The Fur Trappers and Mountain Men

The fur trappers and the mountain men had a plethora of equipment, much of which was created while on the trail. Two specific items that came to good use in the wilderness were powder horns and knives. The powder horn was exactly what it's name implies. It was horn that carried the black gun powder used in their muzzle loader rifles. It was an animal's horn that was capped at the open end. They lasted for years throughout the world. It wasn't until the introduction of breech loading firearms that the powder horn became obsolete.

Powder Horns with artwork

In the excellent book Firearms, Traps, & Tools of the Mountain Men, author Carl P. Russell paints a quite detailed picture of the fur trappers and mountain men along with a explanation of the tools of their trade and the importance of these implements not only for the trade business but also for their very survival in the wilderness.At the end of this article I've listed several museums and venues which exhibit excellent displays of these historic tools.

The Powder Horn

Among representative examples of these tools were powder horns, knives as mentioned above, hatchets and the many styles of beaver traps. Powder horns, implements to store gunpowder, were hollowed out animal horns. In North America these usually came from buffalo and cows. Mountain men did have the time to construct these tools and also had time to place some very attractive artwork and symbols on many of these such as the example shown in this article. In a real sense, much of the artwork on these horns tell about the life of the person who made them. As far as utility, using an animal's hollowed horn to keep gunpowder made a lot of sense since a horn is naturally waterproof and protected against an unexpected spark to ignite the powder.

Powder Horn artwork

There were many uses for animal horns throughout the centuries. Sample items could be spoons, combs, dippers, scoops, message horns, blowing horns, small cups, and sometimes book covers. In addition to being containers for gunpowder, the animal's horn was excellent for being  containers. They could be used to hold salt, rum and other similar quantities.

You can find antique powder horns for sale today an many have distinctive artwork. You can also find several good powder horn makers today who sell their products at mountain men and fur trapper festivals staged throughout the country. Another good book regarding powder horns is Powder Horns: Fabrication and Decoration by author Jim Stevens. The book has many photos about shaping and decorating powder homes and explains various techniques.

Knives of the Fur Trapper 

Fur trappers and mountain men were also very attached to their knives. Knife designs like the one's shown here had specific purposes and were essential to their trade. Author Carl P. Russell states that the basic knife of the 1800's mountain man had a lot of characteristics similar to knives in the period as early as 1,000 B.C. The early European knives were usually made of bronze whereas the 1800's mountain man's knife was made from iron. Probably the dagger was the knife that had the more of it's roots tied to ancient times. The design of the bowie knife is another. A knife generally had a specific purpose whether it be skinning, butchering or simply hunting. Among the selection could be bear knives, clasp knives, bowie knives or long knives. Knives often had certain personal characteristics that differentiated them from one person to another. It's been said that many fur trappers and mountain men could tell who a knife belonged to by just looking at it. It's also said that a knife was so personal to these mountain men that one would backtrack for miles looking for one that was lost.

Various handmade Mountain Man knives

Beaver Traps

Between 1820 and 1840 there were an estimated 3,000 mountain men throughout the American west. The all important beaver trap enabled the fur trapper and mountain man to make a living through the trading of furs. While there were several styles of beaver traps used, the general method of capture was fairly the same. Claws would grab and eventually drown the animal. A steel trap attached to a chain would be set just under the water with a scent on the end of a branch stuck into the river bank just above the trap. A beaver could smell the scent from a great distance and when trying to get to the source on the branch would be caught in the claws of the trap. As the animal would move the steel trap into deeper water, the animal would drown. A fur  trapper might set out several traps and come back at a later time to check his catch.

Fur trading at Ft. Nez Perce, 1841, Pub. Domain image

The book, Firearms, Traps, & Tools of the Mountain Men, explains that beaver trapping went on in America long before the time of the mountain man. Indians trapped for furs but it was when the mountain arrived on the scene that steel traps were employed. In fact, Indians acquired steel traps through trading with the white fur trappers. Nobody knows for sure when the first steel trap entered North America but many believe it may have been in the French colonies in Nova Scotia and along the St. Lawrence River.

While the heyday of the western American mountain man was a few decades starting around 1820, these individuals were a great aid for the emigration westward that would take place from the 1840's onward. Many served as guides for pioneers heading out over the Oregon Trail and also for the army. Most cavalry expeditions from the 1850's to the 1880's regularly employed seasoned mountain men and traders along with Indians as scouts. As an example, Buffalo Bill Cody was used as a scout with the General George Crook Yellowstone Expedition in 1876 after the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Coyote hat in middle of photo

Mountain Men Collections

Many authentic mountain man tools are in private collections but there are also many held by museums and historical societies around the U.S.

One of the very finest museums in the west which chronicles the life of the mountain man/ fur trapper is the Mountain Man Museum in Pinedale Wyoming. The area around Pinedale was one of the most active during the mountain man era and many a mountain man rendezvous took place in this region along the Green River.

Another is the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, New York. This museum features ongoing programs in such things as boat building and wilderness living.

If your western trip takes you to the northwest, you'll want to add Fort Vancouver in Washington state just across the Columbia River from Oregon. Not far from Fort Vancouver is Fort Astoria, once part of the American Fur Company and at the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon.

Another venue with a wide collection of frontier artifacts is the Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

Other articles you'll find interesting are the Frontier Trail Wagon Ruts at Guernsey Lake Park in Wyoming and Wild Bill Hickok and the shootout at Rock Creek Station Nebraska.Also, the story of Kit Carson and the Kit Carson Home and Museum in Taos New Mexico.

(Photos are from author's private collection. Indian fur trading image from the public domain)