In this social studies and English Language Arts high-school level lesson, students are introduced to the purpose of the "Mountain Men." They will write an advertisement for and a letter from a Mountain Man, and then perform a close-reading of an excerpt from one of four primary source documents from explorer William H. Ashley. More
Both men's (shown) and women's fashions in the early 1800s favored the use of beaver pelts for coat collars and hats. Mountain men, hired by trading companies located primarily in St. Louis, explored the Rocky Mountain region to either trap for themselves or to lead groups of trappers into these wilderness areas. More
For More Information
The Fur Trade PDF booklet from Western Michigan University
''In relation to the subsistence of men and horses, I will remark that nothing now is actually necessary for the support of men in the wilderness than a plentiful supply of good fresh meat. It is all that our mountaineers ever require or even seem to wish."
Letter from William H. Ashley to Gen. Henry Atkinson, Dec. 1, 1825.
Announcements
HERO Multimedia Library and Teacher Community Update
Introducing our brand new HERO and Teacher Community website! This new portal to Colonial Williamsburg's award-winning programming combines our HERO multimedia library with the Teacher Community, which contains a wide variety of Colonial Williamsburg's educational materials. This new combined site includes great new features like search and browsing by era, theme, and subject. If you already have an account on either HERO or the Teacher Community, you will need to create a new account at hero.history.org to access the new site. If you did not receive an email with registration instructions, please contact us at herosupport@cwf.org. If you do not yet have an account, now is the perfect time to join! Create your free account at hero.history.org to access free lesson plans, primary sources, and more.