The Black Hills of South Dakota have hosted their share of legendary characters. Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock, and Potato Creek Johnny are names well known to anyone with even a passing familiarity with the area. There is, however, another name that exists in the mists of Black Hills lore; that of the masked, black buckskin-clad outlaw Deadwood Dick.
So who was this mysterious gunfighter and highwayman? Deadwood Dick was the fictional creation of Edward Lytton Wheeler, a self-described sensational novelist who wrote the first installment of this series in 1877.
Very little is known of the life of Edward Wheeler. He was born in Avoca, New York in 1854 or 1855 and moved to Pennsylvania in the 1870s. He started writing short newspaper sketches in the mid-1870s and published his first novelette "Hurricane Nell, the Girl Dead-Shot; or The Queen of the Saddle and Lasso" in May of 1877. Deadwood Dick appeared in print in October of that same year. Wheeler wrote approximately 33 more Deadwood Dick stories until 1885. All available evidence indicates Wheeler died in 1885 at the age of 30 or 31. However, there were 97 more Deadwood Dick stories published between 1885-1897 by various ghost-writers using the Wheeler by-line. Because of Edward Wheeler's success and the prolific output of the later ghost writers, Deadwood Dick lived on and became much more famous than his creator.
The novellette "Deadwood Dick, The Prince of the Road; or, The Black Rider of the Black Hills" is a great example of Edward Wheeler's craft. Published in 1877 by Beadle's Half Dime Library, this story has all the elements of Western storytelling told by a man who had never been west of Philadelphia. Wheeler probably got his background information on early Deadwood from sensationalistic newspaper and magazine accounts and added his own peculiar twist. It is interesting to note that Edward Wheeler was writing these stories only a year after Deadwood came into existence. Therefore, while the real legends of Deadwood were being formed, Edward Wheeler was creating a sort of alternate Deadwood reality for his readers in the East.
In the next post we will learn of the exploits of Deadwood Dick, Fearless Frank, and sweet sad-faced Anita,
as they play out "Deadwood Dick, The Prince of the Road; or, The Black Rider of the Black Hills."
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Hugh Glass - The Conclusion
We are nearly at the end of the story of Hugh Glass and his remarkable crawl across the hills and prairies of western South Dakota while suffering the wounds caused by an angry she-grizzly. In anticipation of the many questions readers will have at the end of this discussion, I have decided to turn this last post into a Q and A format.
When did Hugh Glass reach the end of his crawl?
The best estimate is that Hugh reached Fort Kiowa near present day Oacoma, South Dakota in late October, two months after he was mauled and left for dead. He may have been helped by a band of friendly
Sioux Indians at some point and there is also evidence that he may have been strong enough to fashion a crude canoe when he reached the Missouri River which allowed him to float down the river for the last leg of the journey.
Did Hugh Glass get his revenge on Jim Bridger and John Fitzgerald, the men who abandoned him?
No, but it was not for lack of trying. After Hugh reached Fort Kiowa he spent less than a month recovering before he took off with a party headed toward a post at the mouth of the Yellowstone River where he knew young Bridger was located. John Myers, author of The Saga of Hugh Glass speculates that Hugh forgave Bridger because of Bridger's age and inexperience. Frederick Manfred in Lord Grizzly has Hugh and Bridger get into a brawl where young Bridger more than holds his own and earns Hugh's forgiveness and respect.
Hugh Glass next set his sights on John Fitzgerald. He tracked Fitzgerald to Fort Atkinson in Nebraska and probably would have taken his revenge but Fitzgerald had since joined the army. All accounts agree that the military brass would have taken a dim view of Hugh had he killed one of their frontier troopers.
Hugh was able to expose Bridger and Fitzgerald as men who would accept a reward after abandoning a comrade so he did gain some measure of satisfaction. He also got his gun back.
Could Hugh Glass, or any man, really have survived such an ordeal?
There have been those who have doubted the whole Hugh Glass story. Most notably, J. Cecil Alter, a biographer of Jim Bridger, denied the whole episode ever took place. However, enough evidence has been uncovered through the journals and letters of Hugh's contemporaries that it almost certainly did happen. This
body of evidence is well chronicled in The Saga of Hugh Glass.
Hugh Glass was a man singularly equipped to survive such a trial. Remember, he had lived through the horrors of pirate life, had been a prisoner of the Pawnees for four years where he would have gained a PhD in survival skills, and had been one of the earliest of the Mountain Men. Add in the revenge factor and you have the ultimate survivor.
Why isn't the story of Hugh Glass more well known?
Unlike other frontier legends like Buffalo Bill Cody or George A. Custer, Hugh Glass was not a shameless self-promoter. Had he kept journals and written letters to newspaper men back home telling of his adventures no doubt he would have a lake or mountain or 10-k race named in his honor. As it was, Hugh Glass was simply a man trying to earn a living in the best way he knew how.
Has Hollywood ever given the Hugh Glass story a try?
There is a 1971 movie called Man in the Wilderness starring Richard Harris that is loosely based on the Hugh Glass story. The bear mauling scene is especially well done and uses an actual bear rather than some over the top CGI creation.
What happened to Hugh Glass after this was all over?
Hugh Glass resumed his mountain man life after finishing with Bridger and Fitzgerald. He had several more exploits that would also be the stuff of legend if it weren't for the Crawl. Sadly, Hugh's luck ran out some time early in 1833 when he and another man were killed by a band of Ree Indians along the frozen Yellowstone River. It is not known what happened to his gun.
How can I learn more?
Lord Grizzly by Frederick Manfred is the best place to start. Although it is a work of fiction, it is true enough to the story to be informative as well as entertaining. I believe it is a Western classic.
John Myers The Saga of Hugh Glass is the only source I know of that contains the entire body of historical evidence to back up the Hugh Glass story. It is an easy read but Myers' writing style is somewhat different.
It also details the rest of the amazing life of Hugh Glass.
When did Hugh Glass reach the end of his crawl?
The best estimate is that Hugh reached Fort Kiowa near present day Oacoma, South Dakota in late October, two months after he was mauled and left for dead. He may have been helped by a band of friendly
Sioux Indians at some point and there is also evidence that he may have been strong enough to fashion a crude canoe when he reached the Missouri River which allowed him to float down the river for the last leg of the journey.
Did Hugh Glass get his revenge on Jim Bridger and John Fitzgerald, the men who abandoned him?
No, but it was not for lack of trying. After Hugh reached Fort Kiowa he spent less than a month recovering before he took off with a party headed toward a post at the mouth of the Yellowstone River where he knew young Bridger was located. John Myers, author of The Saga of Hugh Glass speculates that Hugh forgave Bridger because of Bridger's age and inexperience. Frederick Manfred in Lord Grizzly has Hugh and Bridger get into a brawl where young Bridger more than holds his own and earns Hugh's forgiveness and respect.
Hugh Glass next set his sights on John Fitzgerald. He tracked Fitzgerald to Fort Atkinson in Nebraska and probably would have taken his revenge but Fitzgerald had since joined the army. All accounts agree that the military brass would have taken a dim view of Hugh had he killed one of their frontier troopers.
Hugh was able to expose Bridger and Fitzgerald as men who would accept a reward after abandoning a comrade so he did gain some measure of satisfaction. He also got his gun back.
Could Hugh Glass, or any man, really have survived such an ordeal?
There have been those who have doubted the whole Hugh Glass story. Most notably, J. Cecil Alter, a biographer of Jim Bridger, denied the whole episode ever took place. However, enough evidence has been uncovered through the journals and letters of Hugh's contemporaries that it almost certainly did happen. This
body of evidence is well chronicled in The Saga of Hugh Glass.
Hugh Glass was a man singularly equipped to survive such a trial. Remember, he had lived through the horrors of pirate life, had been a prisoner of the Pawnees for four years where he would have gained a PhD in survival skills, and had been one of the earliest of the Mountain Men. Add in the revenge factor and you have the ultimate survivor.
Why isn't the story of Hugh Glass more well known?
Unlike other frontier legends like Buffalo Bill Cody or George A. Custer, Hugh Glass was not a shameless self-promoter. Had he kept journals and written letters to newspaper men back home telling of his adventures no doubt he would have a lake or mountain or 10-k race named in his honor. As it was, Hugh Glass was simply a man trying to earn a living in the best way he knew how.
Has Hollywood ever given the Hugh Glass story a try?
There is a 1971 movie called Man in the Wilderness starring Richard Harris that is loosely based on the Hugh Glass story. The bear mauling scene is especially well done and uses an actual bear rather than some over the top CGI creation.
What happened to Hugh Glass after this was all over?
Hugh Glass resumed his mountain man life after finishing with Bridger and Fitzgerald. He had several more exploits that would also be the stuff of legend if it weren't for the Crawl. Sadly, Hugh's luck ran out some time early in 1833 when he and another man were killed by a band of Ree Indians along the frozen Yellowstone River. It is not known what happened to his gun.
How can I learn more?
Lord Grizzly by Frederick Manfred is the best place to start. Although it is a work of fiction, it is true enough to the story to be informative as well as entertaining. I believe it is a Western classic.
John Myers The Saga of Hugh Glass is the only source I know of that contains the entire body of historical evidence to back up the Hugh Glass story. It is an easy read but Myers' writing style is somewhat different.
It also details the rest of the amazing life of Hugh Glass.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Crawl Part 2
Welcome back gentle readers. Sorry for the delay since the last post but holiday activities made it tough to make a blog entry. Besides, I wanted the anticipation for the final two entries in the Hugh Glass saga to build to a fevered pitch.
Now, where did we leave Old Hugh? Oh, right. He was nearly dead, abandoned, and left with only a rattlesnake for company. Well, maybe. At this point the story of Hugh Glass becomes one of second and third party testimony. In other words, all we really know of the crawl of Hugh Glass is what others passed on through the storytelling tradition. We can be reasonably certain that Hugh was mauled in late August of 1823. We can also be reasonably certain he showed up at Fort Kiowa sometime late October of the same year. What happened in between is the stuff of legend.
Both John Myers in The Saga of Hugh Glass and Frederick Manfred in Lord Grizzly attribute Hugh's unbelievable motivation to survive to his need to recover his firearm from the men who had taken it from him.
It might be hard today to imagine the affection a Mountain Man would have bestowed on his gun. The firearm was "at once ally, pet, and up-to-date miracle of industrial progress" according to Myers. The Mountain Man did not travel with dogs as they were considered too noisy and his bond with his horse was usually not strong because wilderness life made for a frequent change of mounts. The gun was his only constant companion.
So Hugh Glass, broken and alone, set out on a crawl of perhaps two hundred miles to recover the object that meant the most to him and to exact a measure of revenge.
The beauty of Frederick Manfred's novel Lord Grizzly is his description of the Crawl. Manfred at one time strapped a board to his leg and crawled along the ground of the Minnesota River bluffs to see what Hugh Glass saw, to feel what Hugh felt. The result is a description that must be read to be appreciated. Frederick Manfred has Hugh progress from a man bent on survival to a man bent on revenge for the Lord's sake. It is an amazing read.
And yes, Hugh did at one point wake up next to a rattlesnake. The snake was fat and lazy from a recent meal so Hugh smashed its head with a rock and ate it. He also probably ate prairie dogs, insects, and any plants he could recognize as not poisonous. Remember the area Hugh crawled along was one of rough, hilly terrain populated by wolves, coyotes, bears, and buffalo. While Hugh Glass probably followed a river for most of his journey he would have found very little in the way of natural cover to protect him from the elements. He probably would have worn through his clothing and his wounds would have become infected. Mosquitoes would have found him to be a ready meal. No doubt buzzards kept a close eye on Old Hugh. Yet he survived.
Now, where did we leave Old Hugh? Oh, right. He was nearly dead, abandoned, and left with only a rattlesnake for company. Well, maybe. At this point the story of Hugh Glass becomes one of second and third party testimony. In other words, all we really know of the crawl of Hugh Glass is what others passed on through the storytelling tradition. We can be reasonably certain that Hugh was mauled in late August of 1823. We can also be reasonably certain he showed up at Fort Kiowa sometime late October of the same year. What happened in between is the stuff of legend.
Both John Myers in The Saga of Hugh Glass and Frederick Manfred in Lord Grizzly attribute Hugh's unbelievable motivation to survive to his need to recover his firearm from the men who had taken it from him.
It might be hard today to imagine the affection a Mountain Man would have bestowed on his gun. The firearm was "at once ally, pet, and up-to-date miracle of industrial progress" according to Myers. The Mountain Man did not travel with dogs as they were considered too noisy and his bond with his horse was usually not strong because wilderness life made for a frequent change of mounts. The gun was his only constant companion.
So Hugh Glass, broken and alone, set out on a crawl of perhaps two hundred miles to recover the object that meant the most to him and to exact a measure of revenge.
The beauty of Frederick Manfred's novel Lord Grizzly is his description of the Crawl. Manfred at one time strapped a board to his leg and crawled along the ground of the Minnesota River bluffs to see what Hugh Glass saw, to feel what Hugh felt. The result is a description that must be read to be appreciated. Frederick Manfred has Hugh progress from a man bent on survival to a man bent on revenge for the Lord's sake. It is an amazing read.
And yes, Hugh did at one point wake up next to a rattlesnake. The snake was fat and lazy from a recent meal so Hugh smashed its head with a rock and ate it. He also probably ate prairie dogs, insects, and any plants he could recognize as not poisonous. Remember the area Hugh crawled along was one of rough, hilly terrain populated by wolves, coyotes, bears, and buffalo. While Hugh Glass probably followed a river for most of his journey he would have found very little in the way of natural cover to protect him from the elements. He probably would have worn through his clothing and his wounds would have become infected. Mosquitoes would have found him to be a ready meal. No doubt buzzards kept a close eye on Old Hugh. Yet he survived.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Crawl Part 1 - The Desertion
The early fur traders were men who accepted death as a normal hazard of their chosen profession. Those who could not live with the idea usually deserted or were on the first boat back to St. Louis. When Hugh Glass was mauled by the grizzly bear it is safe to assume that his comrades resigned themselves to his fate and turned their thoughts toward their own safety and the journey west to the Yellowstone River.
John Myers states that Hugh had as many as fifteen serious wounds and "First aid on the Plains consisted of bracing a man with brandy and tying him up with strips of a probably not laundered shirt." One of the other trappers might have tried to stitch some of Hugh's worst wounds with thread made from deer sinew but beyond these primitive procedures nothing much could be done to save Hugh Glass. Still, Old Hugh refused to die.
After a day or two of waiting for Hugh to take his last breath, Major Henry, the expedition leader, decided to move his men out of the area. Because Hugh was still clinging to life, the trappers made an attempt to carry him to safety by fashioning a litter from the boughs of trees. How long they carried him is not known, it might have been as few as two days or as long as six days. Finally, Major Henry's concern over the pallbearer-like pace of his expedition in such hostile territory forced him to make a decision. A clearing was reached near a large spring and it was deemed a logical spot for Hugh to find his final resting place. Major Henry could not, however, bring himself to abandon Hugh altogether while the old trapper was still breathing. He called for two volunteers to stay behind to provide Hugh a proper burial.
The two "volunteers" according to both Frederick Manfred and John Myers were the youth Jim Bridger and a man named John Fitzgerald. Frederick Manfred has the two staying out of loyalty to Hugh for not reporting them for falling asleep on guard duty. John Myers points out that Bridger and Fitzgerald were probably paid a decent bonus to stay behind.
As the expedition hurried on west, John Fitzgerald and Jim Bridger waited with increasing anxiety for Hugh Glass to die. They may have waited for as many as six days before the older man, Fitzgerald, cracked under the pressure of falling so far behind his comrades in such dangerous territory. John Myers writes in The Saga of Hugh Glass that Hugh himself heard Fitzgerald arguing with young Bridger until the lad gave in and agreed to Fitzgerald's plan.
In order to make their story plausible, Fitzgerald and Bridger took Hugh's gun and all his "necessarys." Their reasoning was that a man who could not lift himself up from a makeshift litter would have no use for a weapon and no Mountain Man would leave such valuable equipment behind to the elements or to fall into the hands of hostile Natives. Also, having possession Of Hugh's property would be proof to the other trappers that Hugh had, indeed, died.
The only favor the two did for Hugh Glass was to move him down by the stream before they left. When Hugh finally regained full consciousness some time later he saw three things; the stream, his grave, and a rattlesnake curled up nearby.
John Myers states that Hugh had as many as fifteen serious wounds and "First aid on the Plains consisted of bracing a man with brandy and tying him up with strips of a probably not laundered shirt." One of the other trappers might have tried to stitch some of Hugh's worst wounds with thread made from deer sinew but beyond these primitive procedures nothing much could be done to save Hugh Glass. Still, Old Hugh refused to die.
After a day or two of waiting for Hugh to take his last breath, Major Henry, the expedition leader, decided to move his men out of the area. Because Hugh was still clinging to life, the trappers made an attempt to carry him to safety by fashioning a litter from the boughs of trees. How long they carried him is not known, it might have been as few as two days or as long as six days. Finally, Major Henry's concern over the pallbearer-like pace of his expedition in such hostile territory forced him to make a decision. A clearing was reached near a large spring and it was deemed a logical spot for Hugh to find his final resting place. Major Henry could not, however, bring himself to abandon Hugh altogether while the old trapper was still breathing. He called for two volunteers to stay behind to provide Hugh a proper burial.
The two "volunteers" according to both Frederick Manfred and John Myers were the youth Jim Bridger and a man named John Fitzgerald. Frederick Manfred has the two staying out of loyalty to Hugh for not reporting them for falling asleep on guard duty. John Myers points out that Bridger and Fitzgerald were probably paid a decent bonus to stay behind.
As the expedition hurried on west, John Fitzgerald and Jim Bridger waited with increasing anxiety for Hugh Glass to die. They may have waited for as many as six days before the older man, Fitzgerald, cracked under the pressure of falling so far behind his comrades in such dangerous territory. John Myers writes in The Saga of Hugh Glass that Hugh himself heard Fitzgerald arguing with young Bridger until the lad gave in and agreed to Fitzgerald's plan.
In order to make their story plausible, Fitzgerald and Bridger took Hugh's gun and all his "necessarys." Their reasoning was that a man who could not lift himself up from a makeshift litter would have no use for a weapon and no Mountain Man would leave such valuable equipment behind to the elements or to fall into the hands of hostile Natives. Also, having possession Of Hugh's property would be proof to the other trappers that Hugh had, indeed, died.
The only favor the two did for Hugh Glass was to move him down by the stream before they left. When Hugh finally regained full consciousness some time later he saw three things; the stream, his grave, and a rattlesnake curled up nearby.
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Wrestle - Part Two
The death match between Mountain Man Hugh Glass and the silver-tipped she-grizzly has been described in a variety of ways. Frederick Manfred in Lord Grizzly describes a scene where a startled Hugh is stripped of his firearms by the equally startled grizzly.
"She cuffed at the gun in his hands as if she knew what it was for. As it whirled into the bushes, it went off in the air, the ball whacking harmlessly into the white sand at their feet.
Hugh next clawed for his horse pistol.
Again, she seemed to know what it was for. She cuffed the pistol out of his hand too."
The bear claws the Mountain Man "like a heavyweight trying to give a lightweight a going-over in a clinch."
At this point, Frederick Manfred has a badly wounded Hugh getting inside the reach of the enormous bear, wrapping her in his own bear hug in order to keep out of the way of her deadly claws. As Hugh holds on he stabs frantically with his skinning knife. Eventually the grizzly succumbs to the multiple knife wounds and falls dead over the mangled body of Hugh Glass.
John Myers speculates in The Saga of Hugh Glass that Hugh got off a shot before being mauled. Myers points out that grizzly bears do not attack with their teeth but rather with their terribly armed forepaws. In order to do this the grizzly bear will rise up on its hind legs to a full height of nine feet. Because of this method of attack an experienced hunter like Hugh Glass would have been able to get off a shot. The shot mortally wounded the bear but not before it nearly ripped the Mountain Man to death.
Other accounts have members of Hugh's expedition coming to his aid after hearing his shrieks. There may have been one or two other hunters in the near vicinity and they may have helped finish off the grizzly.
Some reports claim the bear was protecting two cubs. If there were cubs in the area they probably would have been killed by Hugh's fellow trappers.
What is known for sure is that after the wrestle the she-grizzly was dead and Hugh Glass was terribly wounded. He was bitten and clawed on his already injured leg, back, and throat. The other trappers were stunned to hear his shallow, raspy breaths as he held on to the barest thread of life. All agreed it was only a matter of time until Old Hugh would be food for the wolves.
"She cuffed at the gun in his hands as if she knew what it was for. As it whirled into the bushes, it went off in the air, the ball whacking harmlessly into the white sand at their feet.
Hugh next clawed for his horse pistol.
Again, she seemed to know what it was for. She cuffed the pistol out of his hand too."
The bear claws the Mountain Man "like a heavyweight trying to give a lightweight a going-over in a clinch."
At this point, Frederick Manfred has a badly wounded Hugh getting inside the reach of the enormous bear, wrapping her in his own bear hug in order to keep out of the way of her deadly claws. As Hugh holds on he stabs frantically with his skinning knife. Eventually the grizzly succumbs to the multiple knife wounds and falls dead over the mangled body of Hugh Glass.
John Myers speculates in The Saga of Hugh Glass that Hugh got off a shot before being mauled. Myers points out that grizzly bears do not attack with their teeth but rather with their terribly armed forepaws. In order to do this the grizzly bear will rise up on its hind legs to a full height of nine feet. Because of this method of attack an experienced hunter like Hugh Glass would have been able to get off a shot. The shot mortally wounded the bear but not before it nearly ripped the Mountain Man to death.
Other accounts have members of Hugh's expedition coming to his aid after hearing his shrieks. There may have been one or two other hunters in the near vicinity and they may have helped finish off the grizzly.
Some reports claim the bear was protecting two cubs. If there were cubs in the area they probably would have been killed by Hugh's fellow trappers.
What is known for sure is that after the wrestle the she-grizzly was dead and Hugh Glass was terribly wounded. He was bitten and clawed on his already injured leg, back, and throat. The other trappers were stunned to hear his shallow, raspy breaths as he held on to the barest thread of life. All agreed it was only a matter of time until Old Hugh would be food for the wolves.
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Wrestle - Part One
If Hugh Glass had never encountered an angry bruin in the prairies of South Dakota, his life would still have had the elements of Wild West legend. As mentioned in an earlier post, Hugh had a past which included life as a mariner, a pirate, and an adopted member of a Pawnee tribe.
However, the aim of these posts is to compare Manfred's Lord Grizzly to the best factual accounts of the Hugh Glass Grizzly Bear saga. Lord Grizzly is separated into three elements: the wrestle, the crawl, and the showdown. The wrestle is also where this comparison will begin.
According to both fact and fiction, Hugh Glass was not the typical mountain man. When he signed on with the fur company of General William Ashley in 1823 he was considerably older than his fellow trappers. John Myers in The Saga of Hugh Glass places Hugh in his forties while Frederick Manfred imagines him to be in his late fifties. Most of the othe trappers were men in their twenties while one, the legendary Jim Bridger, might have been as young as seventeen. Old Hugh had some education as well. The only example we have of Hugh's own voice is in a letter he wrote to the family of a young trapper named Johnny Gardner who was killed in a raid by the Arikara tribe. Hugh wrote:
Dr Sr:
My painful duty it is to tell you of the deth of yr son wh befell at the hands of the indians 2n June in the early morning. He lived a little while after he was shot and asked me to inform you of his sad fate. We brought him to the ship where he soon died. Mr Smith a young man of our company made a powerful prayer wh moved us all greatly and I am persuaded John died in peace. His body we buried with others near this camp and marked the grave with a log. His things we will send to you. The savages are greatly treacherous. We traded with them as friends but after a great storm of rain and thunder they came at us before light and many were hurt. I myself was shot in the leg. Master Ashley is bound to stay in these parts till the traitors are rightly punished.
yr obt svt
Hugh Glass
This letter appears in both Lord Grizzly and The Saga of Hugh Glass. The ship Hugh mentions would have been one of the keelboats used by the the expedition to navigate the Missouri River. Mr. Smith was Jedediah Smith, a mountain man who would later have an adventure of his own that would rival that of Hugh Glass.
Finally, Hugh was known as a loner and not the sort to take orders very well. In late August of 1823 while Hugh was travelling with a party of trappers led by Major Andrew Henry in what is now northwest South Dakota near the current town of Lemmon, Hugh decided to wander off by himself. Frederick Manfred describes the scene where Hugh, after being slighted by Major Henry and left off a hunting detail, decides to get away from his camp to settle himself down:
However, the aim of these posts is to compare Manfred's Lord Grizzly to the best factual accounts of the Hugh Glass Grizzly Bear saga. Lord Grizzly is separated into three elements: the wrestle, the crawl, and the showdown. The wrestle is also where this comparison will begin.
According to both fact and fiction, Hugh Glass was not the typical mountain man. When he signed on with the fur company of General William Ashley in 1823 he was considerably older than his fellow trappers. John Myers in The Saga of Hugh Glass places Hugh in his forties while Frederick Manfred imagines him to be in his late fifties. Most of the othe trappers were men in their twenties while one, the legendary Jim Bridger, might have been as young as seventeen. Old Hugh had some education as well. The only example we have of Hugh's own voice is in a letter he wrote to the family of a young trapper named Johnny Gardner who was killed in a raid by the Arikara tribe. Hugh wrote:
Dr Sr:
My painful duty it is to tell you of the deth of yr son wh befell at the hands of the indians 2n June in the early morning. He lived a little while after he was shot and asked me to inform you of his sad fate. We brought him to the ship where he soon died. Mr Smith a young man of our company made a powerful prayer wh moved us all greatly and I am persuaded John died in peace. His body we buried with others near this camp and marked the grave with a log. His things we will send to you. The savages are greatly treacherous. We traded with them as friends but after a great storm of rain and thunder they came at us before light and many were hurt. I myself was shot in the leg. Master Ashley is bound to stay in these parts till the traitors are rightly punished.
yr obt svt
Hugh Glass
This letter appears in both Lord Grizzly and The Saga of Hugh Glass. The ship Hugh mentions would have been one of the keelboats used by the the expedition to navigate the Missouri River. Mr. Smith was Jedediah Smith, a mountain man who would later have an adventure of his own that would rival that of Hugh Glass.
Finally, Hugh was known as a loner and not the sort to take orders very well. In late August of 1823 while Hugh was travelling with a party of trappers led by Major Andrew Henry in what is now northwest South Dakota near the current town of Lemmon, Hugh decided to wander off by himself. Frederick Manfred describes the scene where Hugh, after being slighted by Major Henry and left off a hunting detail, decides to get away from his camp to settle himself down:
It was sport to be out on one's own again, alone. The new, the
old new, just around the turn ahead, was the only remedy
for hot blood. Ahead was always either gold or the grave. The
gamble of it freshened the blood at the same time that it cleared
the eye. What could beat galloping up alone over the brow of
a new bluff for that first look beyond?
Old Hugh's motivation according to John Myers in The Saga of Hugh Glass was simply to see new country without being burdened by his younger mates. In any case, Hugh Glass' desire to be alone for a short time led to his chance encounter with the incredible killing machine known by the mountain men as Old Ephraim, the silver tipped Grizzly Bear.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Frederick Manfred
Frederick Manfred was about 76 years old at the time and was signing a book he had written 34 years earlier. He looked like he would have rather been doing something else. When I approached him to sign my copy of Lord Grizzly I was somewhat intimidated as he reminded me of a very tall version of the actor John Carradine. However, he was friendly and probably would have given me all the time and conversation I would have wanted. That is, if I could have thought of something to say to him besides "thanks."
I'm not sure how much Frederick Manfred's works are read today. A quick scan of Amazon.com showed only a couple of his books for sale. It's a shame because he not only wrote of the West but also wrote The Golden Bowl, a novel of the Great Depression that has been compared to The Grapes of Wrath. Like many great authors, several of his novels were considered semi-autobiographical. He was careful researcher and great storyteller. Lord Grizzly is not only the saga of Hugh Glass but a great work of fiction as well.
In the next post, the fictional and non-fictional versions of the Hugh Glass cycle will be compared.
A quick sidenote. The Black Hills to me is not limited to the 125 mile by 60 mile geographical region of western South Dakota. Instead, the influence of the Hills stretches east to the Missouri River and west well into Wyoming and Montana. Therefore, for my purposes, I will consider the history and fiction of these surrounding areas as pertinent to the history of the Hills.
Also, I am not a book reviewer or critic. If I do not like a book I rarely finish it. Therefore, anything appearing in this blog will have my not-very-sought-after seal of approval.
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