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by William Thomas Hamilton (Author)
Long before the American Revolution, fur trappers were traveling thousands of miles into the remote wilderness in their quest for beaver pelts, the frontier's most valuable commodity. These hardened, unsettled men were at the forefront of the Western expansion, hunting amid the Central Rockies by the 1830s and occasionally wandering all the way to the shores of the Pacific. Their lives and accomplishments are vividly and authentically recaptured in this gritty autobiography of a longtime adventurer.
William Thomas Hamilton (1822-1908) left St. Louis at the age of 20 to serve as an apprentice to an experienced trapper and hunter. Within a decade of his entry into the trade, the demand for pelts plummeted as hat fashions shifted from beaver to silk. Hamilton and his fellow trappers turned instead to leading hunting parties, guiding scientific expeditions, serving as army scouts, and protecting settlers and miners from Indian attacks. In this memoir, the frontiersman presents a fascinating account of his rough-and-tumble life in the Old West. Six full-page illustrations by the former cowboy and great Western artist Charles Russell enhance the tale.
Author Biography
William Thomas Hamilton (1822-1908) began his career as a trapper in the wilds of the Northern plains. He became a fixture in the territory and adept at communicating with many of the native tribes. Following the mid-19th century decline of the fur trade, Hamilton employed his extensive knowledge of the region and its inhabitants in the service of the U.S. Army, and he was an outstanding scout and fighter in the years leading up to the Great Sioux War of 1876.
Former cowboy Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) ranks among the greatest of Western artists. He illustrated many books, including those of Theodore Roosevelt and Owen Wister's classic, The Virginian. Sixty Years was among his earliest works, and the paintings reproduced in this edition are signed with his name and his personal symbol, a buffalo skull.
