Ever wondered what it was like to be a mountain man of the 19th century? Ever been tempted to test yourself in the wilderness, surviving by your wits?
Here's a helpful how-to guide for anyone interested in survival skills, camping out without electricity, or impressing friends at the next mountain man rendezvous.
Author and illustrator David Montgomery has compiled a manual for making the tools, clothing, traps and meals of the mountain men who roamed the Rocky Mountains nearly two centuries ago.
He offers patterns and step-by-step instructions for tanning hides, making buckskin shirts and leggings, building a rifle, constructing a tipi, sculpting a snow cave and much more.
Commenting on the Lewis and Clark style buckskin coat that's featured in these pages, Montgomery explains that "after having made such a coat with my home tanned buckskin and beaver pelts, I have had numerous compliments on it and it is one of the most popular projects in this book. Although it takes a lot of hides, it will well be worth it."
Montgomery's book also features illustrations of the eating utensils used by mountain men, a glossary of their slang, and a half dozen of their favorite stories.
All of this information dates from a period between 1810 and 1835 when fur trappers, voyageurs and various explorers were the only white men to be found across much of the inland West.
The crafts and skills detailed here were essential to their survival in a harsh, heavily forested wilderness full of wild game.