Definition:
"Mountain men" was the name bestowed upon hunters and fur trappers who explored the Rocky Mountains from the 1820s to the 1840s. They tended to live far beyond where any white men had lived before, and their dealings with the Indians, and their knowledge of the landscape, provided priceless knowledge for later settlers.
Living in the wilderness was a very harsh life, and those who survived, such as Kit Carson and Jedediah Smith, became well known to the American public when their exploits were later written about in dime novels.
The era of the mountain men came to a close in the 1840s when the price of beaver pelts dropped and the risky life trapping in the wilderness was no longer lucrative.
Also Known As: Mountain men were sometimes referred to as "long hunters," for the great distances they would cover.
