I would give it a shot and probably have ended up like most of them....dead by 40 if not sooner.

kitt carson was mostly an indian betrayer.

It would be the bugs in the summer that would suck. The rest I THINK I could handle. Mistakes in that lifestyle would be a lot more serious...

I could do it. It would take a lot of work but most of the living would be free. An axe, knife, rifle and a few traps is all I would need to buy. The rest nature will give me.

Given the times frame yes. If I survived childhood illness I would naturally have much closer to nature. Trapping was A lucrative trade and the nature of folks list for the adventure

All of us could of done that.....back before we were spoiled by the modern way. It is neat to romantisize about how they lived, but the harsh reality would slap any of us in the face pretty hard these days. Who after living now would want to take what is on your back and dissapear into the wilderness for the rest of your life, however short or long that was?! Sounds good sometimes, but realisticly, ain't gonna happen, close as we come is going trappin! Which is a heck of alot more than most people living today will ever experience!

I would be tough ...not hooked up to T-Man......

Oh yeah. Without a doubt, If by mountain man, you really mean hermit that lives in the woods in a cabin and lives off the land. Maybe not if you mean travelling in large groups trapping for profit, not that I couldn't do that, I just prefer the isolation.

I crave to be away from society from time to time, it's why I prefer the kind of vacations I do...mountains, just me and the wife, nobody for miles around.

I could easily live with just the wife and the kids, in a cabin, never seeing another soul for the rest of my life.

x2

I lived alone in a tent for fifteen days on a spring grizzly hunt in Alaska. I loved it. Time more or less became meaningless and I went in whatever direction struck my fancy. It did suck not having candy bars.

I am pretty sure I could not have, but then most of them did not live all that long being a mountain man. Many died young and many found scouting jobs etc. so the mountain man tenure for many was not that long, but not easy either.

Bryce

If I was 35 years or so younger heck ya. But I'm too old and crippled up now!
Dennis

Why do you say that, Danny? Do you mean he never fought Indians? I've read several different biographies about him and never heard that claim about him. It's true that he was brutal in exterminating the tribes he fought against. But I also heard he was a faithful friend to and advocate for the Ute Indians.

It would have been easier for them then, not having been raised in today's world. Can't miss what you've never had.

You would have to have some mental illness to go live like a hermit in the bush by yourself for years on end.

That may be why it sounds so appealing to me

Maybe those who choose to live cheek to jowl with neighbors are the ones who are mentally ill. Look at all the social dysfunction in urban areas today.

Boco, he didn't mean all by himself ....but with only the right person , he would be content and happy.

Of course, everyone back then had to deal with people at times for business, supplies , medical help, etc. , but in day to day living, be tucked away in privacy to enjoy living with the love of your life.

A thought exquisite , and agreeable to my heart as well.

Well, idk if anyone would know the answer for sure but you either lived like that, or you died trying too...

I guess IF I was born back then I would of lived like a mountain man or died like one, one or the other.