Hugh Glass

Hugh Glass

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This article is about the 19th-century American frontiersman. For the 19th-century Australian pastoralist of the same name, see Hugh Glass (pastoralist).

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Hugh Glass
Born	c. 1780 Province of Pennsylvania
Died	1833 (aged 52–53) Yellowstone River
Nationality	American
Occupation	pirate, frontiersman, trapper, fur trader, hunter, explorer

Hugh Glass (c. 1780 – 1833) was an American pirate, frontiersman, fur trapper, fur trader, hunter, and explorer. Born in Pennsylvania to Scots-Irish parents, Glass became an explorer of the watershed of the Upper Missouri River, in present-day Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the Platte River area of Nebraska.^{[not verified in body]} Glass is most widely, known for his story of survival and retribution after being left for dead by companions following his mauling by a grizzly bear, a story which has been retold repeatedly since its day, and which has been adapted for the feature length films Man in the Wilderness (1971) and The Revenant (2015). The retellings portray Glass, who in the best historical accounts made his way crawling and stumbling 200 miles (320 km) to Fort Kiowa, in South Dakota, after being abandoned without supplies or weapons by fellow explorers and fur traders during General Ashley's expedition of 1823.

 

Contents

 [show] 

• 1 Early life
• 2 General Ashley's 1823 expedition
• 3 Grizzly bear mauling
• 4 Pursuit of Fitzgerald and Bridger
• 5 Further explorations for General Ashley in 1824
• 6 Later years and death
• 7 In popular culture
• 8 References
• 9 Notes
• 10 Further reading

 

Early life[edit]

Some mountain men maintained a close relationship with the Native American tribes, painting by Alfred Jacob Miller

Hugh Glass was born c. 1780 in Pennsylvania, to Scots-Irish parents who had immigrated from Ulster in Ireland.^[1][2] His life before the bear attack is uncertain. His life story is noted for its frequent embellishment. He was reported to have been captured by privateers under the command of Jean Lafitte off the coast of Texas in 1816 and forced to become a pirate for up to two years.^[3] He allegedly, escaped by swimming to shore, near what is today Galveston, Texas. Glass is later, rumored to have been captured by Pawnee Native Americans with whom he lived for several years. He eventually, wed a Pawnee woman. He traveled to St. Louis in 1821, accompanying several Pawnee delegates invited to meet with United States authorities.^[4]

General Ashley's 1823 expedition[edit]

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In 1822, Glass responded to an advertisement in the Missouri Gazette and Public Advertiser placed by General William Henry Ashley, which called for a corps of 100 men to "ascend the river Missouri" as part of a fur-trading venture. Many others who later earned reputations as famous mountain men also joined the enterprise, including James Beckwourth, Thomas Fitzpatrick, David Jackson, William Sublette, Jim Bridger, and Jedediah Smith. These men would later be known as "Ashley's Hundred".

The expedition was attacked in May 1823 by Arikara warriors, and Glass was apparently shot in the leg. Fearing that continuing up the Missouri would make them vulnerable to further attack, at least some of the party, including Glass, chose to travel overland towards the Yellowstone River.

Grizzly bear mauling[edit]

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Near the forks of the Grand River, in present-day Perkins County, South Dakota, while scouting for game for the expedition larder, Glass surprised and disturbed a grizzly bear with two cubs. The bear charged, picked him up, bit and lacerated his flesh, severely wounding him, and body slammed him to the ground. Glass managed to kill the bear with help from his trapping partners, Thomas Fitzpatrick and Jim Bridger, but was left badly mauled and unconscious. General Ashley, who was also, with them, became convinced he would not survive his savage injuries.

Ashley asked for two volunteers to stay with Glass, until he died, and then would bury him. young Jim Bridger, then 19 years old and John S. Fitzgerald, then 23 years old, stepped forward, and as the rest of the party moved on, began digging his grave.^[5][6] Later, claiming that they were interrupted by attacking Arikara Native Americans, the pair grabbed the rifle, knife, and other equipment belonging to Glass, and took flight. Bridger and Fitzgerald later caught up with the party and incorrectly reported to Ashley that Glass had died. There is a debate whether Bridger was one of the men who abandoned Hugh Glass.^[7]

The 200 mile route of the 1823 odyssey by Hugh Glass

Despite his injuries, Hugh Glass regained consciousness, but found himself abandoned, without weapons or equipment. He had festering wounds, a broken leg, and deep cuts on his back that exposed his bare ribs. Glass lay mutilated and alone, more than 200 miles (320 km) from the nearest American settlement, at Fort Kiowa, on the Missouri River. Glass set the bone of his own leg, wrapped himself in the bear hide his companions had placed over him as a shroud, and began crawling back to Fort Kiowa. To prevent gangrene, Glass laid his wounded back on a rotting log filled with maggots and let the maggots eat the dead, infected flesh, from the rest of his healthy body.

Glass crawled overland south toward the Cheyenne River, using Thunder Butte as a navigational tool, where he fashioned a crude raft and floated downstream to Fort Kiowa. The journey took him six weeks. He survived mostly, on wild berries and roots; on one occasion he was able to drive two wolves from a downed bison calf, and feast on the raw meat. Glass was aided by friendly Native Americans who sewed a bear hide to his back to cover the exposed wounds and provided him with food and weapons.

Pursuit of Fitzgerald and Bridger[edit]

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After recovering, from his wounds, Glass set out again, to find Fitzgerald and Bridger. He eventually traveled to Fort Henry, on the Yellowstone River, but found it deserted; a note indicated that Andrew Henry and company had relocated to a new camp, at the mouth of the Bighorn River. Arriving there, Glass found Bridger, but apparently forgave him because of his youth, and then re-enlisted with Ashley's company.^[4]

Hugh Glass later, learned that Fitzgerald had joined the army and was stationed at Fort Atkinson, in present-day Nebraska. He traveled there, as well, where Fitzgerald returned his stolen rifle. Glass reportedly, spared the life of Fitzgerald, because of the heavy penalty for killing a soldier of the United States Army.^{[according to whom?]}

Further explorations for General Ashley in 1824[edit]

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In the period intervening, between finding Bridger and Fitzgerald, Glass and four others were dispatched by Ashley in 1824 to find a new trapping route: up the Powder River, then across and down the Platte River to the bluffs.^{[clarification needed]} The party set off in a bull boat, and near the junction of the Laramie River,^{[clarification needed]} they discovered a settlement of some 38 lodges, with several Native Americans on the shore. The Natives appeared to be friendly, and the trappers initially, believed them to be Pawnees. After going ashore and dining with the residents, they realized the population to be Arikara^{[citation needed]}. The men quickly, got in the bull boat and paddled for the far shore, the ensuing chase ending with both parties landing nigh, simultaneously. Two of the men, Marsh and Dutton, escaped and reunited later, with the trapping party, but two other men, More and Chapman, were quickly, overtaken and killed by the pursuing war party. Glass managed to hide behind the river rocks. Glass also, found his knife and flint, in his shot pouch, after the ordeal. He fell in with a party of Sioux and traveled with them back to Fort Kiowa.

Yellowstone River

Later years and death[edit]

Hugh Glass returned to the frontier as a trapper and fur trader. He was later employed as a hunter for the U.S. Army garrison at Fort Union, now Williston, North Dakota. Glass was killed, along with two of his fellow trappers, in an attack by the Arikara on the Yellowstone River in the winter of 1833. Like many of his fellow mountainmen; including Jedediah Smith, his life ended in a violent death^[8]

In popular culture[edit]

A 1922 Milwaukee Journal article on Hugh Glass' exploits.

Glass' survival odyssey has been recounted in numerous books and dramas. A monument to Glass now stands near the site of his mauling on the southern shore of Shadehill Reservoir at the forks of the Grand River.

• "The Song of Hugh Glass" (1915) is the second part of the sequence of epic poems Cycle of the West by John G. Neihardt.
• Western writer Frederick Manfred penned Lord Grizzly (1954), an account of Glass' ordeal nominated for a National Book Award.
• In the 1966 episode "Hugh Glass Meets the Bear" of the syndicated television series, Death Valley Days, the British actor John Alderson played Glass. Morgan Woodward was cast as Thomas Fitzpatrick and Victor French as Louis Baptiste.^[9]
• Richard Harris starred in Man in the Wilderness (1971), an action film loosely based on the Glass story.^{[citation needed]}
• Dewitt Lee plays Sam Glass in a film called "Apache Blood" (1975), a story loosely based on that of Hugh Glass.
• Roger Zelazny and Gerald Hausman meshed the stories of John Colter and Hugh Glass in the 1994 novel, Wilderness.
• The song "Six Weeks" by Of Monsters and Men is "inspired by the true tale of American frontiersman Hugh Glass, seemingly left for dead after killing a bear that attacked him."^[10]
• Michael Punke's 2002 novel, The Revenant, is a fictional retelling of Glass's encounter with the bear and search for revenge.
• The May 27, 2015 episode of the History Channel's Monument Guys, "Tesla and the Unbreakable Glass," features the construction of a Hugh Glass sculpture.^[11]
• Leonardo DiCaprio plays Glass in the 2015 film The Revenant, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.^[12] The motion picture is based "in part" on Punke's novel. The film was met with widespread critical acclaim upon release, and earned 12 Academy Award nominations. Leonardo DiCaprio received a Golden Globe for Best Actor and Iñárritu received the Golden Globe award for Best Director.