glass' survival odyssey has been recounted in numerous books. A monument to Glass now stands near the site of his mauling on the southern shore of Shadehill Reservoir
on the forks of the Grand River.
. He was killed with two fellow trappers in the winter of 1833 on the Yellowstone River
in an attack by the Arikara.
According to the book The Deaths of the Bravos by John Myers Myers, the Arikara in April 1833 later tried to pass off as friendly Minitaris Indians to a party of trappers employed by Amfurco. However, Johnson Gardner, one of the trappers, recognized a rifle that one of the Indians had as the very rifle Glass got back from Fitzgerald after Fitzgerald and Bridger left him for dead in 1823. Alarmed by this, Gardner surmised that the Indians were actually the Arikaras. The Indians were seized and executed in response to the death of Hugh Glass.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fur trapper and frontiersman noted for his exploits in the American West during the first third of the 19th century.
Little is known about Glass's early life. He was probably born in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Stories about Glass assert that he was a sailor, a reluctant pirate with Jean Lafitte
Jean Lafitte
Jean Lafitte was a pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his elder brother, Pierre, spelled their last name Laffite, but English-language documents of the time used "Lafitte", and this is the commonly seen spelling in the United States, including for places...
, and an honorary Pawnee. Best documented, however, are his actions as an explorer of the watershed of the Upper Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
in present day South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Glass was famed most of all for his legendary cross-country trek after being mauled by a grizzly bear
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
. A 1971 movie entitled Man in the Wilderness
Man in the Wilderness
Man in the Wilderness is a 1971 American action film about a scout for a group of mountain men who are traversing the Northwestern United States during the 1820s. The scout is mauled by a bear and left to die by his companions. He survives and recuperates sufficiently to track his former...
, starring Richard Harris and John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
, was loosely based on this story.
General Ashley's Expedition
Glass's most famous adventure began in 1822, when he responded to an advertisement in the Missouri Gazette and Public Adviser, placed by General William Ashley, which called for a corps of 100 men to "ascend the river Missouri" as part of a fur trading venture. These men would later be known as Ashley's HundredAshley's Hundred
Ashley's Hundred refers to the men who responded in 1822 to the flyer, "To Enterprising Young Men: The Subscriber wishes to engage One Hundred men to ascend the River Missouri to its source to be employed for one, two, or three years..."...
.
Besides Glass, others who joined the enterprise included notables such as Jim Beckwourth, Thomas Fitzpatrick (trapper)
Thomas Fitzpatrick (trapper)
Thomas Fitzpatrick, known as "Broken Hand", was a trapper and a trailblazer who became the head of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. With Jedediah Smith, he led a trapper band that discovered South Pass, Wyoming....
, David Jackson
David Edward Jackson
David Edward Jackson was an American pioneer, explorer, trader, and fur trapper.He spent his early life west of the Shenandoah Mountains, in what was then part of Virginia and is now in West Virginia: he was born in Randolph County, and his parents, Edward and Elizabeth Jackson, soon moved the...
, John Fitzgerald, William Sublette
William Sublette
William Lewis Sublette Born near Stamford, Lincoln County, Kentucky on September 21, 1798. Died on July 23, 1845 in Pittsburg. W.L. Sublette was a fur trapper, pioneer and mountain man, who with his brothers after 1823 became an agent of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company exploiting the riches of the...
, Jim Bridger
Jim Bridger
James Felix "Jim" Bridger was among the foremost mountain men, trappers, scouts and guides who explored and trapped the Western United States during the decades of 1820-1850, as well as mediating between native tribes and encroaching whites...
, and Jedediah Smith
Jedediah Smith
Jedediah Strong Smith was a hunter, trapper, fur trader, trailblazer, author, cartographer, cattleman, and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the American West Coast and the Southwest during the 19th century...
.
Early in the trek, Glass established himself as a hard-working fur trapper. He was apparently wounded on this trip in a battle with Arikaras, and later traveled with a party of 13 men to relieve traders at Fort Henry at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. The expedition, led by Andrew Henry
Andrew Henry (fur trader)
Major Andrew Henry was an American fur trader who, with William H. Ashley started the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1822...
, planned to proceed from the Missouri, up the valley of the Grand River
Grand River (South Dakota)
The Grand River is a tributary of the Missouri River in North Dakota and South Dakota in the United States. The length of the combined branch is 110 mi...
in present-day South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, then across to the valley of the Yellowstone
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
.
The Wrestle
Near the forks of the Grand River in present-day Perkins CountyPerkins County, South Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,363 people, 1,429 households, and 937 families residing in the county. The population density was 1.2 people per square mile . There were 1,854 housing units at an average density of 0.6 per square mile...
, in August 1823, while scouting alone for game for the expedition's larder, Glass surprised a grizzly bear
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
mother with her two cubs. Before he could fire his rifle, the bear charged, picked him up, and threw him to the ground. Glass got up, grappled for his knife, and fought back, stabbing the animal repeatedly as the grizzly raked him time and again with her claws.
Glass managed to kill the bear with help from his trapping partners, Fitzgerald and Bridger, but was left badly mauled and unconscious. Henry became convinced the man would not survive his injuries.
Henry asked for two volunteers to stay with Glass until he died, and then bury him. Bridger
Jim Bridger
James Felix "Jim" Bridger was among the foremost mountain men, trappers, scouts and guides who explored and trapped the Western United States during the decades of 1820-1850, as well as mediating between native tribes and encroaching whites...
(then 17 years old) and Fitzgerald stepped forward, and as the rest of the party moved on, began digging his grave. Later claiming that they were interrupted in the task by an attack by "Arikaree" Indians, the pair grabbed Glass's rifle, knife, and other equipment, and took flight.
Bridger and Fitzgerald incorrectly reported to Henry that Glass had died.
The Odyssey to Fort Kiowa
Despite his injuries, Glass regained consciousness. He did so only to find himself abandoned, without weapons or equipment, suffering from a broken leg, the cuts on his back exposing bare ribs, and all his wounds festering. Glass lay mutilated and alone, more than 200 mi (320 km) from the nearest settlement at Fort KiowaFort Kiowa
Fort Kiowa was an 19th century American Fur Company trading post on the Missouri River near Oacoma, South Dakota. Fort Kiowa was the destination of Hugh Glass' several hundred mile crawl. The site is now underwater....
on the Missouri.
In one of the more remarkable treks known to history, Glass set his own leg, wrapped himself in the bear hide his companions had placed over him as a shroud, and began crawling. To prevent gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
, Glass laid his wounded back on a rotting log and let the maggots eat the dead flesh.
Deciding that following the Grand River would be too dangerous because of hostile Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, Glass crawled overland south toward the Cheyenne River
Cheyenne River
The Cheyenne River is a tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is approximately 295 mi long and drains an area of...
. It took him six weeks to reach it.
Glass survived mostly on wild berries and roots. On one occasion he was able to drive two wolves from a downed bison calf, and feast on the meat. Reaching the Cheyenne, he fashioned a crude raft and floated down the river, navigating using the prominent Thunder Butte
Thunder Butte
Thunder Butte is a prominent butte landmark located in the northwest corner of Ziebach County, South Dakota, in the United States...
landmark. Aided by friendly natives who sewed a bear hide to his back to cover the exposed wounds, Glass eventually reached the safety of Fort Kiowa.
After a long recuperation, Glass set out to track down and avenge himself against Bridger and Fitzgerald. When he found Bridger, on the Yellowstone near the mouth of the Bighorn River
Bighorn River
The Bighorn River is a tributary of the Yellowstone, approximately long, in the western United States in the states of Wyoming and Montana. The river was named in 1805 by fur trader François Larocque for the Bighorn Sheep he saw along its banks as he explored the Yellowstone River.The upper...
, Glass spared him, purportedly because of Bridger's youth. When he found Fitzgerald, and discovered that Fitzgerald had joined the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, Glass purportedly restrained himself because the consequence of killing a U.S. soldier was death. However, he did recover his lost rifle.
Arikara Encounter
Glass, along with 4 others, was dispatched by Ashley to find a new trapping route, by going up the Powder RiverPowder River (Montana)
Powder River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately long in the southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in the United States. It drains an area historically known as the Powder River Country on the high plains east of the Bighorn Mountains.It rises in three forks in eastern...
, then across and down the Platte to the bluffs. The party set off in a bullboat
Keelboat
Keelboat has two distinct meanings related to two different types of boats: one a riverine cargo-capable working boat, and the other a classification for small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yachts.-Historical keel-boats:...
. Near the junction with the Laramie River
Laramie River
The Laramie River is a tributary of the North Platte River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Wyoming.It rises in northern Colorado, in the Roosevelt National Forest in the Front Range, in western Larimer County...
, they discovered some 38 Indian lodges, with several Indians on the shore. The Indians appeared to be friendly, and the trappers initially believed them to be Pawnees. After going ashore and dining with the Indians, Glass discovered that the Indians actually belonged to the Arikara
Arikara
Arikara are a group of Native Americans in North Dakota...
nation, who, after several past encounters, were anything but friendly with the whites. The party quickly got in the bull boat and paddled for the far shore. The Indians promptly swam in after them and both reached the shore around the same time. Two men, Marsh and Dutton, escaped and reunited later, but the other two, More and Chapman, were quickly overtaken and slaughtered. Glass was lucky enough to find a group of rocks to hide behind, and was not discovered by the Arikaras. Glass also found his knife and flint in his shot pouch after the ordeal. He fell in with a party of Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
and travelled with them back to Fort Kiowa.
Glass' survival odyssey has been recounted in numerous books. A monument to Glass now stands near the site of his mauling on the southern shore of Shadehill Reservoir
Shadehill Reservoir
Shadehill Reservoir is a reservoir on the Grand River in Perkins County, South Dakota, USA. The lake was created by the construction of Shadehill Dam by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1951....
on the forks of the Grand River.
Later years
Glass would again return to the frontier as a trapper and fur trader. Later he was employed as a hunter for the garrison at Fort UnionFort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site is the site of a partially reconstructed trading post on the Missouri River and the North Dakota/Montana border twenty-five miles from Williston. It is one of the earliest declared National Historic Landmarks of the United States...
. He was killed with two fellow trappers in the winter of 1833 on the Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
in an attack by the Arikara.
According to the book The Deaths of the Bravos by John Myers Myers, the Arikara in April 1833 later tried to pass off as friendly Minitaris Indians to a party of trappers employed by Amfurco. However, Johnson Gardner, one of the trappers, recognized a rifle that one of the Indians had as the very rifle Glass got back from Fitzgerald after Fitzgerald and Bridger left him for dead in 1823. Alarmed by this, Gardner surmised that the Indians were actually the Arikaras. The Indians were seized and executed in response to the death of Hugh Glass.
Fictional Accounts
- Noted Western writer Frederick ManfredFrederick ManfredFrederick Feikema Manfred was a noted Western author.Manfred was born in Doon, Iowa. He was baptized Frederick Feikes Feikema, VII, and he used the name Feike Feikema when he published his first books...
wrote Lord GrizzlyLord GrizzlyLord Grizzly is a biographical novel by Frederick Manfred. It describes the survival ordeal of a real mountain man, Hugh Glass, who was attacked by a bear and abandoned in the wilderness by his companions , on the assumption he could not possibly live...
, a vivid account of Glass' ordeal. - Robert M. McClung wrote Hugh Glass, Mountain Man: Left for Dead (1990), recounting Glass' adventure.
- Richard HarrisRichard HarrisRichard St John Harris was an Irish actor, singer-songwriter, theatrical producer, film director and writer....
played in Man in the WildernessMan in the WildernessMan in the Wilderness is a 1971 American action film about a scout for a group of mountain men who are traversing the Northwestern United States during the 1820s. The scout is mauled by a bear and left to die by his companions. He survives and recuperates sufficiently to track his former...
(1971), an historical movie based upon Hugh Glass story. - Roger ZelaznyRoger ZelaznyRoger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
and Gerald HausmanGerald HausmanGerald Andrews Hausman is a storyteller and award-winning author of books about Native America, animals, mythology, and West Indian culture...
meshed the stories of John ColterJohn ColterJohn 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 Colter became the first known person of European descent to enter the region now known...
and Hugh Glass in the 1994 novel Wilderness.
Further reading
- "Hugh Glass", Bruce Bradley (1999) ISBN 0-9669005-0-2
- "Lord Grizzly", Fredrick Manfred (1954) ISBN 0-8032-8118-8
- "Saga of Hugh Glass: Pirate, Pawnee and Mountain Man", John Myers MyersJohn Myers MyersJohn Myers Myers was an American writer, best known for his literary fantasy novel Silverlock.-Life:Myers was born in Northport, Long Island on January 11, 1906 to John Caldwell Myers and Alice MacCorry Myers and grew up in various places in New York, including New Paltz and NYC. He knew from the...
(1976) ISBN 0-8032-5834-8 - "The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge," Michael Punke (2002) ISBN 0-7867-1027-6
- "Wilderness", Roger Zelazny and Gerald Hausman (1994) ISBN 0-312-85654-7
- "Hugh Glass, Mountain Man", Robert M. McClung (1990) ISBN 0-688-08092-8
- "Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the American West", Dale L. Morgan (1952)
- "The Song of Hugh Glass" (part of "A Cycle of the West"), John G. Neihardt (1915)