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| P.S.
After the discipline problems I had at Camp Wood, I turned out
to be a pretty reliable member of the expedition and an excellent
hunter. On the return journey I received permission to leave
the party at the Mandan villages and join a small trapping expedition
headed back up the river. I spent four more years in the mountains
as an independent trapper and also worked for Manuel Lisa's
Missouri Fur Company. I was the first non-Indian to see what
is now Yellowstone National Park. I escaped from the Blackfeet
who captured me and my friend John Potts at the Three Forks
of the Missouri. Potts was killed, but I ran for miles through
the countryside, finally hiding from my pursuers in a steam,
hiding under some driftwood. I returned to Missouri, settled
on a farm, married, and died of an illness during service with
Nathan Boone's Ranger Company in the War of 1812. |
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