
" I defy the annals of chivalry to furnish the record of a life more wild and perilous than that of a Rocky Mountain trapper." Francis Parkman - Normally part of a brigade or small group, this mountaineer finds himself alone in Crow country. Here, from a rise, he carefully scans the valley bellow before heading down river. 13" x 18" Oil on panel $3100

The Mountain Men of the early 19th century moved freely across a vast mountain wilderness in search of beaver. As historian Robert Utley has said," What they learned and how they mapped the west did not remain locked in their minds. It began to seep out in their own time and cascaded forth as the continent was conquered." Here two trappers and their pack horses pass through an aspen grove on one of those "Glory Days."
Sold at the Museum of the Mountain Men's Western Art and Wine Auction July 9th, 2020. Private collection - Wyoming. info@mmmuseum.com

One of Ashley's Hundred - Pencil on Bristol board. 6" x 6". (11" x 11"framed )
The enterprise that eventually came to be known as the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1822 by William Ashley and Andrew Henry. The original hires would be know to history as "Ashley's One Hundred". Among the group were Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger and others who in little more than a decade became legendary as "mountain men". Their " knowledge and experience of the Trans-Mississippi West extended the national consciousness to continental dimensions." * Ashleys men would see the west in it's wildest, most grand form, and would become the point men, the advance guard in the opening of the west.
* A Life Wild and Perilous, Robert M. Utley

Arkansas River Trapper 18" x 24" Oil on Panel
$4900.
Working in small brigades and sometimes on their own hook in the wildest areas of the continent, trappers in the early 19th century lived a perilous existence. This trapper has just stretched a beaver on a willow hoop and takes a last look around before heading to
camp. Edition of 25 limited edition canvas prints. $250
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