John Colter, Yellowstone Parks, Yellow Stone River
John Colter
Born: 1775 in Virginia close to Staunton
Died: 1813 in Missouri on a farm near New Haven
John Colter was a farmer, frontier explorer, fur trapper, mountain man, and army scout. John Colter was picked for the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 and made the entire journey westward with them
John Colter on the return trip with Lewis and Clark now 1806 obtained permission to leave the expedition. John Colter then lead Joseph Dickson and Forrest Hancock back up the Missouri river to trap beaver along the Yellowstone river
John Colter apparently spent most of 1807 trapping beaver around what is now known as Yellowstone Park and Teton Parks. The pleasantness of this trip became short lived in the fall of 1808. Captured by Indians, John Colter lived a nightmare, resulting in a remarkable run for his life from Blackfeet braves
John Colter left the mountains in 1809 for good and returned to Missouri where he married Nancy Hooker in 1810
No one would have believed the John Colter stories of the geysers and boiling mud except for William Clark who placed specific information confirming Colters find on his private map
John Colter died poor in 1813. In 1926 the John Colter remains were found along with his personal pouch near New Haven, Missouri |
