Ep. 661: So You Want To Be A Mountain Man

Published: 2025-02-10 10:00:00

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Steven Rinella talks with Randall Williams.

Topics discussed: Order MeatEater's American History: The Mountain Men (1806-1840); Colter and astounding feats; the importance of canoes; politics and power struggles;t aking a meticulous journal; between the British in the north and no more beavers in the south; how you become a mountain man; market hunters today as a bad deal for wildlife; the greasiest, most louse-ridden group; and more.

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Referenced Books

Son of the Morning Star

by Evan S. Connell

Steve Rinella discusses this book as the best thing ever written about General Custer's defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He quotes from it to describe the Unkpapa Sioux warrior named Gall, using it as a 'buffalo meat testimonial' in the context of discussing the diet and physical prowess of Native Americans.

Referenced at 01:04:17

Biography of Jim Bridger

by Stanley Vestal

Randall references this biography when discussing the mortality rate of mountain men. He mentions that Stanley Vestal, in his biography of Bridger, suggested that a mountain man died every ten days, though Randall expresses skepticism about this claim.

Referenced at 01:36:37

Common Sense

by Thomas Paine

Mentioned briefly in the context of discussing the revolutionary fervor and building of the American patriotic movement in the years leading up to the American Revolution, alongside references to the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere.

Referenced at 01:01:38