Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-01-03

.u MnntananS who every sum-
sniov the magnificent scenery
he Rocky mountains and the
smaller mountain ranges Of
st1tc have any knowledge OF
picturesque and romantic
| nj white adventures who
ury ago were exploring every
. and defile Of these noun
from Mexico 10 the Arctic
IL and who had a far more
mate knowledge Of the geOg-
I'm Of this section Of the great
1, than 90 out Of every 100 per-
I who live i'm Montana today.
| hundred years ago fur was the
iard 1f currency in the west, and
r. hat there was plenty of
wErt is today Montana, carried
y Lewis and Clark, started a
Of adventurers 10 the upper
En-. TO- trap beaver and barter for
h. with the savage and hostile
r. that then claimed this country.
Itle motley ranks OF these soldiers
krma the boldest and most ro-
l. characters were the free trap
thggs who went, as they eX-
IL IL. on their own hook" The
Ryes Of the Hudson's Bay Co. and
b.r fur companies were under
ylDsrYision and discipline that
ke5 personal initiative. They were
T. class who work for hire and
klo further than the wages paid
which in those days were small.
The free trappers were account
|t1 nobody. Each OF them fought
WV fight and won the full fruits
l. ordclvors. Going alone or in
| bands who acknowledged no
ku. they would split up whenever
kumOr moved them, every man 4
(nfo himself and relying on his
Strong right arm. They were men
Ii BY nature for great enterprises
krcat deeds. What compelled them
life of endless wandering and
(ne hazard was their sheer lust
adventure and a passion for that
6onSible freedom that can be en-
only in a state Of nature.
y free trapper of the far west
lin his rough way good deal OF
hight Grant. Caparisoned in the
attire of their kind-picturesque
Skin gaTments-and armed for
h.. combat, they roamed far and
over plains and mountains. gath
the scattered wealth of those
|ns. Staying ferocious beasts and
BE- men. II was the trader and
per who first explored and estab-
q the routes of travel through
lama which are now and always
be the highways of commerce owe,
mountains. They were the real
finders of the west. and not those
official explorers whom the
le OF today so recognize. NO Tea
Of Montana geography was ever
'yered by government explorers
1880 Everything concerning the
faphy of Montana was already
IN at that time. 1t is true that the
.erS of Yellowstone park. VIII.
h these restless rovers were Ia
U. we're afterward forgotten and
redscovered in later years. but
. has never been a time when the
raphy of the west was SO thor
ly understood as 1t was by the
n and trapper from 1880 to l84o.
is a great misfortune that no
r!Can writer who shared the
Is and went with them on their
has left a vivid and intimate
mt of these first adventures m
yreat west. There are many stories
heir exploits in narrative form;
hese are all written from hearsay
iurTied observation, and do not
lin the details of their lives that
.e would like to know.
! what American authors failed
0 was accomplished by a young
.sh sportsman and explorer who
among the free trappers as one
who knew every detail
le.r lives and their vernacular OF
n. This man was George Fred
Ruxton. formerly a lieutenant
ne seth regiment of the British
=, who was a writer of unusual
Is and whose brief life at the age
years was crowded with adven-
in many parts of the world.
Blackstone,s magazine of 18i8
appeared a serial by RuXton en-
Life in the Far West" which
le opinion of most western his
rs is the best story of the free
'ers that has ever been put In
but which, unfortunately, Is
known to American readers.
Xton knew intimately and had
lated in the mountains with the