John Colter

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Private John Colter (1774 or 1775–May 7, 1812), was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Though party to one of the more famous expeditions in history, he is best remembered for his explorations made after being honorably discharged in 1806. During the winter of 1807–1808, Colter became the first person of European descent to enter the region now known as Yellowstone National Park, descend into Jackson Hole and see the Teton Mountain Range. Colter spent months alone in the wilderness, and is widely considered to be the first mountain man.

John Colter was born in Augusta County, Virginia, near the town of Stuarts Draft in 1774. Sometime around 1780, the Colter family moved west and settled near present day Maysville, Kentucky. As a young man, Colter may have served as a ranger under Simon Kenton.^[1] At 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m), Colter was a tall man for his time.^[2] The outdoor skills he had developed from this frontier lifestyle impressed Meriwether Lewis, and on October 15, 1803, Lewis offered Colter the rank of Private and a pay of 5 dollars a month. At 18, he was one of the youngest members of the expedition.

Prior to the expedition leaving their basecamp, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were away from the main party securing last minute supplies and making other preparations. Colter, along with several other recruits, disobeyed orders from their commanding Sergeant. Upon hearing of this infraction, Meriwether Lewis confined Colter and his accomplices to 10 days in the base camp.^[3] Soon thereafter, Colter was temporarily court-martialed after threatening to shoot the same Sergeant. After reviewing the situation and accepting an apology as well as a promise to reform, Colter was reinstated.^[4]

During the expedition, Colter was considered to be one of the best hunters in the group, and was routinely sent out alone to scout the surrounding countryside for game meat.^[4] He was instrumental in helping the expedition locate passes through the Rocky Mountains and once located members of the Nez Perce who provided details of rivers and streams that would lead further west. Once at the mouth of the Columbia River, Colter was among a small group selected to venture to the shores of the Pacific Ocean as well as explore the seacoast north of the Columbia into present-day Washington state.^[5]

After traveling thousands of miles, in 1806 the expedition returned to the Mandan villages in present-day North Dakota. There, they encountered Forest Hancock and Joseph Dickson, two frontiersmen who were headed into the upper Missouri River country in search of furs. On August 13, 1806, Lewis and Clark permitted Colter to be honorably discharged almost two months early so that he could lead the two trappers back to the region they had explored.^[6] After reaching a point where the Gallatin, Jefferson and Madison Rivers meet, known today as Three Forks, Montana, the trio managed to maintain their partnership for only about two months. Colter headed back toward civilization in 1807 and was near the mouth of the Platte River when he encountered Manuel Lisa, leading a party which included several former members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, towards the Rocky Mountains. Colter once again decided to return to the wilderness, even though he was only a week from reaching St. Louis. At the confluence of the Yellowstone and Bighorn Rivers, Colter helped build Fort Raymond, and was later sent by Lisa to search out the Crow Indian tribe to investigate the opportunities to establish trade.^[4]

Colter left the fort in October of 1807 and over the course of the winter, he explored the region that later became Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Colter reportedly visited at least one geyser basin, though it is now believed that he most likely was near present-day Cody, Wyoming, which at that time may have had some geothermal activity to the immediate west.^[7] Colter probably passed along portions of the shores of Jackson Lake after crossing the Continental divide near Togwotee Pass or more likely, Union Pass in the extreme northern Wind River Range. Colter then explored Jackson Hole below the Teton Range, later crossing Teton Pass into what is today the state of Idaho.^[7] After heading north and then east he is believed to have encountered Yellowstone Lake, another location in which he may have seen geysers and other geothermal features. Colter then proceeded back to Fort Raymond, arriving in March or April of 1808. Not only had Colter traveled hundreds of miles, much of the time unguided, he did so in the dead of winter, in a region in which nighttime temperatures in January are routinely 30 degrees below zero (-34°C).

Colter arrived back at Fort Raymond and few believed his reports of geysers, bubbling mudpots and steaming pools of water. His reports of these features were oftentimes ridiculed at first and the region was somewhat jokingly referred to as "Colter's Hell". The area Colter described is now widely believed to be immediately west of Cody, Wyoming, and though little thermal activity exists there today, other reports from around the period when Colter was there also indicate similar observations as Colter had originally descibed. His detailed exploration of this region is the first by a white man of what later became the state of Wyoming.

The following year, Colter teamed up John Potts, another former member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, once again in the region near Three Forks, Montana. In 1808, he and Potts were both injured fighting the Blackfeet Indians as they led a party of Crow Indians to Fort Raymond. In 1809, another altercation with the Blackfeet resulted in John Potts losing his life and Colter managed to escape only after being stripped naked and allowed to try and run away. Colter was pursued and when only one Indian was still on his trail, Colter managed to kill his would be assailant.^[8] The original script for Director Cornel Wilde's 1966 movie, The Naked Prey, was largely based on Colter being pursued by Blackfoot Indians in Wyoming.^[9]

In 1810, Colter assisted in the construction of another fort located at Three Forks, Montana. After returning from gathering fur pelts, he discovered that two of his partners had been killed by the Blackfeet. This event convinced Colter to leave the wilderness for good and he returned to St. Louis before the end of 1810. He had been away from civilization for almost six years.^[8]

Colter then married and had one son. He soon joined a mounted frontier police force organized by a cousin of Daniel Boone, who happened to be one of Colter's neighbors. Colter visited with William Clark, his old commander from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and provided detailed reports of his explorations since they had last met. From this information, Clark created a map which was the most comprehensive map produced of the region of the explorations for the next 75 years. After suddenly turning ill, Colter died of jaundice on May 7, 1812 and was buried near New Haven, Missouri on private land.^[10][11]

A plaque commemorating Colter was displayed at a roadside pulloff on U.S. Route 340 just east of Stuarts Draft, near his birthplace. When the road was widened in 1998, the plaque was moved just north of the intersection of 340 and Route 608.

[edit] References cited

[edit] See also

• John Ordway