Hugh Glass

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Hugh Glass (c. 1780 – 1833) was an American fur trapper and frontiersman noted for his exploits in the American West during the first third of 19th century.

Little is known about Glass's early life. He was probably born in Pennsylvania. Stories about Glass assert that he was a sailor, a reluctant pirate with Jean Lafitte, and an honorary Pawnee. Best documented, however, are his actions as an explorer of the watershed of the Upper Missouri River in present day South Dakota and Montana, Glass was famed most of all for his legendary cross-country trek after being mauled by a grizzly bear. A 1971 movie entitled Man in the Wilderness, starring Richard Harris and John Huston, was loosely based on this story.

The route of the 1823 odyssey by Hugh Glass
The route of the 1823 odyssey by Hugh Glass

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[edit] General Ashley's Expedition

Glass's most famous adventure began in 1822, when he responded to advertisement in the Missouri Gazette and Public Adviser. The notice was placed by General William Ashley, and called for a corps of 100 men to "ascend the river Missouri" as part of a fur trading venture. These men would later be known as Ashley's Hundred.

Besides Glass, others who joined the enterprise included notables such as Jim Beckwourth, Tom Fitzpatric, David Jackson, John Fitzgerald, William Sublette, Jim Bridger, and Jedediah Smith.

Early in the trek, Glass established himself as a hard-working fur trapper. He was apparently wounded on this trip in a battle with Arikaras, and later traveled with a party of 13 men to relieve traders at Fort Henry at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. The expedition, led by Andrew Henry, planned to proceed from the Missouri, up the valley of the Grand River in present-day South Dakota, then across to the valley of the Yellowstone.

[edit] The Wrestle

Near the forks of the Grand River in present-day Perkins County, in August 1823, while scouting alone for game for the expedition's larder, Glass surprised a Grizzly mother bear with her two cubs. Before he could fire his rifle, the bear charged, picked him up, and threw him to the ground. Glass got up, grappled for his knife, and fought back, stabbing the animal repeatedly as the grizzly raked him time and again with her claws.

Glass managed to kill the bear with help from his trapping partners, Fitzgerald and Bridger, but was left badly mauled and unable to walk. When Glass lost consciousness, Henry became convinced the man would not survive his injuries.

Henry asked for two volunteers to stay with Glass until he died, and then bury him. Bridger (then 17 years old) and Fitzgerald stepped forward, and as the rest of the party moved on, began digging his grave. Later claiming that they were interrupted in the task by an attack by "Arikaree" Indians, the pair grabbed Glass's rifle, knife, and other equipment, and took flight.

Bridger and Fitzgerald reported to Henry -- wrongly it turned out -- that Glass had died.

[edit] The Odyssey to Fort Kiowa

Despite his injuries, Glass regained consciousness. He did so only to find himself abandoned, without weapons or equipment, suffering from a broken leg, the cuts on his back exposing bare ribs, and all his wounds festering. Glass lay mutilated and lame more than 200 mi (320 km) from the nearest settlement at Fort Kiowa on the Missouri.

In one of the more remarkable treks known to history, Glass set his own leg, wrapped himself in the bear hide his companions had placed over him as a shroud, and began crawling. To prevent gangrene, Glass laid his wounded back on a rotting log and let the maggots eat the dead flesh.

Deciding that following the Grand River would be too dangerous because of "hostile" Native Americans, Glass crawled overland south toward the Cheyenne River. It took him six weeks to reach it.

Glass survived mostly on wild berries and roots. On one occasion he was able to drive two wolves from a downed bison calf, and feast on the meat. Reaching the Cheyenne, he fashioned a crude raft and floated down the river. Aided by "friendly" natives who sewed a bear hide to his back to cover the exposed wounds, Glass eventually reached the safety of Fort Kiowa.

[edit] The aftermath

After a long recuperation, Glass set out to track down and avenge himself against Bridger and Fitzgerald. When he found Bridger, on the Yellowstone near the mouth of the Bighorn River, Glass spared him, purportedly because of Bridger's youth. When he found Fitzgerald, and discovered that Fitzgerald had joined the United States Army, Glass purportedly restrained himself because the consequence of killing a U.S. soldier was death. However, he did recover his lost rifle.

Glass' survival odyssey has been recounted in numerous books. A monument to Glass now stands near the site of his mauling on the southern shore of Shadehill Reservoir on the forks of the Grand River.

[edit] Later years

Glass would again return to the frontier as a trapper and fur trader. Later he was employed as a hunter for the garrison at Fort Union. He was killed with two fellow trappers in the winter of 1833 on the Yellowstone River in an attack by the Arikara.

[edit] Fictional Accounts

  • Noted Western writer Frederick Manfred wrote Lord Grizzly, a vivid account of Glass' ordeal.
  • Robert M. McClung wrote Hugh Glass, Mountain Man: Left for Dead (1990), recounting Glass' adventure.

[edit] Further reading