26 April All-American Birthday of the Month: Mountain Man James Beckwourth April 26, 2020By Joe Cavanaugh Announcements, General Information #WIOAdventures, American West, Elk Hunts, Idaho Black Bear Hunts, Idaho Hunts, Idaho wilderness hunts, Mountain Man, Mule Deer Hunts 0 When I had the idea to acknowledge birthdays of early trappers and explorers of the American West, I quickly found that very few of them had recorded birth dates. Most were born in log cabins to frontier parents, who were more worried about survival than traveling back East to find a courthouse. A unique exception is the birth of James Beckwourth, which was recorded in Virginia on April 26, 1798. Beckwourth was born a slave, which likely made registering his birth the same as registering property. What makes his birth into slavery unusual is his white master was also his father, Sir Jennings Beckwith, a nobleman of Irish and English descent. His mother was a slave of African descent. (James later changed his last name to Beckwourth.) Beckwourth’s father eventually executed a deed of emancipation for his son; and the family moved to Missouri in the early 1800s, where James apprenticed under a blacksmith. In 1824 the young Beckwourth joined one of the first beaver trapping expeditions, led by General William Ashley of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He was present at the first mountain man rendezvous at Henry’s Fork, Green River in 1825. If there’s one thing about Beckwourth’s life that’s for certain, once he got a taste of freedom and adventure—he couldn’t get enough it. Beckwourth continued to roam the West during the fur trade, and at some point, was accepted by the Crow Indians, with whom he lived for 6 – 8 years. With the Crow, he distinguished himself as a fearless warrior. All I can say is, any outsider who distinguished themself in combat with the Crow Indians had to have been a badass SOB. At the end of the fur trade, Beckwourth joined the US Army to fight in the second Seminole War in Florida, serving under General Zachary Taylor. After that adventure, he moved back to the American West to trade with the Indians, and later helped establish a trading post at the present-day site of Pueblo, Colorado. In the 1840s, Beckwourth rode out to California where he practiced “horse trading”, which he had learned from the Crow. During the gold rush he gambled professionally, and is credited for discovering Beckwourth Pass through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. After California, he again ended up in Colorado Territory, where he frequently hired out as a scout for the US Army. Throughout his travels he reportedly had several wives of various races and ethnicities and fathered several children. In his late 60s, Beckwourth returned to a Crow village in Wyoming, where he lay down and died. No doubt, James Beckwourth deserves credit for making the most out of what was handed to him. Born into slavery, he ended up knowing freedom like few others. He chose where he roamed and what he did. Only in free society such as America could a nobleman raise a son with a slave woman, who would become James Beckwourth. God Bless America, Joe Cavanaugh Related Posts Last minute cancellation: Idaho Mountain Lion, Wolf, Bobcat and Coyote Hunt With all that has been going on this last little while, we find one of our regular hunters in need of a last-minute cancellation. We thought, no problem, there must be someone out there ready to go “off the grid” on an Idaho backcountry predator hunt to escape some of this madness for a little while. Highly American Birthdays March is a good birthday month for bad-ass Americans, as we have no less than four to remind you of. All four of these highly American figures define where we Americans come from and who we are. We must not forget them. General Sherman’s Birthday General William Tecumseh Sherman was born on this date, February 8th, in 1820. You might be wondering why I’m reminding you of Sherman’s birthday. The answer is simple—because if I don’t, no one else will. Working for Idaho Wildlife What we hoped to accomplish in 1 week took almost 13 months and 3 trips to Idaho, but it finally happened. Heath F. is an avid hunter and wanted to pursue predators and wanted to get what we would deem the “Triple Crown” of lower 48 predators in the form of a wolf, black bear, and mountain lion. He sought us out and in early January 2021 he came out on a predator hunt for all three and we were successful in getting him a wolf. The End of Winter and the beginning of Spring Bear Hunts Anybody else getting antsy yet? I sure as hell am. Stuck working in the cold and watching the weather roll in everyday, just daydreaming of spring. Down here in Texas we don't get “spring fever” the same as our friends up north. The grass has been green mostly all year, and we have only had a few days that dropped below 30. But I still get worked up being stuck down here in the mud. I want to be in the mountains. How Long You Been Doin This? I frequently get asked the question, “How long have you been doing this?”. By this, I take it to mean packing a multiplicity of goods on mules and horses in the wilderness and back country. Or do they mean throwing a leg over a horse/mule and riding? My “ending up as a packer” has a long history of knowledge bumps & bruises, joys & happiness, extreme heat & cold, a plethora of scenic beauty and of course a stream of cuss words over the years. Comment (0) Comments are closed.