None others to
displease…
F. A.
Chardon
There has been a lot of
talk lately among us who recreate the western fur trade about
what the mountain men read. In the west, we know that a wide
variety of books and newspapers were in circulation at that time
and were sought after. Sometimes, a book that was read is
mentioned in a journal, either by having a passage taken from
it, or having the title or writer’s name given in it.
Here are some examples,
Albert Pike compares what he sees and knows about Indians to
what he has read in James Fenimore Cooper and John Heckeweller’s
books. George Brewerton writes in the following passage that he
had read some of Lord Byron’s works. The poem that he takes
the thought from could be his “Visions of Judgment” which he
wrote in 1821.
I looked in vain for
my ordinary drinking cup, but Senor Juan, with great
forethought for his own comfort, had fastened it to his
saddle before starting. As I stood racking my brain to
discover some expedient, which might overcome the
difficulty, I espied a human skeleton near me. A thought
struck me. I remembered Byron, and his libations from
the skull; and, revolting as it would have been under
different circumstances, my strong necessity compelled me to
make use of it. So I drank a most grateful draught of water
from the bleaching bone, and then sat down to moralize upon
the event, and wonder to whom it had belonged, and how its
owner died; the result of all of which was, that I felt much
obliged to the unknown individual for the use of that which
could by no possibility be of further service to him; and as
a committee of one, sitting alone in the desert by the side
of the fountain, I voted him my thanks accordingly.
William Fairholme also
tells us what was read in his camp: “ When I got to camp, I
was completely done up, so having turned the poney out, I joined
Greenwood, who was sitting by the fire reading the Arabian
night’s entertainments (lent to him by Henry) and
occasionally varying the monotony of his occupation by cooking
little kabobs of Buffalo meat.”
I should confess, that
this book, One Thousand One Arabian Nights has in it my
favorite story of all time, The Hunchback’s Tale. For
those who might not know, the book is a collection of stories
that a beautiful young lady told her husband, the king every
night before going to bed. This king had a nasty reputation of
being suspicious and killing his new wives after the honeymoon.
The lady found out that he loved stories and she told one to him
each night before going to bed. Each story connected to the
next, so the king always had to wait to hear the end of one
story (and the beginning of the next) which lasted 1001 nights.
Bill Hamilton tells us of
some other books in use:
I found the
Scotchman and the Kentuckian well educated men. The latter
presented me with a copy of Shakespeare and an ancient and
modern history book, which he had in his pack.
We had an abundance of
reading matter with us; old mountain men were all great
readers.
One interesting fact that
many miss when talking or writing about this subject is the
journal writers read each other’s books. John Woodhouse
Audubon read John Fremont’s and Lieutenant James Abert’s
military reports. Lewis Garrard says he also read the glowing
reports of Fremont’s tour to the Rocky Mountains. Josiah Gregg
notes that he read Captain Pike’s narrative and Susan Magoffin
read Josiah Gregg’s book. These books were read to get a feel
for what was ahead of them and to give insights on what to
expect along the trails.
This might explain why
books found their way into packs and bags. Weight and space
limitations dictated what was chosen to go west and these books
must have been very special to their owners. The volumes gave
them something to read during the short days in winter quarters,
plots to mull over and think about, and if a science book
something to learn and share with others in camps.
This is certainly one
of the “ varieties of life” as well as of traveling. To
be shut up in a carriage all day with a buffalo robe rolled
around you, and with the rain pouring down at ten knots an
hour. And at the close of this to be quietly without any
trouble to one’s self, into the middle of a bed in a nice
dry tent, with writing materials around you and full
privilege to write anything and every thing that may chance
to enter one’s head whether foolishness, as this is, or
wisdom. We have rainy days any place and they are not more
disagreeable on the plains than in N. Y. I have books,
writing implements, sewing, knitting, somebody to talk with,
a house that does not leak and I am satisfied, although this
is a juicy day en el campo! Susan
Magoffin
One group of travelers in
the early west, the missionaries made it easy to see what they
carried. In their letters and journals, they tell of reading the
Bible plus Matthew Henry’s set of notes and commentaries on
biblical texts. We also find that others than missionaries
carried Bibles with them. Lewis Garrard had a pocket bible given
to him by his parents when starting out. James Clyman quotes a
biblical passage in his book. Eliza Spaulding writes of giving a
bible to a man while at the 1836 rendezvous and Sarah Smith
another missionary notes, “ Mr S. has had some opportunity
to furnish a little medicine for them and has also given them
some Bibles which were kindly received.”
Others who were not in
this group but recorded having a Bible said:
The day has been
passed in reading my “Bible,” “the writings of
Josephus,” and “Morris’s Sermons.” Susan
Magoffin
There were 4 of us in
the mess One was from Missouri one from Mass. one from
Vermont and myself from Maine We passed an agreeable winter
We had nothing to do but to eat attend to the horses and
procure fire wood We had some few Books to read such as
Byron’s Shakespeare’s and Scott’s works the Bible and
Clarks Commentary on it and other small works on Geology
Chemistry and Philosophy — The winter was very mild and
the ground was bare in the valley until 15 of Jany. Osborne
Russell
Some of the larger forts
had small libraries in them. Fort Union’s library had:
Thomas’ Practice (a
medical book), Conversations on Chemistry, Conversations on
Natural Philosophy, A Boy’s Everyday Book, and Don
Quixote. It is unique that another book is mentioned in this
list and quite out of the ordinary for books in the west. It is
“Kipp’s bible”. It is actually called The Memoirs of a
Woman of Pleasure by John Cleland. But many just called it
Fanny Hill after its main character. This is one of the earliest
erotic novels written in 1749.
I need to make it clear
that not every one could read books. Here is what Prince
Maximilian wrote:
Belhumeur called for
me and I had to help him to weigh out several buckets of
metal, as he could neither read or write nor differentiate
between the numbers on the weights. Among all the men who
are at the fort there is not a single one who can read or
write. I have to write down everything whenever something
must be recorded. And when they receive letters, I have to
read their secrets to them.
This might explain the
popularity of books, as those who could not read, had them read
again and again by those who could. And it wasn’t only whites
who had a hard time with reading. Indians found writing hard to
comprehend. In Among the Fur Traders, James Otis writes
of how the tribe that held him captive, looked at a note he
wrote on birch bark with the point of his knife. They could not
imagine that those few symbols could say all he wanted to say.
Just as there was a wide
range of writing abilities in their journals, there must of been
a wide range of levels of reading ability. Some of these books
listed in this article are very deep in thought and not thin in
width. They would keep the readers busy from camp to camp, which
is probably what they wanted. I want to finish this subject with
a humorous comment from Susan Magoffin, on how a book saved a
man’s life:
... the General’s
interpreter out from town some five or six miles was
attacked by a small party of he thinks regular [Mexican]
cavalry and wounded in the arm, and a book in his cap only
saved his skull from being cleaved, the cap and one back of
the book having been cut in its place.