Quote of the day:
When asked what surprised him most about humanity he said “Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. The he sacrifices his money to recover his health. Then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the end result is that he does not live in either the present nor the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
Dalai Lama
There is a movie out titled “The Revenant”. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and the movie is loosely based on the life of Hugh Glass. Hugh as one of the first of the mountain men/trappers to explore the western United States. He was also one of the toughest men I have ever read about. Revenant comes from the French word revenir meaning “return”. Here is the real story of what happened to Hugh Glass.
Biography of Hugh Glass
In about 1780 Hugh Glass was born in western Pennsylvania. His parents were Scots-Irish immigrant from the Ulster plantation in northern Ireland. Glass' life is uncertain until he joined the Ashley fur trading expedition in 1822. This group numbered about 100 and included other famous frontiersmen like Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, James Beckwourth, William Sublette, Tom Fitzgerald among others. The group was supposed to travel up the Missouri river very similar to the route taken by the Lewis and Clark expedition and fur trade with the native tribes they encountered. The group was unmercifully attacked by the Arikara native Americans that lived and trapped near the Missouri river in what is now Nebraska and the Dakotas. Hugh Glass was wounded in the leg during one of these attacks. The wound was probably not serious because after fighting off these attacks Hugh and a few others decided to abandon the boats and head for the Yellowstone river overland.
In 1823 the group was in western South Dakotas and Hugh was out hunting for game to help feed them. He accidentally surprised a female grizzly with 2 cubs and as you might suspect, the bear attacked. Hugh was severely mauled especially his back when he curled up into the fetal position and the bear broke his leg. He eventually was able to fire his rifle at the bear and the others came running. They also fired at the bear killing it. The leader William Ashley determined that Hugh would not survive and asked for to volunteers to stay with Hugh until he died and then bury him.
The two that volunteered was Jim Bridger and Tom Fitzgerald. Not long after the others had left, Bridger and Fitzgerald thought they detected the approach of Arikara Indians and decided to take Hugh's rifle, powder, shot, knives and flint and catch up with the group. Before they left they skinned the bear and covered Hugh with the hide. Bridger and Fitzgerald reached the group and falsely told Ashley that Hugh had died and they had buried him.
Hugh had not died but his back was so ripped by the bear that his ribs were showing. He set his own leg and Hugh knew that the closest settlement was Fort Kiowa nearly 200 miles to the south. He started out crawling and staggering southbound using a well known large mesa on the horizon for navigation. His back began festering so bad that wolves and other animals came to him because of the smell and began licking the wounds because of the maggots that were there cleaning out the dead flesh. Hugh allowed this because he knew he would die of gangrene if he didn't.
He eventually reached the Grand River north of Fort Kiowa and was able to construct a small raft and began floating downstream. He survived mostly on insects and roots. Eventually friendly Indians sewed a bear hide over his back and gave him a rifle, powder, shot and flint. On one occasion he was able to drive off a pair of wolves that has just killed a bison calf. Being able to make this claim on fresh meat probably saved his life because he fed on it for several days. Six weeks later he arrived at Fort Kiowa and began recovery.
After recovery he went on a mission to find Fitzgerald and Bridger with revenge on his mind for leaving him without the necessities like his rifle, flint, etc. After an extended search he found Bridger in a camp at the mouth of the Bighorn River. He decided not to kill him because he was only 19 years old. He headed out to find Fitzgerald and was successful in finding that he had joined the army and was at a fort in Nebraska. He eventually confronted Fitzgerald but did not kill him after he gave him his rifle back. Another reason was if he had killed a US soldier he would have been hunted down and killed himself. Fitzgerald was about 25 years old.
In the time between finding Bridger and Fitzgerald Hugh went on a fur trading expedition with five others. They decided to travel by boat and were on the Laramie river. They discovered a small Indian village that had not been seen before and assumed it was a friendly. They were wrong...it was an Arikara village and a chase began. Hugh and the others hurried to the other side of the river but were overtaken and three of their number were killed. Hugh was able to hide and two others escaped but Hugh found his knife, shot, powder and flint on one of those killed. Hugh traveled back to Fort Kiowa in the company of a band of friendly Sioux.
In the summer of 1833 Hugh went out on yet another fur trading expedition. That winter Hugh and his group were attacked on the banks of the Yellowstone river by a band of Arikara and Hugh was killed.
Thus ended the life of one of the toughest people I have ever read about...he was 53 years old. There is a monument near Shadehill, South Dakota that marks the spot where Hugh had the encounter with the grizzly...and you think you have it bad.
This Date in History January 14
1639 The first constitution written in the American colonies was signed on this day in Hartford, Connecticut. The Connecticut River valley had been discovered earlier by the Dutch in 1614 but it was the Puritans from the Massachusetts Bay Colony that moved in and established the settlements of Harford, Wethersfield and Windsor. They got together and came up with the “Fundamental Orders”. This document was the first that fostered the concept that “it is the welfare of the community that is more important than that of an individual” and also the idea of the “Orders” must be approved by those it governed. This document was superseded by another set of “Orders” written in 1662. However, some of the laws written in the original “Orders” were maintained until 1818.
Born today:
1875 German physician Dr. Albert Schweitzer. He said “There are two ways of refuge from the miseries of life...music and cats.”
1919 Italian Prime Minister Guilio Andreotti. He said “I understand my limitations but when I look around me I see that I am not in a land of giants.” Hey Guilio, quit looking around.
Died today:
1957 US actor Humphrey Bogart. His alleged last words were “I should have not switched from scotch to Martinis.” You are right Bogie, Martinis are lethal.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Al's Most Recent
Quote of the day:
When asked what surprised him most about humanity he said “Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. The he sacrifices his money to recover his health. Then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the end result is that he does not live in either the present nor the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
Dalai Lama
There is a movie out titled “The Revenant”. It stars Leonardo De Caprio and the movie is loosely based on the life of Hugh Glass. Hugh as one of the first of the mountain men/trappers to explore the western United States. He as also one of the toughest men I have ever read about. Revenant comes from the French word revenir meaning “return”. Here is the real story of what happened to Hugh Glass.
Biography of Hugh Glass
In about 1780 Hugh Glass was born in western Pennsylvania. His parents were Scots-Irish immigrant from the Ulster plantation in northern Ireland. Glass' life is uncertain until he joined the Ashley fur gathering expedition in 1822. This group numbered about 100 and included other famous frontiersmen like Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, James Beckwourth, William Sublette, Tom Fitzgerald among others. The group was supposed to travel up the Missouri river very similar to the route taken by the Lewis and Clark expedition and fur trade with the native tribes they encountered. The group was unmercifully attacked by the Arikara native Americans that lived and trapped near the Missouri river in what is now Nebraska and the Dakotas. Hugh Glass was wounded in the leg during one of these attacks. The wound was probably not serious because after fighting off these attacks Hugh and a few others decided to abandon the boats and head for the Yellowstone river overland.
In 1823 the group was in western South Dakotas and Hugh was out hunting for game to help feed them. He accidentally surprised a female grizzly with 2 cubs and as you might suspect, the bear attacked. Hugh was severely mauled especially his back when he curled up into the fetal position and the bear broke his leg. He eventually was able to fire his rifle at the bear and the others came running. They also fired at the bear killing it. The leader William Ashley determined that Hugh would not survive and asked for to volunteers to stay with Hugh until he died and then bury him.
The two that volunteered was Jim Bridger and Tom Fitzgerald. Not long after the others had left, Bridger and Fitzgerald thought they detected the approach of Arikara Indians and decided to take Hugh's rifle, powder, shot, knives and flint and head catch up with the group. Before they left they skinned the bear and covered Hugh with the hide. Bridger and Fitzgerald reached the group and falsely told Ashley that Hugh had died and they had buried him.
Hugh had not died but his back was so ripped by the bear that his ribs were showing. He set his own leg and Hugh knew that the closest settlement was Fort Kiowa nearly 200 miles to the south. He started out crawling and staggering southbound using a well known large mesa on the horizon for navigation. His back began festering so bad that wolves and other animals came to him because of the smell and began licking the wounds because of the maggots that were there cleaning out the dead flesh. Hugh allowed this because he knew he would die of gangrene if he didn't.
He eventually reached the Grand River north of Fort Kiowa and was able to construct a small raft and began floating downstream. He survived mostly on insects and roots. Eventually friendly Indians sewed a bear hide over his back and gave him a rifle, powder, shot and flint. On one occasion he was able to drive off a pair of wolves that has just killed a bison calf. Being able to make this claim on fresh meat probably saved his life because he fed on it for several days. Six weeks later he arrived at Fort Kiowa and began recovery.
After recovery he went on a mission to find Fitzgerald and Bridger with revenge on his mind for leaving him without the necessities like his rifle, flint, etc. After an extended search he found Bridger in a camp at the mouth of the Bighorn River. He decided not to kill him because he was only 19 years old. He headed out to find Fitzgerald and was successful in finding that he had joined the army and was at a fort in Nebraska. He eventually confronted Fitzgerald but did not kill him after he gave him his rifle back. Another reason was if he had killed a US soldier he would have been hunted down and killed himself. Fitzgerald was about 25 years old.
In the time between finding Bridger and Fitzgerald Hugh went on a fur trading expedition with five others. They decided to travel by boat and were on the Laramie river. They discovered a small Indian village that had not been seen before and assumed it was a friendly. They were wrong...it was an Arikara village and a chase began. Hugh and the others hurried to the other side of the river but were overtaken and three of their number were killed. Hugh was able to hide and two others escaped but Hugh found his knife, shot, powder and flint on one of those killed. Hugh traveled back to Fort Kiowa in the company of a band of friendly Sioux.
In the summer of 1833 Hugh went out on yet another fur trading expedition. That winter Hugh and his group were attacked on the banks of the Yellowstone river by a band of Arikara and Hugh was killed.
Thus ended the life of one of the toughest people I have ever read about...he was 53 years old. There is a monument near Shadehill, South Dakota that marks the spot where Hugh had the encounter with the grizzly. And you think you have it bad.
This Date in History January 14
1639 The first constitution written in the American colonies was signed on this day in Hartford, Connecticut. The Connecticut River valley had been discovered earlier by the Dutch in 1614 but it was the Puritans from the Massachusetts Bay Colony that moved in and established the settlements of Harford, Wethersfield and Windsor. They got together and came up with the “Fundamental Orders”. This document was the first that fostered the concept that “it is the welfare of the community that is more important than that of an individual” and also the idea of the “Orders” must be approved by those it governed. This document was superseded by another set of “Orders” written in 1662. However, some of the laws written in the original “Orders” were maintained until 1818.
Born today:
1875 German physician Dr. Albert Schweitzer. He said “There are two ways of refuge from the miseries of life...music and cats.”
1919 Italian Prime Minister Guilio Andreotti. He said “I understand my limitations but when I look around me I see that I am not in a land of giants.” Hey Guilio, quit looking around.
Died today:
1957 US actor Humphrey Bogart. His alleged last words were “I should have not switched from scotch to Martinis.” You are right Bogie, Martinis are lethal.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
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