Ewing Young - Master Trapper

by Kenneth L. Holmes

Trapper, trader, explorer, mountain man - Ewing Young from Tennessee became one of the most influential figures in the history of the American fur trade of the Far West. Here is a full-scale biography of this unsung giant of western pioneering. 53 rare photos. Pictorial endmaps. Bibliography. Index. 324 pages.

Genres: Biography

180 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1967

Reviews

[Korie]

This was an excellently researched book on a little-known trapper in the Oregon territory whose actions led to the founding of the state. Born in Tennessee, Young eventually made his way to Oregon territory, and then brought nearly 700 cattle from Mexico-California to Oregon, breaking the monopoly of the British Hudson’s Bay Company.

However, this man was by no means a hero. The author is careful to show the whole picture. Young’s view on Native Americans was to “kill before they killed him” and even at the time, some of his traveling companions wrote in horror of the murder he committed. He would kill, knowing those he killed had nothing to do with the thing he was supposedly taking revenge for on innocent people. There was no excuse for his brutality.