Journal of a Trapper Book

Osborne Russell was a New England born man who left to find his destiny in the Rocky Mountains in the 1830s and 1940s. He spent 9 years living with friendly Indians, trapping, riding, fighting hostile Indians, working for various fur companies, and keeping a daily diary.

This book is his (basically) unedited diary, and it's a treasure. It's hard to read because it's basically a hundred-page long paragraph without much punctuation. It tells of temperatures, and distances, and describes the wonders of Yellowstone. It talks of hunting and cooking, huge herds of buffalo, suffering in winter, the Rendezvous the Mountain Men are famous for, and his fellow mountain men. Punctuation aside, it's one of the most authentic accounts of the trapper days I've ever read.

Most useful are the footnotes in the back of the book, which the editor added to help explain places and people Russell refers to. There are also many maps and reproductions of paintings by Charles Russell (no relation to the author) and others which set the tone for the book. I also enjoyed the biography of Osborne Russell, added by the editor, which prefaced the diary part of the book.

As you read this book, you will see his attitude towards wildlife change. At first he was happy to shoot multiple buffalo and only take choice parts. Towards the end he writes about the way the Indians kill only what they can use, and that perhaps white men should move on before all the wildlife is gone.

When Russell decided to leave the mountains, he wrote a beautiful poem (included in this book) which portrays a gentle, romantic side of the man that wasn't apparent in the rough and tumble of his diary. And the inclusion of some personal letters he wrote to family back East round out the whole picture of his personality.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading about the Old West, the Mountain Men, or historical diaries.