Zenas Leonard
Encyclopedia
Zenas Leonard was an American mountain man
, explorer and trader, best known for his journal Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard
Leonard was born in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
. As a young adult, he worked for his uncle in Pittsburg before moving to St. Louis and working as a clerk for the fur company, Gannt and Blackwell.
In 1831 he went with Gant and Blackwell's company of about 70 men on a trapping and trading expedition.
Living off the land (Leonard reported that "The flesh of the Buffaloe is the wholesomest and most palatable of meat kind"), Leonard and his associates endured great privation while amassing a fortune in furs; the horses died in the harsh winter and the party was at times near starvation. They survived, in part, by trading with Native Americans. Among the more helpful tribal members he reported encountering was a negro who claimed to have been on Lewis & Clark's expedition, and may have been the explorer-slave York. In 1835 Leonard returned to Independence, Missouri with enough wealth in furs to establish a store and trading post at Fort Osage
. He continued to trade along the river for the rest of his life.
Leonard's journal was published in book form by D.W. Moore of Clearfield, Pennsylvania in 1839, after being serialized in the Clearfield Republican. It includes many details of the different tribes with which his parties interacted. As it is in the public domain, there are numerous reprints.
Mountain man
Mountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through the 1880s where they were instrumental in opening up the various Emigrant Trails allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains...
, explorer and trader, best known for his journal Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard
Leonard was born in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Clearfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 81,642.Clearfield County was created on March 26, 1804, from parts of Huntingdon and Lycoming Counties but was administered as part of Centre County until 1812...
. As a young adult, he worked for his uncle in Pittsburg before moving to St. Louis and working as a clerk for the fur company, Gannt and Blackwell.
In 1831 he went with Gant and Blackwell's company of about 70 men on a trapping and trading expedition.
Living off the land (Leonard reported that "The flesh of the Buffaloe is the wholesomest and most palatable of meat kind"), Leonard and his associates endured great privation while amassing a fortune in furs; the horses died in the harsh winter and the party was at times near starvation. They survived, in part, by trading with Native Americans. Among the more helpful tribal members he reported encountering was a negro who claimed to have been on Lewis & Clark's expedition, and may have been the explorer-slave York. In 1835 Leonard returned to Independence, Missouri with enough wealth in furs to establish a store and trading post at Fort Osage
Fort Osage
Fort Osage was part of the United States factory trading post system for the Osage Nation in the early 19th century near Sibley, Missouri....
. He continued to trade along the river for the rest of his life.
Leonard's journal was published in book form by D.W. Moore of Clearfield, Pennsylvania in 1839, after being serialized in the Clearfield Republican. It includes many details of the different tribes with which his parties interacted. As it is in the public domain, there are numerous reprints.