Clay Landry is a hands-on historian of the Mountain Men.
Craig Rullman scouted out a piece from the Montana Standard about a cool find by Mountain Man historian Clay Landry. Landry was a consultant on The Revenant; he used his living history background to run a Mountain Man Bootcamp for the actors on the material culture and lifeway of the early Rocky Mountain trappers, the better to tell a mythic version of the epic saga of Hugh Glass.
Landry has dug up some obscure information on Glass’s death at the hands of the Arikara in 1833. These were the same Arikara that hit William Ashley’s fur brigade on the Missouri River in June, 1823. Almost 10 years later, the Rees put an end to Glass, who had survived mauling by a grizzly and being left for dead by his companions. Glass went under with two fellow trappers — one of which I had always thought to be the mulatto trapper Edward Rose. Not so, apparently.
According to Landry’s research, the men accompanying Glass when he was ambushed by members of the Arikara Tribe were Hilain Menard and Colin Rose.
“In the past, historians guessed who he died with,” Landry said. “That’s always been the byline for that.”
The story is all the more remarkable because Glass’s life remains largely obscured by the passage of time because there are only scattered written accounts that mention the legendary trapper. Landry confirmed the full names of Menard and Rose from entries in the American Fur Company’s Upper Missouri Outfit accounting ledgers. Microfiche copies of the ledgers are stored in the Montana Historical Society’s archives in Helena.
“As luck would have it, at the bottom of the ledger page, they had an entry for Colin and Menard — killed by Ree Indians,” Landry said.
“A hand-written notation made on the credit side of Menard’s account book page states, ‘Killed by the Rees near Fort Cass Spring 1833,’” Landry wrote in his article. “The word ‘Rees’ was mountaineer slang for the Arikara tribe.”
“It was the coolest thing I’ve ever found,” Landry said. “I wanted to kiss the clerk who put the note at the bottom of that ledger page.”
Being a fur trade historian is a lot like being a prospector — you live for digging up little nuggets of information. Nothing earth-shaking, perhaps — but damn cool. So… what happened to Edward Rose?
Well done, Mr. Landry. Waugh!
Saddle Tramp says
He stole my blanket!
Nah… that’s a knockoff.
Just kidding.
Scarlet & Indigo though…
Saddle Tramp says
On a more serious note…
A little levity previously as his coat jumped out at me being the same color as the HBC 8 Point Wool Blanket I bought just recently. Love his campsite scene.
This was a very interesting post that also brought to mind my last extended road trip all over New Mexico this year. Your historical acumen would have been very helpful had you been along.
A stop in Chloride, New Mexico and a tour by the owner has a tie-in to your post. The owner is an astute and serious caretaker of history and it’s artifacts. Case in point: A lockable and fireproof ledger box left behind with everything in it from the last day it was used as was everything else in the store. All the records of the town as well. A long story, but if you have not been to Chloride it’s worth going out of the way for it. Hopefully, the owner will still be around.
It’s just off the GERONIMO SCENIC TRAIL BY-WAY.
That area alone worth exploring. Loved it!!
Yes, ledgers do tell a tale.
And your posts as well…
You can see a rather poor photo of the ledger box in one of the photos in the link below. He allowed me free access to photograph the whole place. Very accommodating:
https://www.sierracountynewmexico.info/attractions/pioneer-store-museum-chloride-nm/
P.S. By the way, the majority of critics are panning LIVE BY NIGHT. It did not sway me. No doubt license was taken more generously with the script. Seldom do films live up to a book anyway. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. I thought it was entertaining and I enjoyed it. I had no real expectations. I was not seeking Noir Nirvana. My understanding is that Lehane was happy with it, which can be a rarity. I don’t believe it was at gunpoint that he said that, but I was not a witness. For pure grit, I liked the classic THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT, but that’s for personal reasons as well. Buy your ticket and roll the dice…
JimC says
I really need to spend some time in that part of the country. It calls to me. Heading to Arizona in a month. More on that later.
The NYT review (negative) pretty much assured I will like Live By Night. It’s a classic American story; NYT can’t abide — or even understand– such things.
JimC says
And I admit that I could appreciate it just for fedora-and-gun-porn reasons. I ain’t too proud to say it.