Mountain Man

MOUNTAIN MAN by David W. Marshall brings the 1800s in America alive through a detailed account of John Colter’s life as a frontiersman. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was just one of his many accomplishments. A must read for American history lovers. I’m not sure why I expected more of a fictional ret......more

Not a lot of new info is presented in this book. Still, we haven't had a comprehensive biography on Colter in at least 50 years. This book does a good job detailing Colter's exact route during the winter of 1807-8, and it does an excellent job telling you about fur trapping, getting upriver, and wha......more

This book sets out by stating that it is a work of speculative history. There are just not that many sources for John Colter. The author avers that that is okay, that he is free to make stuff up based off educated guesses and call that history. It is not okay. I thought it was interesting that Marsh......more

This book is well written, by a man who is passionate about its subject matter, and it is very evocative of the enormity and the grandeur of the America west. But this book is not for everyone; in fact, it is for very few, which is the reason for my middling three-star rating. The title focuses on t......more

There are other biographies of John Colter, like Burton Harris “John Colter: HIs Years in the Rockies” and “The Mystery of John Colter: The Man Who Discovered Yellowstone” by Ronald M. Anglin and Larry E. Morris, which have more details but they all work with the same paucity of historical documents......more