My Sixty Years on the Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting
In these days, when the experience of living right up against nature is fast becoming a thing of the past, the story of the mountain men is of special interest. These pioneers as a class were unique. Life itself had little value in their estimation. They were adventurous and fearless men, who pushed the boundaries of what it meant to be alive and thought nothing of laying down their lives in the service of a friend. Theirs was a brotherhood in which one man’s life was entirely at the service of any of its members, regardless of friendship or even of acquaintanceship. Often equipped with nothing but their skill and endurance, a horse, a gun or two, and enough provisions to see them until tomorrow, they set out to make their way through a vast wilderness that held all the terrors of the unknown.

William “Bill” Hamilton recounts his life as a free trapper and mountain man in the last days of their remarkable time. Hamilton’s writing is simple and straightforward, a mirror image of the man himself. If you want an excellent autobiography of a hard man who trapped the creeks and streams of the far West, lived with and fought against Indians, and helped settlers come west to make a new life, this is the book for you. Drop that paperback Western and pick up the real story—history with the bark still on it.

Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
"1025684610"
My Sixty Years on the Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting
In these days, when the experience of living right up against nature is fast becoming a thing of the past, the story of the mountain men is of special interest. These pioneers as a class were unique. Life itself had little value in their estimation. They were adventurous and fearless men, who pushed the boundaries of what it meant to be alive and thought nothing of laying down their lives in the service of a friend. Theirs was a brotherhood in which one man’s life was entirely at the service of any of its members, regardless of friendship or even of acquaintanceship. Often equipped with nothing but their skill and endurance, a horse, a gun or two, and enough provisions to see them until tomorrow, they set out to make their way through a vast wilderness that held all the terrors of the unknown.

William “Bill” Hamilton recounts his life as a free trapper and mountain man in the last days of their remarkable time. Hamilton’s writing is simple and straightforward, a mirror image of the man himself. If you want an excellent autobiography of a hard man who trapped the creeks and streams of the far West, lived with and fought against Indians, and helped settlers come west to make a new life, this is the book for you. Drop that paperback Western and pick up the real story—history with the bark still on it.

Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
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My Sixty Years on the Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting

My Sixty Years on the Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting

by William T. Hamilton
My Sixty Years on the Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting

My Sixty Years on the Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting

by William T. Hamilton

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Overview

In these days, when the experience of living right up against nature is fast becoming a thing of the past, the story of the mountain men is of special interest. These pioneers as a class were unique. Life itself had little value in their estimation. They were adventurous and fearless men, who pushed the boundaries of what it meant to be alive and thought nothing of laying down their lives in the service of a friend. Theirs was a brotherhood in which one man’s life was entirely at the service of any of its members, regardless of friendship or even of acquaintanceship. Often equipped with nothing but their skill and endurance, a horse, a gun or two, and enough provisions to see them until tomorrow, they set out to make their way through a vast wilderness that held all the terrors of the unknown.

William “Bill” Hamilton recounts his life as a free trapper and mountain man in the last days of their remarkable time. Hamilton’s writing is simple and straightforward, a mirror image of the man himself. If you want an excellent autobiography of a hard man who trapped the creeks and streams of the far West, lived with and fought against Indians, and helped settlers come west to make a new life, this is the book for you. Drop that paperback Western and pick up the real story—history with the bark still on it.

Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781629143835
Publisher: Skyhorse
Publication date: 02/17/2015
Pages: 264
Sales rank: 820,447
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

William Thomas Hamilton was born into a wealthy family in England but was brought to American when he was two years old. A sickly youngster, he was sent west by his father in 1842 with a trapping party headed by “Old Bill” Williams (who would gain notoriety as the guide of General John C. Frémont’s fourth expedition into the Western territories) to improve his health. Hamilton remained in the West for the rest of his life. He died in Missoula, Montana.

Table of Contents

Chapter I

The Vote that Made me an Indian Fighter

St. Louis

I join Bill Williams's Party

The Boy Catches on

A Parley with Kiowas

Friendly Cheyennes

A Traders' Trick

My First Sign-Talk

A Good Trade

Swift Runner my Friend

Athletics and Longevity 17-27

Chapter II

Buffalo Hunt with Cheyennes

A Stirring Picture

My First Buffalo

Perils of the Chase

We are Feasted on our Return

Character of the Cheyennes

Pemmican and Depuyer a Substitute for Bread

We Leave the Cheyennes 28-34

Chapter III

Sioux Village on the South Platte

A Pawnee Horse Raid

We Give Chase

Wonderful Endurance of the Indian Pony

The Stock Recaptured

My First Shot at an Indian

Return with Pawnee Scalps

Coup-Sticks

Counting Coups 35-41

Chapter IV

Fur-Trade Rivalries

"Free Traders" and the Companies

Wealth of the Sioux

War-Parties and Singing

Indian Revenge

We Sell our Furs for Good Prices

Bill Williams a Diplomat

Visited by Arapahoes

We Trade, Feast, and Smoke

A Threatening Party of Crows

"Business Diplomacy" 42-50

Chapter V

In a Dangerous Country

We Find a Moccasin and Prepare for Trouble

Attacked in the Night by Blackfeet

The Enemy Repulsed

Scalps Taken

Pursuit

Williams a Reckless Indian Fighter

I Lift my First Scalp

We Wipe out the Entire Party

Beaver Trapping an Art 51-59

Chapter VI

Little Wind River

A Wonderful Hot Spring

Shoshone Scouts

Chief Washakie

We Trade our Blackfoot Plunder

Shoshone Horse for Blackfoot Scalp

A Night of Council, Scalp Dance, and War Song

The Fate of Two Trappers, "Good for Evil" not the Trappers' Creed

Shakespeare in a Trapper's Pack

Mountain Men Great Readers

A White Beaver 60-69

Chapter VII

The Scouts Report Indian War-Parties

We Resolve to Clear the Country of them

Scouting for Hostiles

A Want of Strategy

Some Actual Warfare

A Wild Scene

We Have a Close Encounter

We Rush the Knoll

A Night of Mingled Mourning and Rejoicing 70-77

Chapter VIII

A Brush with Piegans

We Part from the Shoshones

I Mystify Washakie

Indian Horsemanship

The Shoshones

Beaver Trapping

My First Bear

A Lesson in Bear Shooting

Fascination of the Mountain Life 78-87

Chapter IX

The Blackfoot Fort in Utah

A Good Day for Bears

Fort Bridger

Mountain Men's Law We Trade our Furs

Infatuated with the Life

Exploration of the Yellowstone in 1839

Afterwards I Visit that Country

Trappers' Tales

My Skill in Sign-Language

We Go with Washakie's Band 88-98

Chapter X

Horse-Racing

Shooting from Horseback

Whites Outshoot Indians

Williams Leaves us

Navajo Blankets

A Lost Manuscript 99-102

Chapter XI

An Expedition to Explore Utah

The "Boy" Becomes "Bill."

Old Bear Orders us off

"Big Chief never Smokes with White Dogs."

Trapper Life in a Hostile Indian Country

Fortified in Camp Weber

The American Trapper a Fine Type

We Hear Wolf Howls and Prepare for Attack

The Enemy Repulsed with Heavy Losses

A "Big Talk" and Peace

"It Costs too much Blood to Fight Trappers" 103-114

Chapter XII

Bear River

The Bannocks

A Swim with the Mercury 38° below Zero

The Pah Utes a Low Race

Poisoned Arrows

Brown's Hole and its Gay Winter Life

I am Made Trader

A Terrible Storm

Our Horses Stolen by Blackfeet

A Hard Ride

We Recapture the Stock 115-122

Chapter XIII

Williams Returns

Tygee the Bannock

A Lucky 13

Indians of the Blackfoot Country

Life at a Trappers' Rendezvous

Hostile Bannocks

Howlack in a Rage

We Prepare for Trouble

Prowling Wolves when Shot Prove to be Indians

Spies who did not Return

Three Hundred Warriors Charge the Camp

A Desperate Fight

The Enemy Routed 123-132

Chapter XIV

The Bannocks Taught a Lesson

Indians as Fighters

Excited Umatillas

The Walla Walla Valley

Its Fish and Game

The Walla Wallas

Tygh Valley

Indians Salmon Spearing

My First Sight of the Columbia

Latitude 49°

Vicissitudes of the Trapper's Life 133-140

Chapter XV

A Rich Beaver Country

A Hunter's Paradise

Great Klamath Lake

In Winter Quarters

A Horse Pack Worth $7200

"Boston Men" and "King George's."

In the Modoc Country

We Dig Rifle-Pits

Trappers' Coats of Mail

Prepared for Attack 141-149

Chapter XVI

The Modoes Threaten to Rub us out

The Camp Rushed

Hand-to-Hand Fighting

A Furious Charge

We Lose Three Men

Modoc Slaughter

An Incident of the Modoc War of 1856

The California Rangers

The Massacre of Bloody Point 150-157

Chapter XVII

Honey Lake Valley

Thieving Indians

We Turn South

The Truckee River

Degraded Red Men

In a Mountain Storm

Fortune Favors the Brave

A Dismal Camp

Snow-Bound

Glimpse of the Great American Desert

Camp on Carson River

A Pah Ute's Square Meal

Gratified Squaws and Skinned Beavers

A Big Catch of Fur

Humboldt Lake

Hostile Utes

One of our Men Ambushed and Killed

A Sharp Fight and a Decisive Victory

We Capture Forty-three Horses

Our Revenge 158-173

Chapter XVIII

We Move Camp

Crestfallen Trappers

Blackfoot Victims

Fur Company Traders

Hot Springs

OUT Company Breaks up

Expedition to the Big Horn Mountains

We Stand off the Blackfeet

An Arrogant Leader and a Coward

The "Tartar Outfit." 4-181

Chapter XIX

Washakie again

The Joy of Youth

A Buffalo Hunt

Stinking Water

Crow and Shoshone Horse-Racing

A Peaceful Camp

Sign-Language

The Mexican War

I Visit St. Louis

Home is Changed

"Westward Ho!" I Pilot an Oregon Emigrant Train

Attacked by Pawnees

Out of Deference to the Ladies we do not Scalp

Mormon Emigrants

Fort Hall

The Fur Companies and their Employees 182-193

Chapter XX Fort Bridger

"Doby Men." California Gold

We Decide to Go to the Mines

Fate of Bill Williams

Hunting and Trapping in the Big Horn

Humpy a War-Party Leader

We Give the Easterners a Lesson in Indian Fighting

Washakie Identifies the Scalps as Pend Oreilles 194-204

Chapter XXI Bound for California

Furs and Gold

On the Old Camp

Ground

An Undisturbed Grave

The Indians Hold aloof

Crossing the Range

Sacramento

We Trappers Turn Miners, and Stake our Claims

Barbarous Murder 205-215

Chapter XXII

Miners Killed by Indians

A Gloomy Outlook

The "Mountaineer Miners."

Rifle Barrels for Crowbars

Our Circus Entry into Nevada City

A Council of War

Perkins Advises Vigorous Action

We Take the Trail

More Indian Outrages

We Overtake the Hostiles

An Attack and a Stubborn Defence

A Brave Chief

Good Work of the Sharps Rifle

"Silver Tip" Has his Ear Split and Russell Gets a Bullet through his Hat

The Indians Utterly Routed and Many Killed

White Men's Scalps to Teach a Lesson

A Big Lot of Plunder

The Trappers are Made to Blush

We Have a Triumphal Ovation and are Hailed as Avengers

Our Fame Spreads 216-226

Chapter XXIII

Our Services in Request at Hangtown (Placerville)

We Meet the Indians at Biglow's Lake

A Desperate Charge

Mexican War Veterans Save the Day

To Kill a Chief is to Win the Battle

Our Trained Horses

Fastidious Trappers Annoyed by Blood Spots on their Buckskin Suits

The Owner Gets his Mules

The Trinity Massacre

"Tarheads" Chastised

The Trappers in the Rogue River and Modoc Wars

The Pitt River Massacre

Our Band Breaks up

Through the Modoc Country again

Fort Walla Walla

I Go as Scout 227-234

Chapter XXIV

Death of Russell

A Brave Man and a True Comrade

I am Left alone

My Horse Hickory

A Business Trip to Trade and Spy

In the Enemies' Camp

My Part nearly Chokes me

An Extraordinary Trade

We Get what we Came for

The Spokane River Campaign

I Establish a Trading-Post at Missoula

Fort Benton

The Expedition of 1874 with General Crook

American Horse

Later Years 235-244

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