By: Maci Conley Riley Williams Alexis Birkhimer

 The men mostly hunted for beavers. They used the beaver fur for hats worn in American cities and Europe.  Men usually had very bad fights with grizzly bears. One man named Hugh Glass survived being mauled and left the wilderness in spite of his injuries.

 A guy named James Bridger’s nickname was ”Old Gabe” he was 17 when he went on his first expedition.  A guy named Lewis took his dog, Seaman, on the expedition he was one of the people that explored the wilderness.

 Mountain men are usually depicted in books and movies for being loners. Actually the men travel from 40 to 60 men.  In spite of all the difficulties and the dangers of the trip. Only one man died and his name was Charles Floyd his death they think was caused by appendicitis.

explorers explorers transportation weapon

BY: RILEY WILLIAMS

 In 1801 Thomas Jefferson was elected president of the United States. He really wanted to find out what was in the wilderness west of the Mississippi River. He bought a huge piece of land from France. This became the Louisiana purchase.

 Thomas Jefferson picked his secretary Meriwether Lewis to go to the Louisiana purchase and the far west. Lewis asked his friend William Clark to share the job of leading the journey. Jefferson wanted to find a water route across the U.S. the two captains gathered 45 men for the journey they called their group, “Corps of Discovery.”

 One of the men in the group was married to a young girl from the Shoshone tribe, named Sacagawea. Sacagawea helped stop any problems between the Americans and the native Americans during the journey. Lewis and Clark wrote about the land formations they passed by, and how the countryside looked, and the native Americans they met. Plus, they sketched and described many new kinds of plants and animals.

 During more than two years of travel, the corps of discovery found out that there wasn’t a water route across the United States. The tall rocky mountains were blocking it. The amazing discoveries they made, made them a little less disappointed.

 Strong young men packed some things and went to the wilderness. These were the mountain men looking for an adventure and gold. The men had a hard life. Things like starvation, dehydration, burning heat, freezing cold, animal attacks, and unfriendly native Americans happened in the life of a mountain man. In summer time mountain men would go to the summer festivals to sell furs, get supplies, and tell their stories of adventure. Most of these mountain men became legends because of their bravery. The brave explorers and mountain men gave life to some of the most exciting stories in American history.

By: Alexis Birkhimer

Jim Bridger was another of the famous mountain men, who wandered in the West in search or furs and, of course, excitement. On one of his explorations, Jim Bridger was following the Bear River path in Utah to find where it emptied. When the river came to its end, Bridger was standing on a sandy shore looking upon a big sea of blue water. Sea gulls circled him overhead and a scent of the sea was drifting along in the air. He scooped up some water and took a sip of that salty, but refreshing water.

He spat it out again. The water was so salty that he was amazed by it! He decided he had reached the shore of the Pacific Ocean. He thought to himself, “This must be an inlet of that ocean. It must reach farther inland that anyone has ever imagined!”

Bridger rushed to tell everybody that he had walked on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, yet they scoffed at his report. This was simply another one of Bridger’s “Tall Tales”. For the Pacific Ocean was hundreds of miles away to the west Bridger only found a large lake. Everyone knew that lakes were fresh water, not salty water.

Today, we know that the Great Salt Lake is very real indeed. Next to it sets a modern city. Seagulls fly above the salty, blue water of Great Salt Lake.

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