The Adventures of John Colter

Part 3: The First Mountain Man

It could be that you're a historian, it could be that you're a cartographer, and it could be that this image looks like one horrific mess.

I am a historian
I am a cartographer
Heh?

That's a map of the US Northwest that was drawn by William Clark and published in 1814. John Colter had returned to St. Louis in 1810 and reported to Clark on his explorations, so Clark included a trace of Colter's exploration on his map.

I tried to add a few helpful overlays here:

Did that help any?

Yes, thank you!
I'll just book a flight online

On the map I marked a spot called "Fort Raymond". After John Colter joined Manuel Lisa's 1807 expedition to the Upper Missouri River country, they built a trading post at the point where the Bighorn River joins the Yellowstone River from the south, and a fort was constructed there one year later. This spot (in present-day southern Montana) was to be Colter's base of operations for the next three years.

Colter vs. the Continental Divide

Colter set out from Fort Raymond in October 1807 to alert tribes dwelling on the east side of the Rocky Mountains to the presence of the trading post. Over the course of the winter he explored the northwestern corner of present-day Wyoming, now part of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. I highlighted William Clark's trace of Colter's route in red.

Colter returned to Fort Raymond in March or April of 1808, after having traveled hundreds of miles in the dead of winter. This was in a region where nighttime temperatures in January routinely reach -30°F. He reported seeing geysers, bubbling mud pots and steaming pools of water on his journey. It was a little difficult for the trappers to believe what he was telling them, which led them to refer to the region as "Colter's Hell". Though little thermal activity exists in that region today, independent reports from that era indicate the presence of geothermal activity similar to what Colter reported.