A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific

by Robert M. Utley

Early in the nineteenth century, the mountain men emerged as a small but distinctive group whose knowledge and experience of the trans-Mississippi West exted the national consciousness to continental dimensions. Though Lewis and Clark blazed a narrow corridor of geographical reality, the West remained largely terra incognita until trappers and traders--Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Tom Fitzpatrick, Jedediah Smith--opened paths through the snow-choked mountain wilderness. They opened the way west to Fremont and played a major role in the pivotal years of 1845-1848 when Texas was annexed, the Oregon question was decided, and the Mexican War ed with the Southwest and California in American hands, the Pacific Ocean becoming our western boundary.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Westerns, Biography, The United States Of America, Adventure

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

A specialist in Native American history and the history of the American West, Robert Marshall Utley was a former chief historian of the National Park Service. He earned a Bachelor of Science in history from Purdue University in 1951, and an Master of Arts in history from Indiana University in 1952. Utley served as Regional Historian of the Southwest Region of the NPS in Santa Fe from 1957 to 1964, and as Chief Historian in Washington, D.C. from 1964 until his retirement in 1980.

Reviews

[Robert Mckay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve seen Utley on different PBS history shows over the years, and found him articulate and interesting (unlike a great many highly educated people who wind up on TV, but clearly never managed to learn English along the way to their advanced degrees). This book is also articulate and interesting, and covers a period in American history that perhaps many know happened, but probably few know anything about. I’ve known of the mountain men for decades, but this is the first time I’ve ever read a history of their activities, and I learned a great deal. Anyone who’s got an interest in American history, and particular in the period of frontier exploration beginning with Lewis and Clark and ending, more or less, with the Civil War ought to read this book.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed and informative account of the exploration of the American West. Not as well-written as "Across the Wide Missouri," but with much greater scope. Until I read this book, I'd never heard more than passing mention of the remarkable Jedidiah Smith, who emerges as truly important figure in American history.

[Alvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Taken purely as a secondary historical resource, A Life Wild and Perilous is a book that deserves attention. A well-studied historian can find, here, a vast and mostly complete picture of the early development of the western territories, the understanding of the lay of the land, and the men who contributed to that herculean effort. Utley achieves his goal of bringing these men to life, and the level of detail is well balanced.

The book’s organization follows roughly the progression of exploration, conquest and settlement of the territories west of Missouri, it is extraordinarily convoluted, and this is the book’s primary weakness. The lives of many of these men spanned the entire time period covered (roughly 1803-1857), and it is therefore difficult to follow the events of the exploration linearly without having to move from person to person, within each time period, only to do it again during the next time period. Utley is very careful in most cases not to get “too far ahead” of his story. His organization, however, if one believes the chapter titles, is not linear but individual. Each chapter is titled with the name of the person it is about – or that’s what we hope. In practice, he doesn’t follow this pattern. What results is confusion. The chapters rarely spend much time talking about the chapter’s namesake, and more time explaining what everybody else was doing at the same time everywhere else. In a chapter on Jedediah Smith, he spends time detailing what happens to John Ashley, Hugh Glass, Colonel Henry Leavenworth, and other men who worked for Ashley. The chapter would be more aptly entitled “Ashley’s Men” rather than anything to do with Jedediah Smith, as he is only a small part of the chapter.

Unfortunately, the book’s major weakness makes it inaccessible to a large audience. Its lack of organization necessitates multiple re-readings to be able to follow the events clearly, and to be able to piece together the life of any one of these mountain men, or a single period of time within the period covered, or a single historical event, would require a detailed extraction of information from many different sections of the book. Utley could have done a much better job organizing the book, and had he done so I would have no hesitation in recommending it without reservation as the first book to be read on the subject. With its detriments, however, I would only recommend this book to those who have an intense desire to know about the events and time covered, and not for the casual reader of western history.

[Blake · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is dense with facts as they're popularly understood and bursting with sub-narratives that are interesting for their content, but Utley could not possibly shower more praise on the mountain men generation of early, transient pioneers, a category of historical figure he mistakenly seems to think are overlooked as explorers (they're not) and not admired nearly enough for their lifestyle of voluntary (and totally unnecessary except in the pursuit of profit, in-group street cred, or expression of revenge-excused racial hated) "heroism" in their constant warring with the Blackfeet.

He exhibits obvious bias throughout, to the extent of even editorializing on which, in his opinion, are non-reprehensible atrocities committed by his favorites (which is to say most of them), and makes a really big deal out of "firsts" and "almosts" that didn't even make waves at the time, building up to his giving the lion's share of the (dubious) credit for the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny to the mountain men.

That it was published so recently blows my mind as this book reads like it was written by Tom Buchanan. 10% more self-indulgent, chauvinist, or vicariously vainglorious and it would be brilliant satire.

[Mark Kloha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was "choppy". It was difficult to follow.

Also, on page 189, the author references the Convention of 1818 and then references a separate Convention of 1828. There was no Convention or Treaty of 1828. No idea what this was referring to.

[Chris Linas · Rating 2 out of 5]

A slightly fawning account of fronteir personalities

[Lauren Hiebner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert Utley is an historian who specializes in writing about the American frontier and in this classic work covers the adventures of numerous mountain men from the early 1820s till the 1850s. Initially, mountain men were fur trappers, beaver men that competed against others groups from several countries. In fact, few mountain men/fur trappers were originally Americans as most were French Canadians. Utley explains how the role of mountain men changed as they trapped out the beaver. Their role changed as the rendezvous system incorporated fur trading companies shipping furs mostly to St. Louis and later to the west coast where ships could haul furs to Europe. By the 1840s, mountain men got involved in hunting buffalo for the furs, transitioned to leading settlers west as trail guides, were scouts for the US Army, and topographical advisors for cartographers. In fact, mountain men named most of the geographical features such as rivers, valleys, mountains, and mountain passes. They also helped establish most trading posts and forts as well. Mountain men encroached on Indian lands causing conflicts especially with the Crow and Blackfeet. Some mountain men befriended the Native Americans and became the middle men between the Indians and fur trading companies. Finally, mountain men became imperialists fighting for the US against Mexico and helping to liberate California. They were according to Utley, the vanguard of “manifest destiny”. A very comprehensive frontier history by Utley.

[Anthony Meaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating story of the "mountain men" of the American West. Starts with the early expedition of Meriwether and Clarke and quickly cycles through some of the more famous Mountain Men (Carson, Bridger) but also some that you have never heard of who made a huge impact.

Surprisingly a lot of them were French Canadian and Native Americans from the North east (Iroquois etc.).

Also surprising how many of them died. Including Hugh Glass (made famous from the movie The Revenant) who after many more near scrapes finally was killed by Indians.

The book drops off a bit near the end with a foray into the history of California and its political machinations that led to statehood. Many ex Mountain Men had taken up residence in the area so there is some continuity of story but it felt like the book ended on a bit of a low note because of that.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty interesting look at how the fur trade drove expansion and exploration into the western territories. It focuses on the cultural, political, and economic drive for this expansion. It covers many of the major expeditions to map the continent between the Mississippi and Pacific coast. It is sometimes brief on telling the stories of specific mountain men, but it does a good job of placing them in their historical context. This was a good starting point for learning about the westward expansion in the early 19th century and has provided a good jumping off point for reading more detailed accounts of the mountain men.

[Roy McCullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written and scholarly work. Utley, former Chief Historian of the National Park Service, provides a readable and engaging account of the lives and exploits of those unique individuals known as the Mountain Men. In the process, he also provides interesting insights into the rise and fall of the fur trade, interactions with Native Americans, international competition in the West, and the inevitable passing of an era as the Mountain Men gave way to wagon trains, settlers, and prospectors. A great book if you are interested in the exploration and opening of the West. Highly recommended.

[Ron Me]

Some engaging parts, particularly the rapid empire expansion of the US during the 1840s which somehow escaped being adequately commented on in American History books I've read. But not that thrilling a book; and it would have greatly benefited from making the artistic reproductions higher quality or better in color, rather than the maps.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly interesting stories that filled in the gaps of my knowledge of westward expansion between the years of the Lewis and Clark expedition and the 1840s. I'm also thinking of mountain men now as kind of privateers sans ships, given license to exploit other people's resources by government and commercial entities.

[Michael Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always loved reading about this time period in American History. Some fascinating true stories and larger than life characters. Lots of details which weighs down the narrative a tad, but still well worth the read.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, I love learning about Mountain Men. But the book was more of a history text and could drag on at times.

[Drystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like a very detailed and lengthy history lesson then this is your read. Well presented and documented, as you might expect

[Joe Hauglie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stories. Bad storytelling. Pedantic and more than a little repetitive. But a good history lesson.

[Jay Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. History of Rocky Mountian exploration after Lewis Clark until the Civil War.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good historical account of known/significant mountain men and Western explorers. A bit dry and academic, however. A good reference work.

[R B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book completely saps all the romance out of the mythology of the mountain man.

[Cletus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book I found in the sources section of The Revenant.

[T Dog · Rating 3 out of 5]

lots of accurate history, but can be dry. very comprehensive

[Lopsided · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF and will try again another time. I wasn’t pulled in - I don’t think I was in the mood.

[Tim Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories of some of the well-known figures in the beaver trapping/mountain man/explorer/guide era. I liked it and have now read it twice.

[David Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOOK REVIEW - A Life Wild and Perilous, Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific, by Robert M. Utley (2004)

I grew up in Ogden, UT named after Peter Skene Ogden, of Hudson’s Bay Company fur brigades. Names of these mountain men were found throughout the area, on landmarks, National Forests, and more. Utley’s book brought life the unusual bred of the early American mountain men, those restless scouts, trappers, and explorers who pushed into the vastness of the Rockies and carved the first practical pathways to the Pacific. Utley blends narrative history with biographical sketches, giving a panoramic view of the fur trade, frontier diplomacy, and the violent, unpredictable encounters that shaped the West long before mass migration arrived.

Utley writes as a seasoned historian and resists the temptation to romanticize the mountain men as mythic loners. Instead, he presents them as complex figures—resourceful yet reckless, courageous yet often destructive—whose actions opened the continental interior to settlers, missionaries, and eventually the Latter-day Saint pioneers. His chapters on how these men forged trails, negotiated (and sometimes clashed) with Native nations, and set in motion the explorations that would follow. My only complaint is that sometimes the book moves too briskly across deeply compelling individuals, leaving readers wanting more narrative depth in places.

Many of the Mountain Men directly intersected with the early Mormon settlement of the Great Basin:

Jim Bridger, a central figure in both Utley’s book and Western history, famously interacted with Brigham Young and the Mormon vanguard company in 1847. Bridger had warned that the Salt Lake Valley might be too harsh agriculturally, a judgment Young disputed. Their uneasy relationship, which later soured amid accusations and political tension, was rooted in the very geographic knowledge Bridger acquired during the era.

Peter Skeen Ogden, did not personally interact with Mormon pioneers, his extensive trapping expeditions in the Weber River and northern Utah region laid the geographic groundwork for their later settlement. Ogden’s forays charted much of the land that would become central to Mormon migration and colonization efforts.

Étienne Provost, another trapper, explored northern Utah—including areas around the Great Salt Lake and Weber River—more than a decade before the pioneer arrival. His trails and knowledge of the region helped later travelers, including the LDS vanguard company, navigate the Wasatch Front.

Miles Goodyear, though mentioned more lightly in Utley’s book, is an important figure connected to the period. A former mountain man who established Fort Buenaventura on the Weber River (the first permanent, non-Native settlement in what is now Utah), Goodyear sold the fort to Mormon settlers in 1847. This transaction became the foundation for the city of Ogden, making Goodyear one of the clearest bridges between the mountain-man era and Mormon colonization.

These individuals—some collaborators, some skeptics—helped shape pioneer perceptions of the geography, climate, and tribal relations in northern Utah. Their cumulative experiences, gathered in the decades Utley chronicles, supplied the practical knowledge that early Mormon settlers relied upon as they pushed northward from Salt Lake City into the Weber Valley.

A Life Wild and Perilous is a lively and authoritative work—ideal for readers who want to understand not only who the mountain men were but how their often-chaotic lives accelerated America’s westward movement. The book’s attention to the men operating in what is now Ogden and the northern Utah region makes it especially relevant for anyone interested in how the rugged fur-trade frontier set the stage for Mormon settlement. Despite a few missed opportunities for deeper biographical exploration, the book stands as a clear, compelling, and valuable contribution to Western history.

Quotes:

“I have lived in the mountains thirty years, and I know the signs of the land as a man knows the lines of his own hand. I have seen valleys that promised much and gave little, and I have seen places that looked barren but were rich with hidden water. The country round the Great Salt Lake is a hard land, a land for the strong, but it is not a land without hope if a man knows how to read it.” Jim Bridger

“The country along the Weber is broken, timbered in part, rich in grass, and plentiful in beaver. We have passed through lands that no white man has charted, and yet each valley opens to another, and the whole of it lies waiting for those who will endure its hardships and make use of its promise.” Peter Skene Ogden:

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utley covers much more that the golden years of the mountain men. He uses the mountain men as a framework, a thread tying together exploration and settlement of the American West. To some this may be more ground then they bargained for, to those interested in that exploration and settlement it makes for an engaging read and covers a time period leading up to Utley's more famous works on the Indian Wars. There are excellent color maps in the center of the book.

[Phil Gavenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by a first-rate historian and one who usually excels at narrative history, A Life Wild and Perilous represents an ambitious attempt to relate to the reader the story of how we as a nation in the 19th century came to realize our "Manifest Destiny." Not, as it usually seems in American History survey courses, by filling in broad swaths of country with color-coded Territories and States on the map west of the hundredth meridian, but rather by the painstaking process of careful examination of countless rivers, passes, headwaters, mountain ranges and other geographical features. Utley focuses on the dissemination of this knowledge to others, and the significance of each successful expansion of our geographical knowledge--as well as each failure.

Unfortunately, it seems to have generated a fitful narrative. Some chapters are biographical, some more episodic. Sometimes you leave a character behind only to reconnect much later. Even for someone moderately well-versed in the history of American exploration, a reader may find there is a lot of detail and much background on people and events. Sometimes I found myself flipping back through the book to recall the context of what I was reading.

As one would expect from Utley, it's impeccably researched with plenty of sources. And the maps (produced by someone else) are excellent, although a bit oddly placed in the back third of the book. (In an earlier, less costly day, the reader might have anticipated separate or fold-out maps.)

Overall I think this is a good book, and extremely informative, particularly if one keeps the focus in mind; it's not a book about mountain men, or even about exploration, but rather the significance of those men to national expansion. It's just not an especially fun read nor is it recommended for someone unfamiliar with the history of the American West in the 19th century.

[Craig · Rating 1 out of 5]

After the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Ocean (1804-1806), numerous frontiersmen treked to the Rocky Mountains and beyond in search of beaver and adventure. They were known as the Mountain Men. This work chronicles the lives of the more fameous of them: Jedediah Smith, Joseph Walker, Jim Bridger and Kit Carson to name a few. Their sojourn lasted from about 1810 through the early 1840s when the beavers played out and silk (rather than beaver pelts) began to adorn men's tophats . The Mountain Men were followed by the military commanders(such as John C. Freemont) accompanied by topographers who mapped out the western territories of North America. It was an adventurous, thrilling and often brutal existence. Indians were a constant threat. The book concludes with brief discussions of the war against Mexico (involving Texas, New Mexico and California) and of the migration of the Mormons to the Great Basin. This book is a compliment to Irving Stone's "Men to Match My Mountains", although the author Utley disputes some of Stone's conclusions, especially regarding Joseph Walker. An interesting but sometimes tedious read.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and Paths To The Pacific" by Robert M. Utley. A keeper of a book - i really enjoyed it. What impressed me most was how being a trapper was great for the owner of the company, but financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally a terrible life for the hunter. The hunter would get robbed by natives after spending a year in the wild and lost not just the pellets he trapped, but all his equipment. It was a difficult life.

I learned how John Jacob Astor made his wealth, that is was Canadians mostly who did the trapping in the Western United States, not American immigrants, how the near-extinction of beaver and other animals from the West occurred in large part before 1820 and it was all done by just a hundred people of so, and how the mapping of the West was done largely as a result of the success of trappers. When ever I hear that we need to conserve our resources and then wonder what life we would have if the previous generations had been so thoughtful. It is so incredible to think that beaver were once a ubiquitous species.

[Michael Nash · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Robert Utley because he elegantly straddles the line between "popular" history and real history, and I find the history of the American West endlessly fascinating. However, this volume seems to fail on both fronts. As a popular history, A Life Wild and Perilous provided too much minutia to be followed easily (a problem exacerbated because I was listening to it in Audio format). That is, while I can remember some of the most major figures (Kit Carson, John Fremont, Joe Walker) and what they did, I didn't have the names straight for most of the novel and have totally missed the other contributions. As a real history, this book lacks a thesis, or even a coherent thematic structure, which you would expect. He discusses the impact of the mountain men on American expansion (with a bizarrely specific emphasis on the history of cartography) but comes to no obvious conclusions.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utley is one of the best currently writing about the American West. He does so in an informative style, which succeeds in avoiding the bias/political correctness and historical revisionism of our time.
This book traces the main figures who opened the West after Lewis & Clark. Bridger, Fremont, Smith, Kit Carson, --the Mountain Men of historical lore. It does so, however, in sketchy detail, and while providing nice thumbnail of these giants of history and lore....it never really gets deep enough to flesh them out.
Because this book is at least as much about cartography, and the struggle to map the west, both in detail, as well as to locate and describe passes to California and Oregon for those coming from the East.