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As a Mountain
Man, Osborne Russell was quite ordinary.
He was not a leader, he did not become wealthy, nor did he add to
the geographic knowledge of Western North America.
What does make Russell unique is that he was a keen observer, and
he kept, and managed to preserve a journal, which documents his experience
in the mountains from 1834 to 1843. Except
for a few comments, the journal does not describe the economic and
political upheavals through which the fur trade was passing during this
period. The journal does,
however, provide us with a glimpse into the everyday life of the Mountain
Man, the foods they ate, the types of shelter they used, how a fur brigade
traveled and operated, and how life changed with the seasons.
From his journal,
we can see the human who was the mountain man.
We see that Russell truly appreciated the beauty of the places
through which he passed. More
than once he notes that he climbed a mountain or other high place to be
able to view a special scene at sunrise or sunset.
He observes the decimation of beaver and buffalo populations and
remarks “…that it is time for the
white man to leave the mountains…”
We see a man who cared for, and was loyal to his comrades, but
could also be irritated by their decisions.
We see a man who held a grudge against one of his comrades, but
healed it before leaving the mountains.
We experience his fear when attacked by Blackfoot Indians near the
shore of Yellowstone Lake, and the enmity carried between the mountain men
and the Blackfoot Indians. But
we also see compassion towards these same enemies as a planned attack
against a party of Blackfoot Indians is turned into a trading session when
it becomes apparent that the Indians have already suffered greatly from
small pox. Osborne Russell
was born June 12, 1814, in the village of Bowdoinham, Maine.
He was one of nine children in farming family.
As a child, he did receive sufficient education that he could
easily read and became a proficient writer.
At age 16,
Russell ran away for a life at sea, but quickly gave up that career by
deserting his ship at New York. After
that he spent three years in the employ of the Northwest Fur Trapping and
Trading Company, which operated in what would become Wisconsin and
Minnesota. After this, Russell
joined Nathaniel Wyeth’s Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company
expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1834.
The company was contracted to deliver $3,000 worth of supplies and
trade goods to Milton Sublette and Thomas
Fitzpatrick of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company for the 1834 Rendezvous at
Ham’s Fork. Men for this
venture were recruited on the frontier at St Louis and Independence,
Missouri. It was here that
Osborne Russell joined the company. The
term of service was for eighteen months at a wage of $250.
In spite of his
previous experience with the Northwest Fur Trapping and Trading Company,
Russell was still inexperienced in the ways of the wilderness when he
joined Wyeth’s company. Through
his journal we see Russell develop into a seasoned veteran of the
mountains and a Free Trapper. When Wyeth’s
party arrived at the Rendezvous at Ham’s Fork, he found that the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company had been dissolved and a new company formed.
The new company defaulted on its contract with Wyeth, who was then
left with a surplus of goods and supplies that he had transported to
the mountains. By necessity, Wyeth had to alter his own plans to salvage his
company from financial ruin. He
and his party pushed on to the Snake River plain, (near what would become
Pocatello, Idaho) where he established Fort Hall,
named after one of the partners in the company.
Here Wyeth would trade his remaining goods with the local Indians. The fort was
quickly completed, and trade with the Indians was started by the autumn of
1834. It was not until the
spring of 1835 that Wyeth fielded trapping parties operating out of the
fort. These trapping parties
were poorly managed, and Russell through his journal often expresses his
contempt for the brigade leader. Unlike
many others, Russell did not desert, although we can see that his
enthusiasm was definitely impacted. After his release
from the Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company in late 1835, Russell
joined with Jim Bridger’s brigade of former Rocky Mountain Fur Company
men. He continued with them
even after the merger with the American Fur Company leaving it in complete
control of the fur trade in the Rocky Mountains.
With low prices, scarcity of beaver and declining demand for furs,
rumors at the 1838 rendezvous indicated
the American Fur Company was soon to abandon the Rocky Mountains.
Russell would not attend the 1839 Rendezvous, as he had left the
employ of the company to become a Free Trapper, once again operating out
of Fort Hall. Fort Hall was
now owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company, and had been since 1837 when it
was purchased from Wyeth’s company.
Even with the
passing of the great fur companies, Russell, like so many others was
reluctant to give up his life in the mountains.
As a Free Trapper, Russell continued to trap and travel through the
region centering on the Yellowstone country during the period 1838-1842.
Although no longer possible to become wealthy through the fur
trade, enough could be earned to easily supply all of the requirements for
life in the mountains, with time to enjoy hunting, fellowship with
Indians, and reading. Through reading
the Bible, Russell came to a religious conversion that led him to abandon
the life of a Mountain Man. In
1842 he joined a wagon train of emigrants destined for the Willamette
Valley of Oregon. There on
June 6, 1843 he lost his right eye and suffered other injuries in an
accident while blasting rock for a millrace at Oregon City.
While convalescing he studied law.
Later Russell became a judge and was also active in politics in the
Oregon Territory. In 1848 with
news of gold in California, Russell joined in the rush.
Due to poor health from his previous injuries, he was unable to prospect and
became a merchant. Later
Russell was ruined by a dishonest partner and is said to have spent the
remainder of his life trying to pay off creditors.
Russell never married. As
he got older, his health continued to deteriorate, and toward the end of
his life he was paralyzed below the waist.
He died August 26, 1892 at Placerville, California.
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