The Rocky Mountain Company

The Rocky Mountain Company #1

by Richard S. Wheeler

In 1841, a St. Louis businessman had a to open up the far reaches of the Yellowstone River and commerce with native tribes. So Guy Strauss put together a team of adventurers led by a half-civilized mountain man named Broken Leg Fitzhugh. The plan was to set up a trading post on the edge of a land he knew. Yet from the very beginning, the expedition was buffeted by disaster, plunging the men of the Rocky Mountain Trading Company into a desperate battle for survival.

Out in the harsh wilderness, F

Genres: Westerns

350 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

There are other authors with this name. One writes Marine Corps history. Another, Civil War history. Another writes in the political sciences.

Richard S. (Shaw) Wheeler was born in Milwaukee in 1935 and grew up in nearby Wauwatosa.

Reviews

[Steven Walle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really enjouyed reading this book. The book concerns the fur trade industry and their expantion west into tHE Yellow Stone country which imprises the State of Montana where I am from.
The men were ruthless killers, lyers and thieves. The women were blood thirsty as well. There was a young Jewish man of sixteen years who had a great heart for his family and all people white or Native alike. He was completely scandalized by what he experienced.
I recommend this book to all.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Three heavyweights of the American Fur Company, Guy Straus, Jamie Dance, and Broken Leg Fitzhugh, see the market shifting from beaver to buffalo and throw in together to form their own unit.

"Rocky Mountain Company" (1991) is a sweeping and information-heavy boring explanation of economic matters and Broken Leg Fitzhugh's struggle with managing personalities and his Cheyenne wife Dust Devil's stubborn thoughts on the whole venture. There's some underlying internal struggle for Fitzhugh as he deals with trying to force his own mountain man persona into a new world where the buffalo are the new target, kind of a play on the old dog and new tricks thing.

Verdict: The three Wheeler historical fiction westerns I've read before, "Snowbound," "Sierra," and "Masterson" had their own strengths and weaknesses and his prose can be a bit drifting, but in "Rocky Mountain Company" it is just too much. I couldn't stay awake or interested enough to get past page 140 (of 320).

Jeff's Rating: 1 / 5 (Bad)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good western novel about a struggle in the later fur trapping days after beavers have "played out."
Relationship between a mountain man and his "medicine woman" Cheyenne wife. From point of view of several characters.

[Seth Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic can’t wait to read the rest of the series

[Deborah Gaspar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun Book.

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long and Boring at times but interesting at other times.

[Violet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read if you like books about the west in the 1800's, which I do ... very much. We are such wimps compared to the people who migrated to the west. This book is the story of one man who was sent to set up a trading post and his indomitable spirit that just would not quit. I think my favorite character was Maxim, the 16 year old son of the financier behind the scenes. I have to read the other two follow up books.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good western history about the mountain men and the company they trapped for. Recommended