Ronald M. Anglin - The mystery of John Colter: the man who discovered Yellowstone

The Mystery of John Colter

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The hardback edition of this book was previously cataloged by the Library of Congress under the title below as follows:

Names: Anglin, Ron, author. | Morris, Larry E., author.

Title: Gloomy terrors and hidden fires : the mystery of John Colter and Yellowstone / Ronald M. Anglin and Larry E. Morris.

Description: Lanham : Lexington Books, [2014]. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2014015694

Subjects: LCSH: Colter, John, approximately 17751813. | Lewis and Clark Expedition (18041806). | ExplorersWest (U.S.)Biography. | Frontier and pioneer lifeWest (U.S.). | West (U.S.)Discovery and exploration.

Classification: LCC F592.C72 A54 2014 | DDC 910.92 Bdc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2014015694

ISBN 978-1-4422-2600-5 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-4422-6282-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-4422-6283-6 (electronic)

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

Sitting back now, almost eighteen years after I started this journey into the life of one man, I wonder where all the time went. It was in late December 1996, while sitting in a log cabin at Harriman State Park on Henrys Fork of the Snake River in Idaho, I first learned of John Colter. At the time, I was the Trumpeter Swan coordinator for the tri-state area, of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Unable to work one night because of a blizzard, I started reading Charles E. Brookss book TheHenrysFork. Not far into the book, I came across the section on John Colter. Little did I know how that one section would change my life.

Someone once told me that searching for John Colter was like eating an apple. When you bite into the apple, you know you will eventually find the core, but not so with Colter. His tale is the opening chapter of the history of the American West. But unlike the men who would follow him, he left few tracks. As you begin your investigation, you say to yourself, its a very straight forward story, it should be easy to find the answers to this mans life, but you soon find that no matter how hard you search you are no closer to the core of this man than when you began your quest. It is not a historical or biographical journey you are on, because he left few written records. And its not exclusively a cartographical problem, though one finds thats part of the story. Probing into his life only brings more questions, with few answers.

Very soon into my journey of discovery, I became fascinated with the number of professional as well as amateur historians and genealogists who had devoted years into studying this mans life. Names such as J. William Barrett, J. Neilson Barry, Merrill D. Beal, Hiram Chittenden, Eva Emery Dye, Ruth Colter-Frick, William J. Ghent, Ralph Gregory, Aubrey L. Haines, LeRoy R. Hafen, Donald Holms, Burton Harris, Merrill J. Mattes, E. B. Trail, Stallo Vinton, John G. White, and Shirley Winkelhoch, to name but a few. This army of Colter researchers had committed hundreds if not thousands of man-years of time in the pursuit of his life. And now, I with the eternal optimism of a true believer and newcomer had started my own investigation. It wasnt long before I to, was convinced, if I could only find that one document or fact, it would unlock all of the secrets of his life. So I chased the stories of this man, chased him across the ridges of the Alleghenies, down the Ohio River, and up the Big Muddy (Missouri) River to Three Forks, Montana, and beyond, searching for that one clue that would unlock his history.

No one can make a search of early American history by oneselfit is only through the combined help of many that a journey can be made. I would first like to acknowledge my brother John, who lives in Washington, Franklin County Missouri, about eight miles from where John Colter settled and died on May 7, 1812. John introduced me to his long time friend, Larry Melton. Larry in turn arranged a dinner wherein I was introduced to Ruth Colter-Frick, a direct descendant of John Colter, who published CourageousColterandCompanions. Over the next few years up until the time of her death she was always gracious to me, and in fact let me copy a number of her files. She told me many times that she was sure that E. B. Trail knew more about where Colter was buried than he would ever let on.

What my association with Ruth, really accomplished was to open doors with the locals. Even though my brother had lived in the town of Washington for thirty years, he was still considered a newcomer, whereas Ruths family reached back to the beginning of the state. Through her I became acquainted with Ralph Gregory, a self-educated local historian who knew and wrote about the area he deeply loved in a way that took you back to an earlier age. He also was deeply interested in John Colter and Daniel Boone and had spent years researching their lives in Franklin and Warren Counties. Ralph opened his files to me and let me copy anything I felt would be useful. Through Ralph I met Ken Kamper another self-educated historian who is now considered the foremost Daniel Boone historian. Ken also was a Colter researcher, but after seeing what I was doing he gave me copies of all of his files. As the three of us talked over time it became clear that we had each reached the same conclusions, independently and at different times, on where Colter had lived and died in Franklin County.

Another person who opened the local history to me was Washington Historical Society Museum Director Marc Houseman. Marc is one of those unique individual who makes everyone feel comfortable in his presence. If you ask him a question and he does not know the answer, he will tell you so, but will also find the answer or someone who knows, and get right back to you. Without a doubt, he was a big help on my journey

Kurt Humphrey is another one of those local historians in Franklin County that some would pass over, thinking he was only interested in family genealogy. True, Kurts primary interest is his family, but his family is deeply connected with the Colter story. In fact, his ancestor was John Sullins. And the farm that he grew up on has been in his family since John Sullins first settled on it in the early 1800s. It is also the location where Bradbury met John Colter on March 18, 1811. I met Kurt on his family farm, and over the years he has gone out of his way to explain local history in and around the New Port area of the county.