JOHN COLTER'S DISCOVERY OF YELLOWSTONE
It is a fairly well-attested fact that America was first discovered by
Leif Ericsson about 1000 A.D.[15] However, as Mark Twain put it,
"America did not stay discovered," and therefore Columbus is not to be
denied. So it was with Yellowstone. The most significant feature of its
early history lies in the inconclusive nature of the early reports
concerning its position and character.
Yellowstone's isolation was not effectively invaded and broken until the
decade of 1860. This narrative will explain how early, trapper
observations drifted into oblivion, and later, miner excursions faded
into indifference. Hence, the first conclusive visitations were those
made by the Folsom-Cook party in 1869 and the Washburn-Langford-Doane
Expedition of 1870. Why did Wonderland remain unknown to the world so
long? Surely the answer is found in its relative inaccessibility.
Yellowstone is a sequestered region, mountain-locked by the Absaroka,
Teton, Gallatin, Beartooth, and Snowy ranges. Here, then, is a plateau a
mile and a half above sea level, encircled by a still loftier quadrangle
of rocky barriers. Some of these culminate in peaks and ridges that rise
4,000 feet above the level of the enclosed table land.
Of course there were a few yawning, ever-difficult canyon approaches,
cut by foaming mountain torrents and several high, snow-choked passes
suitable for late summer use. However, they were far removed from the
principal arteries of pioneer travel, and they still remain apart from
the main avenues of trade. Even now, these same bulwarks of nature, and
their concomitants of snow and wind, exclude traffic from the region for
half the year. Consider, then, the situation when all travel was on foot
or horseback, and bases of supply were far away from all approaches to
this mountain crown. Adequate mountain exploration necessitated large
parties and elaborate outfits in the middle nineteenth century.
From these circumstances it is easy to understand why Lewis and Clark
missed Yellowstone. They adhered quite closely to the Missouri River
thoroughfare. However, as an incident of an extensive side trip on their
return, Clark and a detail of ten took an alternate route that
eventually brought them upon the Yellowstone River near the present site
of Livingston, Montana.[16] Previously, while at Fort Mandan, they had
learned that the Minnetaree Indian name for the river was "Mitsiadazi,"
which means Rock Yellow River. The French equivalent, Roche Juane, was
also in common use among the Indians and trappers, although when or by
whom the name was given is unknown. American trappers called the river
"Yallerstone!" A segment of the stream was trapped in 1805 by Antoine
Larocque's party of North West Company trappers. They struck the river
at a point twenty trapping days above its mouth, which was reached on
September 30.[17]
The fact of the name's currency is further attested by Patrick Gass'
significant journal entry on July 1, 1806: "Perhaps Capt. Clarke [sic]
who goes up the river here, may also take a party and go down the
Riviere Juane, or Yellowstone River."[18] Beyond the Indian stream
names, little information concerning the area was ascertained by Lewis
and Clark at that time.
While Lewis and Clark did not add any knowledge of Yellowstone Park to
their epic-making report, still it was a member of the party who first
viewed its exotic beauty. However, before delineating Colter's
discovery, the picture of the Park's isolation should be explored
further.
The first thrust toward the Yellowstone country was made by the French
explorer de Verendrye, who came near the northeastern border in 1743
when he crossed the lower Yellowstone River, leaving Wonderland still
undiscovered.[19]
By 1810, the Missouri Fur Company established posts on the mouths of the
Bighorn and at Three Forks of the Missouri. Notwithstanding these
locations, there was little penetration of the "top of the world," as
the Crow Indians called the Yellowstone country. Blackfoot Indian
hostility forced the abandonment of the post at Three Forks and in the
fall of 1810, Major Andrew Henry, one of the partners, led a small party
into the Pacific Ocean drainage. They went up the Madison River, thereby
skirting the Gallatin Range which bounds the Park on the west. They
crossed a low pass and came upon a beautiful lake. Henry's name was
given the lake (Henrys Lake) and also to its outlet (Henrys Fork of the
Snake River), which they followed about forty miles below its
debouchment into Snake River Valley. In a pleasant spot some four miles
below the present St. Anthony Falls they erected Fort Henry, but they
did not prosper there and, feeling discouraged and insecure, abandoned
that post. In 1811, Henry released his trappers, and while they returned
to the east by various routes all of them missed the Yellowstone
region.[20]
[Illustration: W. S. Chapman
Sacajawea with Lewis and Clark.]
As Henry's men circled eastward a much larger expedition was threading
its course between the Wind River Mountains and the Tetons. In 1811,
Wilson Price Hunt led the "Overland Astorians," a band of sixty
trappers, toward the Pacific. They reached Henry's deserted post early
in August. It is probable that a member of this party inscribed a rock
"calling card" that reads: "Fort Henry 1811 by Capt. Hunt." This marker
is now included in the historical collections of the Yellowstone Park
museums. It was found at the fort site in 1933 and donated to the museum
by Seasonal Park Ranger-Naturalist Merrill D. Beal.[21] Hunt's party
unfortunately decided to switch from horses to hurriedly-made canoes,
which were launched upon Snake River near the fort. The hardship,
privation, and recurring peril experienced by this band are among the
most severe ever encountered by civilized men. Although they were
obliged to separate into three groups in order to subsist each part
finally reached the mouth of the Columbia. In 1812, a smaller party
called the "Returning Astorians," under Robert Stuart, probably
discovered South Pass.[22]
Notwithstanding the extensive peregrinations of these splendid
wayfarers, Lewis and Clark, Andrew Henry, and Wilson Price Hunt,
Wonderland, large though it is, remained a place apart. Only one white
man had been sufficiently venturesome to gain entrance into the
enchanted land.
John Colter was the son of Joseph and Ellen Shields Colter. He was born
in or near Staunton, Virginia, probably in 1775.[23] Little is known of
Colter's youth except that the family moved from Virginia to the
vicinity of Mayville, Kentucky, when he was about five years old. As
John grew to manhood it is evident that he possessed a restless urge to
be in the wilderness. An unparalleled opportunity to satisfy this desire
came upon the arrival of Captain Meriwether Lewis on his voyage down the
Ohio River. From this contact Colter joined the Lewis and Clark
Expedition at Louisville, Kentucky, on October 15, 1803.[24] The
following spring they were on their way up the Missouri. Doubtless he
was already experienced in woodcraft and the use of firearms. Strong,
active, and intelligent, he soon won the rank and privileges of a
hunter.
Colter's fitness for the business of exploration was early recognized
and universally accepted.[25] For two years he shared the expedition's
many trials and triumphs, but they had obviously failed to satisfy his
desire for adventure. Before the explorers returned, intrepid fur
traders were moving westward along the great Missouri artery as was
their custom. Two Illinoisans, John Dickson and Forest Hancock, were
encountered west of the Mandan Indian Villages in what is now the state
of North Dakota. They had high expectations of fortunes in fur, and from
them Colter caught the trapping fever. This was early in August of 1806.
They evidently recognized John Colter as a man after their own hearts
and offered to furnish him an equal share of their supplies. Then, and
there, they became boon companions, and Colter requested an honorable
discharge from government service. This wish was granted with the
understanding that no one else would request such consideration.[26]
The government party gave their comrade powder, lead, and other articles
that would be useful to him. Is this not evidence that he was in the
best possible standing with the company? Indeed, he was an admirable
embodiment of the American scout. He was a person of sturdy, athletic
frame, above the average height. He was physically quick, alert,
enduring, a fine shot, the ideal frontiersman. His greatest asset was an
extraordinary coordination of thought and action. This balance, combined
with an abundance of energy, made Colter particularly dynamic. Patient
and loyal, he performed his duties faithfully. In tribute to him a creek
tributary to the Clearwater River, near Lapwai, had already been named
Colter Creek. In numerous references to him his associates did not once
hint of any mean or selfish act. He was constantly possessed by good
temper, and he was of the open-countenanced Daniel Boone type cast.[27]
Surely Colter was fully qualified for high adventure because he was,
indeed, a two-fisted man with the sinews of a bear and the
surefootedness of a cougar. He was wholly unafraid of wild animals,
savages, or elements.
From August until the spring of 1807, this trio of Dickson, Hancock, and
Colter trapped and traded along the upper Missouri. Then Colter gathered
his pelts and started for St. Louis in a canoe. At the mouth of the
Platte River, toward the end of June, he met Manuel Lisa.[28] They also
struck up a friendship and bargain. Colter was still set for adventure
and his new friend had such an assignment. In this meeting the strongest
and boldest of the early American trappers of the West met the greatest
Missourian trader. Upon hearing Manuel Lisa's plans, the travel and
weatherworn Colter turned westward for the second time, as a member of
the Lisa party.
Manuel Lisa proposed the establishment of posts on both sides of the
Continental Divide. His plan was to send men along the course of every
stream and out among the wandering tribes of Indians, until the commerce
of the entire country was in the control of the Missouri Company. He had
with him some of the most intrepid Kentucky and Tennessee hunters,
rawboned backwoodsmen with their long-barrelled flintlocks, which they
usually carried across their knees while on the boat. It was a larger
undertaking than any before, and he needed fighters who were experienced
and daring from the start.
As they neared the mud-hutted village of the Arickaras the warriors
swarmed forth but soon backed up before the leveled muskets of Lisa's
hunters. The traders went ashore and smoked the pipe of peace with the
chiefs. This heretofore warlike tribe thereupon became temporarily
pacified and sought presents and traffic in scarlet cloth and trinkets.
The trappers purchased ponies from these Indians and struck westward
toward the Yellowstone Valley. In amazement they viewed the bad lands on
the north of the Bighorn. The party arrived at the mouth of the Bighorn
River on November 21 and began the building of Fort Raymond, usually
called "Manuel's Fort," which was their first trading post.[29] They
feared the Blackfeet Indians and considered it expedient to abide
temporarily in the land of the friendly Crows.
According to the authoritative report of Henry M. Brackenridge, Colter
was appointed to carry the news of this undertaking to all the Indian
tribes in the south.[30] Since this is an original reference to Colter's
assignment it should be quoted:
He [Lisa] shortly after despatched Coulter [sic], the hunter ... to
bring some Indian nations to trade. This man, with a pack of thirty
pounds weight, his gun and some ammunition, went upwards of five
hundred miles to the Crow nation; gave them information, and proceeded
from thence to several other tribes....[31]
Thus, this rugged and dynamic man, now in his early thirties, entered
the wilderness on foot and alone, into an area unknown to his race. The
journey was a simple business enterprise. As he journeyed southward, he
contacted the many Crow clans.
Although practically everyone assumes that John Colter discovered
Yellowstone National Park in the early winter of 1807-08,[32] few
realize that there is no conclusive evidence to support the claim.
Therefore, a review of the proof is essential. The record is brief:
Colter did leave Fort Manuel (Raymond) in the fall of 1807.[33] Yet the
direction he took is not definitely mentioned, and no incident was
specifically recorded of any unique visitation. Still, soon after this
journey, Colter related strange tales of weird, natural phenomena.[34]
Few of the stories he told were chronicled in detail. However, it is a
matter of record that he claimed to have seen a large petrified fish
nearly fifty feet long,[35] numerous hot springs and geysers,[36] and a
great lake.
[Illustration: Manuel Lisa's Fort built in 1807.]
Evidence that Colter saw a geyser basin is flimsy indeed.
Notwithstanding the uncertainty of Colter's large travel experience, it
is obvious that somewhere, sometime, he saw something that impressed him
mightily. He must have waxed enthusiastic, because his recital evoked so
much ridicule from the trapper fraternity. For a half a century,
everywhere in the West, the mountain men argued and joked pro and con
about the mythical marvels of "Colter's Hell." By 1837, the story had
become common knowledge by reason of the following reference in
Washington Irving's first edition of _The Adventures of Captain
Bonneville_:
A volcanic tract ... is found on ... one of the tributaries of the
Bighorn.... This ... place was first discovered by Colter, a hunter
belonging to Lewis and Clarke's [sic] exploring party, who came upon
it in the course of his lonely wanderings, and gave such an account of
its gloomy terrors, its hidden fires, smoking pits, noxious streams,
and the all-pervading "smell of brimstone," that it received, and has
ever since retained among trappers the name of "Colter's Hell."[37]
Irving's description is significant because it is evidence of the
"Colter's Hell" tradition current at that time. However, the location
assigned is incorrect. No gloomy terrors or hidden fires exist on
Stinking Water (now Shoshone River). As in other explorations of the
Colter case, Irving made guesses and assumptions.
Nothing has ever been found that states precisely when or where Colter
saw the wonders of Yellowstone. Yet, the fact persisted that sometime
between 1806 and 1810, somewhere between the Jefferson and Shoshone
rivers he saw them! And strange enough, in the fullness of time, his
spacious claims were wholly vindicated. This strange circumstance,
therefore, presents the student of early Western exploration with one of
the most difficult problems in regional history. Does the full discovery
of Yellowstone Park in 1870, _ipso facto_, prove the tradition of John
Colter's earlier visitation?[38]
In the Colter case there are only two elements of primary evidence.
First, it is a matter of record that he made a journey from Fort Manuel
in the fall of 1807 and subsequently returned with an astonishing story
of natural wonders. Secondly, a famous map was published in 1814, based
upon the compilations of Lewis and Clark. Upon this Map of 1814 appears
a dotted line marked "Colter's Route in 1807."[39] It is generally
assumed that the dotted line actually marks the route of Colter's
journey from Fort Manuel. Although the route charted cannot be accepted
literally, it is an important documentary link, worthy of the utmost
study. There is little upon the map that would confirm the existence of
Yellowstone's marvels beyond the phrases "Boiling Spring," and "Hot
Spring Brimstone," but every trapper encountered boiling springs and
waters impregnated with bubbling gases having sulphurous odors. These
were not unusual. Hence, there is nothing indicated along that dotted
line that would guarantee anything extraordinary.[40]
Still, the known facts of Colter's journey toward the headwaters of the
Bighorn in the fall of 1807 and the representation of his extensive
exploration to the west, a part of which is now Yellowstone National
Park, upon the Map of 1814 is highly significant. For one thing, it
proves that William Clark, who supplied the map sheets to Samuel
Lewis,[41] the Philadelphia cartographer, was particularly impressed by
Colter's journey, otherwise it would not have been incorporated upon
this very important document.
According to this map, John Colter traveled in a southwesterly direction
from the mouth of the Bighorn River.[42] He must have mapped the area
because his route cast of the Absaroka Range (Yellowstone's eastern
boundary) conforms so accurately with existing geographic conditions
that his journey to the Park's border may be followed like tracks in the
snow. From Fort Manuel he ascended Pryors Fork some fifty miles to
Pryors Gap.[43] Passing through this opening, he crossed westward to
Clarks Fork, which he ascended to Dead Indian Creek. From there he
evidently quartered a divide to the south, which brought him upon a
river called Mick-ka-appa, where he first smelled sulphur. So he renamed
the stream Stinking Water River. It is known today as the North Fork of
Shoshone River. In ascending this stream, Colter quickly gained
elevation, and in a hanging valley about midway up the range he found a
clan of Indians for whom he was obviously searching. On the Map of 1814
they are identified as "Yep-pe, Band of Snake Indians, 1000 Souls."
From these denizens of both prairie and mountain, Colter undoubtedly
first learned of the Yellowstone marvels. The acquisition of this
interesting information at a point in relatively close proximity to the
features, together with other favorable conditions, impelled him to
project an exploration of the "enchanted land." After listening to
eloquent descriptions of the natural phenomena nothing could be more
natural than for such an adventurous explorer to experience an intense
desire to visit the country. Remember, his mission of informing the
clans concerning the establishment of Fort Manuel at the mouth of the
Bighorn River had been performed. Now he was on his own with leisure
time on his hands. Although the season was advanced, late November often
finds the Park open for travel. Tribal accounts describing a vast
wilderness of multiform grandeur made the restless trapper burn with
curiosity. One can easily envision him weighing the factors of distance,
time, and the known hazards, until he struck a favorable balance. His
sign talk in council with the chiefs could probably be sifted out and
summarized in these terms: "Less than two hundred miles ... the trails
are known by your scouts, and they are still open.... A matter of five
or six suns ... your horses are fat and strong ... game is plentiful....
Well, what are we waiting for?"
Such an appraisal of the situation is in complete accord with the known
realities. Colter was an experienced explorer; he knew how to conduct an
expedition. This procedure eliminates the element of foolhardiness so
conspicuous in the usual picture visualized of a solitary trapper on
snowshoes, wending an uncertain course among river labyrinths running in
various directions, mountain ranges of interminable lengths, and
gargoylian lakes. Instead, the enterprise now conforms to a standard
characteristic of Colter's levelheaded courage and judgment. Of course
he may have gone alone and on foot, but if so why, after leaving the
Yellowstone country, did he depart from the straight-of-way down Clarks
Fork toward Fort Manuel and head back to the Yep-pe village as the map
so clearly shows? Logic insists that Indian scouts were with him, or at
least that he had borrowed a horse from them, which he was obliged to
return. Thus, Colter's famous journey into the land of scenic mystery
was efficiently accomplished late in November. With the aid of Yep-pe
Indian leaders, if not under their guidance, he had gone where no white
man had ever been before, and he still reached Manuel's Fort in good
season, or else the Map of 1814 would not have been inscribed "Colter's
Route in 1807."
But, where precisely in Yellowstone Park did Colter travel? This
question poses an extremely difficult problem in research. (The serious
student will find the many ramifications involved in the problem
explored more fully in the Appendix.) Unfortunately the dotted line
appearing on the Map of 1814, marked "Colter's Route in 1807," is of no
help whatever in answering the question. In fact, the map complicates
the problem because the geography depicted on the western loop, or
so-called Yellowstone Park section of the map, is wholly fictitious.
Unlike the valid section east of the Absarokas, the western section
bears no similarity to anything in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, Idaho,
Montana, America, the world, or the moon! It is, in fact, a plat of
bogus geography comparable only to the kind found in Jonathan Swift's
_Gulliver's Travels_. In short, it is obvious that "Colter's Route in
1807," beyond the Yep-pe village, was not properly described because it
depicts him as visiting the drainage of all the river systems within a
radius of five hundred miles of that Indian encampment. The most obvious
errors in that part of the map which impinges upon the western section
of this so-called "Colter's Route" are:
(1) Three Forks are shown to the northeast instead of northwest.
(2) Lake Biddle, usually identified as Jackson Lake, could only be
Brooks Lake and be on the Bighorn drainage. Jackson Lake lies due
south about fifty miles, on the other side of the Continental Divide.
(3) The Rio Del Norte (Green River of the Colorado) is far and away to
the south. It is grotesquely misplaced.
(4) The South Fork of Snake River is not depicted, neither is the
Jackson Lake area.
(5) Upper Yellowstone River is not shown, and Lake Eustis (presumed to
be Lake Yellowstone) is fantastic in all respects.
In view of these egregious errors it is a monumental mistake to insist,
as so many authors in effect have done, that Colter was a human
helicopter who hopped all over the Rocky Mountains in connection with
his Yellowstone exploration. Actual geography and common sense prove
that he could not possibly have made such an extensive journey,
particularly so late in the season. Just as certainly, geography and
common sense attest that in traveling a normal western loop essential to
yield conformity with the map's figure eight[44] Colter would have seen
precisely the type of country the Map of 1814 does not depict, but
which, nevertheless, is actually there! A normal half circle would have
brought him upon the Upper Yellowstone River, South Fork of Snake River,
Yellowstone Lake, and the thermal areas at Thumb of Lake and Hayden
Valley. These paint pots, hot springs, and geysers, particularly
Dragon's Mouth and Mud Volcano, satisfy the descriptions he made and
easily meet the requirement of the terms on the map, "Boiling Spring,"
"Hot Springs Brimstone," and also Washington Irving's reference "... of
gloomy terrors, hidden fires, smoking pits, noxious streams...." In
effect, these areas alone would qualify as "Colter's Hell."
[Illustration: J. N. Barry
Eastern section of Colter's route.]
[Illustration: A true sketch of the Cody, Wyoming, area as it is
mapped today.]
[Illustration: The east sector of Colter's route as depicted on the
Map of 1814. Note the conformity with actual geography. The only
material difference is in names.]
It is now possible to accurately sketch both parts of Colter's famous
journey. Firstly, from Fort Manuel he reached the Yep-pe Indian camp and
returned to the mouth of the Bighorn River where Fort Manuel was built,
exactly as the map depicts. It is because of the accuracy of this
section of the Map of 1814 that Colter's Yellowstone course may be now
traced like tracks in the snow. Secondly, from the Yep-pe Indian camp,
Colter ascended "Elk-Wapiti Creek" to its source; then crossing a range
he came upon a mitten-shaped mountain, which he labeled "fossil."[45]
From this landmark he probably descended Pass Creek to Thorofare Creek,
which he followed to the Upper Yellowstone River. Then he ascended
Atlantic Creek and crossed the Continental Divide at Two Ocean Pass.
From here he descended Pacific Creek, skirted Big Game Ridge, and
crossed the South Fork of Snake River, within the present confines of
the Park. Thence, along Chicken Ridge, from whence he could frequently
view South Arm, he headed toward Flat Mountain Arm, crossed Solution
Creek, and struck West Thumb.[46] The validity of this itinerary is
wholly sustained by the genuine features of this area as they appear
upon the Map of 1814. Indeed, the route seems obvious and indisputable
in view of the actual conditions existing. There are alternative routes
within certain limitations. On a crude map where there are numerous
similar streams various combinations are possible.[47]
[Illustration: Section from map of 1814 depicting Lewis and Clark
route. Its legend reads: "A map of Lewis and Clark's Track, Across
the Western Portion of North America, From the Mississippi to the
Pacific Ocean; By Order of the Executive of the United States in
1804, 5, 6. Copied by Samuel Lewis from the Original Drawing of Wm.
Clark."]
Leaving West Thumb, Colter circled the Lake to its outlet and followed
it to the Hayden Valley thermal area. Dragon's Mouth and the Mud Volcano
were undoubtedly features contributing to the impression he carried away
and transmitted to others. Even the "Hot Springs Brimstone"
characterization on the Map of 1814 mildly suggests violent thermal
activity. The phrase also suggests that Colter mapped a geyser
basin.[48]
Colter's return route from Hayden Valley supplies the final link in the
figure eight. To reach the Yep-pe Indian camp he might have veered to
the northeast, crossed Yellowstone River at a ford below Dragon's Mouth,
and ascended Pelican Creek or one of the tributaries of the Lamar River.
After crossing the Absarokas, he evidently descended one of the creeks
that empty into Clarks Fork. No one on earth can be certain about this
part of his journey. There is no reference anywhere, and the Map of 1814
gives no clue. Still, he did reach a tributary of Clarks Fork, which he
followed to its junction with Dead Indian Creek, thence to the Yep-pe
band. As stated above, Colter left the Yep-pe village in returning to
Fort Manuel by a different route than the one that brought him there.
This fact, together with his return to the Yep-pe Indian camp, is of the
first importance in assessing the validity of Colter's Yellowstone
discovery.
While Colter's journey in Yellowstone proper was not comprehensive,
still he was definitely oriented and reasonably precise. Truly, Colter
crossed the eastern and central parts of Yellowstone's Wonderland, and
he observed its features closely. Companions were duly apprised of these
marvels. Members of the Lisa party thereafter referred to the region as
"Colter's Hell." In May, 1810, when he reached St. Louis, William Clark
was officially informed. It was then that Clark believed in Colter's
story and passed it on to Nicholas Biddle and Samuel Lewis who were in
Philadelphia. Notwithstanding considerable misapprehension as to facts,
Colter's journey was nevertheless depicted after a fashion on the
remarkable Map of 1814. Upon this evidence alone, John Colter became
accredited as the first white man to enter the Yellowstone Park country,
hence its first discoverer. Here, indeed, was a man worthy of making a
great discovery. He was a dreadnaught, if there ever was one; completely
self-reliant; unafraid of forests, deserts, rivers, or mountains,
including all of their denizens; yet withal, a serious-minded person of
integrity. He is entitled to everlasting credit in the field of western
geographical exploration.
Eventually, Colter found himself back in Lisa's Fort. He had discovered
the interesting Two Ocean Pass across the Rocky Mountains into the Snake
River drainage. He was the first white man to touch upon the
northeastern perimeter of majestic Jackson Hole country. Then, as the
climax of all, he was the first to climb still higher and gaze upon the
marvels of a never-to-be-forgotten land. Has it ever been the fortune of
any other man to explore such a vast domain of virgin territory? It is a
strange paradox that, accustomed as mountain men were to impressive
manifestations of nature, Colter's relation of Yellowstone's wonders
only won him the distinction of a confirmed prevaricator.[49]
While Colter's experience after 1807 has little bearing upon the history
of Yellowstone, it is a part of the heritage of the Old West and
therefore essential for the unity of the narrative.[50] In the autumn of
1808, Colter and a companion named Potts invaded the hunting grounds of
the Blackfeet Indians in the vicinity of Three Forks forming the
Missouri. Early one morning they were setting a line of traps along
either the Jefferson, Madison, or Gallatin rivers, about a day's travel
from their point of junction.[51] As they were silently paddling the
canoe, they heard a resounding noise that resembled the muffled pounding
of feet. Colter was apprehensive about Indians, and since perpendicular
banks obstructed their view he advised hiding. However, his impulsive
companion accused him of cowardice; why run from buffalo? Almost within
the moment a band of "Black Devils" burst through the thicket into full
view. Colter kept cool and rowed for the bank. As they drew closer to
the enemy, Potts dropped his paddle and picked up his rifle. This
gesture was interpreted as an act of defiance by the Blackfeet braves. A
stalwart savage leaped into the water and snatched Potts' rifle out of
his hands. Whereupon, with an air of mastery that Indians respect,
Colter stepped to the bank, wrested the weapon from the warrior's grasp,
and returned it to Potts.
[Illustration: W. S. Chapman
Colter and Potts under attack.]
The Blackfeet were now swarming through the brush, but Colter, calm and
poised, raised his hand palm forward in the peace signal. Potts, now
convinced that flight was the only hope, nosed the canoe toward
mid-stream. Suddenly a bowstring twanged, and Potts cried out, "Colter,
I'm wounded." Colter urged him to come ashore, but instead he leveled
his rifle at an Indian and fired. Instantly a score of arrows entered
his body or, in Colter's language, "he was made a riddle of," and he
slumped lifeless in the canoe.[52] Calm and flintlike Colter stood his
ground. As the chief sized up the situation, a dozen warriors identified
the survivor as the white man who raised havoc among them in a battle
with a band of Crow Indians.[53] This knowledge caused the braves to
clamor for setting him up as a mark to shoot at, but their chief
interfered. He stood in great dignity and said, "This is a brave
warrior. We will see how bravely he can die."[54] Then, seizing the
victim by the shoulders, he asked him if he could run fast. To this
query Colter replied with a chop-fallen air that he was slow. Actually,
he was an excellent sprinter. Several hundred Indians swarmed about,
working up their emotions toward the victim. First they denuded him,
then motioned him to move forward perhaps a hundred yards, from whence
he was signalled to run toward a "v" shaped open prairie of some six
miles expanse. Colter had drawn a chance to save himself if he could! He
accepted the challenge and resolved to make the most of it. As the war
whoops sounded, Colter was away with the dash of an antelope. He bounded
and ran until his lungs burned within him, and he ruptured a blood
vessel in his nose. On he sped, mile after mile, until the chorus of
Indian yells grew fainter and fainter. All of Colter's muscles cried out
for a moment's respite. He looked around and beheld a spear-armed
warrior some twenty yards behind him, coming fast to split him in two.
Upon impulse, Colter whirled in his tracks, and running obliquely, gave
the signal for mercy. The reply was a thrust spear, but the brave made a
false step, stumbled, and fell. He was obviously astonished at Colter's
gory appearance. The badly launched spear struck in the ground and was
broken off. In a surge of hope and strength, the powerful Colter lunged
like a stag at bay, and overpowering the Indian, he seized the barbed
half and impaled his fallen foe to the earth!
If the Blackfeet had possessed a spirit of chivalry they would have
called quits to this ordeal by running and combat. Here was a man who
had outrun the cream of the redskin sprinters and, unarmed, had slain an
armed warrior. Surely such a performance should have won the captive's
freedom. But the Blackfoot code made no allowance for heroic behavior in
the enemy.
On came the braves, more ruddy than usual by reason of their exertions
and more fleet than normal because of the caliber of the quarry. Colter
needed no spear now; he fairly vaulted until he gained the river bank,
and diving into the stream he concealed himself under a jam of driftwood
or beaver dam that impinged upon an island. Here he secreted himself
while they howled and thrashed about for hours, yelling, as Colter said,
"like a legion of devils." When darkness came, like an angel of mercy,
he dragged his aching body from its watery prison, silently swam across
the river, and started the second excruciating lap in his race for
life.[55] Manuel Lisa's Fort was two hundred miles away.
After seven days of hiding and nights of painful travel and exposure he
found his way through Bozeman Pass and eventually reached the fort at
the mouth of the Bighorn. During this "ordeal by travel" he had no
sustenance other than roots known as _psoralea esculenta_, or sheep
sorrel.[56] Again there was momentary disposition among the trappers to
question Colter's veracity, but the evidence was unimpeachable, and it
was written plainly where all might see. He seemed only a shadow of his
former self.
According to James, even this terrible experience did not daunt the
lion-hearted trapper, "Dangers seemed to have for him a kind of
fascination."[57] Colter could not reconcile himself to the loss of the
traps he had dropped in the river during the attack. Soon after his
recovery, he ventured again into the forbidden Three Forks region. At
his first night's camp he was attacked, but he contrived to escape.
Whereupon, he vowed to his maker that he would never return.[58]
Acting upon this resolution Colter started his third voyage down the
Missouri. While he was resting in one of the upper Minnetarre villages,
probably in September of 1809, Manuel Lisa arrived. The Three Forks
country was his destination and Colter must show him the way.
By midwinter a strong detachment was on its way, headed by Pierre Menard
as bourgeois commander, Andrew Henry as field captain, and John Colter
as guide. The party arrived at Three Forks on April 3, 1810 and built a
post. Within a fortnight the Blackfeet attacked. Five trappers were
killed, and most of the horses and equipment disappeared. It was a
crushing blow to the enterprise, and for Colter, the final straw. James
states that Colter came into the fort, spoke of his promise to God,
repented of his foolhardy return, and said, "If God will only forgive me
this time and let me off I will leave the country day after tomorrow and
be d----d if I ever come into it again."[59] Several days later he and a
companion slipped through the Indian lines and in due time reached Fort
Manuel. From there the two men departed for St. Louis in a dugout and
reached that frontier capital on the last day of May. They had
negotiated the distance of 2,500 water miles in the incredible time of
thirty days.[60] Is it any wonder that other trappers referred to
"Colter's large experience"?
For over five years he had been among barbarian people, and of certain
torments he had more than enough. His life had been one of hard toil and
high adventure; now he would seek peace and quiet.
Captain Meriwether Lewis had passed away, but William Clark was a person
of authority. He was Brigadier General of Militia and Superintendent of
Indian Affairs. To Clark, Colter gave geographical data, a part of which
appeared on the map published in 1814 in the Biddle-Allen edition of the
journals. Colter was unable to collect the wages due him as a member of
the famous expedition so he brought suit against the Lewis estate and
secured partial compensation. His trapping claims for services to Thomas
James were unavailing as the latter could not collect from the fur
company. While in St. Louis attending to this vexatious business he
undoubtedly related his experiences to General William Clark. The
latter, in turn, passed the story along to John Bradbury, the English
scientist, and James M. Brackenridge, an American author. Such men
accepted his report at face value. Concerning him, James wrote, "His
veracity was never questioned among us."[61] Lesser people were more
incredulous, and Colter's reputation suffered accordingly.
Colter took up a tract of bounty land on the south bank of the Missouri
in the vicinity of Dundee village, Franklin county. There the great
wanderer, with his bride Sally, turned to the prosaic routine of
farming. Wilson Price Hunt's expedition found him there and offered him
a position as guide. Bradbury said he accompanied them for several
miles, balancing in his mind the charms of his bride against those of
the Rocky Mountains. However, the life of steady habits won, but not for
long, as he died of jaundice in 1813.
During the subsequent half century Colter's reputation evolved by
degrees through the following stages: bare-faced prevaricator,
devil-take-care mountain roamer, accidental discoverer of Yellowstone
National Park. From the present perspective he appears much more than a
scout and explorer. He was something of an economist and prophet,
because he is said to have told Henry M. Brackenridge that where he had
been, "a loaded wagon would find no obstruction in passing over the
Rocky Mountains."[62]
On Yellowstone maps a single conspicuous feature commemorates Colter's
work. It is Colter's Peak near the southeastern point of Yellowstone
Lake. May it ever stand aloof, towering and quite inaccessible; a
fitting monument to a gallant scout. Such a man should never be
forgotten because he was master of the untamed West.