The Mountain Men

by Steven Rinella

Steven Rinella (The MeatEater Podcast) brings to life the legendary wilderness exploits of men such as Jim Bridger, Jedidiah Smith, and Hugh Glass, who headed out to the Rocky Mountains to trap beavers in the decades following the Louisiana Purchase. Living off the land and dodging grizzly bears, these colorful characters carved out an existence defined by their relationships with Native people, their capacity to endure the most trying conditions, and their intimate knowledge of the western landscape. This small fraternity of backwoodsmen—numbering only a few hundred at any point in time, and perhaps 3,000 total over the course of the era—not only lived in dramatic fashion, they died the same way: one in ten would suffer some sort of violent death in the wilds of the Rockies.

Their extraordinary feats—some heroic, others horrifying—helped define an era when the West represented not just unmapped territory, but untapped opportunity. And when a combination of economic and ecological factors caused their world to collapse, the mountain men left behind more than just tracks in the wilderness; they established an enduring archetype of independence, resilience, and an untamed spirit that still resonates through American culture today.

Genres: History, Audiobook, Nonfiction

Audible Audio

Published February 11, 2025

About the author

Steven Rinella is the host of the Netflix Original series MeatEater and The MeatEater Podcast. He's also the author of six books dealing with wildlife, hunting, fishing and wild game cooking, including the bestselling MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook: Recipes and Techniques for Every Hunter and Angler.

Reviews

[Caleb Fogler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mountain Men is the second installment in the Meateater’s American History series. In this series Rinella, focuses on a niche part of American history mostly focusing on exploring a frontier of a specific period. The first installment focused on the Longhunters of the late 18th century, while this one focuses on the beaver trappers of the early to mid 19th century of the developing western frontier.

Some readers may already be familiar or have an idea of what a mountain man might be, a popular film from the last few years that gave us an idea was based on a historic mountain man in Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant. Rinella retells the real historic story of this mountain man and others in this audiobook along with what the daily life was like and what equipment and weapons they would most likely use.

Similar to the first book in this series, I found the storytelling entertaining and informational but the format of the audiobook somewhat lacking in what a physical or even eBook could do. Mostly the lacking of pictures, images and visuals that help tell the story. I found myself several times throughout the story thinking that these visuals would be helpful such as a map showing all the different places beavers were hunted by the men or the different indigenous tribes claims to the hunting grounds of these trappers or even just a map of the places named after the Trapper Laramie which was a surprising amount. Even at one point Rinella tells the listener to look up a picture of a gun that they might recognize.

Overall this work is enjoyable but I think it would be more useful if it was also offered as a physical or eBook format so readers could either enjoy a visual aid or use this book for further exploring of the topic by using citations not made easily available in the audio format.

[Curtis Braxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The material is very interesting, although I may have misunderstood what this book is. I am a little biased. I enjoy reading about this era. But It really is just a book of camp fire stories. Rinella seems to be a smart man, but this book was written for someone with a 6th grade reading level. It became repetitive very quickly. The words and phrases throughout would even feel out of place in a YA book. I’ve read other biographies on Jim Bridger and other mountain men, but this one lacked real FACTS. If you are looking for camp fire stories, with explanations on how to trap beaver this is the book for you.

[Pz4real · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another home run from the ME Team. Incredibly fascinating listen about an incredible era of US history. These guys were hardcore!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information and entertaining, but does feel like a 14 year old's book report

[Tommy Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

very fun history, intriguing.

the masculine urge to die in western America in the late 1800s is very high

[Peter Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steve is the greatest, this tale of trapping and the American west has everything you could want

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I now know way more about beaver trapping than I'd ever intended on knowing.

[Grant Weeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible. Utahns forget we had free trappers before tech founders.

[Andrew W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top notch work from Steve and crew as always.

[Colin Coy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If I could be attacked by a grizzly and not be killed, or maimed in a way that made women afraid of me, I’d like that.”
—Steven Rinella

The Meateater’s American History series has quickly become one of my favorite series to listen to. As once a boy and now a man who has spent countless hours under the night sky, I often wonder what drives me to do so as it is inherently laced with some sense of discomfort. In this book Rinella does a great job of telling the history of the men who hold a special place in the history of the 2nd far west. While doing that, he also does a great job of tying those past experiences and thoughts to the modern day dreams of explorers who see those wild people as heroes. He also discusses, contrary to the idolization of those people, the impact they had on the environment and what we can learn from them both good and bad. This is my third Rinella novel and I will certainly be re-listening.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun easy read that highlighted the early years of our country as it pertained to those who lived "out west" in the wilderness. The book highlighted how important the beaver pelt business was to the point that it often turned into armed struggle over who controlled the business (U.S., Indians, French, British). As always, money rules. I would have thought that buffalo hides would be more important but the author description of the beaver trade was fascinating in terms of the hunt, capture, skinning, caching, and eventual sale of the hides; very interesting.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you PRH audio for the gifted audiobook.

Steven Rinella has the storyteller ability to make American history in relation to nature seem like a grand adventure. This portion focused on the Mountain Men and their overall development in shaping the west with their lifestyles. It also focuses heavily on the society influence to Beaver trapping. The stories within this audiobook hit home a little more than others as I live or have been to many of the areas mentioned.

The Mountain Men was published February 11, 2025!

[Josiah Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great concise overview of this group of men and this era. Rinella brings a unique perspective being a hunter/trapper/outdoorsmen himself. The detail in which he was able to give on some of the experiences trappers had day to day with trapping and with the outdoors is something I especially appreciated. Also, while I’d prefer this as a physical book, Steve Rinella has a great voice for narration. He’s like the American backwoods version of David Attenborough.

[Nate Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Firstly, Meateater by Steve is one of my favorite books of all time.

With that said, I am pretty certain this “book” was written by ChatGPT.

To call it a book is a stretch, it’s 60 pages at size 18 font.

Every chapter seems to repeat the previous chapter, said in a different way.

I couldn’t wait to finish reading it, strictly to see if at some point it would start to make sense.

Please don’t waste your money.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent audiobook. I started it at work and listened to it all day. The MeatEater team did a great job of putting together a history of mountain men in the American Rockies. The information is informative, but still keeps you hooked like you’re listening to fiction, which is a testament to both the writing and the history itself.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.2 stars:

The conclusion really saved this one. There were interesting stories and tidbits about the mountain men, but the audiobook format isn’t well suited for how the book was written. The book bounced around a lot and tries to Colin the daily life and tools of mountain men more than sharing interesting stories.

It’s an easy listen for a car ride or walk but hard to follow with start-stop listens.

[Tony Avila · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well-narrated history covering the life of mountain men that traversed the American Rockies. The book also explains why beaver fur was in such high demand, breaking down the entire supply chain from the trapper who gets the beaver, all the way to some European dandy with a top hat. Highly recommend to all those who enjoy tales of adventure, survival, and strange history.

[Court Lundberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve’s writing style is one that you will either love or hate. For me I absolutely loved it. I thought however this would be more of a collection of stories of the grizzly men that explored the west. But instead it is more of a historical report. But I find that I have no complaints at all. Only more curiosity to dive deeper into these men’s lives

[Gregory Pedersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that Steven Rinella narrates this entire story himself in contrast to The Longhunters. He brings the history of famous Mountain Men to life with well researched interjections to separate the myth from the facts. His own love and passion for nature and the hunt seeps into every frame of this story and it’s hard not to feel the same after listening.

[Kylan Draper · Rating 5 out of 5]

When people ask how I know so many random facts or obscure knowledge: its books like these. Like, did you know that the first American self-made millionaire was a beaver trapper selling fur for top hat production?

[Jay J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. I’d have liked more stories, but Rinella has a knack of a writer to make everything interesting. His take on the rise and fall of the fur trade is nothing new, but he still made it fascinating. If you like to read about the history of the west, definitely worth your time.

[Alishia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little historical read on the American mountain men. Lots of details when it came to the mechanics of gun/traps etc. if you like that sort of thing, but mostly filled with true stories that really brought the era to life.

[Brianna Steinman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed Rinella’s audiobook version of this on a long drive. I liked that the book is organized topically and felt like it flowed well. Super interesting stuff and dispelled a lot of “mythical” elements I held in my head about this era and the Mountain Men figures themselves.

[Dan Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and informative. Steve is an amazing storyteller and keeps you engaged while teaching the cool history of the mountain men. This book makes you want to start trapping beavers for adventure.

[Margaret Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an informative and entertaining book about mountain men. It’s well researched and I learned a lot. We have watched Steven’s hunting videos and enjoyed listening to his enthusiastic narrative.

[Casan Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book on the Mountain Man era. You can tell how close this topic is to Steve Rinellas’s heart. In the final chapter, you can sense a somber tone as he explains the end of this insane era.

[Chase Richburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another audio book original. Anything by steven rinella is going to be at least 4 stars, especially when it’s read by him. I probably liked the long hunters a bit more. Haven’t gotten to hide hunters yet.

[Jad Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.6/5.0
Audiobook
Rinella is a great storyteller.

[Matt Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel ready to jump on my horse and head off into the wilderness in search of soft gold.

[Josh Daugherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook