Hugh Glass: Grizzly Survivor (South Dakota Biography Series)

From the title, “Hugh Glass: grizzly survivor” I was expecting an adventure story about an otherwise unknown camper who had a run in with a bear. I was very pleasantly surprised to get much, much more. Hugh Glass was an historic fur-trapper/mountain man who survived a grizzly attack while traveling in present day Montana along the Yellow River toward the Yellowstone in 1823. The legend of Hugh Glass, and much of Western history is really legend, is complicated by conflicting stories recorded by multiple chroniclers over many years. The generally consistent details are that Glass was attacked, treated and left with two companions who abandoned him. He recovered enough to travel at least 200 miles to Fort Kiowa in current South Dakota. He emerged either with an unquenchable thirst for vengeance against those who had abandoned him or a nature that enabled him to forgive.Author James D. McLaird has skillfully employed the legend of Hugh Glass to craft a book that introduces the reader to the process of legend in the Old West and the larger history of the mountain man era. He devotes chapters to the Hugh Glass story, the nature of the American fur trade during the early Nineteenth Century, Wars with Indians during that time frame, the life of the trapper and, not to be forgotten, the effect of advancing civilization on the bear. He raises questions, such as was it abandonment for his guards to leave Glass for dead and take his gun, or was it really good sense not to let themselves be victims of the Indians and suppliers of his gun?What I most enjoyed in this work is the way that it made what had been mere names into real people. I had heard of Jim Bridger, but was he really one of those who abandoned Glass? William Sublette was merely commemorated by a street, but now I know why, and Mike Fink really existed beyond the Wonderful World of Disney.This short book is a quick, but interesting read. The author has done an excellent job of keeping the narrative moving along as he shifts among the topics. I recommend this for any readers who are attracted to the lure and history of the mountain man era.I did receive a free copy of this book without an obligation to post a review.

Enjoyed it a lot. Will try to go to Lemon, SD to see location.

Great book, excellent seller!

I stalled on this book. Seems as though a great deal of it is based on a somewhat shaky oral history and then it becomes a question of faith in the oral tradition. Not that exciting

An excellent addition to a mountain man library

Great book