*** John Colter:*** No modern photo of John Colter is known to exist.


The First Mountain Man?
by Tom Clavin
One of the joys of researching and writing (with Bob Drury) Throne of Grace was discovering the crucial role mountain men played in America’s westward expansion. They were the tip of the spear of the migration of mostly white people of European descent into the lands of indigenous people in the West. One of the very first American mountain men was John Colter. What follows is an excerpt from the just-published Throne of Grace that describes a tale of survival.


He ran into the Montana wind with nothing but sheer will—John Colter, 1808, standing on a riverbank with the odds stacked higher than any mountain around him. A former scout from the Lewis & Clark expedition, he had spent years learning the land, reading every ridge and bend like scripture. But nothing prepared him for the moment when he was forced to run barefoot across thorned prairie, chased by a war party determined to end his trail. The ground tore at his feet, the cold bit at his skin, yet Colter pushed on, mile after mile, driven by a survival instinct that refused to surrender.

It wasn’t strength alone—it was strategy. When he realized one pursuer had come ahead of the others, Colter turned just long enough to defend himself, then veered toward the river in a desperate gamble. Breath ragged, body trembling from exhaustion, he slid into a beaver lodge and stayed hidden as the night froze around him. No fire. No weapon. No sound. Just the steady rhythm of a man refusing to give up on life. By sunrise he crawled back into the wild, traveling quietly along the Madison River until danger slipped behind him like a fading storm.

When he finally reached safety, worn down but alive, Colter carried a story that frontier men whispered for decades. And still—outside old journals and weathered tales—how many know what it truly means to run for your life across miles of wilderness with nothing but courage to carry you? John Colter’s escape forces you to ask: if the world narrowed to one impossible choice—run or fall—what would your feet decide?

*** the story is the story I didn't write it.I just thought it was interesting

Only problem is that the photo is of Seth Kinman....

Where did Snowys thread go ???

I got rid of it. Picking on folks cruelly isn't something I'm partial to. I've had enough of it. Folks are fixing to go packing if I see any more of it, and no one is immune.

The more I think about it, the more ticked off I'm getting. I'm at a point where I'm tired of babysitting. I had an offer to sell this place recently, and I'm seriously considering it. 27 years of babysitting is just about enough for an old man with dwindling patience.

Well Boss if you leave us, who will tell us what to do? You are doing a great job!!! Just don't sell to Hal, he'll just show pics of his nieces.

Always in awe of that story 330. Thanks for sharing.